2021 Coachmen 259FKDS - Comments and Feedback

[WLarremore]

Hello everyone,
My family is looking at the Coachmen 2021 259FKDS and this will be our first travel trailer. I would love to hear from you regarding build quality of the unit and/or Coachmen in general, Likes dislikes, the good, the bad and the ugly so to speak.

I have done a ton of research and know that this unit can be safely towed by my vehicle so we are good on the towing aspect.

Here are some things I would love to hear from folks:
1. Build quality
2. Does the single AC unit keep the trailer cool enough or do I get the second unit in the bedroom
3. Is the 30 AMP power supply enough? Can I use the microwave and the AC on full at the same time?

I guess those are the big ones right now.
Thanx I look forward to chatting with you all.
Wayne

[mjones12]

I have a 2018 Coachmen Apex 249, which is 28 ft total. Build quality is probably average for FR.

The single ac is more than enough to keep us as at 70 degrees when it's 95 outside, like now. It is ducted.

You will likely pop a breaker with ac and micro at same time. We just cut ac off for a few minutes to use micro. After all, it's 70 in here.

Also, if our water heater cycles on with ac running it will usually push us over 30 amps and pop breaker. Answer is to run water heater on propane.

[montelovers]

We purchased the 2020 version back in March of this year. Love it so far.
We find the build quality to be quite good so far... nothing stapled.. all pocket screws for the cabinetry.
Replaced the king mattress with a foam version though. Had the dealer install a quick-connect propane line just past the door of the outside kitchen.
Didn't like the lack of a light switch in the bedroom (don't know if the 2021 has one now) so I had to do some modification to get two of the four lights on a remote switch (see another post of mine in this forum).
We have the single 12500 BTU A/C and it seems to do just fine when it's near 100F outside. We rarely use the microwave so I can't comment on whether it would run alongside of the A/C. Worse comes to worse, just turn off the A/C for a minute or two while you operate the microwave. No biggie.
The one thing we find weird (we don't like it but what can we do) is that one panel door near the bed and at the very bottom of that cabinet bank. Can't open the door fully. We toyed with just removing the door entirely but for the two of us, we use that as our dirty laundry storage.
We wished there was outside access to under the bed storage but I see the 2021 has it.. lucky you :-)
Other than that, we love ours and absolutely love the amount of storage in this thing (inside and outside). We still have cabinets that are empty. We tow it with our 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 double cab, short box, with the 5.3 engine without a problem

[glsimms]

I saw a recent video on this RV from Josh the RV Nerd. Very impressive looking trailer and I like the front kitchen. Here is that video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnMU1UJbUTA

[Tim-Nancy-C]

We just bought an 2021 Apex 256RBSS today. Moving up from a Rockwood Roo 245S. We wanted a permanent bed full size Queen). My first opinion is that the quality isn’t bad but the Roo was slightly higher quality. We added Max Air vent covers to bedroom and bathroom. We didn’t upgrade the fans(a mistake). The old fashioned vent fan and cover in the bathroom is noisy and doesn’t belong in a $39k (retail) vehicle. ( my opinion).

We added an electric fireplace( we had one in the Roo and grew to love it) , replacing the shallow cabinet 2 door space under the TV. General RV did a great job installing it. We also added a quick connect propane line below the outside kitchen. I probably won’t use the standalone Coleman drive/grill thing that came with it. Looking to see if there is a way slide my 17” Blackstone in there sideways with minor remodeling

Things I want to do yet;
1) add battery shutoff switch for when in storage lot.
2) upgrade fan in bathroom to better one.
3) add fan to vent in front bedroom.

We are liking what we bought and after my cataract surgery will be going out in a shakedown trip in a few weeks.

[obxfanatic]

HI...good luck with your trailer. They are all fine and good the first year or two then they start falling apart. I bought my Coachmen in Spring of 2015. I would say the quality is average. The RV industry in the Elkhart, Indiana area makes junk. After 2 years, my trailer roof leaked. Now the J-wrap is separating around the entire trailer and the fenders are cracked. The Dometic AC unit stopped working and now needs to be replaced. I have maintained the slide gaskets and they need to be replaced also. So for 2020, I will spend around $4000 to get all this fixed. On top of that, the AC unit has been ordered but there is a 3 month wait because of Covid-19. It took Forest River 3 weeks to ship out the J-Wrap and fenders to the dealer. I am trying to decide if this is at all worth it any more and sell my piece of junk trailer and give up on RVing. This is my third TT and each one has been garbage. As you can see I am very disappointed.

[Tim-Nancy-C]

Originally Posted by Tim-Nancy-C

We just bought an 2021 Apex 256RBSS today.

We added an electric fireplace( we had one in the Roo and grew to love it) , replacing the shallow cabinet 2 door space under the TV. General RV did a great job installing it. We also added a quick connect propane line below the outside kitchen. I won’t use the standalone Coleman grill thing that came with it. Looking to see if there is a way slide my 17” Blackstone in there sideways

The 17”Blackstone with lid did fit on the shelf in the kitchen. Need to get a pool noodle to protect the propane connection and the fridge beside it.

One picture shows the Coleman Grill that comes with the trailer. I’m not going to use it. I’m hoping my 2 burner Coleman propane stove will fit in that space m. Will get more use out of it. Need to get a beefier slide for stove as it currently is just a drawer slide. Doesn’t seem to be a weight bearing slide.

Lastly I include a picture of the fireplace we had added below the TV. There were two doors there with very shallow space behind. Just deep enough for a fireplace.

Also loving the dump valve for fresh water tank. Our ROO had a 3/8” valve and it took hours to drain the tank. Now it’s 5mins max. Whoosh!!