fading front cap on 2016 Crusader 5er

We have a 2013 Cougar and just got in touch with my dealer and they got the OK from Keystone to have the front Cap on our 5er painted, haven't had it done yet said they had such a backlog that it would take about 5 months, but that is OK it has already been approved.

mmanske wrote:
kohai, all I can say is...WOW. The fact that this is so common makes me scratch my head. There is an obvious mfg problem but they continue to put out units in the same manner. What kind of quality control is that? Seems like Rick has his hands full just keeping up with all the complaints and such. I sure hope they come thru for us all. I think you all will agree that we put out lots of hard-earned money to have something nice and it should not turn to garbage.


If I had been aware of the fade problems prior to purchase, I probably would have steered clear.

You'd be hard pressed to find a brand that hasn't been affected. It may be a pain but the paint/clear is a definite upgrade. A few brands are doing this in the mid price range now before sale but not many and none I know of at the crusaders price point. It is usually an extra dollar option. I am still very happy with my 295rst te after 3 seasons. Mainly because it was an incredible value with many high end options other brands charge extra for or don't offer and Prime Time has made extreme effort to fix any issues even beyond warranty.

Our '14 Montana High Country had the dreaded cap fade. The dealer called me a few days before delivery and said that it would be painted at no cost to me (except a month of interest on my few buck loan:R) and a about 3 weeks. I then, with the dealer's concurrence, talked to the painter and asked how he was going to do the job and what paint. His method coincided with my expectations and his paint was my favorite DuPont (now AXALTA) ChromaBase and their clear coat. Today, still looks better then new and the dealer, at my request, left the Montana's poor looking mountain scene decal in the box to go with the trailer on that distant day it travels down the road with a new owner

Irelands child wrote:
...and the dealer, at my request, left the Montana's poor looking mountain scene decal in the box to go with the trailer on that distant day it travels down the road with a new owner

I hope you took the decals out of the box and check them out. When ours was repainted, the dealer ordered new graphics from Keystone. The entire process from start to finish was suppose to be 5 days. Paint was done by another company and my dealer was to put the decal on.

Day 5 came, and the work was done. Dealer called me and said there was a problem and I should not come and pick it up that day. He explained the paint was done, looked really great! They went to put the decals on and found out Keystone goofed up! They would need to order new decals and it would take a few days. The following Friday (5 working days later), we did pick up the camper and it was great... (in the photos above).

What did Keystone send, those graphics.... imagine this???? They sent the graphics with the work "Keystone" missing the "e" and the "y"... yup? "Kston"..... now how in the world did something like that happen.... to pass the manufacturing phase, to get package, and sent to the dealer? Unless it was a joke someone at the manufacturing plant deliberately did??? we'll never know. But I had such a laugh out of it, I didn't mind the extra week. I had no camping outings planned anyway. It was fine. Came out great in the end.

So .. you REALLY might want to check out those graphics and make sure they are correct. Your's might not say "Montana" They just might say VolkWagon! And instead of a mountain, may be a graphic of the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany! Better check them. ;)

kohai wrote:

mmanske wrote:
I have a 2016 Crusader 295 that I've had for 4 months. This is our 1st new camper and we love it. However, I noticed that the front cap looks like it is fading at the top where it curves toward the roof. I got up there thinking it was just dirty but it didn't wipe off. Sorry no pics...it's storming here now. I plan on calling my dealer but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this. It is not under cover yet but I'm planning it soon. Nevertheless, it shouldn't do this after only 4 months. I hate thinking I spent $35K on something that is already making me question this brand.

Tons of issues with Prime Time and the dreaded fade can be found here:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f210/

I previously linked to the thread above for issues about the fading caps. That prime time website has started to moderate that thread on this topic so this is likely the better thread to discuss the issue so that your posts don't get deleted.

As many on here we went through this. We chose not to put graphics back on and had the front cap painted the same color as the body. The body shop panted two front stripes for us in lieu of graphics. This was all done under warranty by jayco.

Before






After

kohai wrote:

kohai wrote:

mmanske wrote:
I have a 2016 Crusader 295 that I've had for 4 months. This is our 1st new camper and we love it. However, I noticed that the front cap looks like it is fading at the top where it curves toward the roof. I got up there thinking it was just dirty but it didn't wipe off. Sorry no pics...it's storming here now. I plan on calling my dealer but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this. It is not under cover yet but I'm planning it soon. Nevertheless, it shouldn't do this after only 4 months. I hate thinking I spent $35K on something that is already making me question this brand.

Tons of issues with Prime Time and the dreaded fade can be found here:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f210/

I previously linked to the thread above for issues about the fading caps. That prime time website has started to moderate that thread on this topic so this is likely the better thread to discuss the issue so that your posts don't get deleted.

Posts requesting participation in a class action suit were removed from the forest river pt forum as they were against the rules. If you look at the rules for this site you will find the same is true... NOT allowed.

alexleblanc wrote:
is this pretty much only on the dark grey or dark brown front caps? Mine is light beige and I'm wondering if I'll have this same effect. Looks perfect right now and the RV was manufactured last January.

No, even the white ones do this but its not as noticeable as the dark colors. My 2yr old 5er front cap is white and is getting rough/dull/chalky texture near the top of the front cap.

mmanske wrote:
kohai, all I can say is...WOW. The fact that this is so common makes me scratch my head. There is an obvious mfg problem but they continue to put out units in the same manner. What kind of quality control is that? Seems like Rick has his hands full just keeping up with all the complaints and such. I sure hope they come thru for us all. I think you all will agree that we put out lots of hard-earned money to have something nice and it should not turn to garbage.


If I had been aware of the fade problems prior to purchase, I probably would have steered clear.

Welcome to the RV industry... That's just how things roll in this biz

Paul Clancy wrote:

Posts requesting participation in a class action suit were removed from the forest river pt forum as they were against the rules. If you look at the rules for this site you will find the same is true... NOT allowed.

Why is that exactly? Why are websites afraid of holding manufacturers accountable? Is the advertising dollars they are afraid of losing?

RV Daily did an 8 part rant about the problems in the RV industry and this censoring of any efforts to hold manufacturers accountable seems to back up the RV Daily argument.

http://rvdailyreport.com/category/exclusive/