Mistake in buying a Salem

[fastmixer]

I bought my 2010 Salem Toy Hauler in July of 2009. What a mistake. The carpet is cheap and when I vaccumed the first time pieces of the carpeting started coming out. The slides leak,construction of the furniture was poor,very poor, the door into the garage area is crooked there is a gap between the garage door and frame of camper, the material is fraying on all the cushions, the galley sink drains were not tightened from factory and now all the veneer is pealing from the front of the galley sink because everything in this unit is pressed wood and that isn't even a starter for the list of warranty work that this unit needs. Very shabby workmanship. I am so disappointed in this company, especially after paying such a price for a piece of junk. I took it to a Forest River Dealer in June and he is still waiting on permission for warranty work. I guess they made their money and now I am stuck with a piece of junk. I will never buy another Forest River product again. I just pray to God that I can get rid of this one. They will probably ban me from this site now and I really don't care. I can't even get a number to call someone at Forest River. This is sad. I purchased a LEMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KyDan]

Jeeze, didn't you actually LOOK at the trailer before you signed the
check???

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by fastmixer

I bought my 2010 Salem Toy Hauler in July of 2009. What a mistake. The carpet is cheap and when I vaccumed the first time pieces of the carpeting started coming out. The slides leak,construction of the furniture was poor,very poor, the door into the garage area is crooked there is a gap between the garage door and frame of camper, the material is fraying on all the cushions, the galley sink drains were not tightened from factory and now all the veneer is pealing from the front of the galley sink because everything in this unit is pressed wood and that isn't even a starter for the list of warranty work that this unit needs. Very shabby workmanship. I am so disappointed in this company, especially after paying such a price for a piece of junk. I took it to a Forest River Dealer in June and he is still waiting on permission for warranty work. I guess they made their money and now I am stuck with a piece of junk. I will never buy another Forest River product again. I just pray to God that I can get rid of this one. They will probably ban me from this site now and I really don't care. I can't even get a number to call someone at Forest River. This is sad. I purchased a LEMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What dealer did you buy it from?

[grandpaofthree]

Wow, sorry to hear about all of the issues. If it helps a number to reach Forest River is 574-642-2640

[fastmixer]

Thank you. I just want to get this thing fixed but that looks doubtful.
I bought the unit at Dixie RV in Hammond Louisiana. I would also recommend that no one buy anything from them. They are horrible at everything but taking your money.

[fastmixer]

Originally Posted by KyDan

Jeeze, didn't you actually LOOK at the trailer before you signed the
check???

Unfortunately, I had to work the next morning and had my fiance with me to help but apparently he didn't look as closely as I would have plus I couldn't see the leaking problem with the slides, windows and galley and did not vacuum the unit on the lot to see that the carpet fibers came out as I was vacuuming. The upholstery looked fine, but within 2 weeks it was fraying at the seams. I called the dealer immediately and they said they would order the items but never did. I had to have them shipped to me.

[grandpaofthree]

Forest River can give you information about other dealers that can do warranty work. Several others have found workmanship issues with their new rigs. Obviously, this is very troubling. However, it seems that when it comes to standing behind their work and "making it right", Forest River has a pretty good record. I have seen many posts where FR has helped owners get things fixed, even at times outside of warranty period.

Best of luck to you!

Ray

[pondlady]

Dixie is just down I-12 from me. We went there to look and when we found ourselves locked in the yard, we left. I understand why the gates have to remain locked (maybe), but they are not locked across the street at Berryland. Our salesperson had no answers to questions we had, so luckily we did not do business with them.

[NWJeeper]

Sorry to hear of your problems with the new unit. Do not expect though that this is just a Forest River issue. ALL RVs use cheap carpet and are put together with press board. There is very little real wood so as to keep the weight down. Most of the furniture in RVs comes from 3rd parties and is common to all. Only things like dinettes are made in house. Those of us that are experienced with new RVs know to go through and tighten all the plumbing connections as the jiggling down the road does tend to loosen them. The dealer should do this before delivering the unit but sadly most don't. If you buy a used RV usually all this stuff has been cleared up and you never know what the first owner went through. This is why I always advise first time RVrs to buy used so they don't get disillusioned with all the issues that are inevitable with a new RV.

Forest River has been very good from what I have seen here in standing behind their products so give them a chance. Your dealer might be another issue. Good ones are few and far between.

This is why doing a good PDI (pre delivery inspection) and using a checklist is sooo important. One should allow several hours to this process and not expect that the dealer will teach them how things work as most of the time they dont know.

Once things get ironed out you can hopefully enjoy your new rig. Hang in there!

[revrnd]

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

Sorry to hear of your problems with the new unit. Do not expect though that this is just a Forest River issue. ALL RVs use cheap carpet and are put together with press board. There is very little real wood so as to keep the weight down. Most of the furniture in RVs comes from 3rd parties and is common to all. Only things like dinettes are made in house. Those of us that are experienced with new RVs know to go through and tighten all the plumbing connections as the jiggling down the road does tend to loosen them. The dealer should do this before delivering the unit but sadly most don't. If you buy a used RV usually all this stuff has been cleared up and you never know what the first owner went through. This is why I always advise first time RVrs to buy used so they don't get disillusioned with all the issues that are inevitable with a new RV.

My brother has a 5er (Keystone built) that has had some quality issues. I went into the purchase of my Rockwood knowing that I wasn't buying a house or automobile. Still I can see the disappointment in spend good money on what you would consider less than perfect construction.

