Hondo Garage's New Thing

Appropriate for someone self named the sloppy one

 

As a GFC owner, I would at least consider other options if I were buying today. I might end up in the same place, but would check the market carefully. I would consider wait time, camper weight, build quality, features, and support.

When GFC launched, there were not many competitors. GFC was the lightest and cheapest. The competitive landscape has changed since then. They still might be the lightest and cheapest, but there are many more options and factors to consider.

I hope by now the GFC design and build quality issues are fixed and everyone is receiving flawless campers. I also hope that eventually there will be a better support structure for GFC repair and warranty than there is currently so if someone has a major issue it can be addressed.

Many of the first customers have had minor issues or no issues and are very happy. The problem is that over 10% of the first builds had catastrophic hinge failures. There were other less critical issues that affected numerous people. I am one of those with a hinge failure, technically two. The first ~100 builds have a dangerous design were a hinge could fail catastrophically. Not all will fail, but many have. If this happens while driving it has the potential to be a terrifying safety issue. They have issued no notification or TSB or similar announcement that I am aware of to let early customers know of the potential problem.

I don't feel that we, the first customers with problems have received the support we should from GFC. Sure, they shipped me replacement hinges for the two failures and they shipped them quickly. The problem is that many of us need a more thorough retrofit that, as of now, can only be done at the GFC facility. I acknowledge they are a new company and campers are difficult to ship. The fact remains that they put a product with a design flaw on the market. There was not a proper support plan in my opinion.

The first unofficial "warranty" communication to early customers was that GFC would cover everything that went wrong due to design and build flaws. Later they said they were only fixing those first units for free as a favor and it was not sustainable and the practice would stop. Of course we can ship the camper back to GFC and pay for them to fix it and pay for delivery back to us. This feels like a bait and switch since it is 100% a design and build quality issue. God forbid they pull a Pelfrey and go under while they have your camper in for warranty work.

I don't trust the GFC timelines. We all know how long deliveries were delayed for many of us. As of now, our only option for repair is to be without the product for a long time to get it fixed at GFC. I could not get a concrete estimate from GFC for how long it would take, or how much it would cost to get my gfc fully repaired. I only asked once, I did not press the issue but got a vague answer that "it depends."

After the uproar on their board about notifying and getting support for the ~100 potentially flawed and dangerous builds, they announced that after thanksgiving there would be an announcement about a mobile repair service for this. We are still waiting for that announcement.

I don't trust GFC communications as they have often posted or given out conflicting information. At various points, tube replacement and retrofit kits have been promised as well and people are still waiting.

I have a love hate relationship with my camper. I still like my camper, but am too scared to open my remaining original hinge or my replaced side hinge. I wish the company was better organized and prepared to support and stand behind what they started in a timely manner, especially for the early customers.

 

More money, but another option is four wheel camper's Project M topper that just came out. 425 pounds, and the whole roof lifts up instead of just one side.

 

Too bad GFC scrapped the canvas sides. Camper would be lighter and the sides wouldn’t fall off. Most people are putting on awnings anyway.

 

So the only issue with the GFC is the hinges snapping off? Or are there more problems people have faced with them? Not that the doors breaking off is to be taken lightly that’s a ridiculous problem to have with the amount of money you spend on these things. Personally I like the build a lot everything about it suits what I’m looking for in a tent camper.

 

That’s the biggest one but there’s also been issues with rust and condensation

 

i have my deposit down for a GFC, one thing that really irked me is the I have to put 500 down and still have to wait a year before they even begin to build, vagabond I'd have to put almost 4k down and from what I gather still also wait a year before they build.

 

That project M looks pretty sweet. And the Alu-Cabs are equally gorgeous. I'm glad there's some competition out there. It means we'll get better pricing, more options, etc.,. From the looks of these it seems you'd be happy with any of them. I still really like my GFC because I think it fits my needs best. The opening sides are a game changer for actually using the truck.

 

Have you seen an M in person? I have and I couldn’t have been more disappointed. It felt like the cheapest piece of shit I’ve ever seen, and that’s not a lie. I was super excited to see it when I saw it launch but when it actually came out it couldn’t have been more underwhelming.

 

The rust in the tubes isn’t great either. But they’re supposed to be replacing the exposed ones with Aluminum which should make it better. Hopefully

 

The new tubes won't have the same issues but those with the old tubes still need them sent/installed and currently GFC isn't making enough to support both new builds and retrofits. And not everyone has the skills/tools needed to replace the tubes so how do they get changed?

 

Hinges breaking is the worst issue. It is supposed to be solved in later builds but the first ~100 need factory retrofit.

