Pros and cons

[snarley]

We have just completed the maiden long voyage on our 370 TS. Vancouver BC to Las Vegas via Idaho.(1400 miles) No major problems, a few monir mainly with electronics- the cd player only works on 10 volts and I dont want to run the generator to hear music: the steps ometimes retract when they are OFF and the door is closed, the water heater needs resetting often, the drivers feet dont get any heat, there seems to be a rear end whine under acceleration that is getting louder etc.
BUT- the hydraulics always work smoothly, no real problems either up or downhill. Geting somewhere between 6 and 8 mpg, nice smooth ride.
We are slowly making our way to Mazatlan Mexico so the rough roads there will be the real test.

Oh yeah , the best one- the rig came wit a spare tire-no rim. I bot a new steel rim and guess what =it wont fit in the spare tire trunk. Luckilly I had installed a very heavy duty bycicle rack , made in my own shop so we ca carry the mounted spare.
I'd be interested in comments from any other 370 owners.

more later
Snarley

[pnewbert]

In July of this year (2007) we traded in a 2006 Trail Lite class c on a 359xl and couldn't be more satisfied. Yes we've had a few minor problems (screen door fit, etc) but they've been resolved quite efficiently. In my opinion the Georgetown 359 exceeds expectations when it comes to the money spent. In my opinion we went from one of the worst to one of the best motor homes for the money.

[Dragon]

Originally Posted by Georgetown370

Hello fellow Georgetown owner,

We took delivery of our 2006 Georgetown 370 from our dealer in November 2005. Our first trip was over the Memorial Day weekend. We didn't go far because we know you have to work the bugs out the first year. There were numerous small things like: Screen Door didn't latch; the awning wouldn't latch; the awning strap was frayed have way through the strap; the toilets leaked and squirted water from the valves, the 1/2 bath door kept popping open while driving in spite of being securely latched. The biggest thing was Rust. It seemed there was rust everywhere in the basement compartments. We took it in to have the problems corrected and Forest River approved all the work. The worst part is our rig was in the shop for 6 weeks - practically our whole summer here in western NY.

Last weekend we took it out overnight to see how everything looked. All of our complaints appeared to have been addressed.

As for our satisfaction, overall we are satisfied. We bought the unit because of its floor plan. (1 and 1/2 baths), very roomy and comfortable. We are disappointed in the 'cheap-down' features of some of the amenities like the screen door, the shallow cupboards, the shallow refrigerator, the sofa-sleeper mattress and other things that I am sure have yet to appear. We did speak with a couple of other RV owners of different manufacturers and they too complained about the same type of things when it comes to quality. So it must be an industry-wide problem.

As for the screen door, my husband did manage to fix the problem of the wimpy slide falling out every time we used it. He put a metal strip along the inner front edge. It not only keeps the slide in place, it now feels 'richer'. He spray painted the metal and screws white so it doesn't look like a modification. If every thing we find can be corrected this easily I'll really be a happy camper.

Pat in NY

I bought it from the factory in Dec 07 arrived Jan 08, did the walk around on the coach but they are keeping it for me on the lot until I am ready in Mar. I see a lot of people talking about cheap construction, this makes me wonder, I have corean countertops, mohen faucets, stainless steel appliances, washer/dryer, dishwasher etc. and when I did the inspection I didn't see anything in mine that looked either cheap or substandard.

[MIke1625]

Hi all

I just bought a used 08' 370TS -- others upgraded to a 42ft DP. Drives great --fit and finish seems very good better than Fleetwood 35 Bounder we used for three weeks. Overall great coach, many many upgrades-- -- plan to keep it -- not retired yet.

Mike Florida

[pjuer]

Just picked up a 08 315 DSSE. A lot of coach for the money compared with the other brands that I looked at in the same price range. Fiberglass roof, corian, stainless steel appliances.

[TulsaSteve]

I'm thinking that the point is to leave the spare tire rimless. When you call for roadside assistance for a big rig, I believe they will mount the tire on the proper rim.

No rim = ability to mount on the dualies or the singles and more free pounds to carry important stuff like say an extra cooler...

[Chasracer]

Hi all, we have a 2007 SE 315 DS unit that we purchased just over a year ago. We like the floorplan compared to the '90 Pace Arrow we had before and the look of the unit itself. Like anything new, we've had our list of problems, all resolved by the dealer so we can't get too worked up about them. Cracked dash panel, A/C wiring issue, water pump vibrations, water heater coming loose, exhaust pipe, outer storage door locks installed backwards, a minor but annoying leak on the dump pipe. Probably a few more, but again each one by itself was minor. We've made a couple of trips and figured out some stuff along the way too. We tow a race car trailer most of the time and it actually seems to handle better and ride much nicer when doing so! Our next outing will be to Bristol, TN in few weeks, but we don't expect any surprises. We have upgraded the queen bed, installed some additional lights in storage areas, added vent covers and plan on installing a second A/C unit soon. We also plan on adding satellite tv before the next trip. I do all my own maintenance but obviously for some of the heavier work we'll have to rely on a dealer or RV service center in the future. I would have to say that at this point, while I wish the interior was just a bit more "upper-end", we are pleased with our RV and plan to keep it for quite a while.

