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Old 08-02-2018, 06:14 PM   #1
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Re: When do you call your RV a Lemon

I own a 2017 Heritage Glen 272RL. Both my wife and I love it. Two slides, rear living room and picture window plus center island kitchen along with an outdoor kitchen but an RV queen bed (76 inches). Purchased new in March 2017.

I have an electric tongue and replaced the switch at least 4 times in 1 1/2 years. The thermostat control has failed to operate heat or ac until reset at least twice then grill stopped working. These are minor issues, I know.

After warranty expired my tv roof antenna (over the air) stopped receiving signals (cable still worked), and recently the water heater burst.

I live in New England (Massachusetts) and covered plus winterize this past winter. So now I am in a dilemma. What will break next? Do I wait for something else to go wrong or do I cut my losses, turn this travel trailer in, and purchase new.

Is this part of the joy's of owing an RV? I am hoping these few issues are the extent of my problems and better times will present themselves.

Just curious if others have had such bad luck. Anyone have any ideas, suggestions, or experiences or am I alone?
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Old 08-02-2018, 06:18 PM   #2
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Within minutes of purchase !
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Old 08-02-2018, 08:01 PM   #3
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I hate to say but your list of issues is pretty mild compared to many.
All seem to be failures by things made by RV parts suppliers, not by FR.
Other than the WH bursting, the rest are minor. Wouldn't by any stretch, call your trailer a lemon.
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Old 08-02-2018, 08:24 PM   #4
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I wouldn’t call it a lemon either. We have a 2015 Hemisphere, the sister to the Heritage Glen. We have had the AC replaced twice, the tv replaced, the stabilizer switches both replaced, and I don’t remember what else. The carpet was torn on the slide from the beginning. Probably someone at the dealership caught the binding on a chair leg when opening the thing up. The only thing wrong from the factory was that the slide did not align correctly. The dealer fixed the slide and the carpet before we brought it home. Most of our problems have been due to parts supplied by other companies.

Then, this past fall my DH hit a tree and did some damage to the awning (had to be replaced), the corner of the trailer had to be redone, scratches on the side fixed, and wallboard inside fixed. So, the most expensive repairs were due to owner accident. We keep camping and enjoying her. That is life.
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Old 08-02-2018, 08:29 PM   #5
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i have a 2016 heritage glen 372rd. 1 year warranty was just up this spring. Had a punch list fixed before the warranty was up. Your troubles seem pretty mild.
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Old 08-03-2018, 01:15 PM   #6
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[QUOTE=Kimber45;1889929]i have a 2016 heritage glen 372rd. 1 year warranty was just up this spring. Had a punch list fixed before the warranty was up. Your troubles seem pretty mild

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Old 08-03-2018, 01:45 PM   #7
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I have had 2 Jaycos and never had a problem with either one that I couldn't I fix cheap, This is my first FR {21ultra light} We put 4000mi on it from Iowa to Nova Scotia with no issues. I took it up the Trans Labrador Highway with full fresh water tank. The roads are terribly rough with frost heaves. My kitchen drawers too a beating, I was able to patch it together and get it home through Newfoundland with-out any other problems. I beefed up the structure that holds the drawers and put inn 100# drawer slides. They will never break again. Cost me $100. My tanks never fell off, I was comfortable every night and it was a great trip. This thing is well built and I don't foresee any issues.
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Old 08-03-2018, 02:02 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bikendan View Post
I hate to say but your list of issues is pretty mild compared to many.
All seem to be failures by things made by RV parts suppliers, not by FR.
Other than the WH bursting, the rest are minor. Wouldn't by any stretch, call your trailer a lemon.
X2. Keep in mind that many of the items have warrantees that extend past the 1 year FR warranty. Suburban warrantees their WH's for two years. Now, if it burst from frost, that would not be covered. LCI jack switches, that's a common problem. Purchase a jack cover at Walmart for $10 and it will protect the switches from the elements. T.V. antennas are warranteed by Winegard. In most cases Dometic products have a two year warranty.

As previously stated, your problems are minor.
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Old 08-03-2018, 03:57 PM   #9
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When do you call it a lemon? When things start to go sour.
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Old 08-03-2018, 04:01 PM   #10
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"I have an electric tongue and replaced the switch at least 4 times in 1 1/2 years."

I had problems with my tongue jack and found it was blowing a fuse. This seemed to be caused by allowing the jack to retract and hit the stop. Since I now allow the base to only come about an inch from the top, I haven't had a problem.
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Old 08-03-2018, 05:11 PM   #11
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Have a 2015 Cedar Creek 5th wheel. I had so many issues the first year. Got tired of dealing with incompetent dealers so starting fixing myself. Electric switch may be under size amperage wise. Or maybe connections aren’t adequate. Look for source of failure like a hot spot. I wouldn’t call it a lemon not likely to qualify anyway. Good luck.
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Old 08-03-2018, 05:28 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KEN9XL View Post
I own a 2017 Heritage Glen 272RL. Both my wife and I love it. Two slides, rear living room and picture window plus center island kitchen along with an outdoor kitchen but an RV queen bed (76 inches). Purchased new in March 2017.

