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Rugger007

Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2022
Posts
16
Location
Thunder Bay Ontario
Hey all, this is my first post.

We recently purchased a 2022 Grey Wolf 26DBH-l. We just got home from a month long trip to New Orleans and Texas. Sadly, while we were on the road many many things went wrong.

Fridge lock failed twice and we had milk and food all over the trailer floor.

Ice maker mounter incorrectly. It was touching the fridge right where the exhaust is on the ice maker.

Storage hatches are caving in on the inside.

Bedroom slide door warped, looks like a banana.

Bedroom wall warped

Bedroom wall peeling

Door locks failed had to glue

Bumper dented up all over

V bracket smashed up

Slide cap warped

Slide bottom cap fell off

Shower not sealed

Trim holes not filled

Pantry shelf chipping

Nail holes in slide capping

Fireplace remote broken

Soap dispenser threads stripped

Fridge dented due to latch failure

The entire exterior shows bowing all over.

Recall on the exterior propane hookup the same day we picked it up.

The tv mount outside was mounter so the siding was craven in and the tv looks up.

This is but a simplified list of the issues. Our dealer has filed a claim with Forrest River but we are at the point where we don’t feel comfortable in this unit. With all that’s wrong right now, what’s wrong where we can’t see.

We are considering an upgrade to the Aplha Wolf 26DBH-l or a Coachmen Northern Spirit 2963BH but are also considering a new dealer and looking at a Grand Design Imagine.

Our current dealer has be great and they agree they nothing is right with this trailer. I’m just hoping they go to bat for us and make this right.
 
Rugger007 said:
Our current dealer has be great and they agree they nothing is right with this trailer. I’m just hoping they go to bat for us and make this right.
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Ordinarily, I would say get the bugs shaken out and just fix things yourself, but this is absolutely ridiculous, and I suspect it will get much worse very quickly. Forest River needs to buy you back out of that nightmare immediately. I would escalate everything to upper management ASAP.
 
Frizlefrak said:
Ordinarily, I would say get the bugs shaken out and just fix things yourself, but this is absolutely ridiculous, and I suspect it will get much worse very quickly. Forest River needs to buy you back out of that nightmare immediately. I would escalate everything to upper management ASAP.
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That’s what we thought as well! Even the dealer, when we walked around it together, found issues we didn’t notice. I’m in direct contact with Forrest River as well as the dealer so hopefully this is resolved quickly.

As for the above reply, we did some driveway camping and a short long weekend trip prior to the long haul and we didn’t see these issues. Most of them showed up once we got hot weather. It cool where we live, 75° at the warmest in summer. Once we hit 100° in Now Orleans and Texas it seemed like the stick frame went to hell as did everything else in the trailer.
 
I mean no offense - i worked for a Grey Wolf dealer and the crap they would unload - yours sounds very typical of the issues i would see. They are very budget mined units. Trading it will mean you will take a huge money hit i would suspect. All the issues you list should have been taken care of by the dealer before you picked it up. Most of the issues can be solved at the dealership but be prepared to wait. Good luck
 
Demand a new unit. Check with your state attorney general for your state laws for crap like this. My new unit had a broken latch too. Found out the hard way. My list isn’t as big as yours but most of my issues have been fixed. Sucks I have to jam something by the fridge door to keep it closed during movement. Keep us posted on your progress.
 
darsben said:
This is why you never buy new
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Disagree.

Once you have owned a couple and know what it is you want and don't want in an RV, nothing wrong with buying new. I suggest buying new only when you're planning on keeping the unit for a long period of time, or depreciation will eat you alive. We bought this one new, and 10 years in, it's only had minor things go wrong.

These are rolling homes....homes that are subjected to earthquake type forces for literally thousands of hours in their lifetime. Problems are inevitable, even new. But there is a chasm of difference in problems, and what the O.P. is experiencing.
 
I've bought 2 used coaches. The first was 23years old when I bought it, and I kept it 5 years. The second was 18 years old when I bought it, and I've had it close to 7 years. My list of fixes for both coaches put together isn't as long as that list after one trip.
 
The only flaw in "don't buy new" is that the OP has recourse with Forest River, and even legally if necessary. If he trades in or FR does a buy back, that same unit is going to wind up on another sales lot somewhere, after a dealer puts a bunch of Band-Aids on the problems. Then it's "buyer beware" for the next guy when he buys the "as is" unit.
 
The interesting thing is these are apparently made by Amish and Mennonite labourers….definitely expect better if that is the case. The dealer look at the completion date for my trailer and it was finished on a Saturday right before their workers went on holidays, at least this is what I was told. Apparently that don't work Sunday’s for religious reasons and they think it was slapped together before getting off work. Whether there is truth to this or not, I don’t know, but I do know I will not be taking this unit back. I simply don’t trust it all and I can’t accept bandaid solutions on a brand new purchase.
Would it be worth an upgrade to the Alpha Wolf or to the Northern Spirit?
 
In that list of deficiencies there is nothing catastrophic, so Forest River or any other maker including Grand Design would not be obligated to buy it back. Thats what warranty is for. Nothing indicates otherwise. Every new unit has issues and the dealership gets paid to fix them. And on budget units the list is always long. I would write lists at least the same length on new units being delivered. They would just patch them up and sell to some unsuspecting customer. With trailers you get what you pay for. I was young once and bought crap. Learnt my lesson the hard way. Thing is i should have known better, my dad was the plant manager for Scamper and Skipper trailers in the 70s

Ps that propane recall effects some 20,000 or more units
 
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steveblonde said:
In that list of deficiencies there is nothing catastrophic, so Forest River or any other maker including Grand Design would not be obligated to buy it back. Thats what warranty is for. Nothing indicates otherwise. Every new unit has issues and the dealership gets paid to fix them. And on budget units the list is always long. I would write lists at least the same length on new units being delivered. They would just patch them up and sell to some unsuspecting customer. With trailers you get what you pay for. I was young once and bought crap. Learnt my lesson the hard way. Thing is i should have known better, my dad was the plant manager for Scamper and Skipper trailers in the 70s

Ps that propane recall effects some 20,000 or more units
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Definitely nothing catastrophic…YET!, but when you actually see the unit, it’s clear that there are many other issues that are hidden. When the service centre workers says she’s sorry and it should have never left the lot like it is, that’s a problem.

I didn’t think that the Grey Wolf was a budget trailer at all, I’m thinking now it’s definitely lower quality. I will never ever own another stick frame build again.
 
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