2012 Forest River Wildcat 5th Wheel reviews

Bought new in’12 because of the features and floor plan and how it fit my budget. Like most of the lower priced models, the quality of the components are average but adequate. My biggest gripe is with the poor workmanship/assembly. 2 great examples: first I had an intermittent electrical issue where items on the 12v system would simply stop working. It took over a week of painstakingly tracing every wire and connector to find the culprit. A poorly crimped ring connector had been stuck back on a 10g wire after they snipped a couple strands of the wire to make it fit (loosely). Second, nobody applied sealant upon installation of the 4 windows in the slide out living room. Rain water completely destroyed the walls and the floors causing a complete rebuild of the slide out. The warranty ultimately took care of that issue but that was a nightmare for another blog. There was at least one notable design flaw: the hydraulic pump for the slides has a slot that allows you to manually operate the pump with a drill attachment. However they install the pump in such a way that the slot is directly against a bulkhead. In order to access it you have to go in through the cargo hold and drill a large hole through the bulkhead! Then there’s the Forest River forum. It started out ok with a company rep trying to answer questions but there was so much disgruntlement that it felt like the reps gave up. I’m ok with “you get what you pay for” and feel that the component quality and amount of features is adequate for this price point. However, I did not pay for shoddy workmanship. Unfortunately that is what you should expect from this manufacturer. I won’t purchase anything from Forest River again. Show less

Bought new and wife and I have enjoyed this rig very much. I replaced the water heater because the "tankless water heater" was junk. Would I recommend this rig? Very much so. Only thing that was a problem, and they are all this way, is the tires that came on it. Replaced them so no worries. Show less