From joy to disappointment

[bob34787]

Originally Posted by Schnickle Fritz

Okay, so I can only behave for just so long... and inquiring minds want to know.... and my sense of humor may be a tad off... soooooooo

I have a friend who took the headboard off the wall at a hotel in the throes of passion..... but to take the whole dang bedroom slider bounding across the campground... well... I have a new meaning for the phrase... "now THAT'S something"!

at one time in the past year or so 4 of the RV's that I had bought off of Giant Rec. world were either on the lot for sale or in for service at the same time, the one that was in for service, besides mine, 2010 36re touring edition was the one the slide just did not stop when it went out.

[3basenjis]

Water pressure issue resolved. finally took a real shower.. Could actually do the dishes inside. One issue down.... Gunk in aerators and removed the water restrictor in the shower head....

[3basenjis]

We decided to take unit into a dealership. To fix the many issues that seem to be wrong with this unit. We are not taking into the dealer that sold it to us. He pretty much said in not so many words we don't repair RVs, we just sell them. There is a camping world dealer nearby they said that they could fix it with the forest River warranty. If forest river agrees to it. There is quit a laundry list and hoping they can fix all if not most of the issues.. We are just tired of taking on the financial burden of fixing warranty issues ourselves... Wish us luck.... I do hope to fall back in like with this trailer.

[Tm_rich]

We purchased a 2014 sandpiper 360 PDEK on 3/28/14 and absolutely fell in love with this trailer...well to no avail we have only had it in our possession for 23 days since....It's been at the dealer and they have done everything they could do...The dealer just sent the trailer back to Indiana for three weeks for a total rebuild... The dealer called us on Monday and Tuesday we went to inspect our so called luxury trailer and again to no avail it was all the same only a couple of minor cosmetic things were fixed and not the major issues...we refused to take possession of our trailer and the dealer contacted forest river and wow the good lord above is looking over us....now forest river has shipped a brand new 2015 model that's on it's way with a full swap out on our 2014..... Also with no extra charges or out of pocket money to us.....all I can say to everyone out there you have to get plum ugly and be patient and things will happen


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[Shortygc]

Originally Posted by 3basenjis

In March of this year we replaced our Carraige 5 th wheel with a new Brookstone model BK 315 RL. We were overjoyed with our selection as it was a good-looking unit. On our way home from the dealer which was approximately 120 miles from our residence the trailer all of a sudden experienced no breaks. The dealer had already closed so we were on our own to get home which thankfully we made it. . First time out camping we noticed that the awning was wired backwards. Retract was extend and extend was retract. Shower faucet had loose connections and flooded the whole basement section of this trailer. Call coachmen and they sent a replacement faucet which we reinstall ourselves. Our next trip was to Pacific Coast the trailer again experienced no breaks we stopped in Vacaville at Camping World and bought a roll of wire and a bunch of wire connectors. And rewired the trailer brakes completely. That seems to have fixed the issue with the breaks.... We have taken the unit out three more times since then and experienced extremely low water pressure, when we take a shower we have to with the water pump running even though we are hooked to city water. And now the exterior trim is coming off where it was siliconed on...... Are all brookstones like this or did we get a lemon... We never had issues with the Carraige.....

Sorry to hear this problem with your unit. We are having issues also with this same 5th wheel and the dealer has had our unit more than we have had it. They are trying to fix a list of problems we are having with our same unit you listed above. Wish we had not purchased it.

[3basenjis]

Originally Posted by Shortygc

Sorry to hear this problem with your unit. We are having issues also with this same 5th wheel and the dealer has had our unit more than we have had it. They are trying to fix a list of problems we are having with our same unit you listed above. Wish we had not purchased it.

Sorry to hear that.. Ours is now in for loose shower walls, the backsplash behind the stove fell off, bedroom tv does not work , you can see daylight behind the sofa on the back wall. I know how you feel. It is frustrating to purchase a new rig only to have so many problems....

[Shortygc]

Thanks for the report of your problems, I'll check this out on ours. We have a noisy blast every time the refrigerator starts during the day, leaks under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, leak at the shower door, emergency window you can't get to due to the height of the couch, lipert leveling system never worked by the front rear tire. Hopefully our dealer can get these areas fixed for us. They have had the unit more than we have. Like you, we love the trailer and look forward to traveling in it soon.

[BigJohnD]

I hate Carriage went under. I'm not knocking Forest River, they are a good bang for the buck, but not one fifth wheel they make can hold a candle to a Carriage in my opinion. Mobile Scout and Carriage were our favorites, until one sold out and started making junk, and the other went out of business. So now it's down to picking the lesser of two evils.

I hope you can come across some good luck and get yours 100%. We're at about 95% with ours getting the issues worked out of it. I'll never be 100% satisfied with it. But, we still like it, just ok.

[3basenjis]

Originally Posted by BigJohnD

I hate Carriage went under. I'm not knocking Forest River, they are a good bang for the buck, but not one fifth wheel they make can hold a candle to a Carriage in my opinion. Mobile Scout and Carriage were our favorites, until one sold out and started making junk, and the other went out of business. So now it's down to picking the lesser of two evils.

I hope you can come across some good luck and get yours 100%. We're at about 95% with ours getting the issues worked out of it. I'll never be 100% satisfied with it. But, we still like it, just ok.

