Having owned both a Grand Design Imagine and now an Alliance Delta, I’ve had the opportunity to compare these trailers where it really counts: real-world use. However, when shopping for a travel trailer, most reviews focus on floorplans, features, and first impressions. In reality, what really matters after purchase is the punch list—the issues that show up during ownership. Therefore, how do I measure the Alliance Delta vs Grand Design Imagine? To answer this, let’s compare the punch list I had with Grand Design in 2017 to what I’ve experienced so far with Alliance.

To begin with, let’s break it down.

Punch List: Grand Design Imagine (Entire Warranty Period)

During the course of the warranty period, here’s a summary of the issues experienced:

• Leveling jack failure
• Decal issues
• Entrance door sticking (causing paint wear on upper left door jamb)
• Screen door alignment problems with the main entrance door
• Deadbolt not fully engaging
• Kitchen cabinet alignment needed
• Exterior storage door binding
• Slide foam gasket missing (visible gap to ground)
• Improperly installed/broken slide screw (This later became part of a major recall.)
• Slide wipe seal twisted/warped
• Cosmetic issue on front cap
• Misaligned drip rails
• AC gaskets not tightened
• Electrical short behind recliners
• Ceiling panel bubbling
• Defective front cap lights
• Ultimately a major roof issue (“roof fiasco”)

Takeaway

Overall, the Imagine had a long and varied punch list, including:

• Structural concerns (roof)
• Electrical issues
• Fit and finish problems
• Hardware failures

Therefore, these issues point to quality control inconsistencies during manufacturing.

Punch List: Alliance Delta (Early Ownership, Still under warranty)

Now, lets look at what has come up so far with the Delta:

• Slide cable fraying
• Dump handles hard to pull
• Interior slide trim damage from sticker removal.
• Loose backsplash
• Outdoor satellite connection not working
• Toilet gasket leak (antifreeze found)
• Roof quality (not exceptional, but typical for industry)
• Wrinkled/misaligned exterior decals

However, to be fair, the Imagine list reflects a full warranty period. In contrast, the Delta is still early in ownership—but even at this stage, the difference in severity and frequency is noticeable.

Takeaway – Alliance Delta vs Grand Design Imagine

The Delta’s issues are more limited in scope and severity, and so far, fall into:

• Minor fit and finish
• Component usability (dump handles)
• Isolated hardware issues
• Satellite coax line severed (factory installation issue)

Side-by-Side Comparison

1. Volume of Issues

• Imagine: Extensive list across multiple systems
• Delta: Shorter, more focused list

Therefore, clear advantage: Alliance Delta

2. Severity of Problems

• Imagine:
  • Missing slide gasket
  • Electrical short that caused multiple outlets to lose power.
  • Roof failure and AC gasket
  • Recall-related slide issue
• Delta:
  • Mostly cosmetic. However, the exception being the slide cable fraying and the satellite coax cut in half.
  • A leak (toilet gasket), but easily explainable and fixable.

Therefore, clear advantage: Alliance Delta

3. Structural & Build Concerns

• Imagine: A major electrical short, Slide recall, ultimate roof issues, AC gaskets never tightened raise big manufacturing red flags.
• Delta: The roof is not great from a quality perspective.  The slide cable being improperly installed and the satellite coax being severed and then hidden in the bundle raises quality control concerns.

Therefore, slight advantage: Alliance Delta

4. Fit & Finish

• Imagine:
  • Door alignment issues
  • Cabinet adjustments
  • Ceiling panel bubbling
  • Exterior door alignment problems
• Delta:
  • Backsplash loose.
  • Wood facia damage caused by decal removal.
  • Wrinkled informational decals on exterior of trailer (black tank sticker etc.)

The number of fit and finish items of both units is pretty comparable. However, the Delta issues are more minor and isolated.

Therefore, clear advantage: Alliance Delta

5. Electrical & System Reliability

• Imagine: Electrical short behind recliners
• Delta: Satellite connection issue only – The Delta’s issue is isolated to a non-critical system, unlike the Imagine’s electrical failure that affected core functionality and is a huge safety related issue.

Therefore, clear advantage: Alliance Delta

6. Customer Support

In addition, customer support is another area where these two brands differ significantly.

• Alliance Delta: Support is handled primarily through email. In other words, you cannot immediately connect with a live representative. Responses are promised within 48 hours of receiving the email.
• Grand Design Imagine: Customers can speak directly with a live representative right away.

As a result, the difference in responsiveness is substantial. For example, being able to immediately talk through an issue can save time, reduce frustration, and help diagnose problems faster.

In contrast, waiting up to 48 hours for a response can slow down troubleshooting and extend downtime. This approach will not meet expectations for owners who need real-time support while on the road.

Therefore, clear advantage: Grand Design

Real-World Owner Perspective

Here’s the honest takeaway:

• The Imagine delivered a great ownership experience overall. However, it required significant warranty attention, including at least one major issue.
• The Alliance Delta, so far, feels more dialed in from the factory, with issues that are:
  • Easier to fix
  • Less intrusive
  • Less concerning long-term (with the exception of the roof, perhaps.)

Final Verdict

If you judge strictly by punch list experience:

Alliance Delta comes out ahead. However, keep in mind I still have 8 months left on the Delta’s warranty. We will revisit this if anything changes.

The Alliance comes out ahead right now, not because it’s perfect, but because:

• Fewer issues
• Less severe problems
• No major system failures (so far)

That’s exactly what most RV owners are looking for—less time in the shop, more time camping.

Finally, as many of you know, I loved our Grand Design Imagine. After the initial punch list items (and Roof issue) were resolved, it really was trouble free. There will always be things that fail after the warranty period (like schwintek slide motors). Don’t fool yourself into thinking otherwise.

