Forest River Bla Bla Bla

[rogerhjr]

I purchased a brand new Forest River Wildcat BHX 312 in 2012. In the first 12 months of purchase, the camper spent 6 months either at the dealer or the manufacturer. Hot water heater problems, slide motor problems, slide not installed properly, tables collapsing, tires that blow out and should have been re called, all sorts of electrical problems, etc, etc. Of course now that this lemon is out of warranty, additional problems are arising. If anyone is doing their research on what type of camper to buy, I would encourage you to look at any other manufacturer than Forest River.

[TURBS]

No thanks!
Perfectly happy with my forest river!
And I'LL buy another as well.



"sabre owners united!"


turbs

[SYE]

Me too, I loved my Cardinal, and now I love my Columbus. We had issues as well, but FR stood behind their products and took care of them.

[thetanu539]

I think Roger is speaking to the wrong crowd since the majority of us love our FR products.

[LittlePM]

I have had less problems with my FR then with any other manufacturer, I think I'm good with FR

[bikendan]

Roger, you're fortunate that we have a Wildcat rep that's a member here and has been very helpful resolving issues with Wildcat owners.

i'm surprised that you posted this negative post without doing some research on the Wildcat sub-forum. you would've found his posts and all the effort he's made helping them.
you might have contacted him first and give him a chance to assist you, before making your first post a slam on FR.

the rest of us that own other brands, wish we had someone like him in our corner.

[TURBS]

Besides, no WELCOME post to introduce yourself.
Thread will likely be full forest river loving enthusiasts and one or two haters.

Its ok tho with only one post to your credit most wont even look.

"sabre owners united!"


turbs

[Vern]

(sarcasm intended), but welcome to the forum (in all seriousness).

Hopefully you can learn something here to help you deal effectively with whatever problems you are presently having with your rv and enjoy it more.

[Weezer]

DH and I have owned two Forest River RVs ....first a Flagstaff V-Lite bumper pull...and one mid range issue that was resolved quickly by our dealer and FR. Now we own a Flagstaff 5th wheel. Took it in the first of July with a list of minor issues (yes I mean minor...one being that the wall clock didn't keep time)

ALL issues were resolved no questions asked.

That's good enough for us.

[DDC]

Welcome and I'm sorry you are getting kicked on this site for posting your frustration with the manufacturer, you are not the first to show this and as BIKENDAN says talk to the rep on this forum, make sure your problem does not emanate from your dealer, good luck.

[MeepMeep]

Had you been a regular on our forum, I suspect you may have solved a few problems along the way by utilizing the prodigious amount of knowledge and common sense that is traded here. Not sure what you hoped to accomplish by blasting FR.....I don't own a Wildcat, but I've paid attention to how closely the rep follows the posts and answers questions from Wildcat owners. Had you been participating over the past two years, maybe you'd have had more success with your rig. Having said that, it's not too late to get started......

Good luck and happy trails.....

[Weezer]

DDC,

kicked? I see others sharing their OWN experiences with FR, which so far are 8 to 1 positive.

YMMV

[Seasonal]

Originally Posted by rogerhjr

I would encourage you to look at any other manufacturer than Forest River.

Welcome to FR Forums

While shopping, I would also encourage everyone to look around. When I went to my last camping show, I saw plenty of good campers and lots of great ideas in the marketplace.

Hope you can trade your unit and get another one that makes you happy, FR or not...

[rogerhjr]

I think its great you folks have had good experiences with Forest River. I have spoken with anyone that would listen with Wildcat and Forest River. Everyone was always nice. This doesn't change the fact that I paid for a camper and was only able to use it half the time, because it was always broken. Now that it is out of warranty, nothing has changed. Had to delay leaving my last trip by 6 hours. We had to get a mobile rv fix it guy to help get the bedroom slide to go back in. (not fixed, just back in place so we could go home) I still have to buy a new slide motor and install it. I am posting my frustration to anyone who will listen at this point. We camp about 2 times per month. Are campers just not built like they once were? Are they not designed to be used this often? Please keep in mind, this camper was purchased brand new in 2012.

