? on quality of Forrest River Sunseeker

[luberhill]

been looking for a C or A under 30ft,,,seems every one I see used is junk...looking at a used 2018 FR Sunseeker 2290S,,,one slide...price is 50k...
Miles 18k....
I think he said these have fiberglass roofs...I know people here say stay away from Thor but how about Sunseeker ?

[docsouce]

I can only post about my experience. I bought my "New 2016" Thor 22e Freedom Elite from Camping World in late Summer of 2015. From the research I did I found out that this was an entry level lower end Class C on a bullet proof frame and if I was good with a wrench (which I am) it was a good RV at a good price. The first trip I had a water leak. The factory installed a rigid PVC pipe connecting the 2 fresh water tanks. I drained the water to a point below the pipe connection, that left the tanks about 1/2 full, brought it back and had the dealer install a flex pipe connection. Problem solved.

We have since completed 3 cross country trips, have 39,000 miles on is so far, have camped out 227 nights in it (not bad considering it is closed up 4 months for winter) and haven't had a major problem.....yet. Sure there are small things like screws coming loose and the mattresses getting a little thin, but it has treated us well.

I inspect it often. Tighten up screws, clean the A/C, check the roof and seal and so on. Routine maintenance.

We use this RV a lot. I'm sure there are people that haven't been as fortunate as we are and for sure there ARE some "bad" RV's out there.
However our THOR RV has given us exactly what we paid for.

[lfcjasp]

D.E.Bishop wrote:
There seem to be so many members that say that RVs across the board are low quality, "IF" that is true, what does that say about the intelligence of the owners?

I guess they are willing to settle for junk at very high prices.

.

Interesting observation, but it does make you think...well, it does me.

Anyway, Thor may be junk, but I guess we got the only good one. Ours has held up well through six seasons. There have been trips back to the dealership for repairs (leak in cabover...fact of life in a C) and we've had to work on the A/C and a few little things. But she's not been any more work that our brick rancher and has been a lot more fun.

Take care of whatever you get, do do diligence (research!!!) and be willing to deal with a repair or maintenance.

[92GreenYJ]

Well I’ve had my Sunseeker for all of a week now. I’m impressed. My buddy has the exact same model that he has had for 4 years now and they love it. Part of the reason we bought ours.

[D_E_Bishop]

There seem to be so many members that say that RVs across the board are low quality, "IF" that is true, what does that say about the intelligence of the owners?

I guess they are willing to settle for junk at very high prices.

My brother won't accept the fact that driving from Los Angeles, CA up I-5 to Eugene, OR is like subjecting an RV to a 8.0 earthquake. Therefore, to him because little items are always in need of repair and our entire RV requires as much maintenance as his home, that RV's in general are junk.

We looked at the Intent a few weeks ago, to me it is a huge, a gigantic even, step down from our 16 year old Adventurer. Both are made by Winnebago Ind., is the Intent junk, no but it lacks the quality components I admire in my Adventurer and I wasn't willing to settle for that level of quality.

So maybe folks buy what they can afford or are willing to invest in but what they purchase is not necessarily junk. There are too many RV owners that love their RV's to use a blanket statement like, "RVs are junk" or that "quality" is not a word you can used to describe an RV.

[S1njin]

FWIW I have a 2018 Sunseeker and I'll be trading it in for a Jayco Greyhawk. I won't brand bash here, but the FR just isn't living up to my expectations.

[bobndot]

I've had Jayco, Salem, Arctic Fox, Layton, Open Road, Tioga and now a Sunseeker . Talk about a slow learner ? :B
I keep hoping 'this one will be better', but it's when it's going to break not if it's going to break.

You just learn to deal with it or not do it. The quality of the parts being used is terrible. The shoddy labor in conjunction with shoddy parts makes it worse.


Ralph C. is correct , its 50/50 in this industry.
Some have better luck than others .
I like the P. Cruiser, Leisure Travel Vans and Pleasure-way units.

[magnusfide]

ron.dittmer wrote:
Hi luberhill,

We have owned our 2007 Phoenix Cruiser model 2350 for 11 years now. Like most other PC owners, we rate our Phoenix Cruiser very high on quality, and also with long term care with customer support. I could call for a replacement part on our 2007 model and get excellent treatment along with "very reasonable" pricing. People who have bought "used" often call for help with their new purchase on a well used PC. They are very impressed with the personal and thorough support received.

If you find a used PC, newer or older, as long as it was maintained reasonably well (especially nice if it had some kind of covered storage) any age going back to late 2004 (beginning with integrated rear wall with spare tire compartment) will be a good choice. Mid-year 2006, Phoenix added a second house battery and whole house inverter which is a handsome upgrade.

