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Old 07-23-2014, 11:44 AM   #1
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From joy to disappointment

In March of this year we replaced our Carraige 5 th wheel with a new Brookstone model BK 315 RL. We were overjoyed with our selection as it was a good-looking unit. On our way home from the dealer which was approximately 120 miles from our residence the trailer all of a sudden experienced no breaks. The dealer had already closed so we were on our own to get home which thankfully we made it. . First time out camping we noticed that the awning was wired backwards. Retract was extend and extend was retract. Shower faucet had loose connections and flooded the whole basement section of this trailer. Call coachmen and they sent a replacement faucet which we reinstall ourselves. Our next trip was to Pacific Coast the trailer again experienced no breaks we stopped in Vacaville at Camping World and bought a roll of wire and a bunch of wire connectors. And rewired the trailer brakes completely. That seems to have fixed the issue with the breaks.... We have taken the unit out three more times since then and experienced extremely low water pressure, when we take a shower we have to with the water pump running even though we are hooked to city water. And now the exterior trim is coming off where it was siliconed on...... Are all brookstones like this or did we get a lemon... We never had issues with the Carraige.....
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Old 07-24-2014, 06:18 AM   #2
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Welcome to Forest River Product Ownership

HELLO, Sorry to hear of your troubles. Unfortunately you must lower your expiations, you are now the not so proud owner of a typical Forest River LEMON......SORRY
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Old 07-24-2014, 06:39 AM   #3
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Not that I share bjcohn's enthusiasm of the forest river product , but it's like buying a new car, or brand new house, it's a brand new pain in the ass.
Unfortunately, the people who build these things are not as excited about doing it as you are buying it. And there are a lot of careless problems. Fortunately, the dealer always fixes or tries to fix the issues under warrenty, unfortunately I've spent more time at the dealer than i did camping the first year.

There are many posts on here regarding this very issue, and they all end in accepting that fact that most major businesses are here for the money. Cheap labor, cheap parts, and put a warranty on it.

When I bought my second trailer, I put a 7 year parts and labor warranty on the Roo; just like I did a 100k warranty on my new car.

Sometimes I wish I had the ability to take a major manufactures spot as I would have the best product and the best name in town

My advice would be to just roll your eyes, take a deep breath and get it fixed. It will get much better and more enjoyable just like you imagined it


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Old 07-24-2014, 07:04 AM   #4
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We, too, are the proud new owners of a Forest River lemon purchased June 21, 2014. It is a Coachmen Chaparral Signature 343 rlts--2015 model. Forest River/Coachmen should be held accountable. Unfortunately, they leave all the cleaning up of their shoddy merchandise to the dealer. Our problems are major and we wonder if we will ever be able to use the rv that we just spent tens of thousands of dollars on. I have contacted everyone that I know to contact with no response. I am so sorry for your problems.
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Old 07-24-2014, 07:11 AM   #5
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Reemeber some people only post the bad stuff, and there are lots of people that don't use sites like this unless it is to post the bad. However, yes you should expect that things will go wrong because they will, I'm sure you have things go wrong at home, but we don't think about it like that. Anyway, hopefully you will only have a few trips to the dealer for warranty work and things will settle down and you will be a happy camper
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Old 07-24-2014, 09:11 AM   #6
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Positive Comment

OK, Now I'll say something nice about Forest River.......
Thank you Forest River for honoring the warranty on my 2012 292 BHDS, and authorizing my dealer to make the LARGE number of repairs necessary to keep my TT useable during the warranty period.
Again, THANK YOU FOREST RIVER!!
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Old 07-24-2014, 12:35 PM   #7
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first, I am very sorry that ya'll have had bad experiences.

Looking over the issues at hand though - with the exception of the brake issue - all of your problems could have been identified durig a proper PDI (Pre-delivery Inspection)

Problem is, if you are new to RVing, you probably did not know about this

If any of you are close to the Forest River factory, you might want to contact FR direct and ask if they can help
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Old 07-24-2014, 12:54 PM   #8
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first, I am very sorry that ya'll have had bad experiences.

Looking over the issues at hand though - with the exception of the brake issue - all of your problems could have been identified durig a proper PDI (Pre-delivery Inspection)

Problem is, if you are new to RVing, you probably did not know about this

If any of you are close to the Forest River factory, you might want to contact FR direct and ask if they can help
Our problems could not be found in the pdi---slides leaking while slid in traveling on a wet highway. Tires kicking up water and somehow finding its way in our rv.
Shower leaking first time we took a shower--didn't take one during our pdi but wish we would've. And, I have e-mailed every Forest River executive I can---not a response from one. Have a call in to a Mr. Mel williams, head of owner relations. 3 hours later, he has not returned my call.
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Old 07-24-2014, 01:11 PM   #9
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Here's a link to a eight year old thread that I stumbled across by accident. There is contact information in it which may or may not be current/correct today. I book marked it when I found it.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...river-114.html

I've not followed all your posts LindyLu, so I'll just ask; is your dealer not willing to work with you on your issues?
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Old 07-24-2014, 01:14 PM   #10
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They did the repair per Coachmen instructions which was to lower wiper seal an inch. It did not work so Coachmen is now sending a new & improved seal to be installed. My question is, "What if this doesn't work??" Can we only pull our rv on sunny days?? This is a nightmare. (by LindyLu from another thread)


So I ask: HAVE you driven this in the rain yet? Do you have reason to believe the fix did NOT work?
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Old 07-24-2014, 01:21 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by LindyLu View Post
Our problems could not be found in the pdi---slides leaking while slid in traveling on a wet highway. Tires kicking up water and somehow finding its way in our rv.
Shower leaking first time we took a shower--didn't take one during our pdi but wish we would've. And, I have e-mailed every Forest River executive I can---not a response from one. Have a call in to a Mr. Mel williams, head of owner relations. 3 hours later, he has not returned my call.
Working in a corporate setting, I can say that email and voice-mail are the easiest things to ignore or delegate. One of the best ways to get attention is a type written letter in friendly language, Fedex'd to the recipient.