[youroo]

Rodger,I have had (Major Issues) with our unit. We still Love it,about like a Bad child? Good luck on other brands being any better,we have had (SOBs) and they had Big Issues as well. Good Luck! Youroo!!

[B47]

The topic of this thread will probably never be fully resolved to everyone's satisfaction. But here's my take on it.

I can understand some problems FR owners have with their units - either new or used.

What I don't/can't understand why FR management continues to crank out their products knowing that there are continuing problems with their workmanship,various appliances including the tires they put on their units ( I know there are some FR owners who have no problems with the tires on their units,but many have had serious issues with them), maybe I'm wrong,but I don't hear stories from car and truck owners who have experienced blowouts within the first 100-1000 miles of their vehicles life - granted the Ford Expedition tire problem was an exception and IIRC there hasn't been a similar reoccurrence. Isn't something wrong when some FR buyers replace the OEM tires with a different brand before their first trip and there are reports here of some people doing just that.

Given this,where is the Quality Assurance/Quality Control that almost every other company that runs a production line has. Can't/don't FR warranty managers have some system to track the various reliability of their workmanship problems and vendor supplied appliances?

Sure there are many FR buyers/owners who swear to the quality of their unit,but some of them simply accept the fact that they will have problems with their units and just either fix them their selves or just live with them. But remember we are talking NEW units here and not used ones.

YMMV.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by rogerhjr

I purchased a brand new Forest River Wildcat BHX 312 in 2012. In the first 12 months of purchase, the camper spent 6 months either at the dealer or the manufacturer. Hot water heater problems, slide motor problems, slide not installed properly, tables collapsing, tires that blow out and should have been re called, all sorts of electrical problems, etc, etc. Of course now that this lemon is out of warranty, additional problems are arising. If anyone is doing their research on what type of camper to buy, I would encourage you to look at any other manufacturer than Forest River.

Roger,

Everything you mentioned should have been caught by your dealer.

A lot of us on the forums are very happy with our rigs. Rather than just be a loyalty post, may I offer some suggestions to you?

1. The Wildcat Factory Rep is on the forums, perhaps if you could discuss with him, a resolution could be achieved
2. Every year Forest River hosts a huge rally in Goshen, IN. Before & during the rally Forest River owners get FREE maintenance on their rigs - in or out of warranty. The cut off for registration was 15 July, but you never know what might happen if you call them (and can make the trip to Goshen)

Hope these tips help!

[B47]

Originally Posted by HSVBamaBob

Roger,

Everything you mentioned should have been caught by your dealer.

A lot of us on the forums are very happy with our rigs. Rather than just be a loyalty post, may I offer some suggestions to you?

1. The Wildcat Factory Rep is on the forums, perhaps if you could discuss with him, a resolution could be achieved
2. Every year Forest River hosts a huge rally in Goshen, IN. Before & during the rally Forest River owners get FREE maintenance on their rigs - in or out of warranty. The cut off for registration was 15 July, but you never know what might happen if you call them (and can make the trip to Goshen)

Hope these tips help!

I'm interested in knowing why you say " Everything you mentioned should have been caught by your dealer."

Why weren't they "caught" at the factory before the unit left the line? The Dealer is the second set of eyes to see/check the unit. Granted some dealers are worse than others when it comes to this area,but the factory should build/install/test their unit to assure that everything is done properly.

[BombDoc]

Love my FR product. Sorry you are having issues. Best of luck.

[Wiscampsin]

Put us down in the 'Love ours' category too. We did have a couple very minor issues, cord broke on day/night shade and galley faucet handle set screw stripped out. Both were taken care of by our dealer. Considering how many different components from different manufacturers go into a camper it's not surprising that things fail/break. It's not FR that needs more quality control, IMHO the suppliers of all the different sub assemblies need quality control too.