[SaskCampers]

I have to Ditto what everyone else has said, but I have one of the great dealerships (Minards Leisure World in Weyburn Sk) They did a very thorough PDI on the trailer but a few things got missed and it is probably more my pickiness then them missing things. They have responded within a day and in the case of our dining table had a new one on order from FR in 4 hrs from the time I sent pics of the hairline cracks. Find a good dealer and give FR a chance to make things right as I am sure they will. You will then be a Happy Camper (pun intended)

[ilovecamping]

We too knew when purchasing our new Shamrock 23ss HTT that it wasn't built as well as some. It is a very light weight trailer and therefore you have to deal with less quality. We traded a Puma 27RLS TT that was built wonderful but it was very heavy. The price we paid for each was about the same. We have purchased new 4 times now and 3 were Forest River. I do know that some things are a little crooked and maybe not quite as well done as it could have been but then this is there busiest season and they are pumping them out as fast as they can. When we ordered the Puma it was Jan and not nearly the busy season yet. I agree with giving FR a chance to resolve your issues. Best wishes to you.

[KyDan]

When someone joins our chat group and their first post is
a rant about how they bought such and such a trailer and it's a total
piece of crap, leaky roof, bad floors, poor carpet, etc etc I get
kind of defensive.
I like my trailer.
It's a Forest River!

And like I said, the first thing that comes to mind when I read
your post is "did you buy the thing sight un-seen"???
You wouldn't buy a car or a house without a thorough test drive or
walk thru.
Why buy a trailer that way??

If you talked to the dealer the way you typed here they are most
likely on the defensive and not in the mood to help you.
I also echo the others who said call Forest River.
Talk nice! If you pi-- off every one you talk to they are
not going to want to help you.
See about switching to another dealer who might try to take care
of you.
If you really and truly totally hate the trailer talk to a lawyer.
See what the dealer wants to take it back and cut your losses.
My 2¢

[aintgotnun]

Originally Posted by KyDan

When someone joins our chat group and their first post is
a rant about how they bought such and such a trailer and it's a total
piece of crap, leaky roof, bad floors, poor carpet, etc etc I get
kind of defensive.
I like my trailer.
It's a Forest River!

And like I said, the first thing that comes to mind when I read
your post is "did you buy the thing sight un-seen"???
You wouldn't buy a car or a house without a thorough test drive or
walk thru.
Why buy a trailer that way??

If you talked to the dealer the way you typed here they are most
likely on the defensive and not in the mood to help you.
I also echo the others who said call Forest River.
Talk nice! If you pi-- off every one you talk to they are
not going to want to help you.
See about switching to another dealer who might try to take care
of you.
If you really and truly totally hate the trailer talk to a lawyer.
See what the dealer wants to take it back and cut your losses.
My 2¢

Great post Dan. Thanks!

[milzat]

Originally Posted by fastmixer

Thank you. I just want to get this thing fixed but that looks doubtful.
I bought the unit at Dixie RV in Hammond Louisiana.

There's the problem.

I can tell you a few stories about DIXIE RV in Hammond.

[pondlady]

And I could add one more story. We did not buy from them after visiting the place.

[eightrac]

I have encountered about every type of failure that can occur with these RVs. Forest river is the worst when it comes to construction. Here's a list of what has happened to mine so far.

1.Front end water leaks caused water to pool under the floor in the front bedroom causing a musty smell and rotted floor through-out.

2. When removing the bottom 2 pieces of siding from the sides to repair the front end leak, encountered several wall studs that weren't even attached at the bottom (two of which were swinging in the wall).

3. Siding was ruined when removed because of the use of "liquid nails" on the siding, gluing it the the studs in the walls.

4. Water heater not properly installed leaked into the floor (rain water from outside) in the mid-section of the rv causing rot to form in the kitchen

5. Improperly installed roof vents caused leaks in the bathroom

6. Electrical system always lights the "overload" led no matter what is on or off.

7. Poor quality water filter broke off of wall under queen bed causing two plastic water lines to put pressure on couplings casuing leaks in the front bedroom.

8. TT is overly heavy (empty weight is posted as 5660 and I expected at least 6000lbs but mine completely empty weighs over 9900 lbs.)

9. Improperly routed lpg lines chaffed and caused a leak that nearly caused an explosion.

10. Water heater electics weren't plugged in, interior "cold" lines weren't tight and were leaking.

This was all in the second year of ownership. The rv was inspected prior to purchase by a seperate rv mechanic.

It now looks like a 1989 camper, not a 2007..... I'm completely disappointed with the quality of FR.

Forest Rivers response to all these issues..... Its out of warranty, sorry.

[Herk7769]

Eightrac,

If I had had the problems you described I would be very unhappy too. I hope your next camper gives you much joy since you had a lifetime of heartaches with the one you got.


Crying with you.

[tommyowen]

I LIVE IN MS. tHIS MAY I TRADED MY GRAYWOLF FRIVER IN FOR A NEW WILDWOOD AND LOVE IT. I ALSO DID NOT LIKE THE SALES REPS AT DIVIE RV. I GOT MINE FROM MILLER RV IN BATON ROUGE LA.

[08flagvlite]

Gee whiz; I actually LIKE my Forest river camper! While I feel for those of you that have had issues, I have only had 2 problems involving the dealer to fix, One was the world renowned concertone that didn't work when I got my camper home the first day, and the other was a blown circuit breaker/fuse that allows 12v to go from the battery to the unit. Oh, and a 110v refrigerator fuse. That's it. took delivery in march of 08, camped usually at least every 2 or 3 months. Sure, there are some small issues that come up, but I can fix most stuff that comes up, because i'm handy at that kind of stuff. Most things aren't even built BY Forest river; they just happen to use their products in the construction of campers. Randy