many troublesome reviews
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Topic: many troublesome reviews
Posted By: JoanneandTom
Subject: many troublesome reviews
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 7:52am
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We are strongly considering a new 179 but are discouraged by all the negative reviews we've found on line regarding the shoddy quality of construction. Thought? ------------- Joanne and Tom |
Replies:
Posted By: Larry-D
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 8:08am
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The only complaint for our 2017 172 was that I had to clean sawdust from the storage areas and beneath the sink's cabinet. The construction is typical for the industry and I base that on our Heartland 28' travel trailer and or previous Wolf PUP 14'. I've had no trouble with the pod and have been all through it making modifications. I would suggest then when looking at one, look at all the compartments, under the bed, under the cabinet(s), under the dinette seats etc. There'll probably be sawdust but then that's what vacuum cleaners are for. Look underneath, make sure the wires are tucked up in there, the plumbing is tight etc. These would be the same I would do with any new travel trailer. If it needs attention let the dealer take care of it. If you want to learn more about your pod its all easy to clean and tidy up.
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 8:44am
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If you want something with impeccable construction, go for a high-end RV such as one from Airstream or Bigfoot. Of course, you would be paying almost as much as you would for a small house in doing so. If youi want something light that can be towed easily, even by a mid-sized pickup or an SUV that does not cost a small fortune, you will need to be willing to accept that there may be some trade-offs involved. Larry-D's advice is good. I second the advice to make sure all plumbing is tight. On ours, the kitchen sink drain was not tight enough and it leaked on our first trip, damaging two cookbooks we had in the drawer under the sink. The rest of the items that got wet could be washed and dried and they were okay. Make sure all trim pieces are attached well and no staples are sticking out where they shouldn't be (like in the storage compartment under the bed. On the newer R-Pods, Forest River has addressed some of the quality issues. For example, I understand that the suspension for the sewer and gray water drain lines has been reworked to be stronger. The one area that I would especially check though is the tank supports. Industry standard is to use screws. They only work well if they are fully tight and there is no gap between the support ends and the frames. I ended up installing stainless steel bolts, washers, and nuts. I put one in each attachment point to make sure mine would not fail. Mine did have a gap. We purchased ours in December 2015. I've made a number of modifications since. At the price point of our R-Pod, I feel comfortable about making such modifications. They have been useful in our travels which have included two cross-country trips and trips from NC to VT and NY. The R-Pod tows well and because it is compact, can fit in places a bigger trailer wouldn't. You will read a lot of negatives. People post about those. Good experiences aren't written up as much. Don't let the negative reviews prevent you from checking it out for yourself. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 8:53am
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I have not found my 178 to be any better or worse than other RVs I have owned. All the RVs (trailers and motor homes) that I have owned required maintenance and repair. I bought a used 178 and did so because I was confident that the initial warranty work it required had been done and that anything else that occurred I could handle. To date that has been the truth. If you are not confident in your own repair/maintenance capability, perhaps a warranty is required. Also remember warranties don't last forever. Also the price of a RPod is practical and relatively inexpensive way to camp, if you paid 15-20K more, you may get better workmanship or quality, maybe not. I have been pleased with my purchase. If you do decide to go used, do a good inspection, make sure everything works and look for damage or delamination (water leaks). ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 9:11am
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I've heard about the sawdust/debris stories, but ours has been clean through and through. This is either a manifestation of which factory the R-pod came out of, or perhaps a reflection on the dealer. Ours has had a couple of very minor cosmetic things that were easily fixed with interior trim. NBD. We still love it. ------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 9:14am
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A lot of people seek out a place to ask for help, or vent. That happens here, and on the FB group. The truth is, Pods are no more prone to issues as any other like sized/cost trailer. If you go spend a day at the Mercedes dealer, (I suggest by the service door), you will soon be convinced that Mercs are trash and every owner hates theirs. The R-Pod has been in steady production for almost 10 years now, thousands of them out there. Whole RV companies, and other brands, have come and gone in that time.. ------------- |
Posted By: tjunk2021
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 9:47am
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We have just completed our first full year with our 2017 179. We took it to Mt. Rushmore and Lake City, CO and several closer in weekend trips here in Oklahoma. We've had a couple of minor issues with it that required a return trip to the dealer (a piece of trim around the slide came loose and the heater cover came loose on the highway) but they were both remedied. We love it and could not be more pleased with our choice. We are ready for the weather to warm up enough so we can hit the road again!
