Almost Coachmen Owners

BigJoe · 10-23-2015, 11:01 PM

My wife and I have negotiated a deal with our local Coachmen dealer on a new Catalina 293QBCK Legacy Edition. The final paper work is scheduled to be completed on Friday of next week and we are very excited. This evening my wife was searching the world-wide-web when she found a couple of web pages that do nothing but display horror stories from dissatisfied owners of Forest River products. Naturally, she is second guessing our decision to complete the purchase.

I understand that these products are made by man, will fail eventually and do have issues no matter the brand or manufacturer. My question is this... Are the issues represented on these websites indicative of Forest River products or is my assumption correct that there are some individuals who are simply not capable of owning this type of product regardless of who made it?

ResQfrog · 10-24-2015, 06:51 AM

Have her check some of the sites that are for other manufactures and she will find horror stores for those brands to. If she goes to IRv2.com she can find the same things about Thor products and some Jayco units.

Almost all the builders get the major components from the same suppliers. Lippert, Atwood, Dometic, etc. You will even find that the wood, metal and fiberglass components come from the same hand full of suppliers.

Also remember more people will post bad things than they will good things. We had some issues with our new unit and so far Coachmen has been taking care of them. Coachmen was better at taking care of the problems than the dealer was. The dealer actually made some of the problems worse.

You can also attend the annual FROG rally or annual Coachmen Owners rally in Goshen and get factory service. The best you can get.

Good luck.

BigJoe · 10-24-2015, 09:39 AM

ResQfrog, thanks for the advise. I made some of the same arguments that you have made but being that I am a rank-amateur on the subject my opinion caries no weight. My wife was able to find the exact same negative-only websites for other builders and is now much more relaxed and happy with our decision.

Also, we are very happy to see so many involved owners of FR products on this forum. We look forward to joining the family.

DreiHunde · 10-24-2015, 10:19 AM

Also remember that those that are upset yell the loudest while those who are happy are busy enjoying theirs! As ResQFrog mentioned Coachmen seems to be pretty quick at taking care of issues. I'm pretty happy with our Catalina and wouldn't hesitate buying another Coachmen product!

Crambo · 10-25-2015, 01:51 PM

We will be picking up our new Catalina later this week and I am doing a bunch of reading so I can look out for common issues.

G-reg · 10-27-2015, 06:28 PM

We have owned two coachmen tt and had no complaints. Our next will be a coachmen too, probably, maybe.

2016 Coachmen Catalina 273dbs
2013 F150 Supercrew 6.2L with 3.73

DaveandSue · 10-27-2015, 06:59 PM

Get it,use it and enjoy it.Ours has had very small problems and those were not with the build. Small time parts and only two of them. One dump valve cable broke and the "El Cheapo" micro wave quit.Both were replaced by our dealer.
Now comes the big one.Our front cap on our Chappy 5er has gone hazy.All is in the works to be fixed under warranty,even though our warranyt was up in April. Coachman is fixing it. A local,to our dealer in Tulsa,is going to paint it.Had bad gel coat.Again nothing Coachman built.Just bad vendor product.Good luck and safe travels in your new unit.

Kenz · 10-27-2015, 07:06 PM

We are currently on our 4th coachmen 5th wheel, toying with the idea of making it 5 (number of grandkids growing, room shrinking). 3 new, 1 used (1 year old) and had issues with each one. Nothing serious, taken care of by the dealer quickly and properly. That's why #5 will be a coachmen as well. Have to remember to that the other brands are "brands from forest river", while coachmen is its own company owned by forest river. So when you call coachmen service you are talking to people that have been coachmen employees for years. I've been to they're service center and dealt with there techs and was very impressed. Very good customer service. They also have a small campground right at the factory free for coachmen owners (not much, but there is an ice cream shop just across the road, lol).
And as mentioned, at the rally the service guys spent the whole week at the rally sun up to sun down doing free repairs (you pay for parts only). Threes another benifit as forest river owners got the FROG rally, coachmen have there rally. Since coachmen is owned by forest river you can attend both!

Crambo · 10-27-2015, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveandSue

Get it,use it and enjoy it.Ours has had very small problems and those were not with the build. Small time parts and only two of them. One dump valve cable broke and the "El Cheapo" micro wave quit.Both were replaced by our dealer.
Now comes the big one.Our front cap on our Chappy 5er has gone hazy.All is in the works to be fixed under warranty,even though our warranyt was up in April. Coachman is fixing it. A local,to our dealer in Tulsa,is going to paint it.Had bad gel coat.Again nothing Coachman built.Just bad vendor product.Good luck and safe travels in your new unit.

What dealer did you buy from in Tulsa? We are getting ours from Dean's RV in Tulsa.

