Disappointed with Forest River

[woo10-210]

Geez. This was a painful thread to read. I remember on more occasions than I can count on both hands trying to light the tt's water heater pilot light with a twisted piece of burning newspaper lit with book matches in a blowing wind, in the dark, in sub-freezing temperatures. Technology has spoiled us!

[sherman12]

woo10-20, X2!

djbiz1, I think that is exactly why many recommend buying a little used year or two rig vs. the trials and tribulations of a brand new rig and what you have gone through.

[NJKris]

Originally Posted by jd4010

I'm just the opposite....love technology. Like being able to control RV slides, lights, etc from my phone is awesome.

What I don't like is phantom technology. If you are going to give me buttons, then they should work (do something). As noted...the In Command has options to control the electric, gas or both on hot water but they aren't being used. It's like buying a stripped down car yet they provide all the buttons of a fully loaded car that do nothing. Makes no sense.

I love it too. Until it doesn't work right. Then you have another headache you never had before. I'm all for remote control of entertainment systems. Not in favor of controlling too much. My home is a 'smart home' that operates mostly off my alarm system hub. It's great being able to control lighting and thermostat remotely, but when it glitches, it's a PITA.

[Splashes3]

...and back in the day, it was easy to work on a car engine.....now, so much is packed under the hood you can't even find the spark plugs....how do you know if a system as failed - or the computer has......RVs are just as bad.

Everybody wants a button to push.

[tomkatb]

Frankly including the switch on the panel for the water heater encourages turning the water heater on empty.

As I stand there with the cover to the water heater on the ground I have to stick my hand in there to turn it on. Encourages me to make sure the valves are correct and the tank is full.

KISS!

[Chuck_S]

I'm with Tom. I thought my water heater was gas only as there was no switch for it. But after I found there was a circuit breaker I looked more closely.

Sure enough there's an electrical switch on the heater, just swing down the door, remove the safety clip, and press the switch On. Safety clip prevents the instant burn out of the electric element when there's no water in the tank. Trailer is winterized, water heater breaker and tank switch are Off, and the safety clip back in place.

Finding the electric element was dirt simple as every RV dealer has them in stock as High Use items. Flushing all the cinders out of the tank out took more time.

-- Chuck

[sherman12]

My sister in law has a beautiful Laredo set up as a seasonal up at a Provincial Park in Ontario Canada near Turkey Point. Last summer we were visiting and she mentioned her propane used for the stove top and water heater. I asked her isn't your water system electric and gas, and she told me no. I got up, with beer in hand, walked over to her water heater door, dropped it down, and called my SIL over and pointed to the electric switch on the heater, then proceeded to turn it on. SIL was amazed and thank full, no one ever told her that.

[jodyminn]

We have a 2019 Dutchmen Astoria with In Command (we traded a Cherokee, which is why I’m getting FR newsletters). This past summer, our first with the fiver, our touch screen stopped working. After spending over an hour on the phone trying to problem-solve, they finally told us to hook a mouse up to it (there is a USB port on the bottom). So we had a mouse hanging on the wall all summer. This fall, we popped the console off the wall and had it replaced. I miss toggle switches!

[Walholler]

And just think, I only paid $30,000 for my brand new 2016 Crusader Lite 5th wheel and have dragged it all over the country, and not once has it been back to the dealer for anything. It does not have automatic anything, everything is manually operated, less headaches that way. A high price cannot always get you a better product, it just makes the seller richer and the buyer poorer.

[Steve08]

Originally Posted by jimla

Most of the time I get on the forum to ask questions or possibly help other fellow RVR's. With this thread I want to warn everyone that you may not get what you think your getting. I had posted on the Cedar Creek forum that I was having an issue with the hot water controls in our 38DBRK. What I mentioned was that we had a Rockwood with what I believe had an LCI control panel. In the Rockwood, the panel controlled the hot water heater, both on gas and electric. On the panel you could select what you wanted, as far electric, gas or both. Now fast forward to the Cedar Creek. It has an In Command control system. It has the capability to control the hot water heater but doesn't. After trying since the middle of December to contact Forest River, I finally came found a customer relation phone number, where a representative with customer relations got someone with knowledge and I was able to talk to them about the issue I had. They more or less said it was what it was, even though I mentioned to them that someone at a Goshen FROG rally had the same issue got the it resolved. This is why I'm making this post to warn others of what they may come across. I will admit it is my fault that I didn't go over everything thoroughly during the walkthrough at the dealer. With all that said, PLEASE PLEASE go through everything you can possibly run test, so to speak. Don't assume. If you aren't that knowledgeable, find someone to go with you. My fault was that had dealt with the dealership before and assumed their tech. had dine a robust PDI. Boy was I wrong. With that said, don't sing on the dotted line until you know what you are getting. To those that read this, It's not just Forest River that your going to have issues with, but DAMN