[Dragon]

I bought my Georgetown 370 the 31st of Dec 2007. We picked it up on the 13th of Mar, 2008. We loaded out in Va and headed for TN on the 15th of Mar. The first night on the edge of VA and TN with the temp dipping to 38 we put everything into play to ensure no freeze ups, everything was fine. The next day we stopped about half way to Lebanon, TN and noiced that the furnance cycled two to three times before lighting. Then that night when we got into Lebanon we stopped and were going to rest, and the furnance would not come on at all. We parked in Timberline and Friendly Campers are right across the road. We put in electric heaters to stay warm, the next morn we went accross the road and got it fixed in about 2 hours. Nothing more than a bad cut out switch. Then we parked just down the road in a park, 3 days later we noticed that the back bathroom toilet had a intermittent leak in the water flush valve. (still have to get that fixed). then 20 days in our new home my wife was washing stuff in the kitchen sink. Corian top counter with SS sink and the whole sink dropped down. Of course on a Sunday. I inspected it to see what happened and found that the bottom under the Corian top was press board. The sink site with the top up against the underside of the Corian top. What do you know, they put the sink in with a few wood blocks up against the under side of the sink and put 1/4 in screw through a piece of metal to hold the whole thing up against the Corian top (great way to build something that is suppose to last 20 years. I went down purchase some 1 X 3 had it cut 8" long, some 1 3/8" screws. some liquid nail and put the sink back up and then put the wood strips underneath with liquid nail between the wood and press board then put in the screws for good measure. total cost twenty dollars and a lot of choice words for the person that put it in so shabbly the first time. But I don't think I will have any more trouble from the sink. Then move from one site to another about 400 feet and when I re-set up the MH, I lost the lights in the bedroom, still have not figured out what happened with them yet. The one thing I have noticed is the leveling system will auto level but in truth if you put a level on the floor it is not level, so you have to manually adjust it to get it to level correctly.

[Dragon]

Originally Posted by snarley

We have just completed the maiden long voyage on our 370 TS. Vancouver BC to Las Vegas via Idaho.(1400 miles) No major problems, a few monir mainly with electronics- the cd player only works on 10 volts and I dont want to run the generator to hear music: the steps ometimes retract when they are OFF and the door is closed, the water heater needs resetting often, the drivers feet dont get any heat, there seems to be a rear end whine under acceleration that is getting louder etc.
BUT- the hydraulics always work smoothly, no real problems either up or downhill. Geting somewhere between 6 and 8 mpg, nice smooth ride.
We are slowly making our way to Mazatlan Mexico so the rough roads there will be the real test.

Oh yeah , the best one- the rig came wit a spare tire-no rim. I bot a new steel rim and guess what =it wont fit in the spare tire trunk. Luckilly I had installed a very heavy duty bycicle rack , made in my own shop so we ca carry the mounted spare.
I'd be interested in comments from any other 370 owners.

more later
Snarley

See my full quote below on its own.

[BJGMFG]

Just returned from our maiden voyage in our new Georgetown. We only travelled about 2 hours from home and stayed 10 days. Since it rained a good amount of the time we were away, it gave us a good chance to check the coach for leaks. Fortunately, we didn't find any. We used the furnace with no problems each of the 10 days. The hot water heater works great. We were really happy with the coach and actually only found small problems. The contacts on the entry door aren't aligned properly, causing the outside steps to work a bit unpredictably and one arm on each awning doesn't "seat" correctly when they are retracted. The biggest problem we have found so far is that the one basement compartment door isn't fitted properly. There's a gap
in it large enough to allow cold air, bugs and other assorted critters in. As it is the compartment where my water heater is, I figure it is also causing the water heater to run more often. I'm waiting now for a phone call from the dealer so I can get it in to them. Since we want to go back to the campground for Memorial Day weekend, it's going to have to be today or tomorrow or it can wait until after the holiday weekend!

[just_ride]

On May 25, 2008 I traded the 2006 Vortex Toy Hauler 2500 SRD in for a 2008 Georgetown SE 350DS with bunk beds. I towered the Vortex to a campground on May 24 to spend a weekend camping with the wife a kids. A dealer was having a RV show there that weekend so the next day my wife, the kids, and I walked to where the dealer had the RV’s parked to look around. We looked at about 10 RV’s and agreed we liked the Georgetown SE 350DS with bunk beds. We decided to upgrade, the salesman drove it back to our camp site and we used it for the rest of the weekend. We where able to go throw the RV and make a list of what was wrong and needed to be fixed. At the end of the weekend I drove it back to where they where showing the RV’s with my list of thing that needed to be fix. The dealer drove it back to there shop and I picked it up on May 31 from the dealer. I was at the dealer for 2 hours going over the RV to confirm everything on the list was taken care off. No other issues at this time.

[MIke1625]

Live in the city and keep my rig based about 200 miles away and one drawback on short trip to Cape kennedy it didnt get fully charged. Batteries need to be fully up to get levelers and slides to work -- Still new to us and we had a floor full of manuals until we figured out all it needed was a good charge -- holiday weekend of course, Netx morning all was ok no other significant problems.

