Forest River RVs Reviews on RV Insider (1,423)
Avg. Rating

After much research, we decided to purchase a 2017 Rpod 179 from a dealer in Mesquite, Texas. Although the dealer is approximately 300 miles from our home in San Antonio, we felt confident that the combined quality of the traler and the assurance that we "could take it to any Forrest River dealer for service"', we would be safe. (There is no Rpod dealer within a 100 miles of where we live). The first time we had a problem with the electric tongue lift not working, we found that "any Forrest River dealer" for repairs was true. In fact, even with with Forrest River's help, we were left with called Ngo numerous dealers only to say no and offer no assistance. Fortunately, I did find an area Forrest River dealer has worked very hard to help us. They were the only dealer of 6 which I called that was willing to help us. Although they are not an RPod dealer, they have done much to help us. There has been a series of issues with the RPod which have greatly undermined my confidence in my camper. So far, our 6 month old camper has had considerable problems . Beginning with a defective tongue lift, we found ourselves with a heather that was so loud, we stopped using it and plugged in a stand alone. (Reported to be a piece of packing plastic inside the unit). We have experienced a water leak which flooded the rear storage compartment.(Break at the city water inlet). An A/C unit with a part missing that makes too much noise to use until the part comes in. (2 weeks in the shop so far). Blue caulk scattered on numerous portions of the black framing. Decals beginning peel in some places. This unit sold for $22 k before discount. The most a dealer will allow on trade is $9k. We are trapped in a camper that we have no faith in manufactured by a company we have no faith in and sold by a dealer we have no faith in. If I had a do over, I would have purchased something from a local dealer and it would not have been a Forrest River product.

The kitchen in this coach is amazing. Lots of counter space. Huge sink. Plenty of cabinets and drawers. 2 over and under cabinets in living room. Large cabinets under dining booth. Jack knife sofa and reclining rocker that swivels. Nice bathroom with large shower. I really like the big bathroom sink. Handy for washing out a t-shirt or underwear if needed. Love the walk around queen bed. 2 doors open up to roomy storage over bed. Wish these doors had shocks to hold them open .. Closet with mirrors on each side of the bed with a “built in “night stand..Basement storage is decent. Nice cargo rack on bumper. The super slide out in mid coach opens up the living area. We tow this travel trailer with a 2018 Ram 2500 diesel. Towing setup is blue ox 1500 weight distribution and sway control with the chain on link 10. This is the combo that seems to work best with our rig. Gets rid of the squirrelly stuff.

I bought this fifth wheel brand new i am thoroughly disgusted with the quality of this unit.The bedroom door fell off the wall,the mirror in bathroom fell off, Pieces of paneling in large bedroom are falling off, the kitchen island isn't secured solid to floor. This camper has been highway miles minimal gravel out of 2000ish km maybe 20 km are gravel. I have brought it back for warranty dealer is Coach-Works in Nisku Albeta won't be taking it back to this place every again wouldn't recommend this dealer for repairs. The cheap quality glued press board around the fridge swelled and was damaged dealer tried to repair but looks worst now than before i asked for it to be repaired. For the price i paid the quality of this unit is pure garbage.

Quality was good. Front Jack broke but was replaced under warrantee. 4 years almost 40,000 miles. Stock tires were fine.heater on our mattress quit but was replaced by the factory,no questions asked. Dealer was good too. Replaced original tires with Goodyear marathons. One blew.

We a well pleased with our camper and with our dealer Arrowhead RV Sales in Mayfield, KY. We have had very few issues with our 2019 Sabre 32DPT 5th Wheel. The few minor issues we have had were completely taken care of by our dealer. We love the layout. I only have two or three complaints. The steps leading up to the bedroom are too shallow, and the design and location of the water hook up (docking station) are hard to get to. Part of the docking station design flaw is that on the 2019 model the location of the water heater bypass valves and the connection to the water pump for winterizing, are located in behind the socking station. On the 2020 model that have fixed these problems on the docking station. It's costing me money to get this set up the way it should have been designed to start with, but over all we love our 32DPT.

So easy to pull in small suv to full size truck. Beautiful inside well thought about in design and structure is sound. solar off road tires lots of cabinets balanced with 4 jacks you'll love this 19ft

We purchased our 2019 NOBO 19.5 a year ago today. Everything on the camper was great until two months into us living in it our water heater had a leak which was a factory issue. Our walls and trim began popping off. Our windows would mold our walls where the access panels are (bathroom sink, entertainment center, kitchen sink) would have model in them. The panel in the bathroom, they left a quarter size hole leading outside for the electricity. Also our shower a month in began to dip in the back so all of the water kinda puddles up there, the shower walls began popping off as well. Overall we do not recommend this camper to anyone it’s cheaply built. If we could get back what we owe on it to get rid of it we would in a heartbeat.

