Disappointed

[mobil]

We took delivery of our 2016 CKTS on July 1st this year. We ordered it to get it exactly as we wanted. We love the floorplan, the light colored wood, the large windows and the amount of natural light we get inside. Our previous fifth wheel(sob) was always dark inside.

Since we're selling our house in the spring after returning to Ohio from wintering in Florida and going full time, this Creek was suppose to be our "home" for the next few years while we knock off our bucket list of destinations. This is so much better. Or so we thought!.. The lack of build quality is showing it's ugly head. To the point where my wife is so disgusted that she no longer wants to own this trailer.

There were problems from the get go. We didn't expect it to be perfect. We did expect a couple minor issues on a new unit.

1. Right off the bat, the hydraulic fluid in the reservoir was so low the slides would not retract with the level up jacks down(I had to add 3 qts.).

2.One of the pendant lights was unattached and hanging by the wires.

3. The 15000 btu air conditioner wasn't bowing cold air(supposedly taken care of by one of the dealer "techs". It did blow cold air after he "took care of it". While camped on the way home the air conditioner quit cooling again. At home local dealers "couldn't" get to it in months. We took it to an independant dealer/rv repair/service (All Pro RV in Alliance, Ohio and they are excellent) and they found that the air conditioner had a coolant leak. Dometic overnighted a new unit. We picked up our Creek from All Pro only 2 days after dropping it off.

Since then things have just kept falling apart, coming apart, or leaking. Crown molding coming loose and mitered joints pretty sloppy, drawer bottoms falling out, drawer slides rough operation, bed lift cylinders that won't hold the bed up, kitchen faucet that doesn't want to change from stream to spray, sheet metal screws on the lower wrap panel(to the frame) that come loose or fall out from being over torqued to the point where they are stripped, the door has to be slammed to latch(and lubed with silicone spray or WD-40 every 2 days), the power awning needs lubed the same way every 2 days to keep from making a serious grinding sound when retracting, a basement door that leaks water into the door interior to where it runs out when you open the door puting some ugly brown stains on the door backside.

Having a couple of these items happen I could consider annoying and probably take care of myself. But this many? It doesn't stop here though. There's a serious water leak in the dining slide on the door end, the carpet gets soaked and the corner molding is swollen and coming loose.

The dining slideout awning at the door end is 2" shorter than the roof so that when it "dumps" rain water , it runs onto the slideout roof and down the slideout side in a stream( I have Gorilla taped the window on the slide end. I guess I'll see if there's still a leak). The slideout awning on the living/kitchen slide has pulled out from the metal wrap for about 6". The mini slideout breaker pops, stopping the hydraulic pump.The kitchen island wobbles even when our dog(50# standard poodle) walks past it. The floor squeaks on both sides of the kitchen island and one of the steps squeaks.

I know this product isn't in the same class as a DRV or even a Redwood product but the Cedar Creek line of fifth wheels was supposed to be Forest River's premier fifth wheel and represents it's "the best they can do". I think they missed their mark on this one.

[Fred H.]

You really need to send this on to Forest River, not Cedar Creek or your dealer. This just sounds like you got a lemon of an RV.
In all my years of RV'ing (43) and now on my 7th. RV, I've never had a list as long as yours for things going wrong.
Forest River needs to exchange your rig for another.
Maybe yours was built during the Christmas holiday season?

[wmtire]

That OP is too hard on the eyes to read. I'm going to break it up into paragraphs to help out.

[phillyg]

Very unfortunate and I feel your pain, along with what appears to be many other FR owners. Stay on top of everything and get directly involved with FR directly. They are slow (sometimes) to return calls. A couple of times they have not returned my calls at all, but keep trying.

[KennyGolub]

I would make an appointment at the factory to get it done right. It should have been done the first time, but everyone who takes them back to the factory seem to be real happy with the result.

Best of luck. I hope you get it repaired to your satisfaction.

Ken

[Total Bliss]

Did you do a "PDI" when delivered? Leaks are not always obvious of course, but some of the other items could have been caught.

[clr]

Just so you may feel somewhat better here I have friends that have both a DRV and a Redwood both have had many issues with their units. So you choice many not be so bad here. Many of the items on your list I think should have been caught and corrected by the selling dealer or during your PDI. I would suggest that you not wait very long to get your water leaks fixed, if you cannot get into your selling dealer why not go back to All Pro RV in Alliance, Ohio and see if they can fix this.

[donniedu]

OK, breaking this down it appears that your problems are supplier items, not so much Forest River!. My experience has been FR CC division has always gone above and beyond to get me answers and parts in a timely manner.
My suggestion is you take lots of pictures, document everything and send it all to CC. Keep the bashing and bad mouthing out of your coorspondence. Keep it straight to the facts.

