Forest River Dealer Services - not responding

[FishingGirl]

I bought an Isata 5 in September of 2022 new. On the drive home it caught on fire. It was towed to a dealer and someone from Forest River made the repairs. We got NO documentation of the repair but were told that a zip tie holding a hydraulic line broke and it ignited on the exhaust pipe.

Once it was repaired we drove it home and have not used it since. When we tried to prep for a trip we found that the slides wouldn’t open fully and there was a problem with the electric mother board.

It has been in the shop since October of 2024. The repair team said the board had to be replaced, along with all 4 slide motors. There was water intrusion that caused corrosion. The intrusion was at the factory corners. After replacing all 4 motors they noted that one slide wouldn’t open straight. Upon further inspection they noted that one of the tracks had been previously removed and new screw holes made during reinstall. This caused the slide to close and open crooked. The repair center won’t warranty their work because someone else didn’t fix it correctly and we cannot use the slide.

I contacted FR for help on February 19th. They have no record of a fire. They show no one has done work on the unit other than fixing the hydraulic line. My issue was forwarded to Dealer services on February 26th. Since then I have left phone and email messages and have gotten no response.

We basically own a new RV that we cannot use and no one from Forest River seems to want to help. Not sure what to do at this point.

 

[RobbieH]

I had a similar situation with my Thor Four Winds Super C. 172 days in the shop in the first 11 months of ownership. I finally gave up and got a lawyer to file lemon law, you'd be shocked how fast they flew down someone from Elkhart to fix my rig at my home. Lemon laws vary from state to state, so you'll need to research this in your area to see what fits your situation.

 

[vlamgat]

This is really weird! Coach delivered 2022 and then parked until October 2024 without seemingly establishing the repairs were done. Coach now sitting at a dealer for 6 months? Its clearly out of warranty and seems to need substantial parts replacement and maintenance. The only option I think you have is to make an appointment to take it back to the factory and work out a repair which will mostly be on your dime. Absent that, I would cut my losses and sell it to an able DIY purchaser or a dealer as its functionality for youy is clearly impaired as is your interest.

 

[bclemens]

I bought an Isata 5 in September of 2022 new. On the drive home it caught on fire. It was towed to a dealer and someone from Forest River made the repairs. We got NO documentation of the repair but were told that a zip tie holding a hydraulic line broke and it ignited on the exhaust pipe.

Once it was repaired we drove it home and have not used it since. When we tried to prep for a trip we found that the slides wouldn’t open fully and there was a problem with the electric mother board.

It has been in the shop since October of 2024. The repair team said the board had to be replaced, along with all 4 slide motors. There was water intrusion that caused corrosion. The intrusion was at the factory corners. After replacing all 4 motors they noted that one slide wouldn’t open straight. Upon further inspection they noted that one of the tracks had been previously removed and new screw holes made during reinstall. This caused the slide to close and open crooked. The repair center won’t warranty their work because someone else didn’t fix it correctly and we cannot use the slide.

I contacted FR for help on February 19th. They have no record of a fire. They show no one has done work on the unit other than fixing the hydraulic line. My issue was forwarded to Dealer services on February 26th. Since then I have left phone and email messages and have gotten no response.

We basically own a new RV that we cannot use and no one from Forest River seems to want to help. Not sure what to do at this point.

Your email was forwarded to me, and it is now in the right hands.

For clarity...we have ben responding (from the emails I have read through), but there are some questions that we are not getting answers on.

We're trying to dig in to find that info now. From what I see...

retail delivery date shows 10/4/22.

Are you sure it was actually a fire? (pictures of damage) and not just hydraulic fluid on the exhaust? That will certainly create smoke, not necessarily a fire.

If the dates check out, it was parked from roughly October 2022, until Oct 2024? That's two years of no use? I assume plugged in?

Current timeline:
You emailed salesman Michael Wagner on 2/19/25. He responded same day, and sent to service.
Service communicated on 2/20, 2/25, 2/25, 2/26, 3/3, 3/4 (to let you know we called dealer it is currently at)
3/14 we let you know that we had no record of any fire or any work done besides the repaired hydraulic line (that we covered)

I will get the dealer name, figure out what they found exactly.

The coach is out of warranty, and does not appear to have been serviced during that time. I will get you some options and see what we can do to help.

 

[FishingGirl]

Your email was forwarded to me, and it is now in the right hands.

For clarity...we have ben responding (from the emails I have read through), but there are some questions that we are not getting answers on.

We're trying to dig in to find that info now. From what I see...

retail delivery date shows 10/4/22.

Are you sure it was actually a fire? (pictures of damage) and not just hydraulic fluid on the exhaust? That will certainly create smoke, not necessarily a fire.

If the dates check out, it was parked from roughly October 2022, until Oct 2024? That's two years of no use? I assume plugged in?

Current timeline:
You emailed salesman Michael Wagner on 2/19/25. He responded same day, and sent to service.
Service communicated on 2/20, 2/25, 2/25, 2/26, 3/3, 3/4 (to let you know we called dealer it is currently at)
3/14 we let you know that we had no record of any fire or any work done besides the repaired hydraulic line (that we covered)

I will get the dealer name, figure out what they found exactly.

The coach is out of warranty, and does not appear to have been serviced during that time. I will get you some options and see what we can do to help.

Your email was forwarded to me, and it is now in the right hands.

For clarity...we have ben responding (from the emails I have read through), but there are some questions that we are not getting answers on.

