Coachman Encounter

[Galena]

Looking at the Coachman Encounter and it seems to offer a lot of options for a good price. Wondering about Coachman's support and coach quality but can't seem to find any info on the forums. Anyone have any "real world" experience that they would like to share?
Thanks

[Mortdd]

We have a 2013 Encounter 37TZ bought in Jan.. 2013 and it has been a headache. The customer service is very slow but there if you don't mind waiting. Sometimes it has been weeks.

The 37TZ has 3 slides and one is cable driven. It has been a nightmare for the whole time and I am not convinced it is fixed yet. The cockpit windows have been replaced but they still vibrate on a windy day. No fix it sight for that. We had a phantom water leak in the plumbing which no one ever did find for sure. It was sporadic enough that I cannot be sure that I fixed it yet.

I would not buy another Coachmen class A but maybe we just got a bad one.

[hmknightnc]

hmknightnc wrote:
Don't know about the Encounter Class A but have a mid-level quality 2011 FW that we abuse the (blank) out of and put around 10k miles a year on doing Horse Shows and College Football Tailgating. I have absolutely no complaints and have great dealer support.

Rex and Sons on south college road.

[1nshort]

go to Forrest River Forums, General Motorhome Discussion, Coachmen Motorhomes it is a Coachmen thread there you can communicate with many current Coachmen owners, ask questions...we will answer and advise. I traded my 03 Hurricane in for a Coachmen Encounter 37TZ 2013. Had issues, all MH's do. The Coachmen group made everything right (through my dealer)they stood by their product. Yes, floor plan is everything. We had in mind what we wanted and decided the floor plan would dictate the engine. Just so happened the floor plan was on a gasser. Ford V10 gasser and transmission. In my 12 years with that power train I never had any problems, just the usual plugs wires etc. Minor stuff, the F53 chassis is great.

[njtony]

have a 2013 Mirada. full timers, coach has had a lot of small things go wrong . had intire floor replaced due to slides cutting into floor. windows having pull frams come off several times .toilet keeps clogging up now matter how we flush. local dealer in nj is worthless. unit was at mfg facility in Indiana for six weeks. Will not buy another Coachman or forest river product. Pay a little more and and look at a bounder, which we had gone with our first choice. good luck.

[Galena]

hmknightnc, I see you are in Wilmington NC, which dealer do you use?
Thanks

[hmknightnc]

Don't know about the Encounter Class A but have a mid-level quality 2011 FW that we abuse the (blank) out of and put around 10k miles a year on doing Horse Shows and College Football Tailgating. I have absolutely no complaints and have great dealer support.

[wallynm]

Cochmen Yahoo Group

Post your question here.

[tatest]

Did you try searching on Coachmen? Don't know how sensitive the search here is, with respect to spelling.

Within our RV club, experience with Coachmen products has been satisfactory, no better or worse than Dutchmen on towable RVs, FourWinds for motorized, or with Jayco. Those are the brand with which Coachmen most often competes.

But Coachmen is now owned by Forest River, and I have no experience with this new era, don't know how independent they are or to what extent there is badge engineering between Coachmen and the Forest River brands.

[bhivetravels]

Galena wrote:
Looking at the Coachman Encounter and it seems to offer a lot of options for a good price. Wondering about Coachman's support and coach quality but can't seem to find any info on the forums. Anyone have any "real world" experience that they would like to share?
Thanks

I've had three -- a hybrid, a TT, and now class A gasser. No issues from my point of view. The repairs I've had to make are the common type you'd expect full-timing, constant coach use. It does not have marble floors or fancy lighting, but it has the floor plan we love. There is nothing more important than the floor plan I don't care which coach you buy. A giant diesel pusher to a smaller class B or C, if it fits you and yours, then that is all that matters. Our must have list was, bath and a half, king bed, washer dryer. After that everything else was just gravy! Best of luck !