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blaczero

USA

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Posted: 11/13/20 03:14pm

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I am looking at 2 RV's and wondering which company has better warranty reputation / customer service / repair reputation, etc.

(Forest River) 2021 Coachmen Catalina Legacy Edition 343BHTSLE

and

(Thor) 2021 Crossroads Zinger 340BH

Both the floor plan we want (BH and w/d hookups with East/West bed) and both the same'ish price. So who has better customer service / warranty / repair service?

Any other thoughts? I am pretty new to this, it'll be my first RV.

haste maker

alabama

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Posted: 11/13/20 03:29pm

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I have been told that "Thor" & "Forest River" are both owned by the same "Corp" and I do know from pass experience "Forest River" is a cheap built piece of junk, I brought one brand new & had nothing but trouble, the frame was bend (from the factory) they only hooked the electric brake wires to one axle.

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delwhjr

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Posted: 11/13/20 04:09pm

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Thor is a publicly traded company with many divisions.Forest River is owned by Berkshire-Hathaway and also has many divisions. I have owned two Forest River units (Rockwood division)and have had very good service and few issues (none major).
I would suggest you go to the owners forums for the two units

FROG (Forest River Owners Group)FROG and look in the Coachmen sub group
and
Crossroad Owners

Many a post good and bad for these and others. Can get a better feel for the units. You can also join and post in both to get direct feedback on the models you are looking at from other owners.

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Two Hands

California's Central Coast

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Posted: 11/13/20 04:10pm

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My brother has owned two Forest River RVs that proved haste maker was correct. My son has a travel trailer made by the same company and it is very poorly constructed.

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Lwiddis

Lone Pine, CA

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Posted: 11/13/20 04:16pm

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Best you can do with either is a complete inspection...inside, outside, under, roof...and run every system for a couple of hours at least before any money changes hands. Glad you left the used Chaparral in the rear view mirror.

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midnightsadie

ohio

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Posted: 11/13/20 04:17pm

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there all poorly made there is no rules set that they by law have to follow. one guy had a new FR and he said you could see day light from the inside looking out.

dodge guy

Bartlett IL

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Posted: 11/13/20 06:17pm

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I've had 2 new Forest River TT's (05 and 07) and my current used 2012 Forest River class A. No issues with any of them aside from a bad radio in the 07.

I would buy another FR, no question. With that said they all have their issues.

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colliehauler

Mc Pherson KS USA

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Posted: 11/14/20 02:15am

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There about the same. These two are the mega players in the RV market both having many divisions and competing models with similar price points.

Both are built by quota systems. The workers have a certain number of units to produce in a week. When they get there quota they can go home. This leads to very fast production and is not conducive to quality.

The payoff is the price is a lot more affordable then high end mfg.

I have owned both Forest River and Keystone products.

bucky

Raleigh metro

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Posted: 11/14/20 03:56am

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midnightsadie wrote:

there all poorly made there is no rules set that they by law have to follow. one guy had a new FR and he said you could see day light from the inside looking out.

They are called windows. [emoticon]

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valhalla360

No paticular place.

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Posted: 11/14/20 07:07am

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If you are expecting car level quality control, you will be sorely disappointed...even in the high end units that cost 3 times as much are about the same.

One thing to keep in mind with online forums is the squeaky wheel tends to make a lot of noise, so you tend only to hear about the bad.

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