Forest River Salem 26DBUD reviews

If I could leave 1/2 a star I would. This camper is just like a stereotypical trophy wife in the movies. Pretty, but doesn't work. In 2022, we purchased a brand new Salem 26DBUD, that was delivered to our home. It has been nothing but problems from day 1. If the service department completed the "mandatory" 8 hour walk through, prior to delivery, they would've seen broken latches, blinds not installed, wood cracked, wall wasn't attached to frame, slide out leaked, and the water tank hooked up wrong. We had to turn it in for repairs, before it was even used! Since then, something has broken every time we used it. Indoor and outdoor kitchen fridge's didn't cool, master bed support beam snapped, underbelly tore off, kitchen sink collapsed, main door won't lock, trim/molding separating, slide out roof leaked, shore power inlet caught on FIRE TWICE while on vacation, developed hot foot, which shocked my dog every time he touched the steps. Poor guy is scared of the camper now and won't enter or exit. We had to carry him in and out, and he's 70+ lbs. All of the issues we've had are manufacturer defects due to poor workmanship and while most were covered under the initial warranty, it shouldn't be happening to a brand new camper! This is a complete lemon, and not worth the hassle to use! It's in the shop more than we've used it! We've spent a lot of money on something that falls apart every time we take it out of our yard! We even had to find a new dealer to complete the repairs, as our nearest one doesn't get paid in full from Forest River, and they refuse to work on them anymore. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone! Do not waste your money! Show less

Love the floor plan of our 2023 26Dbudx, but horrible attention to detail from the manufacturer. It seems they just threw it together blindfolded. I have spent weeks fixing this thing. All the belly pans fell off on our first trip, had to reattach them correctly this time. The toilet was defective, had to get a new one and install it ourselves. The stairs were installed incorrectly so the door wouldn't shut without having to slam it. Reinstalled stairs, works great now. Tears in trim, cracked trim from over tightening screws, peeling wall paper, wall trim falling off, exposed plywood in door jambs, wiring falling out from under the camper, manual crank for slide not even connected...the list goes on and on. Very poor quality and attention to detail. Hopefully in another year or so we will have it rebuilt. Didn't know I needed a contractors license for my brand new trailer. Ughhh Show less

Liked the overall appearance and layout of the trailer. Very bad quality control inspection before it left factory. Have fought very hard to get repairs completed. Dealer was very good at helping but support from the factory was less than steller. Show less

Bought our 2020 DBUD in February. Our first trip was 5 days. Since then we’ve only done local weekend camping. I have minor complaints on the unit. #1 bunk house and master bed mattresses suck! Even with a topper it’s pretty bad. Positive; Storage isn’t a problem and having the 2nd exterior bathroom door is a plus. We pull ours with a 1/2 ton truck with the WDH and pulls great. Gets a bit crowded with 3 three teenagers and 2 adults. This unit is great for just 2 or if you have little ones. That is all. Show less

We purchased our Salem 26DBUD (first travel trailer we have ever purchased) in the spring of 2019. The service and support we have received from the dealership (Hilltop RV, Escanaba, MI.) has been outstanding. The actual trailer is junk. We have had it in for warranty work at lease three times now. Issues have included but not limited to big bulge in the siding, the face of the slide out is separating from the sides, bent stabilizer jack, several pieces of trim pulled away from the walls, broken screen, broken cabinet face, bottom of kitchen cabinet is pulling up, interior of storage area pulled away from the wall and the insulation falling down from the outside of the trailer. Needless to say these are the things I actually found. It seems like every time we go camping I find more and more issues. We are now contemplating trading this one in for a different brand. I would highly recommend you steer clear of Forest River products unless you like your camper spending more time in the shop then actually camping. Show less

This has been an experience I do not wish to repeat. We bought our unit and were excited to take it out on its maiden voyage. We went on a 2200 mile East coast road trip and at EVERY stop we has issues. First the bathroom vanity for fall off and broke. Yes we has the bungee cord on it the whole time. Then the fridge/freezer doors wouldn't stay closed even with the "lock" on. After we lost a half a gallon of orange juice down the vents and all over the whole back of the unit we found a Wal-Mart and bought child locks which solved that issue, but not before the fridge door was dented from the dinette. The bedroom door latch ripped out of the door making the door slam back and forth eventually knocking it off the track and damaging the door and track. There are a lot of little defects that should not be there on a brand new unit including water heater issues. The skylight was cracked we unknowingly bought it like that) and we has water pouring in the shower(thank goodness it was the shower skylight). The icing on the cake was we kept noticing water pooling in the two large window tracks in the slide out after some investigation we found the windows were installed upside down. Yes, we took it back for repairs. No it wasn't to our sanctification, or the dealership's. Forest River came to them and "fixed" it. They took out the windows and turned them around WITH OUT REPLACING THE SEALS! The vanity will not close and hinge looks used and rusted (this is a 2020 unit),the bedroom door is still missing parts, there are missing trim pieces in the bunk area. For the skylight that had running water on the ceiling and down the walls all they did was replace the skylight, not the panelling that got wet. All these things were supposed to be fixed by Forest River. A repair guy from forest river was supposed to come down and never showed up. We went back to the dealership, they kept calling and trying to get someone down for repairs, when they finally did show up they didn't do a professional job. We are working with our dealership to fix the issues because I don't trust Forest River to make it right. If your looking for a 26 DBUD I would definitely say BUYER BEWARE! Show less