**Flybob** · 10-27-2015, 07:58 PM

We have had our Coachman for a year with no issues. As you mentioned these are built by humans so it is possible that you may have some issues. The key is to not let your excitement cloud your better judgement and accept ( sign paperwork) your Coachman until it is the way you want it. Do a thorough PDI and tell the dealer I will accept it when any issues you find are corrected. Get the FR 2nd yr warranty extension ( not a dealer or aftermarket warranty . Video the PDI in case you forget how something works.

DaveandSue · 10-28-2015, 09:56 AM

We bought ours from Hunter RV. I can't say enough good things about them. We live just south of Wichta, Ks. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive,but our local dealer wouldn't meet the price Hunter gave us. Both on the 5 er and on our trade in.

wingedone · 10-28-2015, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJoe

My wife was able to find the exact same negative-only websites for other builders and is now much more relaxed and happy with our decision.

Misery loves company.

stallsmi · 10-28-2015, 04:43 PM

I am on our third travel trailer, one starcraft and two coachmen. I won't buy another coachmen as we have had nothing but problems due to poor construction and sloppy dealer support. As stated, all brands have problems. But my starcraft trailer was bought in 2002 and has had very few minor problems. It's still going strong today (my son has taken it over). Coachmen trailers, in my experience with two of them, seem to fall apart. On this forum, you will find some posters with nothing but complaints, and some who believe coachmen can't do wrong. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Caveat emptor.

Coachmantom · 10-30-2015, 03:14 PM

We own a 2014 Coachman Brookstone 334RE for less than two years and it has been a disaster. It has spent more time at dealers than in use. Got stuck 1000 miles from home waiting to get slide out fixed. Will not buy another one. That said we had a 2007 Cardinal 29' fifthwheel and it was great. One minor issue and dealer was great.

BigJoe · 10-30-2015, 04:01 PM

We will be picking up the new Catalina tomorrow morning and hope that our experience over time is a positive one. I sell steel fabrication machinery for a living and I know first hand that even the best manufacturers can and will produce a product that has more than it's fare share of problems.

Making a buying decision of this type can not be based solely on the manufacturer's reputation; the dealer's reputation and commitment to keeping the customer up and running or on-the-road must be evaluated. When problems do occur, and they will, you will most often be dealing with the dealer. So, for me, the measure of a good dealer is not who will cut the price the most or throw in the most accessories, but how they will handle problems when they arise.

Guess I'm about to find out how good I am at judging people's character and commitment to their customers. Thank you all for your replies. It has been educational and reassuring. Look forward to more discussions.

Coachmantom · 10-30-2015, 05:36 PM

Big Joe
We hope you have a great experience with the new rig. Pretty sure we got a lemon. Forest River is very well known. Including the Coachman. Love the looks and layout of ours for what we use it for. Getting ready for a 3 month and over 5,000 mile trip in ours.

Major Malfunction · 11-04-2015, 01:46 PM

I've had my 2015 Apex 300 BHS about 7 months. Overall, I'm in love with it but that's based on the layout, weight, and bang for the buck.

Think about how many things can go wrong with a car and then how many can go wrong with owning a house. Put the 2 together and that's a TT!! That being said, things are going to break going down the road at 65mph, things are going to wear out, and things are sometimes just not engineered very well.

My TT is at the dealer right now for warranty service. Been there a week now. The LED lights in the front blew out and the overhead running lights died. And the heat in the back bunk room was apparently never connected. Parts have been ordered for all and waiting to hear when it will be fixed.

However the one BIG deal is that my frame rails are already rusting. Not just some surface rust. i mean like the paint has blistered and fallen off in a lot of places where you can see the primer or the bare steel. It's now rusting in quite a few places. My 15 year old Sunline I traded in had better undercarriage than this thing!! If the paint is coming off it already and its rusting, where will I be in 5 years?

Dealer said they are in contact with Coachmen and waiting to hear what they say. Was this poor craftsmanship or poor paint? I'm hoping poor paint and they quickly take care of it. We shall see.

While things WILL go wrong with a TT, it all comes down to your level of expectations of what's acceptable and what isn't. Granted, that's as long as you can spot the issues before the 1 year warranty runs out!

chuckw5kav · 11-06-2015, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveandSue

Get it,use it and enjoy it.Ours has had very small problems and those were not with the build. Small time parts and only two of them. One dump valve cable broke and the "El Cheapo" micro wave quit.Both were replaced by our dealer.
Now comes the big one.Our front cap on our Chappy 5er has gone hazy.All is in the works to be fixed under warranty,even though our warrany was up in April. Coachman is fixing it. A local,to our dealer in Tulsa,is going to paint it.Had bad gel coat.Again nothing Coachman built.Just bad vendor product.Good luck and safe travels in your new unit.

Guzzzzzz Dave and Sue sorry to hear about the front cap, that's a
great looking Chappy, glad to hear Coachmen is stepping up to the
plate.

To Big Joe, we have a 2006 Coachmen Chappy 5er, second owners
and had very little problems, welcome to the group, happy camping
from our family to yours, hope to see you down the road

You may also like: