Palomino Columbus 320RS reviews

Having come up from a popup to a 26' Coleman to our current Columbus 320RS in seven years has been amazing. Our Columbus has so much room, a portable island that we can remove if we want to take our kayaks with us. There is a kingsize bed that gives us such a wonderful rest each night. I am 6'1" and can fully stand to take a shower. We have the 4-point automatic landing system which is so easy to operate to level our rig. Our next rig will have the 6-point for even more stability. We have spent two summer seasons camping in our Columbus .. one full week in Minnesota with just us and 10 days going to Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore with our two nieces from Brazil ... we all had plenty of room and were extremely comfortable all the time. One last upgrade this year ... will take delivery on the 375RL for even more living room space, a larger refrigerator, a heat pump, the 6-point leveling system, backup camera and continue to wonderful support of the Columbus RV Group on Facebook where tons of helpful information is given from our over 800 members! LOVE COLUMBUS!!!!

Love the floor plan. The large shower is a huge plus for us. That is where the positives end. Landing gear problems three times the first year resulting in replacing everything except the legs themselves. The second year we had to have four of the six legs rebuilt as they were jammed or had broken their shear pins. The dealer was no help. The black tank coupler in the belly of the unit came loose and was dripping waste into the belly of the unit. They cut open the the belly to fix the leak and only taped the opening instead of a more permanent fix. The coupling worked loose again a year later so I took it to an RV repair shop instead of the dealer. The black tank valve does not seal tight and therefore you get a big surprise when you remove the waste cap to attach the hose. I have had a gate installed on the waste pipe so I don't get any more surprises. The third year The brakes worked loose and ruined the the backing plate. The second year I noticed a bulge in the fiberglass at the bottom right of the bedroom slide. Fought with the dealer to address the issue. It was finally addressed by sending the unit back to the factory to have it fixed. It turned out to be a broken frame and pressure on the exterior wall causing the bulge. The floor in the kitchen area in front of the sink and stove are soft and feel like they will give way. I had the dealer look to see if there was any water leak causing the issue. The dealer said nothing looks water damaged. Since I had issues with he dealer I then took the unit to an RV repair shop and he confirmed no water damage. It turns out, after research on line, this is a known issue. (https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f96/palomino-columbus-320-soft-floor-124438.html) The dealer will not address the issue and Forest River/Palomino will not return my calls on this. The third year again I inspected the roof half way through the season. There were several cracks in the bathroom skylight around the screws that fasten it to the roof and up into the skylight dome. The dealer said the warranty was expired and the extended warranty would not cover it. Two of the dual day/night roll up shades quit rolling up and are not useable. The two largest windows. The replacements are $235 and $275. This unit has been the biggest piece of crap I have ever purchased! I will never buy another Forest River product!

This is a beautiful 5th wheel and tows like it is not even back there. Easy to setup and very comfortable. We have only used this for vacations and it fit our needs perfectly. Love this 5th wheel.

Took deliver on June 18 2014. It was back in the shop two weeks later with self- leveling landing gear issues. I went to pick it up three weeks later and the landing gear worked great. Got to my seasonal site and the landing gear would not lower. Back to the shop it goes. All in all, the unit was in the shop a total of six weeks the first year all for landing gear. Next year I noticed a bulge in the sidewall below the bedroom slide. Fought with the dealership all summer long to get it looked at. I sent the unit back to the factory that fall for a broken weld in the frame. The third year there was a brake malfunction and ruined the brakes and backing plate on one of the axels. Warranty argument and then repaired. Mid-season the fourth year the landing gear would not self- level. Some of legs would not operate at all. Dealership wanted $300 deposit $60 trip charge and "maybe" warranty would cover it. ( I purchased the 5 year extended warranty.) I politely told them what they could do could do with their deposit and trip charge. I bought hydraulic jacks and concrete blocks and removed the legs myself. I took them to a RV repair only shop and he rebuilt them. While removing the jacks I noticed a drip from the middle of the unit right under the bathroom. I took the unit to the dealer. Turns out the tank shifted and the coupling from the sewer line to the black tank came loose. It was repaired under warranty. Three weeks later after returning from a one week trip I noticed it was leaking under the bathroom again. This time I took it to the repair only shop. The tank shifted again and the coupling came loose. The coupling was to short so the repair only shop put in a longer full rubber coupling. No problems with tank leak since. Last year I noticed the floor in the kitchen in front of the sink was soft. I took it in the repair only shop that fixed the landing gear and had him inspect the RV for water leaks. None found. Turns out Forest River changed the design and went with a 5/8 inch sub floor instead of the 3/4. They also did not add any additional bracing to help support the thinner sub floor. This is a known issue I found through the Forest River web site. Warranty is over so I don’t know what I am going to do to get this fixed. I will never buy another Forest River product. They are junk!

