Forum Discussion

WayneSC's avatar
WayneSC
Explorer
Feb 09, 2014

Coachmen Pursuit (Feed Back Please)

We are looking at the Coachmen Pursuit 27k and wanted to get some feed back on Coachmen since Forest River bought them in 2008. If you bought a Coachmen since 2008 how is the reliability and customer service? How is the Pursuit compared to the ACE?

13 Replies

  • WOW, two really great assessment of Coachmen, Thank You.:)

    I'm very handy and can fix most of the little things that go wrong on a motorhome so I would only take it back to the dealer for a major problem. We have had a trailer (21' Max Sport) for 6 years and I've had no real problems with it and it's a low end trailer. It does not seem to be that many Coachmen Motorhome owners out there so thanks again. Would love to hear from more.
  • I just purchased a new 2014 Encounter 37LS (Limited Supply). I purchased it @ the Cleveland RV Show 10-12 Jan. From my understanding there are only 6 in the country as of 14 Jan. One in CT, one in Cleveland, 2 on the lot in IN, one in transit to Houston and one in transit to Dallas. It has 1.5 bath (Porcelain), queen bed, 2 interior TV's, one exterior TV, Triton V10 362hp, and a ford chassis. We traded a 1999 32' Fleetwood Storm.

    I did one of the dumb things, that every smart guy says not to do, I purchased at a show. I did not see all 4 sides of the rv before purchase. The drivers side has small basement doors and it is hard to get regular sized items in and out, plus when the slide is out it is even more difficult. The pass-thru compartments are not big and roomy, but since I don't have a lot of pass-thru items they will be ok for now.

    INTERIOR: Drivers/passenger compartment - the front shade, in my opinion, is very cheap and will need replacing with a curtain within a year or 18 months, the sunscreen does not go down far enough to block the sun (not sitting in the driveway anyway), and I am not sure if it can be adjusted. There is no glove box or place to put a wallet or sunglasses, or GPS, or road map, or a toothpick in the "Cab".

    I am guessing I paid $XX,XXX for Italian tile, the wife liked this one best because she wanted little or no carpet. This coach has tile through out. The only portion that is carpet is under the dinette, drivers/passenger seat and the bedroom.

    There is little storage on the interior for food items. The kitchen drawers are very weird sizes and small. Cupboards are high and medium sized but no shelving on most, so that must be added by you. Most drawers are 5 x 11 and 10 x 11.

    There is room for a washer/dryer which will be a later purchase. So general storage is adequate for now, but once the new W/D is added, things will get tight. The half bath is OK, but there seems to be a lot of "open" storage, rather than shelving with doors/drawers. The bedroom has underbed storage, and adequate clothes drawer storage for now, but I am not sure if this will be adequate when we become extended travelers, which was the reason for this purchase. The full bath is roomy, but again there is a storage problem for towels and bath necessitates.

    There are very few recepticles in this coach and only 2 - 12V recepticles near the cab.

    Since I have only driven this coach 115 miles from the dealer to my home, it does drive well. The craftsmanship seems to be good, solid and well made and I have found only two small things that need "fixing" or touch up. I found a box of tile in a storage bay when I got home and several bottles of touch up paint.

    The walk-thru was fast and rushed, the financial person we dealt with should have retired several years ago, and the salesman has been trying hard to keep us happy and the dealership happy. The jury is still out on this one, but at this point I do not think I will purchase another Coachmen product or visit this dealership unless I must.
  • Hi, We have a 2013 Pursuit 31ft. I bought it after looking at everything in that price range and up about 30k higher. I love the Ford chassis, and the floor plan is very nice. I've had a couple of motorhomes briefly, and we have a travel trailer set up out west.

    The fit and finish is where you might have some complaints, but on mine, the workmanship appears to be similar to others I've seen in that ballpark. I think they all will have problems, and can all use some careful going over, even brand new. On mine, I had a loose wire, couple circuits that didn't get completed, an open crack in the caulking at the front cap/TPO roof line (Eternabond taped the whole seam). However, it was all easily fixed, and I DID take it without the extensive walk thru, knowing that I was going to take it apart to add inverter, solar panels, L.E.D. lights, power transfer switches, satellite tv, and seelevel tank monitors, and black water flush.

    Basically, I thought it was a great deal for a new vehicle, new systems, durable outside walls, metal framing, and I still think so after a few thousand miles. I personally have never gotten any satisfaction from warranties anytime, anywhere, from any entity. But, I don't go for the super high-end merch, like Mercedes, where they might actually act right for a warranty problem. I think that it's so modular of a product, that I can figure out how to fix whatever's broken. The stuff I'm not great at, like computer controlled engine ignition, is all new and proven design. I most likely will never see the dealer for warranty work, unless something really major pops up soon.

    I'm going to be pulling a big trailer, and am about to add a rear track bar. So far, we love the improvements, and feel that we can bolt in another piece of furniture, if we feel that we just have to have a more plush couch, for instance. So, it's all working fine, and coming from having much older MH's, I love the drop down bed for the kids, the power awnings, cameras, awesome HP, large tanks, rot-proof exterior walls, 2 slides, WORKING hydraulic levelers, and that kind of stuff that the old ones didn't seem to have.

    We love having a new one, and since the depreciation is so heavy on any new vehicle, I wanted the lower priced model that I could customize. If you want a perfect MH that will never have a failure, good luck finding that. But, all the systems that are attached to this box are found on lots of campers and seem easy to work on. This site has been great for getting ideas and technical help.

    For reference, I didn't mind living in new or used mobile homes for a chunk of my working life, even though I could get offended aesthetically by random staple gun construction. I would rate the Pursuit above my last new mobile home in terms of details and finish. Many of the hardware solutions you will find are on the inexpensive side, but it does all work fine. You're getting a lot for the money, and there's a small margin, I would imagine, so prepare your spouse for the fact that all of these things have some 'punch-list' items, even after driving it home, new. If you don't like to fiddle with stuff, you'll probably want to find a great repair shop nearby, not necessarily a dealer, since they all use similar systems and chassis.

    We looked at the ACE and Thor, but didn't like them nearly as much based on layout. Look online at the prices for whatever you get, they're pretty good right now!

    PS, the guy at the factory was nice, but I still haven't gotten any schematics yet, and don't expect I will. Old school wire tracing for a few problems resulted.