Forest river experience

[Gonefishing1]

Don't know if I am posting in correct place or not. I am getting ready to purchase a new 27dbs TT. I have a pontoon boat by Forest River and love it and have always got good service from them. But as I continue to read different posts on the site. I am finding plenty of FR owners are having problems getting things fixed and a lot of talk where it is better to just fix it yourself then deal with a dealer and or FR. This concerns me some. I don't understand if you have a dealer who is not taking care of something that is under warranty why will FR not assist its customer? I read post of axle problems and customer having to have the axle replaced on his own at his expense. Arther issues where FR owner have paid out of their pocket to repairs that should be under warranty. This concerns me when looking at making a purchase. I know to some $20,000 may not be much but to me it is and if I am spending that kind of money I don't have extra to be paying for repairs that should be covered under warranty. I am very handy at fixing things and know most any repair I could do myself. But if under warranty it should be repaired under warranty. Someone tell me if I am wrong and if I should just make a purchase cause I want a TT and know I have to fix stuff myself that should be fixed under warranty.

[Asrabbit]

I say just make sure you research your dealer very well. It might be worth paying a little more to buy from a good dealer. To me the dealer makes all the difference in the world.

[djeirlessr]

Originally Posted by Asrabbit

I say just make sure you research your dealer very well. It might be worth paying a little more to buy from a good dealer. To me the dealer makes all the difference in the world.

I agree about checking out dealers. Our dealer provides forever warranty and that was enough to suck us in. We bought a FW and brought up some warranty issues and I don't think they even checked into them. They keep the RV for a long time and we are anxious to get it back to go camping and realize they did not do what we asked and there is no quality control in their service work in my opinion.

[punkaccountant]

I've seen lots of posts about this regarding other manufacturers too on the RV.net forums. I agree that the dealer can make a big difference. I've owned multiple trailers from different manufacturers and can say that my current Rockwood has been my favorite so far. Each trailer had some problems but the current one seemed to have less than the others and less major issues at that. I just like the Rockwood line and if I were to purchase another trailer, I would have no hesitation buying another Rockwood/Flagstaff.

[Scrapper]

There are good dealers and bad dealers all around the country. For anyone to make a recommendation for one we need to know where you are from.

In central Wisconsin a good one is ScenicRV in Baraboo.

[spock123]

Number one is find a good dealer and it really doesn't matter what brand of camper you buy they all need some small work done that it's not worth the time to take the camper back to the dealer. I have a Cedar Creek and the front cap faded and Cedar Creek had me take camper back to the factory, while there they fixed some things that was not under warranty. The next best thing if you buy from Forest River is pay for the second year warranty. In my opinion the extended warranty from the dealer is not worth the paper it's written on. With the second year warranty if it's going to break it will break before two years is up. Just research the dealer no matter what brand you buy. Then enjoy your new camper

[Crusadernoob]

Not sure why, or what the catch is, but it really left a bad taste in our mouths about FR. You here of people getting unbelievable service, even when out of warranty, we couldn't get warranty work covered UNDER WARRANTY TIME! We will NEVER buy another FR product, it's too bad, we liked a newer model and almost traded up. I know all manufacturers have issues, but for us, never again. We love our 5er by the way, just HATE FR.

[mgg]

My experience with FR has been frightening. Meanwhile, my daughter's Rockwood (also FR) hasn't been early so bad. I don't know if it is a monday/friday thing or just what, but I found MANY problems. I tend to poke around in places most owners won't - until something breaks and as a result, I hope, have found things that would have otherwise ruined a trip. Un fortunately I can't blame it all on the workers, the whole industry is using the cheapest, quickest materials and construction methods possible.

Michael Gardner
FR RWLS 26
Tomorrow's Journey – Tribulations and Travels

[2Evil4U]

There have been a few things that I've fixed, but nothing I've even considered warrantying. If I needed the dealer to fix every loose screw and scratch, I'd never camp. YMMV.

[Flybob]

As mentioned, check out the dealer, BUT do that by speaking to people that have recently purchased from them. Every dealer will sound great when you talk to them, they will promise great service and amazing warranties, but what you get is many times not what you are told. Go to campgrounds in your area on a busy weekend and ask owners of the unit or similar units to what you are looking at. When you do finally decide, do not sign anything or drive off the lot until it is the way you want it. Do not accept "take it and make a list of needed repairs and bring it back later." Even if it gets fixed, it may take much of the season.

[Cowracer]

My dealer, who is the closest one that sells Rockwoods is still about 60 miles away. If I have a problem, figure it costs me at least 2-3 hours of my weekend, plus about $50 in fuel just to get it there before they can even look at it. Add in the time it will sit up there waiting on the dealer to get around to fixing it, and then add in the 2-3 hours and $50 it will cost me to go get it... well, you can see taking it back to the dealer can be a hell of a burden.