I agree it's a shame that carriage went under. And we knew that we were not getting the same quality with the Brookstone as we had with the carriage. But we were not expecting the amount of problems that this one had. I'm not saying the carriage was trouble-free there were many times we went in and the silverware drawer had flung out and we picked up silverware all over the floor or the drawer guides broke, but that is a minor annoyance and did not affect the functionality of the coach....this one well hoping to get it to that level before the warranty wears out....

[BigJohnD]

Speaking of warranty, did you fill out the sheet for the second year warranty? Usually averages around $150 from Forest River, depending on model.

[schrederman]

I guess mine was made on Wednesday. It's never been back to the dealer. I had a skylight recall, but having heard bad stories about dealer fixes, I replaced it myself, and have had no problems with new cracks. I broke my sink, but replaced it with a stainless steel unit and expect no further issues there. Very minor things since, like loose screws and so forth. So far, 3 years of relatively trouble free ownership and happy camping.

I'll be trading this one off in a couple of years... I sure hope I get another one this good. I am truly sorry for those that buy into this thing only to be disappointed... and then get mistreated by the dealer and FR. I know it happens because there are so many horror stories... and they're not all just about Forest River products.

[Shortygc]

Just wanted to update all with the problems we had with our Coachmen 5th wheel. All problems have been repaired and the dealer has been awesome in getting us up and running. I do think Forest River needs to have better quality control on their units before they leave the factory, it sure would be less work for the dealer.

[B47]

Originally Posted by Shortygc

Just wanted to update all with the problems we had with our Coachmen 5th wheel. All problems have been repaired and the dealer has been awesome in getting us up and running. I do think Forest River needs to have better quality control on their units before they leave the factory, it sure would be less work for the dealer.

"...Forest River needs to have better quality control on their units before they leave the factory ..." Couldn't agree more and the need for better QC/QA has been frequently discussed here before,but mostly to no avail on the part of FR.

I have heard it said that a RV "Is a house on wheels and you have to expect these things." I can't fully agree with that - I agree with the "house on wheels" part,but a RV is built to be mobile and should be engineered and built to be so.

[OldCoot]

Using a set number of units/day as an incentive to go home early is the worst possible way to get quality. As long as this antiquated procedure is utilized, quality will suffer. If they want to improve using that method, let the errors be corrected by the person that made the mistake and on his own time with no pay!

[B47]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Using a set number of units/day as an incentive to go home early is the worst possible way to get quality. As long as this antiquated procedure is utilized, quality will suffer. If they want to improve using that method, let the errors be corrected by the person that made the mistake and on his own time with no pay!

That would be a partial solution - is setting a daily production goal really how FR operates their assembly line?

[BigJohnD]

Most of them do. Take that out of the equation and slow WAY down, and it might help minimize a few issues. If you or I built one, we'd take pride in our build. With an assembly line worker with the above mentioned incentive of going home early, you can imagine the little amount of pride taken. When I spent almost a week at Tiffin having repairs done on our previous motorhome, I got to study the people and assembly process of their product pretty good. You could follow one down the line from frame to finish and easily catch 20 plus mistakes that would probably make it to the dealer. Once at the end of he line, there'd be notes all over it for corrections. So there I sat reading them on the lot, watching and waiting to see what got repaired. Some did, others got taken off and a "Ready for shipment" tag stuck in he windshield. A lot of people go follow their coach down the line and are able to catch almost EVERY mistake made and have it fixed. Tiffin is happy to have you there and happy to fix the stuff. You can walk in, on and around your coach while they build it, and everybody will answer questions and do almost anything you ask. But, if you're not standing there, things slip by as a quota is to be met, and not everybody shares the same level of pride in what they do. Not sure if anybody within the FR companies would let you do that (Follow your Rv down the line as it's built). What's cool about the above, is the people who follow their coaches take pictures and document everything. They know where every line and wire is run and how to get to it. I can think of a ton of people on here who'd appreciate that.


Sent by ME

[wingedone]

Originally Posted by B47

That would be a partial solution - is setting a daily production goal really how FR operates their assembly line?

It was when we toured the Chaparral/Brookstone plant a couple of years ago. They had to make so many 5th's a day. Whether that took 6 hours or 10, was up to the workers. And only 2 QC personnel for all the things that go into the trailer from a bare frame to finish.

You can imagine the amount of peer pressure someone would feel, even if they wanted to take their time and do a good job, from those that just want out quickly each day, to get it done no matter what.

I believe they said they worked about 6 hours a day.

[B47]

Originally Posted by wingedone

It was when we toured the Chaparral/Brookstone plant a couple of years ago. They had to make so many 5th's a day. Whether that took 6 hours or 10, was up to the workers. And only 2 QC personnel for all the things that go into the trailer from a bare frame to finish.

You can imagine the amount of peer pressure someone would feel, even if they wanted to take their time and do a good job, from those that just want out quickly each day, to get it done no matter what.

I believe they said they worked about 6 hours a day.

Now that I think about it,we visited the Silverback (other models made there also) plant in IN a couple of years ago at the invitation of the then SB warranty person Justin Day. It was early in the afternoon when our tour started and to my surprise the plant was almost vacant of workers and no production was going on.

I asked Justin why no production was taking place and he said the Amish production workers have farms to run and that their FR job was sort of a second job,so they start early and leave about 12:00.




What you said is appartently true about how that plant and perhaps others are run.

IMHO that's no way to run a business such as making RVs. Don't bother telling me if more time and detail was put into making their RVs better,they would be too expensive for the average guy to buy. When a person buys one of their RVs they have every right to expect the best quality in that RV.

And Yes I know that FR isn't the only RV manufacturer that runs this way- that doesn't make it right.