This is the perfect RV for a small family or couple or individual wanting to travel in comfort and style. The RV offers Bunk beds for the little ones and a queen size for the adults to rest easy after a long day of hiking. I personally loved the outdoor BB-Que with sink and fridge. Pulling the camper is a breeze , I used my 2018 Dodge Ram 1500 Eco Diesel and pulled the camper down the road with no issues. The design and craftsmen ship of the Forest River Surveyor is very good. The RV has a decent floor plan with a lot of nice features. I would of preferred a couch or chair but the Table /dining area worked out fine for my small family. Warranty and Service was awesome fixing any small issues in the break in period and inspecting all points on the trailer.

We replaced an r-Pod 172 with the Sonoma 167RB hoping to have a little more room, but not to sacrifice the benefits of a lightweight small trailer that fits in most Forest Service campgrounds. The Sonoma has exceeded our expectations. It is a little heavier than our old r-Pod, but it with it's 7' width and under trailer wheels, it is much easier to tow on narrow mountain roads. The living space is very similar to the r-Pod 192, and provides a full bath, a large functional galley with a 3 burner stove and oven, plus micro, above. The sink is enormous and has a two piece cover for more counter space. We mounted a flip up cutting board on the side of the galley for even more counter space. We also made some cushions to convert the dinette into a couch. The OEM mattress is junk and we replaced it with a slightly shorter "RV Queen" size foam mattress that we got from Amazon for <$125, that is very comfortable. The ground clearance is quite good and with the inboard tires, we avoid the bent axle problem with the cantilevered axles on the r-Pod. The quality of construction is pretty typical of Forest River, but we did a thorough pre-delivery inspection at the dealer and got every thing fixed before Toscano RV, in Los Baños, CA, delivered it to our home. Everything was fixed satisfactorily. The space is so well organized that we anticipate very few changes as we had made in our r-Pod. The only drawback is that the tankage is smaller than the r-Pod, so black and gray water need to be attended to a little more frequently, which complicates boondocking. But, with an insulated bottom and a heat duct to the tank area, the camping season is extended a bit, though how much remains uncertain. Overall the trailer is a well designed, comfortable trailer for a couple. It lacks the bunk capacity for more than 3 as the dinette opens to a single bed. It's perfect for a couple that wants to travel and visit national forest and state park campgrounds.

Stay away. Previous Forest River Microlite had no problems in 5 years. This trailer had problems from the day we took it off the lot. Actually problems before we left but the dealer fixed the immediately identifiable defects (front door wouldn’t close, bathroom cabinet split, bathroom door warped). The design of the fresh water fill seemed to either have a kink in the underbelly that wouldn’t allow it to fill or there was construction debris blocking the hose prohibiting it from filling the fresh water tank. The kitchen slide let water pour in and ruin the bar cabinet (couldn’t stay up all night catching the water). The slide leaked whether it was in or out. Two of the windows had obvious leaks. The electrical system should never have been made with 30 amp previous trailer was 30 amps and I had no problems. This trailer repeatedly trips the breaker. We found this out when we arrived home to find our 2 dogs suffering a heat striker because the AC tripped the breaker at 95 degrees. Only other appliance pulling known power was the refrigerator. It wasn’t an isolated incident, power tripped at least daily. Another design flaw is the low tongue weight, it is well below the recommended 10-15%. The trailer was horrible to tow. So bad that I totaled it when it swayed out of control when a semi passed and another vehicle whipped out. Thankfully no persons or animals were injured.

We purchased this 5TH wheel solely because of the floor plan. We have no children or others with us. The mid bunk was a storage dream for us. Now the bad microwave had to be reset in wall venting wrong. Blew out the stove. Have to pay installation to vent outside. Coax from front to back is dead. No response yet. Bath tub surround not sealed at bottom to tub. Bathroom wall at shower head side is not plumb ceiling to floor by over 2 inches. Shower glass door wouldn't seat in frame to stop water from going outside of shower. Everything to this point is fixed except coax. Since that group of repairs, once the auto awning on retracting screamed all the way in at 9 oclock at night. Very embarrassing! Hasn't repeated. Microwave will spin very slowly after closing door with no command. Repeats once in awhile. Thermostats are way off in temperature. Kitchen is 5 degrees off heat mode. Kitchen AC never turns off. Low fan on always in auto fan mode. These problems have been reported and no one has responded. Anita was my first contact and she has moved to a different job no longer with Cardinal. Today is 2/11/20. Purchased and moved in on 12/23/19.

