First hand Palomino/Forest River TC opinions?

Mike008 wrote:
I wanted to follow up on this, I went and drove the 160 miles to look at this camper over the weekend. I spent considerable time looking over the camper and it's construction. I would say overall it's decent. The roof was a big concern for me, it actually looked very well put together.

There were some things I would have to address due to my OCD if I bought this particular camper. The stove top was blatantly crooked in the counter top. I brought a tape measure with me, it was 3/4 of an inch crooked to be exact.

One side of the face of the furnace which is supposed to sit flush on the cabinet front was sticking out a 1/4" exposing the gray furnace side.

Looking from the inside out, the door had something funny going on on the bottom left. It's hard to explain, but the wood under the finished surface was showing and the bottom of the door seemed crooked.

Finally, the door to access the toilet cassette was really off. Off to the point the access door required force to close completely.

This minor stuff would drive me crazy, but I imagine it wouldn't be to difficult or time consuming to straighten out. Which makes me wonder why it doesn't get straightened out before it leaves the factory?

For other reasons I decided it's not my first choice. One being I don't think the cassette toilet is for me. Another being I just like the Adventurer 80GS better. The dealer showing me a sale price that was actually higher then the MSRP didn't help either. :?

Go with mutliple dealers...I had four giving me quotes when the most local "couldn't do any better", then price matched the lowest bidder when it came down to it. Ended up at about 5k off msrp.

I wanted to follow up on this, I went and drove the 160 miles to look at this camper over the weekend. I spent considerable time looking over the camper and it's construction. I would say overall it's decent. The roof was a big concern for me, it actually looked very well put together.

There were some things I would have to address due to my OCD if I bought this particular camper. The stove top was blatantly crooked in the counter top. I brought a tape measure with me, it was 3/4 of an inch crooked to be exact.

One side of the face of the furnace which is supposed to sit flush on the cabinet front was sticking out a 1/4" exposing the gray furnace side.

Looking from the inside out, the door had something funny going on on the bottom left. It's hard to explain, but the wood under the finished surface was showing and the bottom of the door seemed crooked.

Finally, the door to access the toilet cassette was really off. Off to the point the access door required force to close completely.

This minor stuff would drive me crazy, but I imagine it wouldn't be to difficult or time consuming to straighten out. Which makes me wonder why it doesn't get straightened out before it leaves the factory?

For other reasons I decided it's not my first choice. One being I don't think the cassette toilet is for me. Another being I just like the Adventurer 80GS better. The dealer showing me a sale price that was actually higher then the MSRP didn't help either. :?

Looks like my used options are opened back up. I spoke with someone at Palomino. He told me it shouldn't be too difficult to remove the cabinet in the cab over area. I could then throw an 80" queen mattress up there. I'd probably want a new mattress anyway with a used camper. The deal would have to be right to make it worth my effort, but at least I have other options.

mkirsch wrote:
That doesn't sound right. It's an east-west bed so they would've had to widen the ENTIRE camper to accommodate an 80" mattress, if it were limited to 74" previously.

Odds are you probably won't find a used 6601 for sale, in acceptable condition, at a price you can agree with, within a distance you're willing to drive, but I bet that if it doesn't have a full queen size mattress, it can accommodate one.

They haven't actually changed the camper. It's 7' / 84" wide. They had some kind of cabinet in the bed area that only allowed a 74" bed. It's gone for 2016. It can be seen here:

That doesn't sound right. It's an east-west bed so they would've had to widen the ENTIRE camper to accommodate an 80" mattress, if it were limited to 74" previously.

Odds are you probably won't find a used 6601 for sale, in acceptable condition, at a price you can agree with, within a distance you're willing to drive, but I bet that if it doesn't have a full queen size mattress, it can accommodate one.

I'm driving 160 miles to actually see a 6601 on Saturday. That's the closest one I could find. I will at least get a feel for the build quality. Unfortunately buying used is not going to be an option for me. From 2015 and back the bed is only 74". It's 80" in the 2016 model. I'm 6'5 so a 74" bed is not going to be an option. :(

Mike008 wrote:
And a lot of the complaints claim FR won't return phone calls about these issues.

The one thing I've learned about buying a new RV: First - it's all about the dealer. Second - it might be about your "approach"? A good dealer handles the problems that arise (but being polite, respectful, and concise when dealing with the dealer certainly help!) RVs as a whole are a crazy conglomeration of parts made by other companies with various warranties. We're probably lucky, as TCers, that we aren't dealing with as many of those, as the folks who have rolling RVs? But some folks will assume that because Forest River or any other brand is the badge their RV wears - they are the source of all warranties and repairs, kind of like a car company. And that's not the case with most RVs. I say "most" because I'll bet if you buy a million-dollar Class A coach, they WILL handle any and all problems ;-)

So going back to buying a used camper: take the time to thoroughly search all the nooks and crannies for signs of problems. Someone who is selling a good camper won't mind you poking around. Bring a headlamp to see into the dark corners. Even if you find something that makes you go "hmmmm" - is it something you can fix? And ALWAYS be suspicious of a big gob of caulk on the outside, because there's going to be a problem behind it on the inside.

Deb and Ed M wrote:
You have to remember that any forum devoted to angry customers is going to appear "scary". Obviously the majority of people posting there are unhappy

I get that. You can find complaints/problems on the internet about any product or company. I just don't typically see it on such a large scale. And a lot of the complaints claim FR won't return phone calls about these issues.

Oh no, not the tarp thing again...

There is constant debate about tarping your RV. Many people say that it is WORSE than leaving the RV exposed to the elements because it traps condensation up against the RV, and doesn't allow it to ever dry out. Some people will have done it and had "no problems."

Personally, I have never had any luck tarping anything with any sort of corners on it. No matter how tight you make the tarp, the wind will cause it to rub on the corners and wear through the tarp in short order. Not fun when you just spent $169 on an expensive canvas tarp.

The other comments are right ,store the RV inside when not in use or throw a tarp over it. Check the seals every 6 months and recaulk as needed . I bought a used palomino pop up truck camper a few years ago , I liked it but I'm 6'6" tall and the bed was a little small for me .In 2014 I went with a friend to buy a new forest River class C ,to me it seemed like a nice RV . but they were not happy with it, was to small for them. They traded it for a 2015 Thor class A . The workmanship is not what it should be in the Thor. As for me I'll keep my 06 Travel Lite 800 SBX ,always have a tube of Dicor or Proflex ,tarp and hope for the best.