Remember to try to partner with the manufacturer and the dealer. They want to know about the bozo that screwed up putting things together too, but they don't want to be accused of being that bozo. That tends to make people testy.

Chain of command is important in these situations too. Escalate once you are convinced that the current contact isn't going to help. Jumping to the top of the line does not help your case.

Most importantly - try (really hard I know) to not take it personally and keep a sense of perspective and a sense of humor.
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Old 07-24-2014, 01:54 PM   #12
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Have had 4 FR RV'S 1 Airstream and now Heartland Landmark, they all require a sense of humor and enough disposable income to not get mad about pi**ing away whatever you have spent and will spent on them. I will say FR had the most problems of my 6 purchases in the past 6 years. 1 went back to FR on their dime for a rebuild, 1 cedar creek had so many problems it was at the dealer 7 out of the 12 months we owned it, my 1st Cedar creek was recently at the dealer because the bedroom slide fell out! Complain all you want, there are no lemon laws covering towables and they know it.
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Old 07-24-2014, 02:11 PM   #13
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Have had 4 FR RV'S 1 Airstream and now Heartland Landmark, they all require a sense of humor and enough disposable income to not get mad about pi**ing away whatever you have spent and will spent on them. I will say FR had the most problems of my 6 purchases in the past 6 years. 1 went back to FR on their dime for a rebuild, 1 cedar creek had so many problems it was at the dealer 7 out of the 12 months we owned it, my 1st Cedar creek was recently at the dealer because the bedroom slide fell out! Complain all you want, there are no lemon laws covering towables and they know it.
Okay, so I can only behave for just so long... and inquiring minds want to know.... and my sense of humor may be a tad off... soooooooo

I have a friend who took the headboard off the wall at a hotel in the throes of passion..... but to take the whole dang bedroom slider bounding across the campground... well... I have a new meaning for the phrase... "now THAT'S something"!

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Old 07-24-2014, 02:41 PM   #14
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I am very sorry you're having these issues. This looks like lack of qc at the factory level, but the selling dealer is supposed to do a PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection) to make sure that everything is in good working order when the buyer takes possession, and you did pay for the PDI. Remember these are complex homes/vehicles. That's why I would blame the dealer first, because many of them - not all - just pull the plastic covers of the appliances, chairs etc. and call the PDI done and this is exactly why so many buyers are p... off at the manufacturers, not just FR.
The dealer is supposed to do a full inspection of the unit, test all systems and do a final cleaning, when the dealer does the final walkthrough with the buyer they are supposed to demonstrate and explain all the systems and answer arising questions. If it was done this way most RV forums would probably just die.
This I think is the real problem.
Of the five trailers that I bought new this thorough inspection was only done once and that was on our current 5th wheel, the dealer caught a few minor things that the manufacturer missed and they were fixed when we took possession.
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Old 07-24-2014, 03:04 PM   #15
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No, it is still in the shop waiting to be fixed. They will be doing a spray test with water to see if it still leaks but that is not the same as driving it on the highway and having the tires throwing water. We shall see. Trying to have a positive attitude.
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Old 07-24-2014, 04:53 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by HSVBamaBob View Post
first, I am very sorry that ya'll have had bad experiences.

Looking over the issues at hand though - with the exception of the brake issue - all of your problems could have been identified durig a proper PDI (Pre-delivery Inspection)

Problem is, if you are new to RVing, you probably did not know about this

If any of you are close to the Forest River factory, you might want to contact FR direct and ask if they can help
We are not new to RV and we're expecting the PDI however the dealership should have done that prior to us picking it up. we were not offered a walk-through as this dealership does not do walk-throughs should've been a big red flag in our eyes. They also do not allow pick up on weekends so we had to come after work and pick up late in the afternoon.

We've been RVing for many years and this is the third Rv that we have owned.
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Old 07-24-2014, 08:06 PM   #17
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We have taken the unit out three more times since then and experienced extremely low water pressure, when we take a shower we have to with the water pump running even though we are hooked to city water.
Check your faucet aerators. Crap gets left in the water tank and plumbing that clogs them up.
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Old 07-25-2014, 11:36 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LindyLu View Post
Our problems could not be found in the pdi---slides leaking while slid in traveling on a wet highway. Tires kicking up water and somehow finding its way in our rv.
Shower leaking first time we took a shower--didn't take one during our pdi but wish we would've. And, I have e-mailed every Forest River executive I can---not a response from one. Have a call in to a Mr. Mel williams, head of owner relations. 3 hours later, he has not returned my call.
In one of your other posts on another thread
you stated that you had new seals coming and
that the dealer was going to fix your problem
When I did our PDI I turned on every water
outlet including the shower to make sure they all
worked and all shut-off (hate drips)
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Old 07-25-2014, 12:43 PM   #19
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All I will add is to keep an eye on the water. Water is the death of an RV. If you experience any leaks at all, the RV will be a total loss in a couple of years. Once the floor begins to rot the whole thing is useless. Does not matter how gently you used it or how often you cleaned it.

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Old 07-25-2014, 01:10 PM   #20
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In one of your other posts on another thread
you stated that you had new seals coming and
that the dealer was going to fix your problem
When I did our PDI I turned on every water
outlet including the shower to make sure they all
worked and all shut-off (hate drips)
We did our PDI in the Winter,there was only (Air Pressure) in the Lines.No way to check F/Water tank or Pump! Both were (Defective) when I was able to put water in the system! Youroo!!
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