All Phoenix Cruisers use the same basic exterior components with exception to the length and floor plan. One basic foundation is used across every model. They are well constructed as THIS 11 YEAR OLD VIDEO explains with exceptional clarity. The rig has not changed much since those days when we bought ours.

There are numerous more current videos THIS 3 YEAR OLD VIDEO COMPARING a Phoenix Cruiser model 2350 to an unnamed competitor.

CLICK HERE to get to Phoenix USA's website. There was a recent price hike this year so if you find PCs to be too rich for your budget, look into a decent used one. The company has offered 9 different models for many years now. Some models were replaced with others along the way so there are quite a few different floor plans to search out in the used market.

Ron Dittmer

Double ditto.

[ScottG]

I had a 2003 FR wildcat that was arguably better made than my AF.
However, as someone here pointed out, you can't compare pre-recession RV quality to post recession. During that time they had to make them for an even fatter profit margin and they never went back. So depending on the manufacturer, stuff built after about 2012 is extremely suspect.

[donn0128]

Bumpyroad wrote:
Quality-Forrest River
an oxymoron
bumpy

Can say the same thing about Thor, Grand Design, heck all of them.

[ron_dittmer]

luberhill wrote:
Oh no,, I wish they would just tell me a good brand, I’ve heard Winnie, Thor,Jayco are all junk,,,,

Hi luberhill,

We have owned our 2007 Phoenix Cruiser model 2350 for 11 years now. Like most other PC owners, we rate our Phoenix Cruiser very high on quality, and also with long term care with customer support. I could call for a replacement part on our 2007 model and get excellent treatment along with "very reasonable" pricing. People who have bought a used PC often call for help with their purchase. They are very impressed with the personal and complete support received.

If you find a used PC, newer or older, as long as it was maintained reasonably well (especially nice if it had some kind of covered storage) any age going back to late 2004 (beginning with integrated rear wall with spare tire compartment) will be a good choice. Mid-year 2006, Phoenix added a second house battery and whole house inverter which is a handsome upgrade.

All Phoenix Cruisers use the same basic exterior components with exception to the length and floor plan. One basic foundation is used across every model. They are well constructed as THIS 11 YEAR OLD VIDEO explains with exceptional clarity. The rig has not changed much since those days when we bought ours.

There are numerous more current videos THIS 3 YEAR OLD VIDEO COMPARING a Phoenix Cruiser model 2350 to an unnamed competitor.

CLICK HERE to get to Phoenix USA's website. There was a recent price hike this year so if you find PCs to be too rich for your budget, look into a decent used one. The company has offered 9 different models for many years now. Some models were replaced with others along the way so there are quite a few different floor plans to search out in the used market.

Ron Dittmer

[SidecarFlip]

I just look at who owns FR. That answers all. Don't think Warren has an RV and if he does, it's a Prevost with a chauffer. I suspect if he goes on a trip however, it's in an executive rail car on the back of a BNSF locomotive.

Like Ralph says, they are all bad to worse. You cold, maybe, just maybe get a good one. Like playing the lottery, a couple tickets win, most are worthless.

I got a good one. I consider myself very lucky.

[Bumpyroad]

Quality-Forrest River
an oxymoron
bumpy

[Ralph_Cramden]

ScottG wrote:
Oh boy, we have a couple of haters on here that are sure to come out of the woodwork for this one.

My name is Ralph and I'm a Forest River hater and just crawled out from under a dining room baseboard LOL, hell I even own one. The problem with anything made by any Forest River division is inconsistency in everything from build quality to support. Exactly the same as the other RV manufacturers, and the entire RV industry as a whole.

You're chances of getting something you can live with as opposed to a total POS is 50/50 with any manufacturer / brand. Even companies like Northwood, Tiffin, you name it, all of them.

luberhill wrote:
been looking for a C or A under 30ft,,,seems every one I see used is junk...looking at a used 2018 FR Sunseeker 2290S,,,one slide...price is 50k...
Miles 18k....
I think he said these have fiberglass roofs...I know people here say stay away from Thor but how about Sunseeker ?

2018 Used?

I'd wager for one of two reasons. The original buyer either got in way over their head and bailed out, or was handed a total POS with many problems and bailed out. Also a 3rd Scenario. The 2018 could of been built as early as 2016 so it was purchased, used for two years, and for whatever reason was then traded or sold. In that case most likely no preventative maintenance was done whatsoever. Don't think for a second dealers are all honest, and are incapable of hiding issues like water intrusion or other major issues. Some are really pros and creative at it.

[Teacher_s_Pet]

Take a look at Coach House, problem is you need 2x the money.

[ScottG]

Hate to say it but everything is junk in some way. I bought Northwood and paid a premium only to get an ever so slightly better grade of junk. The RV industry is where the auto industry was back in the 70's.