• Some reported the lower portion was not weather sealed.
• Some reported water getting into the tent portion.
• There are issues with some people not being able to close the lid easily.
• There are issues with rust in the frame and bolts from water ingress. I also have this.
• Others are reporting issues with water rusting the front and rear tubes (not the frame). I also have this.
• Some have reported issues with the tent fabric welds.
  
• There might be some others.

Not all of these are affecting everyone. I don’t know if or when fixes were cut in for these issues. Some or all of these issues have been addressed in later builds, supposedly.

I don’t consider tent condensation an issue. It is a single wall tent. In the wrong environmental conditions, condensation will happen.

As a potential customer today, I would be wary about the lack of support existing customers are currently getting. Are there other design flaws that won’t manifest themselves for a couple years? If something goes wrong, will you be supported?

 

Yeah, that’s probably the #1 WORST thing with the GFC, when a lot of us bought in early and there was a big presence on TW, communication was ehhhhh... ok but a lot better than now, they listened to customer feedback, and promised to take care of issues.

Once they got Insta-Lander famous and started giving them to influencers, had HORRIBLE delivery times as compared to promises dates (mine was 5 months after the agreed upon date) and now they aren’t backing up the warranty claims like promised, they’re building new campers before replacing old ones with problems (the new aluminum tubes), they got to big too fast and have lost a lot of what I bought into originally. I guess it’s just the way things go but the lack of keeping up with an original commitment is the most disappointing thing to me. I had many promises given IE delivery time, replacement tubes, that were completely broken. The GFC tower seems to be faltering a bit. If I were them I’d start making good on any defective campers ASAP, service will bring in new and keep old customers.

Again all this said the camper itself was awesome. I liked it a lot, I just wish I could have gotten it when promised and the tubes shipped out as promised. The design with bugs worked out is still very solid and attractive.

 

Your concerns with possible warranty support in following years isn't unique to GFC. Vagabond, Snap, Goose Gear/FiftyTen, and several others are new manufacturers that could all fail and leave you with an unsupported expensive camper. If that is a primary concern as a buyer then you should stick with companies with a long history in this market.

 

I have looked at vagabond and GFE extensively and IMO the aesthetics of the GFE are the best.

The Vagabond is built incredibly well the look of it just isn’t for me. Don’t get me wrong I’m not knocking the drifter it’s an awesome product just not the look I’m going for with my build. I love the way the cab over sits on the GFE and the all around access to the bed. I’m more of a weekend camp kind of person so I don’t need a full living space in my bed. I currently run an ARE shell and love it, it’s just a tad cramped with the wife and I. I believe the GFE will suit me nicely.

I just placed my reservation for the GFE so I’m hoping they can get these issues fixed in a year timeframe.

 

I get that. While in business, which hopefully for all these companies is a long time, support matters as well. As it stands today, they are currently in business, sold some of us defective products and support has been lacking.

 

No Guarantees that’s for sure. If any of you remember 2008 when things in this country got BAD lots of camper companies with decades of time went under. Heck even automotive companies with 100 years went under... we’ve all been fat, rich and happy for quite some time now.... my point is being able to service a product on your own, or make repairs on any product you plan to keep for a time is never a bad idea, the major issue with my Alu-Cab, while it’s very very serviceable a lot of the actual components come from Europe or South Africa, if they fail and are out of business I’d be forced to retrofit. Tons of awesome stuff out there but the ability to keep it going in ten years (I’m thinking FlipPac) but the ability to buy hinges or parts that are common makes it attractive. Just thinking out loud now.

 

I have one almost done number 573 I travel for work so I'm going to live in it like some buddy else meantion gfc gives conflicting information about shit to try and smooth over stuff for people that raise concerns and then you got the fanboys who try n call people trolls and blame the competition for shit brought up I'll give you a honest review when I get it since I'll be using it more as a rv style vs just weekend camping cause honestly how they marketed it, it was supposed to be this badass off road camper and the only way you can find out about issue is reading a long ass forum since you get a bunch off bias ass Instagram reviews when you google gfc review. People can say ya they fix this that and the third but at the end off the day who's to say that shit really solved anything since the originals problems only pop up after a year of use now they got a 2 year warranty so for all we know that shits just a bandaid to make sure it last pass warranty so they don't have to come out off pocket to fix shit I would of said fxck it n sold it but I spent a year comeing up with different Ideas for it and have a hard time not seeing my ideas come to life. It's hard to tell who got a old one and who got a new one or if their new one is old enough to even start developing the issue.

 

People who put money down for Vagabonds are serious about buying it.

People who put money down for GFC's are just like people who put $100 in for a Cybertruck. I've sold my GFC spot, twice, and watched 50+ people sell theirs too.

 

You're going to live in one of these? Oh man good luck