We had almost nine wonderful years crisscrossing the country in out 2950RL. That says something about the overall build quality back in early 2017.

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1. It has the kitchen of the 2008 Coachmen 288FKS. More storage than you could ever want or need.
2. The outdoor kitchen of the 2015 Jayco 27RBOK. I never thought I’d use it but ended up loving it.
3. The large living area of the 2017 2950RL Imagine
4. A rack and pinion slide of all our previous trailers for the large bump out vs. the schwintek slide system. There is an exact slide on the opposite side for the fireplace. It goes without saying that I was never a real fan of the schwintek system.

Also, this trailer has an outdoor TV. However, the hook ups are questionable. More about that in a later video.

Needless to say, we really love this trailer and traded in the Imagine. The Imagine has been a great trailer, and it sold after only one day on the dealer’s lot. That’s because after almost eight years it still looks brand new. It also includes many extras that likely helped close the sale.

So, let’s talk about the new Delta 294RK.

We brought it home and I had forgotten just how much work it is to move things from one trailer to the other. Not just the regular everyday items, but moving the satellite equipment, TPMS, and the LevelMate Pro, and the Marcell Unit with all the s-pucks. Well, moving them over is one thing, but it’s the mounting and hooking things up that becomes very time consuming. In addition, the level mate pro had to had to go through the entire set up procedure again.

One thing I didn’t expect the day before out shake-down trip to Lake Whitney State Park was the change in forecast. The night before the trip the temperature in north Texas was expected to drop to somewhere between 32 to 28 degrees. The Delta has a Contoure on-demand water heater. This heater has freeze protection when it has power. This applies whether the water is connected or not. It also applies if the unit has no water in the lines. Once the temperature gets below a certain point, the heater turns on for a few seconds to make sure the lines do not freeze. As a result, there was no worry about the water heater.

I did worry about the water lines. So, I turned on the furnace to run at 60 degrees. Unfortunately, that is the lowest temperature setting on the furnace. When I work up the next morning at about 4:00AM I looked at my Marcell unit, the temp in the trailer was 45 degrees. So I went outside and I just could not get it to restart. After some quick on-line searching, I found that I would need to shut the 12-volt power off for the furnace to reset. After I did that, the furnace worked great. I’m going to assume that there may have been some air in the line that caused the failure to ignite.

Alright, so now we have made it to Lake Whitney, and I’ll start by saying I am really very happy with how the trailer performed. There were a few things that cropped up, so let’s go through them one by one:

1. The toilet has a ring of antifreeze around the base. We wiped that up easily, and between us and the dealership made the “assumption” that it may have been slop from the winterization process that the trailer went through prior to our purchase. However, when we got home, we found more. Now, of course I could pull the toilet myself and check under it to see what’s going on, but it is under warranty, so I’ll let the dealership deal with it.
2. I went over the roof with a fine tooth comb at the dealership, however I did find a screw coming up in one spot on the roof when we were getting ready to leave the campground. That will need to be addressed somehow.
3. The backsplash has an area to the left of the cooktop, that is no longer attached to the wall. It’s not a big deal and I doubt anyone but me (I have issues) would notice it.
4. The number of stickers that are placed on the inside and outside of the trailer is ridiculous. Why alliance felt this was necessary is a mystery to me. Removing the sticker above the couch caused the woodgrain paper underneath to rip. Most of these stickers are poor quality and are peeling off anyway. So, Alliance if you read this, just put a feature sheet in each unit and tape it to the countertop. We don’t need a sticker that says, “Large Slide Out”, etc.
5. Alliance – don’t put two magnets on the trash drawer, it’s almost impossible to open.
6. The wiring at the outdoor TV is a mystery but more about all of that in another post.

So, how did it perform over all? Flawlessly. The Furrion fridge worked great, although it is a bit noisy. These are noises that are probably considered normal. The old propane/electric model in the Imagine made noise too. I’m not really worried about this at all.

The furrion AC Chill Cube in the “Dump” mode works well, but the using the air ducts for AC is substandard. The furnace was great, no complaints there. I will say that it is warmer in the bedroom than the living area but the furnace is located beneath the bedroom closet so that is to be expected.

The on-demand water heater will take some getting used to. I would highly recommend getting an oxygenic faucet for the shower. I had no problem using the stock faucet, but if you have a wife that has thick, long hair, there will be complaining.

Also, I understand that Alliance doesn’t want to print owner’s manuals as part of an environmental paper saving imitative. Guess what? No one is going to easily be able to go through the delta owner’s manual on an iPhone or tablet. I printed my owner’s manual via Amazon, and now I have a decent hard copy to take with me. I will say that the information in the manual is too generic to be helpful when it comes to the TV wiring. More about that in a later post.

Another thing I don’t like is Alliance’s customer support model. You must submit any issue in writing with pictures, and they have two days to respond.If they don’t respond, then you, as the consumer must remind them. I’ve never encountered this model before. In contrast to Grand Design’s past approach, you could call a rep and resolve your issue in a single phone call. The problem with this Alliance Customer Service model is the iterative process that goes back and forth multiple times to get resolution – I am not a fan. That said, other manufacturers might handle it the same way.

Remember, there really is not a perfect travel trailer, or a perfect manufacturer. However, you can minimize issues by doing your research. Overall, I am very happy with the Delta travel trailer. Keep in mind we have a year left on the warranty, so a lot can happen in a year. You only need to search our forum for the story on the “Wedding Trip” of 2008 to see all the issues that shook out on the imagine during the warranty period. Fingers crossed that this year will go better.

Lastly for anyone that may be curious on how Eva took to the new trailer – she did great and it only took her a few minutes to feel completely at home in the new trailer. She loves camping probably as much as swimming in the pool. Yes, she loves her Lamby!

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