My wife and I fell in love with this RV when we bought it. The quality and layout far exceeded others we looked at. We still love it, but just don't have time to use it. It looks great and is spacious. It tows great and has many high end features. We still like it better than most new ones we have seen.

Bought new in 2018. Have had many issues. Some easy to take care of, other require getting out the major tools for a weekend repair. All taken care of by myself because of the bad experiences with dealers response. Some want you to pay and they also bill the factory. That is true. Latest issues are keeping the unit level. Must relevel every other day and yes I use pads under jacks. Now try to believe this. We lost warm air flow to our front bedroom and bathroom. Temps in 50’s. After opening up the basement rear wall and exposing the air ducts for everything, what a mess, I found the correct duct and when I tried to move it it felt like it was full of debris of some kind. I disconnected the upper end and WOW it was completely full of water. Water in a heating duct????? About 6-8 qts of debris filled water. Well that solved my issue with the heating. About 90 minutes of twisting, turning and getting bloody scratches. This is not made up.

We are wrapping up our 6th summer in this RV. We loved the floorplan when we first bought it and still do. The problems we had over the years were minor and did not stop us from using it. Our first outing, the a/c units did not cool well, refrigerator doors came open during travel and rear self leveling jacks kept running out of stroke before leveling. Dealer said nothing wrong but did replace fridge latches (didn't work). We solved all problems--found large chunks of styrofoam in a/c vents; sealed refrigerator doors by placing a short stiff rubber tube between doors to keep them shut while traveling; found we had to lower front end jacks close to ground after removing unit from truck and then hit level button. All works great now. We have had problems with drawers on both sides of fireplace and below fridge falling out while traveling. Solved by slipping a yard stick down thru the handles of the three drawers on each side of fireplace and crisscrossing bungy cords across face of fireplace; blocked the lower fridge cabinet with an ice chest we carry in which we store bottled water. After 35,000 towing miles and a combined 18 months of full-time summer living, we came close to replacing this trailer this 2019 summer with another "high end luxury" unit but found none that had all the same features (especially storage and closet space) as our Columbus. Plus the models we were considering all had some horrible reviews in terms of quality control and service. So we are saving $50-$80K after trade-in by keeping this one to spend what we hope will be several more summers in, avoiding the heat at home in Las Vegas. None of these 5th wheels are perfect. Recognize you need to get to know your unit and many problems can be worked around without the agony of fighting with dealers and probably waiting months for repairs that may do nothing to solve the problems.

Very good condition, bigger than what I am looking for. Inside was in excellent condition and very well taken care of,clean! Nice floor plan as well ,moveable island is a great option, didn’t look as if it has been used much at all. I have looked at some that appear to be never cleaned ,this was definitely not the case , just a little bit more camper than I can use .

Nice floor plan, plenty of room to move around. Kitchen has move around island which is very convenient. Very comfortable seating,electric fireplace is perfect for chilly days. Nice size shower . Plenty of room in bedroom to move around,dress, whatever. Overall a well done setup.

We purchased our Columbus in October 2014, at the time we did not realize the amount of work we would have to have completed prior to use. Our trailer spent 8 of the first 12 months in the shop being repaired. When it was repaired we had to return numerous times as it was not repaired properly. This is the list of repairs, could not even enjoy the trailer for the first year. Hole on slide out weld by door Door does not shut properly Blind in bedroom towards front slides down by itself Heater casing bent not installed properly Bracket for Ac not installed properly Curtain in living room installed crooked Holes in bedroom wall on Karl's side Curtain hook broken on Karl's side Front of shower pan leaks that holds the glass doors (rail) Plug in - in bathroom crooked not installed properly Kitchen sink door does not shut Fenders are cracking and breaking by screws Brake system on trailer locking up Slide in for living room scratching the floor Refrigerator not working on LP gas Fenders are cracking Gas makes funny noise when going into trailer Leveling system board broken