Today’s RV review is of the 2023 Grand Design Imagine AIM 15BH travel trailer. The AIM is a new subset of the Imagine series at Grand Design. It is a smaller, lighter series with a single axle and having a weight under 3,600 pounds.
Grand Design Imagine AIM
AIM stands for Adventure In Motion. It is meant more to be a trailer with full features in a small size, rather than a real entry-level trailer.
Still, this is not tremendously expensive, with a base MSRP of $31,937 for the most affordable model. Remember that’s MSRP, and dealers are starting to discount like they did in the past—so you might pay between 70-80 percent of this price.
However, shipping costs have skyrocketed, so know that these prices don’t reflect that. But these smaller trailers can often be loaded two–three on a truck. That does distribute shipping costs for them to more units effectively, making it lower to someone buying one.
Vintage thinking
If you don’t know already, I don’t just love new RVs but I also have an affinity for vintage ones. In fact, most recently I’ve had an 1970 Aristocrat Land Liner, but I’ve also had other vintage trailers. And cars. You’d think I would have learned by now, but I love holes in my garage floor where I can pour my hardly-earned money.
Something that’s universal to vintage trailers is that they don’t have slide rooms. Instead, the designers had to be clever and purposeful with the interior design of the trailers. I’m always impressed that vintage trailers can be really small but also very useful. For example, an Aristocrat Low Liner can fit in most garages because it’s so low. However, to get it into those garages you have to swap the road wheels for smaller storage wheels.
But these trailers are fully useful and so many of what are called “canned ham” trailers have all the things you need without slide rooms.
That’s what appealed to me about this design.
While I was pretty critical of Grand Design in blatantly ripping off the inTech RV Sol Dusk earlier this week, this is an example of what the company is capable of all by itself.
Very usable kitchen in the Grand Design Imagine AIM
Inside this relatively small box is a very, very usable kitchen with more counter space than in many RVs. That counter space stretches across the front of this trailer and then makes a right turn and continues with a two-burner propane stovetop. There’s a convection microwave below that and a 6.2-cubic-foot, 12-volt refrigerator.
Overhead are a lot of cabinets that also stretch the width of the trailer—which happens to be a full 96 inches. There’s also a pantry here. This is one of the more usable kitchens in a very small trailer, and an example of what can be done in a tight space.
Seating is limited to a four-place dinette but you can always go outside—which is kind of the whole idea with camping. That table has a single pole mount that incorporates a hydraulic strut. Longtime readers will know I would still prefer a freestanding table. Grand Design has done such a good job with this in their Momentum 25G model.
Sleeping on the job
This is considered a bunk model trailer. That’s because the corner true-queen-sized bed also has a proper adult-sized bunk overhead that can be flipped up. If you have zero interest in the bunk you could always remove it.
I like how Grand Design has placed both USB and household outlets here as well as a cabinet to store your noisy toys or even things like a CPAP.
The dinette, too, can be a bed, so you could sleep four adults here. But I’d save the dinette for the youngest and most petite traveler in your crew.
Proper bathroom
As much as I like the kitchen, the bathroom is also surprisingly usable in here. There’s a decent enough shower with a retractable door and okay space around the king’s throne. Like in some other trailers I’ve seen lately, this one has a drop-down sink. I know there are going to be some who don’t like this, but this is such a small box I think this is a good solution.
I’m someone who doesn’t care whether there’s a sink in the bathroom or not, but my wife is not on my side on this. This solution solves that for everyone.
How they’re made
This trailer is more a small, well-made trailer rather than built to be inexpensive, so there are a lot of things that are better quality. For example, they use a thicker aluminum nose cap but laminated sidewalls.
That lamination incorporates Azdel in the outer layer but, as of this writing, it’s still luan on the inner layer. However, there are some places where Grand Design is using Azdel on inner walls.
I also really like that the furnace on this has no floor vents.
The underbelly is fully heated and enclosed. But there’s something unusual: The plastic underbelly material is laminated to the insulation so it doesn’t move around. That underbelly is also heated, which is not typical of these smaller trailers.
Boondocking and travel access
Since this trailer has no slides (hallelujah!), it’s fully accessible all the time. This is just one of so many reasons why I wish more trailers had no slide rooms, but I also recognize that I’m a weirdo. Still.
The standard solar on these is a 200-watt panel. However, there is an upgrade available that adds a second 200-watt solar panel as well as a 20-amp inverter that powers everything in this camper.
That upgraded package also incorporates more aggressive tires with tire pressure monitoring as well as a backup camera. Nice.
Conclusions
I don’t know why the Serenova made me so mad, but maybe it’s because it’s just a blatant rip-off of a product from an independent RV maker.
This little trailer creates just the opposite reaction in me. I really like it quite a bit and think it’s one of the better small camper designs out there.
Notice that there is no back bumper on this. So many people do so many stupid things with the back bumper I am not surprised to see fewer of them on towable RVs. That’s true of ladders, as well, although this one does include one.
There is a provision for your stinky slinky underneath the trailer in a tube. You’ll also find the spare tire mounted underneath the trailer.
Storage inside this camper is much better than you might imagine. There’s also a very large storage bay under the bed in the back which is accessible from inside the trailer as well as from the rear and the side. This trailer also has good cargo carrying capacity.
Overall, I really like what Grand Design has done with the way this rig is designed and built. I do wish they would use Azdel on the interior of the wall laminate, but that may come in time. So maybe we can just shelve the Serenova and keep working on designs like this, because this is more Grand Design and less “rip-off and duplicate.”
More about these RV reviews
These RV reviews are written based on information provided by the manufacturers along with our writer’s own research. They are based on information from a single unit and may not reflect your actual experience. Shop your RV and dealership carefully before making a buying decision. RVtravel.com receives no money or other financial benefits from these reviews. They are intended only as a brief overview of the vehicle, not a comprehensive critique, which would require a thorough inspection and/or test drive.
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I’m a slideout weirdo also, only one out of 17 RVs I’ve had over the years and that was more than enough.