We have a 2019 Forester by Forest River class C. A month ago my gas hw heater quit working but still the control panel said it was on. I turned it off and on while I had the outside door down on the hw heater. I could here the board click and smelled gas but the igniter wasn't sparking. Did this several times and the clicking stopped and so did the gas. I have had so much warranty issues that I called Atwood which makes the hw heater directly and bypassed the dealer and Forest River because help was non existent with Forest River. I explained the situation and the symptoms to the customer service person and told them it is still under warranty and was out of state. They told me it was probably the control board. I had to email proof of purchase papers and picture of the model and serial number and they sent me a control board to the campground and I changed it out. Fixed my problem. I would try calling the manufacturer. Hope this helped.

[Dennis King]

I have. 2017 Georgetown with two water heaters. I used to want all the latest electronic pads that work remotely. I just saw a new 2020 Georgetown in Jamaica Beach RV park in Galveston and I was envious of his Control Pad and that he could even work it off his phone. But after 2 RVs since 2004 I really do appreciate the KISS principle. Things are so much easier to trouble shoot and it is just one less thing to go wrong and ruin your day. Plus I have to believe they are cheaper to repair or replace. I have the old panel on the wall with switches for the gas to run the hot water heaters and the electric switch for the heaters is outside on each water heater. It is hard enough to check the over flow valve to be sure they have water when I am standing right there. I know I would or my DW would flip a switch when it was empty. We all know what that means. If I make it to July, I will be 70 and I like simple more everyday! Also I just want to say I am so thankful to Forest River and have never had a problem they did not take care of promptly. Not to say they are not busy but I really appreciate them. I know that is hard to hear for many. But in the rv parks I hear all different manufactures’ models having problems and having to wait in line at Red Bay and can’t get help from other companies after making so many calls. Forest River has gone above and beyond every time I needed something. They just sent me a new outside shower hose while I was out on the road. (2 1/2 years after the sale )They fixed things I did not even ask for when I had an issue that was under warranty. They are hard working people doing the best they can. I think a little kindness and understanding go along way. Mike Haile and his team are awesome! There are a lot of dealers out there that seem to want to take advantage of the warranty system or not do warranty work at all. But that isn’t Forest River’s fault. I had a dealer that every time I went there many of the service techs were new and the old ones were gone. It is hard to get good qualified help in this economy and still afford to stay in business. But I think the dealers are trying to up their game. A good dealer with good service is hard to find! Thank You Again Forest River! AND no this is not a paid advertisement ha ha!!

[Major Oz]

Originally Posted by jimla

Most of the time I get on the forum to ask questions or possibly help other fellow RVR's. With this thread I want to warn everyone that you may not get what you think your getting. I had posted on the Cedar Creek forum that I was having an issue with the hot water controls in our 38DBRK. What I mentioned was that we had a Rockwood with what I believe had an LCI control panel. In the Rockwood, the panel controlled the hot water heater, both on gas and electric. On the panel you could select what you wanted, as far electric, gas or both. Now fast forward to the Cedar Creek. It has an In Command control system. It has the capability to control the hot water heater but doesn't. After trying since the middle of December to contact Forest River, I finally came found a customer relation phone number, where a representative with customer relations got someone with knowledge and I was able to talk to them about the issue I had. They more or less said it was what it was, even though I mentioned to them that someone at a Goshen FROG rally had the same issue got the it resolved. This is why I'm making this post to warn others of what they may come across. I will admit it is my fault that I didn't go over everything thoroughly during the walkthrough at the dealer. With all that said, PLEASE PLEASE go through everything you can possibly run test, so to speak. Don't assume. If you aren't that knowledgeable, find someone to go with you. My fault was that had dealt with the dealership before and assumed their tech. had dine a robust PDI. Boy was I wrong. With that said, don't sing on the dotted line until you know what you are getting. To those that read this, It's not just Forest River that your going to have issues with, but DAMN

FR, long known for shoddy workmanship, has decided, in the last few years to add on a bunch of goo-gaws, foo-foo trim, and redundant "stuff" to try to make up for or mask their workmanship.