We're trying to dig in to find that info now. From what I see...

retail delivery date shows 10/4/22.

Are you sure it was actually a fire? (pictures of damage) and not just hydraulic fluid on the exhaust? That will certainly create smoke, not necessarily a fire.

If the dates check out, it was parked from roughly October 2022, until Oct 2024? That's two years of no use? I assume plugged in?

Current timeline:
You emailed salesman Michael Wagner on 2/19/25. He responded same day, and sent to service.
Service communicated on 2/20, 2/25, 2/25, 2/26, 3/3, 3/4 (to let you know we called dealer it is currently at)
3/14 we let you know that we had no record of any fire or any work done besides the repaired hydraulic line (that we covered)

I will get the dealer name, figure out what they found exactly.

The coach is out of warranty, and does not appear to have been serviced during that time. I will get you some options and see what we can do to help.

To clarify: I went to the service center yesterday to see the unit after the motors and the electric board were all replaced. I met with the technician and the advisor who have had the unit since October. I saw photos of what appears to be holes in the metal frame, uneven sawing of the trim on the front slide and a reinstalled track into new holes. Both people are assuming this was done at the dealership that I bought the unit from before I bought it since it has not had any other work done to it. I have photos documenting these issues. The Ram engine has had routine maintenance and recalls serviced.

Regarding a fire: that is what I was told happened by the Forest River service person when the hydraulic line fell. I did not crawl under the rig to see for myself but there is smoke stained plastic in the electrical room.

I have already paid the cost of having all of this work done as I know the warranty is up. We still need to have the front slide room wall replaced and that will be an additional $10-12,000 if the service center can get the parts from FR.

What do I expect to get out of this? An RV that is pretty amazing when it works. An answer as to why the RV was altered like it was. Reimbursement for work that should not have had to be performed in the first place!

Re: communication from FR, the Warranty adviser has communicated with me but once he forwarded the issue to Dealer services, she will not respond. No one will take responsibility for an RV that had major structural damage before I purchased it. Each communication from FR says the same thing- we have no evidence of work being done. Take it back to wherever you had it worked on.

 

[bclemens]

Please do not authorize them to fix a wall for $10-$12k. it is not needed. If the slide was adjusted at some point (which is not uncommon), it would not need a new wall. These rooms go in aluminum framed units and wood framed units. We stuff our tubes with wood for screw retention. We will advise a proper course of action once we review pics and talk to the original servicing dealer.

 

[FishingGirl]

If you actually are trying to help then please email me so I have your contact information and name. You should have my email from the direct communications with FR. It really shouldn't have come to this to get someone to pay attention to the issues and try to help me get them resolved.

 

[bclemens]

I am the General Manager, so I will not be the primary contact. And I am not sure it has "come to this". It appears my people are tying to help, but we have conflicting information and a two year gap in records. All I need to do, is pull in multiple parties, so we are not passing you back and forth.

We have retail contacts and we have dealer contacts. You are emailing both, which can lead to some confusion. I will designate one contact, as it should be...and then they will get the info that is needed all in one place. That would include working with the existing dealer and whoever did the original work.

 

[kenandterry]

If you actually are trying to help then please email me so I have your contact information and name. You should have my email from the direct communications with FR. It really shouldn't have come to this to get someone to pay attention to the issues and try to help me get them resolved.

Don’t let your frustration get the better of you in this matter.
You now have Brian Clemens in your corner.
You have no idea how fortunate you are compared to other people with other products.
Lots of people have stated “We only wish we had a Brian”
Work with Brian.

 

[bikendan]

Don’t let your frustration get the better of you in this matter.
You now have Brian Clemens in your corner.
You have no idea how fortunate you are compared to other people with other products.
Lots of people have stated “We only wish we had a Brian”
Work with Brian.

Amen to this! Us trailer owners have no such person or support from any of the Towable divisions.

 

[bclemens]

On the Hydraulic line, it appears our mobile tech was in the area when this happened. He is the one that replaced the line. He says it fell onto the exhaust and melted (lots of smoke), but no fire that he recalls and that was the only repair he performed.

We have pictures back from the current dealer and we're still not quite sure what the hold up is. We're trying to get to the bottom of that. One corner of the slide room opening seems to be tight by about 1/8", but in most cases that would have no affect. There is a new version of the slim rack slide system...we are proposing they install that. Hoping to get more information as to what they think they are waiting for.

 

[bclemens]

As of today, we are waiting on the dealer to get us measurements from the other side of the slide room. We have one side, and it is about 1/8" tight at the top....but unless we have the other side, we can't tell if the slide just needs to move to the rear 1/8" or if the room rollers just need adjusted.

 

[kenandterry]

Great day to day updates Brian. I hope the OP appreciates your involvement.

 

[bclemens]

We still do not have measurements. We had our mobile tech reach out to see if he can provide guidance. He called last week, but has not heard back yet.

Edit: they just called back and said we would have the pictures we need by end of today

 

[bclemens]

We did not get the pictures we were promised yesterday. We called again.

PS. This is not a Dynamax dealer, which is fine of course, but we have no leverage on them to try and force a response. We are at their mercy, but are ready and willing to help.

 

[bclemens]

Dealer came through with pictures. The spec on the slide column is 3 7/8" plus or minus 1/8".

I am not sure if this is before they removed everything, or after they repaired it, but it seems to be within spec and does not need a new wall. (either before or after). I am guessing the motors just corroded and froze over time. Just sitting and not being used is worse than over use really.