Picking up our R-Pod 171 Fri...Howdy.
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Topic: Picking up our R-Pod 171 Fri...Howdy.
Posted By: clickscrazy
Subject: Picking up our R-Pod 171 Fri...Howdy.
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2017 at 11:14am
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So we are picking up our 2018 R-Pod 171 this Friday. We got the 171 (AC, Conv Micro, Electric Tongue Jack, R-Dome, Bat/Propane) & Brake Controller Install (Part & Install) & Dist Hitch Install (Labor Only) What do you think about Price Paid? $15,500 OTD I think they could have done a bit better, but I was getting about the same at 2 other dealers. What do you think about our TV? 2005 Trailblazer I6
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Replies:
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2017 at 11:45am
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Clickscray, Congrats on your new Pod and 15.5K out the door (including tax?) sounds pretty good to me. Though what is really important then a few hundred bucks here or there to me IMHO is the RV dealer. Is he assailable, will he stand behind his product with timely service and repairs if need be. As far as the TV we've had our 180 for nearly six months and have yet to take the plastic off it or turn it on other then when we bought it and it looked pretty good then to us. Why, I don't go camping to watch TV, radio and the CD-player and a good book, is all the wife and I need.
------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: clickscrazy
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2017 at 4:38pm
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Hi. Yes, that is including tax. The Breakdown:
Unit + (Brake Controller Part + Install) + (Distribution Hitch Install Only): 13966 Tax: 909.23 Fees: 349 (Stupid Delivery Fee), 200 (Reg Fee) 5.5 (Bat/Tire Fee) Total: 15,424 The dealer is a little over an hour from my house, so I will probably have to find one closer. I am in Orlando though, there are several places around. |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2017 at 8:08pm
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I would say that is an excellent price. In January 2011 we paid 12,000 total including tax for a 177 that we "special ordered" that came without A/C, without microwave/convection oven and without the entertainment system. We did get a sway bar link for our Explorer and now 25,000 miles and 6 + years later are still enjoying the pod and haven't had regrets about not getting a lot of stuff we couldn't use anyway since we boondock a lot. ------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2017 at 9:02pm
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Welcome to the group!! Congrats on your 171!!
------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: clickscrazy
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2017 at 9:23pm
| Thanks everyone! I will post some photos when I pick it up Friday. |
Posted By: Old & out-to-play
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2017 at 11:12pm
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Congratulations, it's a great time of anticipation waiting to pick it up. We picked up our 177 then went to a KOA just down the road near Williams. Stayed there two days shaking hands with the new unit and understanding how everything works. As it was September but still late monsoon season it rained that night. We fell asleep listening to the rain. Told my sister-in-law that that night was the best sleep I had gotten ever. That alone was worth the price of admission. We live in a very comfortable home with lots of buttons, whistles and bells but, for what ever reason, I sleep much better in the "frog". Can't wait, we're off tomorrow for another trip to the "high country", this time to White Horse Lake. Enjoy your new froggie
------------- Old and in the way so now it's time to play |
Posted By: clickscrazy
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2017 at 1:36pm
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We got our Our Pod! Note, this is our first travel trailer. I checked this over very good (I am very detailed). Maybe some of these notes will help new buyers. Feel free to comment.
Issues Found on Walkthrough: Shower panel has a bubble and the caulk came loose in a few spots. A piece for floor trim was loose. The faucet leaks when off. The ceiling over the dinette had 2 screw tips that had poked through barely. The ceiling over the bed actually had a bubble in it right at a seam and the caulk had broken. You could push on it to make it straight again. (They said I need to come back and this whole panel will be replaced. The light switch for the bath light was VERY crooked and had a previous screw hole showing. Minor caulking on the exterior in a few spots. (Spoiler, rear light, door) A piece of vertical rubber on 2 of the windows had broken loose. Nearly every outlet is a bit crooked, but correctable yourself. Performance Negatives: 1. AC is VERY loud. We followed other suggestions and left it ON all night, not on Auto. 2. The mattress is pretty bad. I am only about 148lbs, my wife is about 142lbs. It was a bit of a rough sleep. 3. The shower seemed especially cheap, and uses outdated almond color with white caulk, instead of white. 4. Speakers are absolute garbage. Positives: 1. Good quality cabinets, about the only thing that is straight. 2. Maint is easy. 3. All the nice little features you already know about. 4. Towing was super easy, even with our 05 chevy trailblazer inline 6. Great viability, with no extra mirrors of any kind needed. Overall: Still pretty happy with everything, but my biggest disappointment is how obvious some of the issues where. It makes me VERY nervous about some about some of the quality of other areas I could not readily see (Electrical, Furnace, Plumbing). I just don't understand how someone could screw in a switch and it be so crooked, yet walk away.  |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2017 at 2:33pm
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Clickscrazy, As you are and have found out all new RV's have "issues" with our R-Pod not being an exception. I will agree with you totally that IMHO Forest River has really fallen down on the job when it comes to quality control issues. There is no valid reason any Pod should come from the factor with crooked electric receptacles much less many other issues new Pod owners have had to contend with. I also lay part of the blame on the RV dealer who's only concern is to get the unit sold and out the door and hope the new owner doesn't spot obvious problems. As for some of your issues they can be easily solved though I doubt the noise problem you have with your A/C can but maybe someone else here or your RV dealer can help you on that issue. Yes, the mattress sucks but so do most other mattress in other RV units. Try looking into a gel foam topper mattress cover for it or if you want to spend big $$ a new mattress. As for the speaker if they are that bad to you then you can upgrade them but for me they are fine since I'm going deaf!  ------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: Keith-N-Dar
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2017 at 3:15pm
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I guess I put even more responsibility on the dealer to go over new RVs and fix the little problems. Our pod was free of defects when we picked it up, but talking with the techs I learned few come to them that don't need some love.
