Cancelled?

[RPF]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Our division alone orders over 2000 chassis a year. Ford also forces us to commit to those orders months in advance....so unfortunately we do not do any custom options on the Chassis. They all get ordered the same so there are no surprises.

For 2013 we switched fabrics up a bit. All the Sunseeker & Forester sofas are covered in "ultra leather" (Automotive grade polyurethane). We also cover the dinette seat cushions in that as well. The only fabric is the window treatments and the dinette "back cushions".

Well that stinks! We found a different manufacturer that is willing to place a chassis order for us and that has a similar floorplan so we might end up having to go that way even though we like the product that you are putting out.

With that said, we are going to go take a trip tomorrow to look at some Foresters as the local dealer here only has Sunseekers. Does your company make available your fabrics and "ultra leathers" so one can repair damaged cushions or as in our case re-upholster the cloth backrest if we decide to go in this direction?

Thanks again!

[bclemens]

I'd be curious who would do a custom chassis order (it would take about 10+ weeks to get just the chassis alone). I can only think of one MFG and I would have serious concerns about long term aftermarket support with them. (but that's just my personal opinion).

Yes, you can typically order fabrics from the parts department.

[thumper]

Originally Posted by bclemens

There haven't been a ton of changes for 2013, but we have gone to 12V TV's, built in Nav & iPod dock with bluetooth capabilities. We'll have new floor plans coming out this year as well...but those are still in testing. What year was the one you sold, there have been a TON of changes since 2008.

Thanks for response. Can you give me any insight to these new floor plans?
We had a 2010 3121DS, which was a great layout with a large bathroom, only thing we would change was to somehow have more counter space. We found the Forester was a good level of quality and options compared to the Sunseeker and other brands for what we used it for. We loved the rear view camera thought it should be standard feature for all motorhomes. I added a second camera attached to the rear roof rack(point to the front). This was very useful when going through gas stations/campgrounds which would just clear the air conditioner. Would have been easy to add at the factory as an option and monitor supported multiple sources for cameras.
We rented a motorhome in Europe (built on Ford Transit diesel manufactured in Italy) for a month and liked a couple of things we wish was in the motorhomes here:
-Shoulder straps for passengers in rear (travelled with young teens). Also nice to have the high back dinette seats.
-Larger windows (our Forester MH seemed dark after coming back). Although the mechanism was kind of funky.
-Builtin bicycle holder that folder down without interfering with hitch, have not seen anything like that here. Came from the factory there. Was easy to load and unload bicycles as well.
-Driver and passenger seat that spun around to give extra seating inside (like some class A)
-Builtin small table that clipped to the outside. Could seat 4 easiy.
Will Forest River build something on the Ford Transit chassis now that is coming to North America? Similar to the Sprinter, but I assume cheaper.
Sorry for the rant, this will be our 3rd Forest River motorhome. Didn't mean to side track this thread either :-)

Doug

[bclemens]

1. Can't really say much about the floor plans yet as they are still in testing. One will have the option for a 4 door fridge for those wanting a little more space. Good counter space as well.
2. I spent some time at the Dusseldorf show looking at the European units to "borrow" some ideas, but ended up with very little that was useful in the states. Americans like slides and larger units for the most part. We have wide open roads compared to Europe.
3. The 3 pt harness in the dinette seats are nice, but very expensive and adds quite a bit of weight. Its fine for their tiny little units...but on a 30' unit it would be weight prohibitive.
4. We try and put big windows in when we can. We're always balancing that with storage. Some MFG's eliminate the cabinets above the dinette to put in big windows...but as soon as we do that someone is complaining that there isn't enough storage. They also use a lot of acrylic windows over there for weight savings and to make them dual pane. Problem is, those have never caught on over here in the states. Those that have tried have failed miserably. Probably just ahead of its time. We have designed a nice big skylight on one floor plan. Typically when that happens we'll start offering it on every floor plan that we can.
5. I like the built in bicycle holder...but there are already some after market solutions for this. I'd like to see what made this one special.
6. We have swivel seats in the works...but after looking at it, it really only makes sense in one or two floor plans. In the European units, they typically have a forward facing dinette and the driver/passenger seats swivel to make the other side of the dinette. We have a Sofa AND dinette in many cases. So when you do swivel the seats, you're facing the back of the dinette or the side of the sofa. It really only works in a 2300/2301 or 2250/2251. I sat in the proto and the driver/passenger either face each other and fight for leg room or you're staring at the backside of furniture.
7. I'd like to see this table thing.

8. As Ford's largest RV OEM we will certainly look at the transit. However Ford doesn't seem as "full speed ahead" as the media is. They will be slooooowwwwlllyyy phasing it in. We thought the transition would be quicker...but they're saying the Econoline van platform will be around (at least) through the decade. We'll see what the adoption rate is to gauge if this thing is going to take off. Everyone wanted the Chevy Volt...until it was built and then no one bought it.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by thumper

We just sold our our Forester and starting to look around again. What other changes happened to the Forester line for 2013?

We would love a optional lareger skylight in the living area with a rectractable shade to brighten/cheer up the living area. We use to have a truck camper with one and loved it.

Thanks.

solara 24m has one. it is standard

[thumper]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, the weather is finally nice enough to think about camping again. Hard to believe more than a month has gone by. Thanks for all the answers about the European models, makes sense when you describe it. If you would like pictures of any ideas, let me know. We took lots of pictures.
A couple of more questions for bclements, thank you. You have been very helpful!
• Can you share anything about the new floor plans, especially the one with skylight in the living area at this time? I am at lease persistent  If not what timeframes is FR aiming to have these available?
• We really like the removable table that is in the storage area, but I can’t figure out which ones have it and which ones don’t? I can’t find it on the FR website or the brochures.
We are currently leaning towards the 2013 Forester 3011 DS, the dealer couldn’t answer these questions (didn’t have one in stock).
• Is the TV in the living area come standard? The dealer said the bedroom one was optional.
• Is the TV in the living area a 12 volt or do you need the optional invertor to run it going down the highway? We had a 3171 with overcab cabinet TV that required this.
• Some places in dealer ads it mentions it has a GPS/navigation; does this only come with the backup camera?
• Do the drivers and passenger seats come with "ultra leather" on them?
Thanks again.

[bclemens]

1. The 24M Solera has a skylight that is standard right now. We all liked it, so I imagine we will try and put them in where ever we can. New floor plan should be out by late September.

2. I'll have to check on the tables. We put them in an floor plan that has big storage in the back. 3011 I'm pretty sure has one...it's just on the driver side (not passenger side where we like to put them)

3. 3011 TV in living area is standard. Bedroom is optional.

4. All of our TV's are now 12V and do not require the use of an inverter.

5. The back up camera is separate from the GPS navigation. However, we were running this as a package, so most will have both. We do not use the 7" touch screen as the back up camera as most mfg's do (They do it to save money). Our back up camera is separate so that you can use the GPS and keep an eye on your tow vehicle without the need to switch back and forth.

6. Driver?passenger seats in "ultra leather" is optional.