[aceinspp]

If your still in Ohio I'd see about getting it back to the factory to make the repairs. would think not to far a trip. They are very good about this. Later RJD

[mobil]

We've been rv'ing for 15 years. This is our third rv, first new one. I feel my pdi was inadequate as some of these should've been obvious but the dealer should have taken care of ALL obvious issues. The hydraulic reservoir was so low the slides wouldn't retract with the jacks down. Dealers tech said "it's supposed to be that way. It's a safety thing!" Should've walked away right then and there. I added 3 qts of fluid. Now, one of the problems is we live(for now) in Ohio and bought in Florida because most of our time spent in one place is in Florida. The local dealers here in Ohio don't want to get us in on a timely manner because "they have to take care of existing customers first". Well, we're now researching other brands of fifth wheels and knocking those dealers off our list. Anyway, thanks for the opportunity to vent. I know this may be a lengthy process to get it all resolved. A lengthy process probably to get Forest River involved too. I'm not slamming the product or the company and I will give positive feedback if it's due at the end of our dilemma. I'm not sure I can convince my wife we should keep this trailer when all is repaired. Not sure if I want to. She's always been the smarter one!

[Phil57]

Just call FR and get it taken care of. Why drag this out. Most of these issues are an easy fix for the factory. It's a shame that dealers are so short sighted as to not take care of a customer. It shouldn't have left the dealer like it did but this is all fixable stuff. Call FR today and get this behind you.

[donniedu]

Just be glad you dont own a Heartland. Fellow camp host bought a new Heartland in February. It was in the shop the whole month of Sept with rotten floor. Turns out Heartland punched a hole in one of the holding tanks causing the floor to disintegrate. And they are full timers. Problems happen, it is how the mfg takes care of those problems that matters. BTW, local dealer putting you at the bottom of the service list is totally industry norm if you did not buy from them.

[Jscribner]

This is a problem with the entire industry all they do is blame each other. Dealers say the manufacturer won't pay for repairs or send parts, or manufacturer says it's not there problem they didn't make part.
Well I feel if you build a product with parts you won't stand behind that doesn't say much for you.
The other problem is there is only a few suppliers the provide the junk parts, but even most of them seem to be owned by just a couple of corporations.
In the end they all seem to be getting rich and doing very well selling products to us that don't hold up.
Cedar Creek has taken care of most of our problems but now the frame has failed and they say it's not there problem go to Lippert so I did and after six weeks of pictures and estimate to repair they said I should call insurance company. Well just my too sense.

[mike1poles]

Call the factory!!!!!! We ordered a new 2009, the dealer was a jerk and those are simple, "nice", word's. We used a dealer in Elkhart, IN and after we took it, stay in the area for a short while. When to the factory, told them what problem's we were having, and they said bring it over, we did. They corrected everything, PLUS. We have taken it back to the factory for other service work and they have bent over backwards. taking care of us, even way past any warranty period. Call Cedar Creek Customer Service (260) 593-4000, speak with Denise Davis or Justin Day, that's what they are there for Justin or Denise are both easy to work with!!! They will make it right!! Another point made in earlier posts, there is NO RV manufacturer that make the "perfect" unit, no matter how much you spend.

Hope this helps and God bless,
Mike

[spock123]

For what it's worth Cedar Creek has been very good to work with. I had a Wildcat that was a Polecat, FR made it and I got no help from Wildcat but Cedar Creek has been great. When I trade it will be for a 36CKTS


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[Jscribner]

From what I can tell I would agree Cedar Creek is not to bad to deal with. I would buy another do to the fact you really can't get better components and they take care of customers better than most.

[dblr]

I will also jump in and say contact the factory, ours is a 2010 and they have been great it fixing things, for us, even when they were self inflicted issues ( minor self inflicted) and also design issues, I am sure your tune will change towards them if you contact them

[Gwen]

I'll jump in, too. We had a lot of concerns about our 2009 unit, and the factory has fixed absolutely every single one, and then some! They found things they weren't satisfied with. What more can anyone ask? A perfect unit? Sure, in a perfect world. When you have a company that stands behind their product, forever (it seems), this is as good as it gets. You have gotten a lot of feedback and advice here, so let us know what steps you've taken (did you call the factory yet? did they offer you any help?). If you are in Ohio, you are fortunate to be in some proximity to the factory! We know people who have gone there from all over the U.S. and Canada, and there is not one in our RV club who went to or through the factory who isn't singing the praises of Forest River AND Cedar Creek.

[aceinspp]

As I mentioned in first post get with FR factory and take it in. Your not that far and sounds like you are hesitant to do. They will make it right. Later RJD

[Kevin & Judy]

X3 on taking it to the factory.