Forest River RV Forest River makes garbage and they don't stand behind their product. Elkhart Indiana
I am writing this complaint up so other buyers don’t make the mistake of buying from this company. Their product is garbage and they don’t care about customer service. The RV I purchased is a 2012 Forrest River, Crusader. 260RLD 5th wheel. I Purchased it used from a close friend who because of health reasons had to sell it. He told me he only had it out less than 10 times in the 3 years he owned it. The 1st thing I noticed when I bought it from him was that the manufacturer had put on 2010 tires on a 2012 trailer. So when I bought it in 2015, the tires were already 5 years’ old which needed replacing. The decal on the front was so badly weathered and worn I had to question the year of the trailer. The interior was in pristine new condition so it was just the exterior decals that were garbage. My 1st time out we camped for about a week and I used up the right side propane tank. After I switched over to the left tank I discovered the regulator wasn’t allowing gas to go threw it. After replacing the regulator, it was discovered it was the gas line that was defective so I had to replace it. Contacted my friend that I bought it from and he told me he had never used the left tank in the 3 years that he owned it so he never knew it was bad. I make this point because it came from the factory that way and was never tested. The water pump is also garbage. It surges, performs poorly and is very loud. I am looking at having to replace it but of course they placed it in a very hard to get location. The front stabilizer jacks fuse burns out a lot so I have to keep many spare fuses available just to raise and lower the trailer. The bed storage hinges were not strong enough to hold open the bed area so I had to replace and upgrade those. The next problem which was the one that put me over the edge and decide to go the consumer complaint route was the entry door making a horrific wretched sound when opening and closing. This started within a year of me buying it. No matter what type of lube I use on the hinges, they just won’t stop making the noise. This is clearly a manufacturer defect to where there is no easy solution other than replacing the door. A trailer that is 5 years old that cost $40,000 plus dollars new, shouldn’t have a major problem such as this. I called the manufacturer to complain and as soon as they discovered I was the 2nd owner they had no interest in customer service. I am sure I am not the only one who is experiencing this defect hinge issue because the hinges are inferior engineering and workmanship. It just makes me upset that this trailer was made in America and has so many flaws and bad issues with it. Way too much money for such a poorly built product.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
RV EXPERT WITNESS SPEAKS UP
Scottsdale,Arizona,
United States
RV expert witness speaks about the RV industry THINK TWICE before you go to an RV dealer of your choice .
#2Consumer Comment
Sat, November 18, 2017
When reading this post are you thinking about going to an RV dealership to buy motorhome you better read what I post at least twice BEFORE YOU GO TO THAT RV SHOW AND SALE...
first let me say something that's very important be very careful of RV dealer show and sales. When I used to work at an RV repair center in Florida and that particular dealership would go to the RV shows to try to sell some motorhomes they would bring the best and most powerful sales reps with them. The sales reps that were weak pukes would never be brought to the shows.
Now let's move on to some helpful information for anybody that's thinking about buying a motorhome. NOW READ AND HEED.
Here's some of the problems I have with RV dealerships.
1. most RV dealerships that I'm aware of do not do pre-delivery inspections before they put the coaches on the lot for sale.
2. Many RV dealerships do not educate the public how explosive propane gas is in the safety precautions that all RV owners should take.
3. they do not show their customers how to check for leaks in the propane system.
4. they do not inform them what to do for the most part when they suspect leaks in the propane system.
5. Predelivery inspection is a very important but most RV dealerships like I said do not want to pay their RV technicians to do complete predelivery inspection to make sure the customers are buying something that has oh functions working properly before they put the coach on the lot for sale that should be one of their priorities.
6. customers do not understand when you're buying a brand new motorhome the Monroe leave law regarding MSRPs do not apply when it comes to the RV industry because they are not passenger vehicles.
7. be very careful when you go to an RV show and sale. Most of the time you're going to get caught up in the sale and the excitement at the RV shows you're going to wind up paying way more than the coach is actually worth.
8. here's some information for people to plan to buy a motorhome and want a smoking deal. The best place to buy a motorhome is RV storage facilities were people are paying a monthly fee to store their motorhomes because they can't keep them at the place that they live. Those people are tired of paying the monthly rent for the RV storage of their motorhome that they can't keep their house and they're ready to get rid of it. No sales tax. No documentation fees. And most of the time the people that sell these motorhomes don't know the true market value in those cases the person is planning on buying it is going to get a smoking deal.
9. when you going to an RV dealership and you plan to buy a used motorhome good luck because most of the time again the RV dealerships do not want to pay RV technicians to do a complete thorough inspection to make sure everything works properly. When you Plan to buy a motorhome of your choice not to sales reps choice it would be very smart for you to ask for predelivery inspection sheet it usually comes in several pages. That's if the RV dealership actually does them.