Did find one long green wire loose under stairs and if i remember it was hot but came from under area of steps -- not sure what it controls everything seems to be working ok taped it up fo now will figure it out next trip.

[Rondawg]

Hello Everybody, Teresa and I just picked up a 2008 357. Had a few issues very small, But i do have to say, they should pay more attention to the way they install stuff. got a great deal on it dealer demo with 2400 miles, Sun visors are a joke. But as a entry level RV what can you expect.

[JDickson]

Hi to all you Georgetown owners. Don't know if you still interested in adding to your list of owners, but we purchased our first Georgetown in April of this year (2008)
It's an XL 378TSF with the Ford V10 rated at 362hp. And I must say that so far we have had very little to no problems with it and we love it. The back up monitor stop working, but that's because it lost it's connection and once repluged in, it works fine.
We love the 378's layout, however the one improvement I would reccomend to Forest River would be to add a second slide out in the bedroom, one on each side , the extra room would be very appreciated.

[cfsoistman]

We have a 2007 Georgetown 370. Purchased at 2006 Hershey RV Show. There were quite a few minor issues with it that took some time to get resolved. Defective Radio that blew a fuse buried in the dash. 2 DVD Home Theatre Units. Shorted cable wires from rear of coach. A missing counter extension that took 3 shipments to get the right color. A fog light that just fell off. I'm sure all manufacturers have their problems but it seems that a thorough final quality check before allowing the unit to be shipped should be done. Everything was taken care of under warranty, a few I did myself rather than travel 252 miles round trip to get it done. Otherwise we have really enjoyed our purchase. I highly recommend adding air spring bags to the chassis. This really helped to stop any sway from passing trucks. I do have one complaint and ask your opinion and it is " Why doesn't Forest River provide some type of owner's manual binder with the complete set of manuals included"? My sink was full of booklets. I had 5 copies of the Convertor manual, 10 copies of the Transfer / Generator start info. But nothing about the Acrtic Pack. It took quite a while to sort all of this stuff.
__________________

[JDickson]

Hi, good question on the manuals. We had a Fleetwood Southwind prior to buying our GeorgeTown 378 and the Fleetwood came with everyting neatly in it's own binder with eveything marked, electrical, plumbing, A/C's Entertainment, etc. etc. Like you said there was no binder in ours either
and most of everything that we were use to was missing.
Called Forest River, No good, found a couple of e-mail addresses and sent to them, got some diagrams for the 110 & 12v electrical Had a person by the name of Ashley Evans get back to me about manuals saying whatever I needed she would e-mail **** still waiting. Maybe you would have better luck. here is her Phone & e-mail address (574) 206-7610
aevans@forestriverinc.com
It seems you really have to push the people at Forest River to get what you want, even if it's what you should have had and been there all along.
Joe & Jen:

[cfsoistman]

I got all of my manuals after about 3 months and just bought binders and sheet protectors to slide the books into. Some of the literature looked like the 10,000th copy from a bad copying machine, Text is at a 10 degree angle on the sheet. I'm surprised that they don't have a survey for their customers to reply to about their products. You'd think with all the competition out there getting feedback about what their customers like and/or dislike about their purchase. You never know what you doing wrong if you don't get feedback from the people that use your product and have constructive criticism as well as new ideas.
I've contacted Mike Burns @ Forest River and he has been great getting back to me.
mburns@forestriverinc.com

[gbburgess]

We purchased the 2007 Xl last March and spent 2 weeks in northern MN and the 4 weeks between IA and Baniff AB CAnada. Drove 8,000 miles last summer. No problems on the road. Ran great on the level and in the mountains was better than I had hoped. Traded up from a '92 GeorgyBoy after 10 years and 85K miles. Anyway, minor problems on delivery, mostly improper hookup of TV's. Front slide drug on carpet. Noise at door. Screen door and hand slide are a joke - but they do work.Like the floor plan and like most of the appointments. Yes, it is a inexpensive coach but it will suit our needs for the next few years. I have a great dealer in Shorewood here in Des Moines, IA. Forest River paid for the few repairs or changes that was required. Still happy and hoping to stay that way

Ed/Barb Burgess
GeorgeTown 370 XL

[TulsaSteve]

Coming up on 9 months since we took delivery of our 370XL. Took one trip this summer for a week. Planning some longer trips this summer. So far no significant issues that required a call to the dealer. A few head scratcher moments while I "learned" some of the tricks, but otherwise a very good coach.

Given the economic "issues" going on, I'm happy to have a $100K class A. Spent enough to have a nice coach for many years to come, didn't spend so much that I worry about the manufacture going under. Although Forest River is owned by Warren Buffet, so we also have that going for us...

[cfsoistman]

I agree, this coach has everything we wanted at a very reasonable price. We've had problems but nothing too severe that Forest River and our dealership didn't address and resolve. It's my getaway in the driveway. I watch football and Nascar races out there, well at least I start out watching, usually fall asleep but that sofa is so comfortable. I can't wait until spring to get traveling again. Have a Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy and Happy New Year. Charlie