Didn't work........just made it more obvious.

[AbdRahim]

Originally Posted by jodyminn

We have a 2019 Dutchmen Astoria with In Command (we traded a Cherokee, which is why I’m getting FR newsletters). This past summer, our first with the fiver, our touch screen stopped working. After spending over an hour on the phone trying to problem-solve, they finally told us to hook a mouse up to it (there is a USB port on the bottom). So we had a mouse hanging on the wall all summer. This fall, we popped the console off the wall and had it replaced. I miss toggle switches!

Precisely. Give me a switch, any day.

[MikeRP]

No doubt we can be disappointed. On the water heater issue, I couldn’t get it to work even w the switch. Well.

I’m an engineer but I’m still a dummy. The water heater on my Creek plugs into an outlet and it had become disconnected or was never connected.

I actually like the switch outside for the electric. For one thing, it makes me go look and I can see then that the gas is working also properly. I had a massive dangerous leak on a hybrid camper once, it’s good to go look.

You can buy a new camper and go through a detailed inspection, I did - notice the anal engineer part. My Creek was top notch. But I believe a lot of stuff doesn’t show up on any rig till you bounce down the road for 4 or 5000 miles. Then all the weak points will make their self known.

Creek has stood behind my repairs and us Creekers have Orvan which is a significant advantage. There are many Creekers that have banged their rigs up and down the highway for 100,000 miles.

I think when you got a fifth wheel or motorhome, your gonna spend more money on upgrades than you will with a bumper tow. I’ve spend like $3500 so far on upgrades and I have more planned. I like the upgrades I’ve done so far and I don’t mind doing it.

Slide out improvements, frame reinforcements, a new bathroom fan to replace the new bathroom fan. I can’t even remember em all now.

Here’s my real thought, well maybe. Lol

I’ve had all forest river products. They offer consistent quality. The cabinets have all been real wood and well done. You can get better cabinets in a $300000 motorhome or high end fifth wheel.

You don’t have the best stuff, well this new Creek is pretty embarrassingly gorgeous for camping. Actually I was a bit embarrassed when I picked it up. With all them fancy lights on, it is really nice on the inside. It’s not the kind of camping I’m used to for sure.

Your gonna have to keep and eye on it, maintain it, fix stuff and with a more complicated rig like a motorhome or fifth wheel it’s gonna pay to get it inspected once per year by an expert like Orvan to head off any potential issues. Long sentence.

My wifey says what the heck we gotta do slide upgrades and frame reinforcements, shouldn’t that have been done? She has a point then I explained to her why and her eyes rolled back in her head. She’s still gorgeous when she gives me that look.

Peace

[GlowPlug]

[QUOTE=jimla;2252584]
I will admit it is my fault that I didn't go over everything thoroughly during the walkthrough at the dealer. With all that said, PLEASE PLEASE go through everything you can possibly run test, so to speak. Don't assume. If you aren't that knowledgeable, find someone to go with you.

There are independent Former RV Techs and companies that will look your purchase over with a fine tooth comb before you decide to lay out the money...
Money well spent, IMHO.

[stepdad]

I purchased a new FR Cardinal 3250 in 2018. Has one control and I love it! Yes the water heater issue is real. But, even though this is a very minor problem I feel this is not a issue worth going anywhere. What I do is manually shut of all 110 volt breakers I don't want on! End of problem and dead batteries! Being my rig has Solar and a large battery bank with 2# true sine wave inverters, I think a huge problem would be unwanted electrical draws that would drain my batteries!
There always will be small inconveniences that we should fix ourselves. Hence, that is why we hear from our Electrical Engineer friends that will guide us. Dometic had a electronic thermostat (new ones sent to me fixed this issue)that would turn on my AC just by itself!
That running off my inverter would destroy my batteries if I didn't shut those breakers off! So I leave my electric water heater on when I'm at 50 amp, and off when i'm dry camping.