We bought this in April 2019 as used. Got a pretty good deal. We have not had one issue with it. Everything on it has worked from day one. Used it on at least 10 weekend trips and all is good. I see a lot of negative reviews about Forest River rv's, however this one is excellent.

I own a 2014 Berkshire 400 BH I have had no problem with it. I love the smooth ride and the diesel engine. I have traveled to the United State over 40.000 mile and never had a problem. I have used the Rv as a house to live in Florida.

We drove from Ogden, Utah to Hamilton, Ohio to purchase the new 2020 R-pod model 196 last Sept. 2019 from Couches R.V. The first day driving home the bathroom pocket door screws stripped from the door, dropping it to the ground and rendering it impossible to open/close. We have replaced the screws, tried to glue in place, nothing has worked. It continues to fall every time we drive anywhere. We also had our black tank connector come apart dragging it on the ground. Had to tie it up until we could replace screws. We previously owned a 2015 model 179 and found it to be well made. This model appears to be built with less quality. The rounded walls inside, while looking nice, are very flimsy and the trim strips are only glued on and some are pulling away. The vinyl on the couch has already scratched off in one place and we have been very careful. Fortunately, so far all of the systems have worked well... heater, air, water pump, fridge, freezer, etc. We have not had time yet to take it in to our dealer for repairs since we have had reservations for camping and have spent 2 months in Palm Springs. Hopefully we will have no problems getting repairs when we return home this month.

I just purchased this 5th wheel and found a page of problems. From the living room floor delamination around the heat vent(poor design in placement). The right side slideout sticks sometimes it doesn't work these are just some of the big problems. Very poor design kitchen cabinets can't fit a dish in it to me this makes mo sense at all. The camper is wired for satellite but NO place to put the receiver. The Bedroom is nice to look at lots of cabinets it all good till you want to go to bed, like 6 inches of room between the wall and mattress again who designed this has he NEVER camped before or used a 5th wheel? I have only had this camper 2 weeks and have all these problems oh No owners manual, l was told by forestriver it's on line that B.S I paid good money for this unit and sure didn't think forestriver would treat a loyal customer this way. I have owned forestriver Rockwood a d it was great. So now I am questioning the quality of Forestriver products and there quality control at the factory.I was told on the phone that's what the warranty is for. You judge for your self, I am very disappointed.

What draws us mostly toward this trailer is the awesome tent on the top. Not only that, we love the concept of the kitchen outside. We do not want to coop inside the trailer all day long. The whole point is to stay outside! This trailer does the trick! The bed upstair (tent) is very comfortable. So, are the futons inside as well. The "toy hauler" part becomes our fancy dinner table as we use trailer jacks to support the table. We love it! Best of all, it is very light. Our SUV got 16.3 MPG with this trailer.

We really like the floor plan and multiple bathrooms. It tows well. But the quality is not great but about what you would expect for a middle quality fifth wheel. We had the usual multiple problems after purchasing it and had to take it in to Camping World who took forever to repair. So I had to do a lot of repairs myself.

I found a staple that punctured the water supple hose to my rear bathroom. I contact the company and they tell me that because its out of warranty,(more than 1 year old) they can't offer any assistance. They preach about customer satisfaction but really after the year is past, you will never get anything else from this company. I have talked with several different higher ps about this and neither of them offered a solution. I will never buy from them again.

This is our 2nd camper. Purchased brand new. We are 100% not satisfied with the purchase. There was a water leak in the bunk house, we were told it was fixed after it sat in at the dealership for 3 months. It was not fixed, they caulked the water line and all the water leaked into the insulation under the floor and is now filled with mold. The kitchen rawers fell apart immediately, they also don't have any type of lock so they slide in and out while traveling. The Couch drawer is broken. The "leather" couch and dining table scratch very easy. All of the wall moldings fell off the cabinets. The LED light strip outside under the awning was wired improperly and doesn't work. None of the water fittings were tightened. The awning design is awful, there are no locks and it flys up with any wind. The warranty is awful. This is not a purchase we are happy with and we will be trading it in as soon as possible.

Hello; 2017 Forest River Heritage Glen hyper lyt 299. Bad news; Only 4 trips out and we are out over $2000.00. First, all tip outs leaked,repaired. 2nd trip, electronic controller for schwintec was in stalled under bathroom sink, leak shorted it,, $800. Next; trip to eastern Washington in the heat, all 4 (4 ply oem) separated. $760.00 for 10 ply tires. 4th trip, fresh water drain hose managed to work its way down low enough to become a syphon on the road. We get to RV site, fresh water that was full is empty, $265 repair. Going to sell and buy something else, cant afford $700 or so for a trip of one or 2 days.