For minor things, it's way easier on me just to fix them myself. For instance, my last Roo, the dining table light stopped working. Turns out where they joined the wires was loose. That would have absolutely been a warranty fix, but it took me 10 minutes to do it myself.


This is not a knock on FR's or the dealers service. From what I have seen, my dealer has a very good, very well respected service department, I'm just balancing what makes the most sense for me.

Tim

[B and B]

Hello and good on you for asking,

The dealer is an important link here when purchasing. In my case our dealer on one hand stepped up to fix the problems left by mis designed Rockwood 2703SS with a Schwinteck slide with a fridge, stove and couch on it. We took delivery of a trailer that first trip out failed. We ended up dumping this trailer a short time later and went after FR for compensation to purchase a new one. The new Rockwood had small issues in comparison. We attended the free fix your trailer Rally in Goshen 3 years and had things repaired as needed, again small items.

Two things

1. Buying a rolling house on rubber you will have things fall off and need to be fixed.
2. Make sure where ever you buy do a full Pre Delivery Inspection, leave the kids at home. Make sure you go over every item and if anything seems broken have it fixed before accepting delivery.

Go out and have fun! We just bought our fourth trailer together. When looking make sure you look at the next model up, larger, longer, heavier. Purchase a Tow Vehicle that matches you next purchase.

[rp53]

our dealer is great had minor issues that were handled quickly and without any hassle, needed a few parts ordered from FR no problems great customer service from the parts dept.

[2Bryans]

Originally Posted by Asrabbit

I say just make sure you research your dealer very well. It might be worth paying a little more to buy from a good dealer. To me the dealer makes all the difference in the world.

Second that..!

[BBogey]

Boy, I sure don't want to jinx us, but... We bought our coach back in Michigan, and we live on the west coast, so no going back to the dealer we bought it from.

We were kind of in limbo with a couple of issues - we contacted the rep for west coast FR - remember, this was NOT a problem of not getting things handled - we just contacted him because we weren't sure who to go to?

Wow, were they ever responsive, I mean if you call them contacting us within 24 hours both times, and setting up the work to get the problems fixed.

They were great!

[Kenny kustom]

Originally Posted by B and B

2. Make sure where ever you buy do a full Pre Delivery Inspection, leave the kids at home. Make sure you go over every item and if anything seems broken have it fixed before accepting delivery.

.

That's where I screwed up with my sabre...

We noted all the issues with the dealer during a very thorough pdi, but took delivery anyways.
They assured us that everything would be taken care of.
Year and a half later, I dumped the pos sabre and there was still parts on order from the pdi.
It was the typical blame game.

[B and B]

Originally Posted by Kenny kustom

That's where I screwed up with my sabre...

We noted all the issues with the dealer during a very thorough pdi, but took delivery anyways.
They assured us that everything would be taken care of.
Year and a half later, I dumped the pos sabre and there was still parts on order from the pdi.
It was the typical blame game.

Sadly that seems to be a common problem. I had same issue with my 2703SS Rockwood. Hence a move to Heartland. I didn't trust QC on Columbus being part of Palomino legacy

[jeffnick]

I can't speak for all FR products, but my Wolf Pup is a cardboard, stick and staple rig. They are put together quickly and cheaply. This means that there are many folks out there that are trying to get things fixed that they think should have been done right at the factory - the list of folks looking for satisfaction is likely long and I'd guess the dealers are overcome with warranty issues. My dealer never responds to my questions or concerns.

The FR folks were quick to respond to my first inquiry about a problem but have since ignored me. An example - the range hood vent blew off our brand new Pup while on the road. After several inquiries I was able to get the FR folks to offer me a replacement for $51. I found the same vent on line for $8.09.

Don't get me wrong - I love my little Wolf Pup, but that's because I have resigned to fixing all factory misfires myself. If you're not handy and are a perfectionist, I'd suggest a different brand or you're likely to spend more time getting resolutions than you will camping.

[ADKDAN]

I agree the dealership makes all the difference. Bought my 2608ws and a roo 233s before that from seven Is RV way in Cicero NY and the whole experience both times was great. My Rockwoods have been mostly trouble free. Do a thorough pdi and you will save yourself a lot of headaches. I usually go over everything twice both full hookups and no hookups for several hours. RV Way has been great and fixed the small things I found right away and left me alone to do my pdi. After the fixes were done I paid and they did it all with a smile and attention to detail. Highly recommend. ADKDAN

[ADKDAN]

It's Seven O s RV Way