[Vibrrv]

In October 2019 we purchased a Forest River Vibe 26RK. The day of pickup it was raining so we did not get to do a thorough outside check of everything. In November 2019 we found the slide out roof was defective and required repair, the dealer said a recall was in the works. We dropped off our camper at the dealer in November 2019 and today, 1/21/20, the camper is still at the dealer awaiting repair. Apparently the damage is worse than the recall will cover. Why do obvious warranty repairs have to take forever to be approved?? We are not happy with Forest River customer service.

[BOO-BOO-IS-IN-CAMP]

Originally Posted by tomkatb

We discovered our 2018 Hathaway had the fancy control panel thing they now sell.

The thing has some videos mostly worthless.

It is tied into the hydraulic leveler, which we use. They removed the fancy outside control. No improvement to me. Not connected to anything else. Actually a step backwards.

Frankly, from the KISS principle, I prefer Simple.

Every light switch and other dodad connected to this system doubles the complexity of the system, trailer! More wires and Relays..

We are camping. Roughing it.

Really, more remotes? Hate the fancy stereo no one Can use without the instruction book that is only on line! Gag!

KISS.

THAT STUF IS ALL GREAT IF YOUR 12yr old....and play games
we have a furrion TV & Genesis AM/FM/WB/CD/DVD/MP3/MP4 ????
IT Plays dvd's in black & white ??? cant figure it out !!!!!
and the TV is 110 AC Volts ?????? again im camping right why have 110 TV
i looked in one of the compartments theres some kind of box that controls the slide i hop that docent take a dump on me

my 2000 dodge ram some one put some kind of a fancy remote controled stereo
iv owned it for 3 yr's i haven't ever figured it out it will not play the 10 cd's i have in it
im 65 not 12 just dum this ^&*(^& down will ya ?????????????
it's disappointing to have all this stufff STUFF STUFF and it looks great but is a real hassle to use it WHY WHY WHY
we are camping
ant we

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by BOO-BOO-IS-IN-CAMP

THAT STUF IS ALL GREAT IF YOUR 12yr old....and play games
we have a furrion TV & Genesis AM/FM/WB/CD/DVD/MP3/MP4 ????
IT Plays dvd's in black & white ??? cant figure it out !!!!!
and the TV is 110 AC Volts ?????? again im camping right why have 110 TV
i looked in one of the compartments theres some kind of box that controls the slide i hop that docent take a dump on me

my 2000 dodge ram some one put some kind of a fancy remote controled stereo
iv owned it for 3 yr's i haven't ever figured it out it will not play the 10 cd's i have in it
im 65 not 12 just dum this ^&*(^& down will ya ?????????????
it's disappointing to have all this stufff STUFF STUFF and it looks great but is a real hassle to use it WHY WHY WHY
we are camping
ant we

Unfortunately the vast majority of RV buyers WANT this stuff. Manufacturers wouldn't spend the extra costs installing them, if they thought it wouldn't sell.
For those that don't want it, there are older or simpler RVs out there for sale.

[BOO-BOO-IS-IN-CAMP]

well
as my wife try to distract me from typing this

every thing you all said was JUST GERRRRATE ..
but
1 . if i want to push buttons i have my wife buttons to push
2. if i had kid's witch i do but prefer to camp alone ...

i would expect they would have no problems pushing all my buttons & the buttons on my NEW AND IMPROVED Technology.All !!!!!
wail sitting on there key-ster doing what they do best nothing...

3. the fact's are quite simple my good friends we want newer LIGHTER & COMFORTABLE RV's ...
4. but some like me want things that are simple like me i only watch TV from
10;30pm to max 12;00 pm midnight dvd mostly & western OLD westerns after the camp fires dyed out and friends have all ambled back to there RV's...

my wife and I are very easy to please we love the fact we have a 2014 2608ws
first new to us we have ever had in 26 yr's

so last i took out the TV to see why i have B&W TV ... it's winter time im sure its not the TV tho it's probably some gagget or some other gimmick thin-ah-ma-gig
wired wrong