Love the layout of the unit. Very comfortable living space. Has some very nice amenities like a large residential style fridge, two pantry area, plenty of bathroom storage. Quality of finishing details is a real issue at Forest River. QC really needs an overhaul.

Quality, quality quality. Lots of storage, reliability, towing ease and parking ease. This RV is well made well thought out floor plan. Love the auto leveling feature, command center, automatic awning.

This RV has provided us with many great experiences while still being an economical choice, both in initial price and in it's towability. We have been happy with the quality. Our only issue was with the furnace thermostat which broke but was promptly replaced and a drawer bottom which we fixed. Everything else has worked well. We will buy a Rockwood again.

Love it! This is my first RV, I have looked for years for the perfect trailer for me. I needed light, and easy for me to manage on my own. I sat in the Eco Pro (same trailer different badging) at an RV show and knew I had found the one! I have zero experience owning an RV and have never towed forward (ironically I can back up a semi trailer, but never towed on the road). Anyway, I took my 15tb out this last weekend for the first time for its maiden voyage. I chose a full hook up camping spot about 20 miles from home. I wanted to be close to help if I needed it. I made a couple of rookie errors but my son (grown) came down and helped me work through them. I spent 2 days and 2 nights, and everything worked perfectly. You will notice on my star rating I gave quality a 4 instead of a 5. I know that RV's are not houses and they are built lightly, there are a few things that are flimsy, like the bathroom floor, it is as if there is nothing at all under the insert, it flexes when you stand on it or sit on the toilet. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong...it is just ...disconcerting. Hard to be specific, just my feelings, and again, could all be perfectly normal. Because it was a particularly blustery wet weekend, and where the firepit was it was not conducive to have a fire, I spent the majority of my time in my trailer vs outside, which will be the more likely case in Summer. I have to say it is quite cozy, and comfortable. The time that my son was there we both sat inside comfortably. The outdoor grill is awesome, and works wonderfully, having 3 burners on the stove is wonderful (not that I needed them). All of the systems seem to work as designed. Again, just the right size for me and my dog. The 15tb has a LOT of storage for such a small unit. There is more than enough room for all the stuff you need with an RV - hoses, chords and such, and more plus gear. A couple of tips. Definitely upgrade your hitch to a stabilizer system. I also have the offroad package which puts it up a little higher and because its small, the stabilizer hitch makes it an easy tow, and minimizes sway and bounce. The bounce, oh there's bounce. Not dramatic all over the place bounce, but it gets to vibrating. I added water to the fresh water tank on my way home (not full) and while a wee bit heavier for the tow, it reduced the bounce significantly. FYI - I am towing with a 2013 Toyota Highlander and it does marvelously. I don't really have any negatives, but will point out some things to keep in mind. If you are excited about being able to sit 6 grown ups at the table and play cards (as advertised in a couple of videos) ummm….yeah, it's doable, but probably not very comfortable. I have no immediate intention of making the bed into a king so I just use one side as my bed. The table goes straight out side. When the table is up in table mode, it is not easy to get into the seat, it takes a wee bit of work, so make sure you use the potty, grab a drink and settle in. The floor space between the 2 benches (twin beds) is very narrow, so there is no moving the table to assist in wriggling in. The lack of table is a little annoying but such a small one, because there is what becomes a side table between the two beds, and it is more than sufficient. While the cushions are pretty comfortable, I like to be really comfortable ( I am not young anymore and like comfort), I purchased a 2 inch foam twin mattress topper, had to trim about 2 inches off (not quite standard twin) and it works amazing, and while I am pretty much the only one using it, I leave it up. If my son takes it or I don't want it there, I just roll it up and stash it in the cabinet. Minor annoyance is the shade. They are excellent in every way, they work great, they really work to keep the cool air out, but, because of the small space, they are - right there - every time you move you bump them and they slap around. It is an annoyance, I am trying to find a solution. Velco dots maybe.... This trailer is the perfect trailer for the solo traveler, and great for buddy camping (2 twin beds) or for couples who like each other. It is set up and ready for off grid camping, and I strongly recommend it!

There isn't anything about his camper we don't like!! The interior is very comfortable. It has only one slide, and that one doesn't need to be out to use the camper comfortably. The rear bedroom has a walk around queen size bed and cupboards on each side and above. The bathroom has a separate shower stall with a sliding door and a skylight. The kitchen has a refrigerator with a separate freezer. A three burner stove and oven. The dinette is in the slide and has cupboards above and drawers below the benches. The "loft" above the cab sleeps two easily and also has a large flat screen tv. There is lots of storage inside the coach, as well outside. The outside rear of the camper is all storage and is accessible from 3 sides. With a Ford E450 engine, this camper has enough power for climbing mountains easily.