Bounder

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Pilothawk

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Joined
Apr 21, 2018
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30
I have purchased a 2006 Bounder in immaculate condition.  Only 27,000 miles.  Bought it from a friend of a friend.

Checked a website that has 230 negative reviews on the bounder.

Anyone own one that has positive things to say about the coach?  Sure hope so.
 
I do not own one.  But a 2006, low miles, in great shape, I would guess any factory defects are worked out.  I recall recently someone posted that they love their Bounder, approx same age.  Remember people always are quick to post negative reviews.  As a general, what would they say, and determine if their issues apply to you.  I SAY, congratulations and post a picture of your beautiful new to you rig  :)) :))
 
I haven't ever owned that year & model, but I've seen no evidence here or elsewhere that the '06 Bounder is unusually poor in quality.  The Bounder is an entry level gas motorhome, built by one of the largest RV companies at that time (Fleetwood), and  the 2006 models were not markedly different than 2004 & 2005. The gas-engine version used a Ford F53 motorhome chassis or a Workhorse W-series chassis while the diesel was built on Freightliner XC chassis, both widely used in motorhomes of that size & price range. No particular problems in any of those.

Where did you see all those negatives?  The internet is more likely to attract complaints than praise, so it's not surprising that negatives outweigh positives. Can you give some examples?  While flaws in production of any RV are more frequent than they should be, often the negatives are misunderstandings of how the systems are designed to work.

Bounder Gas brochure:  https://library.rvusa.com/brochure/2006_bdr_f.pdf

Bounder Diesel brochure:  https://dreamfindersrv.com/Literature/2006-Fleetwood-Bounder-Diesel-Brochure.pdf
 
Pilothawk said:
I have purchased a 2006 Bounder in immaculate condition.  Only 27,000 miles.  Bought it from a friend of a friend.

Checked a website that has 230 negative reviews on the bounder.

Anyone own one that has positive things to say about the coach?  Sure hope so.

You should talk to my wife. She absolutely ADORES the 2012 Bounder 33C we purchased two years ago. Traveled over 7,000 miles last year from the Northeast to the Southwest & back and are currently in the middle of another longer trip. Other than some inevitable small issues which were easily addressed we've had zero issues.

I think the consensus here is that any particular model & year can have issues-- even the most "high-end" expensive models. Sounds like you got a great deal to me and my advice would be to not listen to the nayways and enjoy your new purchase!
 
Two rigs ago I had a 1994 Bounder 40Z. I had very few problems with the RV systems, and I thought the construction of the "house" itself was good. What issues I did have were related to the chassis (John Deere/Oshkosh/Ford) and the numerous changes to accommodate a very large motorhome on a lengthened chassis with added tag axle, and an engine (460 gas) that was never designed to move a 23,000 lb vehicle. Nevertheless, I put a lot of miles on that motorhome and had a lot of fun in it.

Congratulations on your new to you rig. I'm guessing you probably got a pretty good deal on a lightly used coach. Rather than, after the fact, looking for what bad things other people have had to say about it, get out and enjoy it!
 
Bounders have a great reputation.
One of the RVs we looked at was a 2005 Bounder, and it seemed like a nice rig, in good mechanical shape, but they had had a leaky roof, and the inside walls and carpet were stained and showing signs of mildew.
Had we realized at the time it was going to be a couple of years before we were going to be able to hit the road, and we would have the time to re-do the interior, we may have taken it. But at the time, we wanted something ready to roll, rather than a project.
It is still in the neighborhood. The guy that bought it fixed it up really nice and loves.



 
I had a 2010 Bounder 33, and it was very nice. My main reason for trading it was that I discovered that I wanted a diesel pusher, and perhaps a tad more space. If it's in good shape, that 2006 should serve you well.
 
We have a 2003 Bounder 37U diesel and absolutely love it.  When I do I have an issue I attribute it to normal operation (i.e. the leveling jacks won't power on unless the parking brake is set).  I've only had 2 failures that needed fixing - a $50 coolant sensor when I had a check-engine light and a $5 reed switch when my power steps wouldn't work. 
 
We're living in a bit older Bounder, a 2000 36S.  It was bigger than I was looking for, but when the wife saw the washer-dryer, all those concerns went out the window.  We really like it, and the few problems we've had due to it's age were easily(and fairly inexpensively)solved. 
 
We (wife & I) absolutely love our Bounder, 2007 38N DP. We've said to each other SEVERAL times, we haven't seen anything we'd trade it for. We've had a few minor issues, ie leveling jacks, minor coolant leak, etc. But I've repaired all the things myself at very little cost.
 
We had a 2005 Bounder 38N and really liked it. It was a solid camper, we needed more space when went fulltime so we traded it for a 5th wheel. I had several good rv techs tell me that the Bounder was reliable and well built motorhome.
Enjoy yours!
 
We get along with ours well.  Here?s the list of the things I?ve fixed or had fixed in the 8 years we?ve owned it.

2 slide brakes. (Ins)
2 leveler motors & gearboxes (ins)
1 water heater mixing valve.
1 bathroom faucet
1 shower faucet
1 microwave oven (ins)
1/2 windshield (rock hit it) (ins)
2 Windshield seals (biggest out of pocket hit)
1 Door awning (replaced motor side cap)
1 generator coolant tank. (Ins)
1 front brake job
1 front bearing seal from miss-installation during brake job. (No cost)
1 transmission seal.  (Ins)

Those marked with (ins) were paid for by an extended warranty but when that went way up as the coach aged we decided not to renew.

Note that not one of these items is specific to it being a Bounder.  Underneath it?s lack of glitz it?s the same ?stuff? that much higher end coaches are made of.

Family friendly doghouse.
 
We bought a 2001 Bounder and absolutely love it. It's our first one and it's a Fleetwood, built on the Ford F53 Chassis, gas.

It took a couple of short trips before we actually got to enjoy a weekend. On our first outing, we had gone all of about 5 miles when I threw the serpentine belt. At least that's what I thought it was, but when I went to put a new one on, I found that the air-conditioning compressor had frozen up. That's when you learn to get Road Assistance, as having one towed is not cheap.
With that fixed, I check further and discover the water heater leaking. Seems it wasn't drained properly and burst in cold weather. I've got a new one, which will get put in when the weather is warmer, as the system is now [properly] winterized, with the heater bypassed.

Still got to make that maiden voyage, along with a couple of others. The only other issue I had was cleaning the contacts & fuses on the panel, as the furnace didn't kick in one night. Just might see if there is a breaker panel update for it.

These problems could happen to any model. And I would imagine that you can find a similar number of negative complaints on just about any make & model on the internet.

I imagine we will run into other issues as time goes on. We'll fix them. But we still love our Bounder and haven't seen anything that we'd trade it for as yet.
 
I have purchased a 2006 Bounder in immaculate condition. Only 27,000 miles. Bought it from a friend of a friend.

Checked a website that has 230 negative reviews on the bounder.

Anyone own one that has positive things to say about the coach? Sure hope so.
My 2006 is great. Mine is a Chevy 8.1 with 69000miles on a workhorse chassis. Repairs are in line with age and normal maintenance.Very comfortable.
Enjoy the ride
 

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