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Old 05-17-2007, 02:40 PM   #1
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Where can I find a review of Forest River's Charleston?
I have been reading reviews and its scarey.
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Old 05-17-2007, 06:47 PM   #2
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Gee, a Freightliner chassis, Mercedes Power and Allison Tranny as standard equipment? Sounds like a darn good foundation to a layman. What scary stuff have you read? And more importantly where did you read it?

The problem with most on-line reviews is they come from customers. And a customer's review of the line depends on his/her own personal subjective experience. For instance on http://www.motorhomeadvice.com/mhreviews/ I see 7 reviews for the FR Georgetown - 4 good 2 bad and one so-so. For Newmar, which is reportedly a high quality MH, there are 13 reviews - 5 good, 4 bad and 4 so-so. For Monaco, another premium brand, 15 reviews, 7 good, and so on. Who can tell what to think from that?

Magazines dedicated to Motorhomes would be a good source of objective reviews, but you can't know without subscribing whether any have reviewed the make and model you're interested in. You might try a search of their archives. Dealers sometimes have copies of magazines featuring models they sell, at least if they're positive reviews. You might also enquire at some of the larger RVing clubs (Good Sam's for one has a monthly magazine with reviews and articles on makes.)

Personally I'd consider asking the dealer for referrals - customers who have purchased that model or others in the line from the dealer. It's the standard for choosing a reputable home builder or reno company and I'd think it would be valuable and worth requesting for this equally expensive purchase.

Hope this helps steer you toward finding the info you seek. Since I'm not any kind of expert on motorhomes in general, it's about all I have to offer.
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Old 03-16-2008, 02:27 PM   #3
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Your4 a lucky man LOL
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Old 03-16-2008, 02:38 PM   #4
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Fuel mileage

Holiday Rambler Endeaver 400 HP
Some poeple suggest that they get 8 and above fuel mileage is this True?
I have a ford v10 31 ft. and am lucky to get 7
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Old 08-23-2008, 12:21 AM   #5
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Smile just enjoy it

We have a `08 charleston with a 400 cummins isl, freightliner xc, allison 3000 we love it.customer reviews are based on personal experiences. just remember, million dollar rv`s use the same manufacturers for furnaces, air conditioners refrigerators inverters etc.even slide outs just like a entry level travel trailer. so how would you feel if the furnace on a million dollar rv goes bad? let me tell you how. The same way you would feel if it goes bad on a economy travel trailer. so far no problems with our charleston. just got back from Stone Mountain, GA.we live in Tampa, Fl. Pleasant trip nothing went wrong. Believe me there are plenty of things that could go wrong with ours, specially with every available option you can think of, let me give you a xample, this is our fourth and hopefully last RV, the previous ones we had they all had some kind of leak on the roof even brand new including our last `05 Fleetwood motorhome, just go camping, enjoy your rv and relax.
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Old 08-24-2008, 06:53 AM   #6
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We've had our '06 Charleston fro 2 years now. And still, I am yet to find anything in its class that I would opt for. The problems that we have had are largely related to components, Dometic fridge (two bad cooling units and bad circuit board), engine (CAT 350 fan bearing went out along with thermostat), hitch (fell off see my post on RV.net for that one). The only thing that I really attribute to Forest River is the sofa slide that would damage the carpet. I should have left ell-enough alone on that because since I have noticed many manufacturers whose deep slides do the same thing. FR tried to repair, poured substantial time into it; but in the end it was not something that could be remedied. I ended up pulling the carpet out and tiling the whole thing. Really, other than a few design modofications that I have performed myself, say with the cabinets, I still would not trade it straight up for anything else I've seen in its class, and many beyond its class.
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Old 08-24-2008, 09:31 PM   #7
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I`ll give you an idea. go to the Tiffin, Monaco, Fleetwood, etc websites and look at the structural features like, vacu bond gel-coat fiberglass outside panel with high perf thermal insulation, durable aluminum tubular wall skeleton, one piece moisture resistant molded fiberglass roof cap, fiberglass front and rear one piece caps and so on. All this features are the same on the Forest River Charleston. The carpet and cabinetry? The same materials are used for the most part. This are some of the things you could blame Forest River if something goes bad. But Just like Forest River, Monaco Tiffin, Winnebago, Beaver, American Coach, Prevost, Newell and every other brand in the market, things will go wrong, you will have a roof leak or a loose cabinet door hinge or a weak breaker or a tank valve stuck, etc. Is it all depending if we got a friday built coach? or the guy at the factory forgot to put a couple screws at certain cabinet? or maybe didn`t tight one braker connection to specs? We are all in the same boat no matter what brand we choose. Just buy the Rv you and your family likes and hit the road and start enjoying the rest of your life.
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Old 02-01-2009, 03:56 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HawkeyeCJ View Post
Holiday Rambler Endeaver 400 HP
Some poeple suggest that they get 8 and above fuel mileage is this True?
I have a ford v10 31 ft. and am lucky to get 7
In most cases from the diesel owners I have spoke to the claim of up to 30% better gas mileage is just a myth. A friend of mine just bought a used 38' Country Coach on a Gillig bus chassis and was convinced he was going to get better mileage than my 37' georgetown with the V10. The previous owner had kept meticulous records for the coach including almost every fuel up and subsequent mileage. The Country coach averaged just 7mpg which is what I get with the V10 pulling my heavy Jeep in tow.

Realize that diesel motorhomes are usually fitted with more solid wood, tile, bigger gas tanks, more water capacity more propane capacity and about the same HP as the V10. Once loaded they come in at higher weights. The gas mileage just isn't there.

Yes a guy with a diesel pickup will get better mileage than a guy with a V10 pickup but with the RVs I rarely find someone who is getting much better gas mileage than with a gas rig.

The real benefit is the quieter ride due to the engine being 40' behind you and producing power at a lower RPM. Also most of the diesel chassis tend to ride nicer due to air ride suspenions and other improvements that you pay the money for up front.
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Old 04-20-2009, 05:01 PM   #9
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I own a 2008 Charleston. I just took a 5 month trip from Florida to Nevada and back. The coach ran fine and the one thing my wife and I noticed is that unlike my 2006 Tropical we could talk to each other without having to yell. The ride was smother and quieter. The rig is easy to drive and not too tiring. I did all the driving, sometimes 10 hours at a time. I averaged 8.5 miles per gallon at an average speed of 62 miles per hour while towing my Dodge Nitro. I have had no problems at high(13,000 above sea level) or low(100 feet below sea level-Death Valley) altitudes. We love the coach. I have spent years researching motor coaches and I personally do not think you can find a better coach with as many amenities as the Charleston.
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Old 03-17-2010, 09:37 PM   #10
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2008 Charleston 41 cummins 8.9 liter 400 hp

I drove cross country twice in 2009 and averaged 8.7 miles per gallon with cruise set at 65 mph, no toad but with full water tank. The worst mileage I've recorded so far is 7 mpg and this was combined local street and highway with several hours of 8kw generator usage.

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Old 03-17-2010, 09:51 PM   #11
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I guess I've never understood all the concern about MPG. It's damn hard to get lower than 7 MPG and damn hard to get better than 9 MPG once you get into a Class A gasser or diesel pusher.

So everyone get's worked up about a 2 MPG swing and it sways the decision on what RV manufacture / model to buy?

Paying $100+K for a rig and worrying about gas is just silly.

Buy what you want, enjoy it and be happy.
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Old 03-18-2010, 11:49 AM   #12
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Trailer Life has a 2010 RV Buyers' Guide for sale at $6.99...it includes motorhomes...might provide you with some good info on various makes and models.
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