Bring yourself an RV technician with you before you sign any documents have been kind a give you a basic walk-through looking for things that might be wrong with the coach if it's a use coach but remember don't you think it would be smart if an RV dealership would actually do a complete predelivery inspection to make sure everything works before they place it on the lot for sale ??
Let me give you some numbers hear about the explosive capability of propane. Let's say that you have 1 gallon of propane in a very small tank in a barbecue grill. While the propane that 1 gallon of propane is inside the container it's in liquid form.
READ THIS AND READ IT REAL GOOD.
If the propane system has a leak that 1 gallon of propane will expand it 270 gallons of explosive vapor. It's called the expansion rate. Now let's say that you have an RV has a 35 gallon propane tank. You have 35 liquid gallons of propane inside the tank when it's inside the tank under pressure. Now let's say that that propane system that has 35 gallons in the tank has a leak in it that the RV dealership never found because they refused to pay their RV technician to do a complete LP gas system leak down test. If that 35 gallons of liquid propane in the tank leaks inside of the coach and outside because of a leak that was never detected the 35 gallons of liquid propane will expand the 9450 gallons of explosive vapor. That is enough paper to blow that motorhome completely into pieces if for some reason it's ignited from a pilot light or a candle or a cigarette. Now after reading the above paragraph don't you think that it's important that RV dealerships should do complete LP gas system checks for leaks and make sure that the LP gas regulator is not leaking and the LP gas regulator is operating at normal operating pressures.
I used to get hired by attorneys as an expert witness and testify in court after a customer bought a motorhome and had major issues that were not disclosed before the purchase. It’s unfortunate that RV buyers are not willing to pay a independent RV mechanic to come with them when they go to an RV dealership because they don’t want to spend the money. Soon after they buy a motorhome they will be spending the money whether they like it or not to have things repaired that an RV technician would find.
I remember particular case I was working on for a law firm that was going after particular RV dealership for not telling the truth. The customer thought they were buying a brand new motorhome but it had 27 pages of repairs that needed to be done in the RV dealership failed to reveal to the buyer That the motorhome that was represented to be a new motorhome had the whole face of the front of the motorhome all smashed in and send it back to the manufacture to have The complete nose of the motorhome replaced because of a crash but the motorhome was involved in.
Can you imagine spending close to $300,000 for a motorhome and then later finding out in a lawsuit that the whole front end of the motorhome have been replaced because of a crash the dealership failed to reveal to the buyer.
The manufacture the bill the motorhome did not want nothing to do with replacing the nose of the motorhome so they send it to a subcontractor they didn’t want their name attached to the motorhome anymore.
The attorney that was representing the buyer wanted to go to arbitration instead of taking the case straight to the court room instead of letting arbitrators get involved. Never signed a contract that has an arbitration clause in it because you were asking to get screwed because you’re right to take the issue to court has been removed once you sign the contract that has an arbitration clause in it.
Businesses put arbitration clause is in contracts for reason because they don’t want to go to court and let the judge and the jury decide what really happened instead of arbitrators that for the most part are in bed with the businesses that probably bent you over and had their way with your caboose.
I know what I’m talking about when it comes to the RV industry that’s why RV dealerships would pay me as much is $250 an hour to go to work for them to help them win cases I told this particular attorney had a Christmas party if he goes to arbitration the customer the actual buyer of the RV is going to get screwed and that’s exactly what happened, arbitrators are people for the most part are in bed with the people that have the contracts that are going to screw you. Never be a sucker and sign a contract that has an arbitration clause in it just before you signed the contract ask the person that’s asking you to sign the contract will be high like the arbitration clause in the contract with a yellow highlighter.
They won’t want to do that when you see that arbitration clause highlighted in the contract get up and walk out or you are personally your own fool
When it comes to RV repair I know what I’m talking about
I used to own an RV repair a business and I seen some crazy things that RV dealerships would put on their lot for sale. Now do your homework every time before you buy a motorhome if you like what I have to say post a comment maybe I'll post even more information for you..
RV SHOW AND SALE Are words. you should pay close attention to.
Why do you think many RV dealerships take coaches to remote locations such as mall parking lots, football stadiums and so many other locations that are not at the dealerships?
Because they know smart people for the most part don’t go to RV dealerships when they’ve got nothing better to do. Think about it you don’t want to go to a RV dealership because you think they might have some real shark closers that have the ability to put you in something you really don’t want and for the most part that’s pretty true.
But when you go to an RV show. AND SALE YOUR GUARD IS DOWN let me tell you you better bring some KY jelly because you’re going to need it.