Beware Fleetwood

[balfre1946]

In 2011 we bought a 4 month old Fleetwood Fiesta 34B gas to take a 3 year, 36,000 mile trip then live in it for 1 1/2 years in Charleston, SC. Of course we had electrical, mechanical,A/C and habitability problems but after the year warranty ran out they were useless. The pleather, fake woodwork and rugs disintegrated, slides leaked, levelers wouldn't extend/retrack, tons of electrical problems we can go on and on and they provided no help. We didn't even have the proper manuals. The ONLY good thing about our RV was the Chevy Workhorse.

NEVER, EVER trust Fleetwood.

[vjstangelo]

I'll try to start up constructive comments again.

We were close to buying a used 2007 Bounder with the workhorse chassis. We went so far as to get the unit professionally inspected, but for a variety of reasons decided not to follow through. I will say that we felt the Bounder was well designed and constructed.

Fast forward to Hershey last year. We felt the new Bounders were the sharpest gassers at the show. We hear that they are phenomenal sellers for Fleetwood.

Note that we have read on many threads the wails of dissatisfied owners of "never again" a Winnebago, Forest River, Thor, or whatever. Sorry that folks jumped all over you, it actually wasn't very polite, but there is surely brand loyalty prevalent on the web and I think you just tapped into that for the Fleetwood owners.

I'll close with the fact that our 13 year old KZ TT has had its fair share of issues, many of which you described above with your unit. What did we do: just fixed it and continued camping. If you really liked the motorhome enough to drop 6 figures purchasing it, just fix it and enjoy like we did.

Good luck.

[msmith1199]

I suspect this topic will be closed shortly.

[RayChez]

crasster wrote:

RayChez wrote:
I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. If you buy an entry level motor home you are not going to have the real wood on cabinets. You are not going to get expensive ceramic tiles on the floor. You are not going to get expensive tops.

All I can say is my next coach will probably be a Fleetwood American line Eagle. I have friends that own them and they have told me that they are very happy with their coaches.

Sorry to here that you are so unhappy with your motor home.

I appreciate the spirit of the post, except the OP's issues did not have much to do with what you posted. He wasn't seeming overall unhappy about the "luxury" of the coach. Of course nobody buying an entry fleetwood (or medium grade) thinks it will be all granite, stainless steel, and tiles. Many folks expect vinyl planking (or vinyl floors) and standard counters and cheapie cabinets.

The post centered more around core issues such as electrical wiring, leaking issues, etc. Buying inexpensive RV's should not mean the function of the RV gets deemed useless or that they are "cheap" in terms of durability. I mean, I can understand the complaint. Fleetwood is a huge company and just because they are less expensive than luxury brands doesn't mean that within 5 years there should be leaks.

However, with that said, I've had reasonably good experiences with Fleetwood myself. Of course the ones I've owned were not exactly luxurious, but they functioned and would take you camping.

OP have you tried calling their corporate and just running through all the issues? Also, buying used typically voids all warranties (and consider it is 5 years old). You may have less issues than you think and they may be simple fixes.

Well! I think you did not read the OP either because he does complain about fake woodwork, the material used on the seats and couches.

Sir! my post stated that if you buy an entry motor home you are going to get what you pay for. And I still stand by my post.

[bsinmich]

There was a time when the trade name "Nuleather" lost their rights and a cheap imitation was using the same name. I recall this from past posts on the subject.

[Dale_Traveling]

wallynm wrote:
Not sure only four post as they are listed as a senior member and 200 post to become a senior member. Not hard to do and he has 345!

Lets see, you have been an RV owner and a member here since 2011 and this is the first we have heard of it. Only 4 posts EVER, sounds like troll territory.

Actually they do have that many posts but you have to search since the last one was a while ago and have been archived and closed. Some very basic system questions and a lot of routing questions.

What I suspect is they bought their first rig and hit the road thinking everything would be great but didn't quite turn out that way. A budget coach will do the job as a 24/7 rolling home on wheels but it is going to demand a bit more attention to keep it show room shine.