------------- Keith-N-Dar Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
Posted By: podzilla
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2017 at 4:33pm
congrats on the new pod.. And when I checked out my 178 where ever I looked something was crooked. Thats why I named it Crooked Pod  ------------- 2018 R-Pod 178 The(Crooked Pod) 2016Jjeep Cherokee Trail Hawk |
Posted By: clickscrazy
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 11:03am
| That at least makes me feel better. I actually looked at I think was a 176 right on display, and found some similar issues. For sure I saw the shower one right away. |
Posted By: ArenaBlanca
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 12:57pm
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We were at a FROG (Forest River Owners Group) rally where there was an actual FR rep. We were the only R-Pod there, and a lot of the bigger and big rigs had complaints about the noise of the Dometic A/Cs. The Rep said (confidentially) that the only way to "fix" it was to install a Norcold A/C. That sounds like $$$$ but I may try it is the A/C goes wonkers. For what it is worth, the a/c/ is quieter outside than it is inside the camper. Unless you are running it with a generator but that is a different issue. ------------- Enjoy Life!! |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 4:51pm
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Funny, the way we 'fixed' that was by not having it installled on our 177 and that was over 6 years ago. Since we boondock a lot, it hasn't been an issue . . . yet, but may be if we decide to camp south during the summer months.
------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: Keith-N-Dar
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 7:14pm
We normally don't need air while we are in Wisconsin, but it got a workout this year in Nebraska and South Dakota. ------------- Keith-N-Dar Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
Posted By: crooked pod
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 7:32pm
| congratulations on your 171 r-pod as Podzilla said everywhere we look something is crooked outlets, window valances, cabinet hardware, tv bracket and many more.But you know we love our little crooked pod and hope to have many years enjoying it. |
Posted By: dmatland
Date Posted: 04 Sep 2017 at 4:49pm
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Hello there! We picked up our R-Pod 171 about two week sago just as you did. This was our second travel trailer. Our first, a Riverside Retro, had electrical, equipment and construction issues. The chassis ground snapped connection snapped off and the battery couldn't charge. The microwave oven was a lemon. The floor rotted out in two years. Bye bye, Riverside. Our R-Pod dealer was adamant that we delay removing the R-Pod and suggested we stay on their lot overnight for the techs to prep the vehicle. Probably for this reason we discovered no similar defects, Albeit our bathroom sink drain was loose and poured all over the floor and clamps on the sway bars had moved during our first trip. As far as your concerns with the hidden features of the RV: Spouse is a former electronics tech and fine woodworker craftsman himself. He went through the RV with a circuit tester and voltmeter, unscrewing the access panels and testing the wiring. He was very pleased with the quality of the electrical connections and had no complaints about the construction. Ditto, on the person who suggested you get a memory foam mattress pad. Before we went to collect our R-Pod (and go on a shake down cruise) we had a 2" memory foam pad ready to go on the bed. The RV queen is a little smaller than a standard queen but it is easy to trim off the excess with an electric carving knife or just sharp scissors.  ------------- DSM |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 04 Sep 2017 at 4:56pm
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I wonder if some of these quality issues are confined to just some of the manufacturing facilities and/or the personnel at same? Our pod had no issues that we've discovered. Just FYI, it was manufactured on the west coast. ------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: RockyMtns
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2017 at 5:09pm
| Our Dometic AC is right on par with most window shakers units.. We had Norcold AC's on our last 40' RV with in-ceiling vents, it was much quieter but our factory Dometic AC is acceptable, I would not spend money changing the unit, it's always gonna be louder because the unit is directly above your head. Only reason i'd even consider switching units is if we were going to full-time living in an RV again. Which would be extremely hard in a RP171, lol. |