I have an electric tongue and replaced the switch at least 4 times in 1 1/2 years. The thermostat control has failed to operate heat or ac until reset at least twice then grill stopped working. These are minor issues, I know.

After warranty expired my tv roof antenna (over the air) stopped receiving signals (cable still worked), and recently the water heater burst.

I live in New England (Massachusetts) and covered plus winterize this past winter. So now I am in a dilemma. What will break next? Do I wait for something else to go wrong or do I cut my losses, turn this travel trailer in, and purchase new.

Is this part of the joy's of owing an RV? I am hoping these few issues are the extent of my problems and better times will present themselves.

Just curious if others have had such bad luck. Anyone have any ideas, suggestions, or experiences or am I alone?
New is not going to be any better and probably worse.
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Old 08-03-2018, 06:29 PM   #13
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Most RV’s are lemons the day they roll off the assembly line. So, call them that if you wish. I just accept what the RV industry is and make the best of it. I am not letting the poor-quality products turned out day-after-day by the RV industry interfere with my enjoyment of travel and the outdoors. At least whomever or whatever made the planet we live on, it is perfect in most ways. I try not to lose sight of that.
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Old 08-03-2018, 09:08 PM   #14
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Brand new 2018 FR Rockwood 8311WS. First camping trip, one morning after a night of on and off rain, at 5:30 am, tongue jack started going up and down on it's own, and then died completely. (Found out it had been recalled, but wasn't replaced) Got any idea what a P.I.T.A. it is raising and lowering a tongue jack with a ratchet? When it's about 85 degrees with 100% humidity. Next night at camp, bedroom door wouldn't open - a couple of screws never installed and one that was, was stripped so bad (on the door slide) it dropped down, blocking the door. I fixed it myself because I was afraid that if I took it to a dealer they would have cut a hole in the wall of the storage above the TV to install screws, then glue a piece of paneling over the hole. It would take me an hour to explain what I had to do to fix that. One window treatment never had screws installed on the bottom, just flapping in the breeze. Front screen door wouldn't close because the catch plate was too far from the door latch. Both kitchen and bathroom sink drains leaked - kitchen drain coupling nut never tightened, bathroom sink drain had a paper thin gasket that wouldn't seal, took it apart and sealed it with plumbers putty. There's more too, but you get the idea. We still love our trailer, but the workmanship is horrible. And it's not just FR, from what I hear, it's the whole industry. BTW, we've had it for less than a month.
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Old 08-04-2018, 12:53 AM   #15
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My repairs (so far)

2017 Sabre 36 BHQ

1. Deadbolt won't close all the way-ground it down about 1/8"
2. Bed room door wouldn't latch-made the latch hole slightly larger
3. Water damage under rear window-removed, resealed, re-installed
4. Dead short in black leg of 50 amp service wire-ran new wire from plug to breaker box
5. Front closet door rail screws failed-replaced them with nuts and bolts
6. Medicine cabinet mirror latch glue failed (mirror broke)-not fixed yet
7. Three screws working up through roof-slit rubber membrane, removed screws, replaced with slightly larger screws, patched roof
8. Random screws falling on floor by fireplace-not repaired yet
9. Blown tire-(properly inflated and not overloaded)
10. Front A/C randomly changes settings-replaced thermostat (seems slightly better, but not perfect)
11. Plastic cover under slide came loose and got crunched when slide put in-re-installed with staple gun (had to cut it a little shorter to fit)

Bottom line, I won't buy another Forest River product. Owned a CrossRoads before which I'll probably go back to or try a Jayco. Also this camper is stored in-doors. Just when I think I have the "bugs" worked out of it, there's something else to fix.
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Old 08-04-2018, 06:22 AM   #16
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KEN9XL your list is small compared to some.

Was the water heater drained when it was winterized? If not that is operator error and not a defect or workmanship flaw.

You didn't specify but I'm assuming that your tongue jack is made by LCI. I'm not impressed with mine either and will replace it with a Husky like I had on my old TT when it fails completely. For now I cover it with a plastic bucket to keep it dry inside.

Most of your problems are part of the joy of getting the bugs worked out of a new RV. The problems should be fewer and farther between now that you've got those issues taken care of.

I can tell you of the horror story that my daughter and son in law went through with their new Coleman by Keystone TT last year but it would take too long to list everything and what CW did and mostly didn't do to fix it.

Keep your TT and enjoy it. There will be issues along the way, that's just the way that it is.
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Old 08-04-2018, 02:37 PM   #17
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Marti ... Funny you should say that about the electric tongue jack. Mine does not blow fuses, but have found stopping jack retracting a fraction of inch from stop has remedied the problem so far. Her is hoping, luck continues.

DW ... found out antenna has its own separate two year warranty and hot water heater has separate 18 month warranty. Looked into it only after writing this thread. I guess I thought warranty was similar to a car. If it is a Chevy or Ford they cover it even if it were made by some company overseas. RV's, not so. Individual chases separate companies.

Thank you for letting me know this information regarding an RV and situation is not drastic. Just thought it odd that all started happening after Forest River warranty expired. Part of the joys of ownership.
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Old 08-07-2018, 11:26 AM   #18
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We bought our 5th wheel in February of 2016, A Lemon ?

I'm just sitting back and enjoying all the lemon aid I have.
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