[crasster]

RayChez wrote:
I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. If you buy an entry level motor home you are not going to have the real wood on cabinets. You are not going to get expensive ceramic tiles on the floor. You are not going to get expensive tops.

All I can say is my next coach will probably be a Fleetwood American line Eagle. I have friends that own them and they have told me that they are very happy with their coaches.

Sorry to here that you are so unhappy with your motor home.

I appreciate the spirit of the post, except the OP's issues did not have much to do with what you posted. He wasn't seeming overall unhappy about the "luxury" of the coach. Of course nobody buying an entry fleetwood (or medium grade) thinks it will be all granite, stainless steel, and tiles. Many folks expect vinyl planking (or vinyl floors) and standard counters and cheapie cabinets.

The post centered more around core issues such as electrical wiring, leaking issues, etc. Buying inexpensive RV's should not mean the function of the RV gets deemed useless or that they are "cheap" in terms of durability. I mean, I can understand the complaint. Fleetwood is a huge company and just because they are less expensive than luxury brands doesn't mean that within 5 years there should be leaks.

However, with that said, I've had reasonably good experiences with Fleetwood myself. Of course the ones I've owned were not exactly luxurious, but they functioned and would take you camping.

OP have you tried calling their corporate and just running through all the issues? Also, buying used typically voids all warranties (and consider it is 5 years old). You may have less issues than you think and they may be simple fixes.

[wallynm]

Not sure only four post as they are listed as a senior member and 200 post to become a senior member. Not hard to do and he has 345!

Lets see, you have been an RV owner and a member here since 2011 and this is the first we have heard of it. Only 4 posts EVER, sounds like troll territory.

[ddndoug]

Pics would certainly help the OPs story. But, I for one have the peeling pleather that Thor put in their MHs and do find it extremely aggravating because both us and the previous owner have taken great care of the unit and though no fault of ours the seating surfaces look like ****!

Doug

[mike_brez]

X2 these are pics from when I sold my 20 year old Fleetwood PaceArrow with original carpet and flexsteel furniture. Me thinks someone treated theirs like $hit.

[msmith1199]

I would suspect that if in fact these things "disintegrated" in five years there was some level of abuse there. Maybe the five great danes full time in the motorhome? I have a 12 year old National RV, yet it has Flexsteel furniture and probably the same type carpet and woodwork as a Fleetwood. None of mine have disintegrated. Actually my motorhome looks almost as good as new.

[Blackdiamond]

balfre1946 wrote:
In 2011 we bought a 4 month old Fleetwood Fiesta 34B gas to take a 3 year, 36,000 mile trip then live in it for 1 1/2 years in Charleston, SC. Of course we had electrical, mechanical,A/C and habitability problems but after the year warranty ran out they were useless. The pleather, fake woodwork and rugs disintegrated, slides leaked, levelers wouldn't extend/retrack, tons of electrical problems we can go on and on and they provided no help. We didn't even have the proper manuals. The ONLY good thing about our RV was the Chevy Workhorse.

NEVER, EVER trust Fleetwood.

Lets see, you have been an RV owner and a member here since 2011 and this is the first we have heard of it. Only 4 posts EVER, sounds like troll territory.

[westernrvparkow]

The fact is different people treat their possessions differently. If they are extremely hard on their things, they will fall apart much quicker than if they are meticulously careful. It is surely possible to destroy an RV in 5 years through neglect and abuse.

[Valkyriebush]

My first RV was a Pace Arrow, second is my Excursion. Both have been excellent RV's. No heartache with Fleetwood at all. I'm actually stunned how well the ultra leather furniture has held up and looks good still after all these years. Pleather? not sure of that material.

[RLHAMILTON]

We had two Fleetwood products and the coaches and service was outstanding. There are problems with all coaches, but would buy Fleetwood again. Sorry you had a problem.

[DSDP_Don]

Okay, you bought an entry level gasser and then expected the interior to survive full time living for 5 years. Did it ever dawn on you that it was not designed for that type of use and even says that in your manuals.