Forest River SONOMA EXPLORER 240RLS reviews

We have loved our sonoma 240 BHS. We have traveled across the country in this trailer and it has held up very well. It is very comfortable for a family of four. The AC/heater work great in the summer and winter months. We love the dual entertainment center and the option for outdoor entertainment. We set up TVs or projectors depending on where we are, outside for viewing. The speakers work great and there is a ton of storage! Show less

I purchased this camp trailer in October 2017. It was the "newest, greatest for 2018". Over the 40 months that I've had it, I've used it a total of about 3 weeks. Not how I had planned to use it, but that's life. After the first outing of a few days, I came home with 3 PAGES of things that were wrong with it! I took it back to the dealer and it was there for 2 months while they supposedly fixed it. They fixed about 1/2 of the items on the list! Of major concern was that 120 volt main power line was trapped between the frame and body and there was NOTHING holding the ground wires together at the junction. Next outing was simply an overnight. Issues again which hadn't been fixed the first time around. Most importantly, the gage reading for the tanks didn't work. Back to the dealership for repairs. They filled all the tanks with water and said, "see? They all work". The shower spray head has been replaced 3 different times, and it STILL sprays everywhere! I've also replaced the valve on the toilet 4 times! There is a company that makes an upgrade for the valve which I have finally installed. NO, the camper and valve have NEVER BEEN FROZEN!!! Then there was the time when I was all ready to go and did a final check of all systems only to find that the circuit board for the water heater had burned out. HOW did that happen? I haven't even used the camper more than two weeks at that point. The valves for the low point water drains drip continuously and I was told "that's normal". I had them replaced with a different brand and they don't drip anymore. The stove burners have 2 settings: high (burn everything) and barely a flame. The refrigerator FREEZES EVERYTHING. I'm told that's normal too. Now, the newest issue: there is a drip that originates in the WALL BEHIND the bath tub faucet! I will probably be told that this is "normal" too! I don't go to the dealership for repairs. I'm not stupid. I do understand that some of the things they claim to be "normal" are anything but normal. In my opinion, they are too lazy to properly address issues. To sum it all up, this is the most expensive piece of junk that I have ever had the misfortune to purchase!!! I would not even recommend a Forest River product to my worst enemy! If I could sell it and recover my purchase price, I'd do it in a heartbeat!!!! BTW: I am NOT a novice to camping. I've been camping since 1950!!! If I could have given some of the above items a "zero stars", I would. It is very obvious that the executives of this company DO NOT use the campers that they sell. Show less

Poor quality worksmanship throughout! I won't list all the little things, but we bought it brand new and it has water leaks in roof when it rains. There are a lot of little places underneath that are not sealed up very well, and the area where plumbing goes through the floor to the underbelly is not sealed up well at all either. This made it very easy for mice to get in, and in our brand new trailer we ended up with mice chewed wires and hoses that started leaking. I would expect it to be a little more rodent-proof, but I guess I should have bought a better-built brand. I don't know, maybe all brands have that problem. After six months, we are so disappointed we are putting it up for sale, and we will probably take a $10k hit. I spent all weekend fixing the chewed up hoses and wires - can't wait to see it go away! Show less

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. Show less

Bought a new tt, none of the cabinets or drawers stay closed during travel, this issue caused damage, we bought over summer and enjoyed a few good trips, winter came with rain and flooded the inside of the trailer, now I have to wait 2 months to take the trailer back to the dealer for service, the trailer smells musty now and I believe mold is going to be an issue. Owning this trailer in the past 6 months have been a nightmare Show less

We purchased this Travel Trailer 5/29/2017. As of 9/1/2017 have not yet been able to use it. There were so many things wrong with this new 2017 Sonoma. There was roof damage, the walls inside were warped, slide was not working correctly, dents in the stove door, upon picking this up from the dealer they turned on the water and it flooded the trailer due to a factory error, they tried to blame it on the slide, yeah right. There were many many more items that were not right. This is still at their shop, still not fixed. So looks like out attorney will have a hay day with this company. And the best part it was BRAND NEW....Stay away from these. Show less

We bought this trailer after looking at many different models at many different dealerships. We were patient. We wanted one within our budget and made to last. So far we are very pleased with this trailer. Our maiden voyage was a complete success, and though my son pulled the towel rack off the wall in the bathroom on accident, everything worked smoothly and there were no hiccups. This trailer, for the price, is absolutely the best. It's light enough that my 2006 Ford F150 XLT Triton motor pulls it just fine. Slight inclines and hills don't seem to bog me down, though I have to admit I haven't taken it to the mountains yet. The kitchen counter top was one solid piece (Corian) and NOT laminate. This was a big selling point for us, as it highlights the quality of this RV. The kitchen sink is solid, not cheap plastic, and the toilet is cast porcelain, not cheap plastic. Also, the bunk beds are wide enough (FULL) for a comfortable sleep. Each bunk has it's own light. The awning, the black and grey water tanks worked and flushed perfectly, and the battery quickly recharged when the trailer was plugged in. The stabilizing jacks came down fine and the tongue jack, though slow, lifted and lowered the trailer without a problem. The back door to the bathroom is heaven sent, as my kids didn't need to run in and out of the main door to get to it. Hands down this is a solidly made trailer. The dining seats have drawers you can pull in and out, not storage doors, which makes getting things in and out easy. Look for stuff like that when choosing an RV. The entertainment center also has all the plugs and cable outlets right where the TV hangs, so you don't have to drill holes to get to them. Forest River did an excellent job on all the details of this unit. That is why we chose this trailer. Show less