Berkshire 38a vs Forza 38r

[AdamC]

I am looking for Berkshire 38A owners who did a comparison against the Winnebago Forza/Solei 38R.
What made you choose the Berkshire? Are you still happy with your decision?
Thanks!
Adam

[accumack]

I'll garantee they don't have the support that the Berkshire has!

[ernest917]

We LOVE our Berkshire... Bits a FANTASTIC coach and FR support is amazing....


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by AdamC

I am looking for Berkshire 38A owners who did a comparison against the Winnebago Forza/Solei 38R.
What made you choose the Berkshire? Are you still happy with your decision?
Thanks!

Adam,

X4 what everyone else said. You will not find the level of customer care anywhere else in the industry!

If you are close enough, drive to Elkhart and tour the factory - you will see what we mean. The Forest River Owner's Group (FROG) has numerous rallies every year and at the international Rally every August, Forest River offers to repair anything that is not working correctly at no cost! I do not believe there is any other RV company out there that will do that for their owners!

Also, I recommend Total Value RV in Elkhart as a fair, honest and customer-focused dealer. Total Value even has a small 5 pad "RV Park" with full hookups that you can use whenever you are in town!

[lgray]

Big difference for me would be the roof, unless Berkshire is now installing fiberglass.

The Forza 36G is a great layout.

[Subsailor]

Originally Posted by AdamC

I am looking for Berkshire 38A owners who did a comparison against the Winnebago Forza/Solei 38R.
What made you choose the Berkshire? Are you still happy with your decision?
Thanks!
Adam

Okay, the OP (Adam) is just looking for a comparison and opinions on two different coaches. No need to make this anything more than that.

Adam- We have only had our Berk for 6 months, but really enjoying it. We have had to work with FR service department just once and that experience was great as well. They really do seem to stand behind their product (even after the warranty). -Glenn

[Subsailor]

Originally Posted by lgray

Big difference for me would be the roof, unless Berkshire is now installing fiberglass.

The Forza 36G is a great layout.

I have a 2013 and it is fiberglass.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by lgray

Big difference for me would be the roof, unless Berkshire is now installing fiberglass.

The Forza 36G is a great layout.

The Berkshire line is all fiberglass roofs now (one piece fiberglass front & rear caps as well)

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by 15berkxl

Paul, Nancy doesn't but jury is still out on you lol.

HAHA Wayne!

Originally Posted by 15berkxl

Before we get in trouble for stealing a post I can only say I have had issues with places/people but I don't let them win. I call them or go see them to work it out. I don't think you have done that. You just get your blood pressure up and it's not doing you any good. Bashing isn't going to win out call Ivan and tell him how you feel at least you're being man enough to try to work it out if for no reason but to allow you to enjoy the rest of your life in piece.

I agree with Wayne, Paul. Give Ivan a call - he is a likeable, reasonable guy in my experience. He has flat told me to call him any time if I have a issue.


Now to de-hijack the thread


Regardless of dealer I believe the Berkshire is a better built Motorhome than the Forza. And, like we have been harping on, Forest River customer service is way above the others!

[wmtire]

The site team has done a cleanup in this thread of the off-topic postings that were not germaine to the OP's questions. Let's please try to help the OP and his questions.

[RKNOLA]

Hi Adam,
We own a 2016 Berkshire 38A. I can honestly say we looked at all comparable coaches when we were RV shopping. (Tampa RV show has Winnebago, Tiffin, Newmar, etc.).
As compared to the Winnie 38R: I can honestly say we thought the Berkshire was a better, more sturdy build. For example: bedroom/bathroom walls: if you push on the walls, some coaches the walls visibly move. Not in the Berkshire. The walls are very sturdy. We also thought the overall interior fit and finish quality was better in the Berkshire. We also have a kitchen slide so our overall kitchen/livingroom area is larger.
The 38R has a similar floorplan to the Berkshire 38A although some of the differences in the 38A may make the Berkshire more user friendly. For example: it looks like the placement of the washer/dryer in the Winnie 38R is going to eat up a lot of space. In the Berk 38A the stack W/D have their own cabinet (to the left of the sink) which leaves the area to the right of the sink for a HUGE linen cabinet. I fit all of our towels with plenty of room for beach towels too! There is also a large medicine cabinet above the sink and storage below the sink so storage is DEFINITELY not lacking in the Berk 38A!
The bunk area in the Winnie 38R is a little different than ours too. It looks like the bunks in the Winnie 38R are: upper 30 X 72" and lower is 31 X 65". In our Berk 38A both the bunks are 30 X 70" and the upper bunk does fold up and there is a curtain rod across the bunk area which allows for great extra storage of coats. When we compared the 2 coaches the bunk mattresses in the Berk 38A seemed to be better quality foam and the doors across the bunk area seemed to be better quality wood. The doors also fold away really nicely for ease of use. The literature for the Winnie 38R says "Multi-purpose room with Flex bed system". I am not sure what that means, when we saw one at the show both bunks just looked like bunks. (FYI we use a featherbed on the bunks which makes the bed really comfortable! It is made for a fold away cot so it fits the bunks nicely. PM me if you would like the website info for purchase).
Our Berk 38A is on a Freightliner the XCR chassis (raised rail chassis) and the Winnie 38R is on the XCS chassis. So we have more useable basement storage due to the raised rails.
Our Berk 38A has more tank capacity: (Fresh water, grey tank, and fuel tank).

Having said all of that I can truly say we love our Berkshire 38A and would definitely buy it again if we had the choice. Our fellow Berkshire Owners have also made our decision a happy one. Everyone is very nice, helpful, and welcoming! They make you feel like you are part of a family even before you take delivery of your new coach! It really makes RVing fun when you have a fine, well built coach and a great group to camp with!
Not to sway your decision or anything..... but I can promise you if you choose the Berkshire 38A as your new coach you won't be sorry!

Good Luck with your RV search!
Karen

[AdamC]

Thanks for your input Karen. We'll look for these things. - Adam