------------- Tom and Kelly 2017 R-Pod 179 2016 GMC Canyon 3.6L V6 |
Posted By: Richand Cindy
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 9:48am
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I am all for reviews and do not even purchase a $10 item without researching it and reading reviews. However RV's are the exception. To keep costs ridiculously low (a fully furnished apartment on wheels for less than $20K!. They manufacture millions of them a day (OK maybe not a million). Therefore you will find loose connections, missing screws, and even bad components. But this is true of all brands. FR is no worse than the others. You will find better quality in a Lance but they are at least $10,000 higher. Even if it was better built driving them down the road with all those bumps will shake up and break something on any RV. I would recommend you stop reading reviews and buy whatever RV best appeals to you. Then I would buy it from the closest dealer. If you had a choice of a RPOD which is 100 miles away and a copy cat Jayco Hummingbird for $1000 more but the dealer is only 2 miles away I would go with the Jayco. Unless of course you are very handy and can do most repairs yourself then I would drive 500 miles to get the best deal on an RPOD. Dealers are not obligated to perform warranty work for a RV they did not sell. And Forest River cannot make them do it. So buying close is very important as you will need to get something fixed at some time. But dealers are the final worker on the assembly line. They inspect and make repairs before you even get it. So it is important to research the dealer more than the RV. Some are excellent, others do not even bother to clean them. We are currently looking to buy a larger RV and saw even worse reviews. There is even a facebook page for do not buy Keystone brands. There is a floor plan that we like but four different companies make them so we will buy it from a dealer who is ten miles away regardless of his price (we will still try to negotiate him down of course) as he has a good reputation ------------- OLD 2017.5 RPOD 180 + 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk NEW: 2018 Passport Elite 23RB + 2017 Ram 1500 Diesel |
Posted By: TheBum
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 10:10am
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The first rule of Internet reviews is, for every 10 reviews on a good-but-not-perfect product, 9 of those will be negative. ------------- Alan 2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod" 2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4 Three cats |
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 11:49am
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We are on our second rpod. We did not experience any of the problem which I too have read about. If during my tour/inspection if I found serious problems , I would not accept it. To be totally honest, I would buy a 3 rd one if they put one out with the bed facing the right way. ------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: john in idaho
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 12:29pm
| And even the expensive ones some friends have take a fair amount of "Fixing." If one doesn't like to "fix" things, an RV may not be a good choice. Driving a big box on wheels down the highway is like a house in a continual earthquake. |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 12:53pm
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I had the sawdust, et al: left in cabinets, and still have the sawdust all over my counter every time we move it. Not that big a deal. Do i wish they had cleaned it up, yup, but its a one time event. The sawdust on my counter after every move, I can't for the life of me figure out why it hasn't run out yet. Again. big deal, we just add "wipe counter" to our list of set up things to do, takes 3 seconds. I also had a few mechanical issues, and a hose that leaked all the floor when i tried to use the black tank flush (it was clean water before it entered the tank) and you know what, my dealer couldn't have been more helpful and quickly took care of everything for free. I'd buy, and or go thru it all again without batting an eye. I think the most important part of the R.V. is the dealer that treats you good. So pay attention to the dealer review over the T.T. review. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 1:06pm
------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: JoanneandTom
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 1:32pm
Thank you for all the info. We put a deposit on the 179. and will check it over thoroughly when we pick it up ------------- Joanne and Tom |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 1:35pm
OMG! You listen to us?  Best of luck on your new 179, I'm sure you'll love it! ------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: Live2Camp
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 3:02pm
Smart move! And congratulations ------------- 2017 R-Pod 179 HRE (the green one) His:Ford F150 double cab 4WD; Hers/mine:Tacoma V6 double cab 4WD Still love rugged, diggin' comfy too |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 3:52pm
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Here is that 1 in 10 that gives a good review. Having gone through 7 seasons with our 177 we have not had any issues except for owner initiated ones. 30,000 plus miles, out west 4 times, down south once (Smoky Mountaiins) and up north a bunch. Rough roads, smooth roads, nearly impassable roads, we have taken our pod over a lot of different terrain. Yes, we still enjoy using it 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: PilotPodder
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 6:29pm
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I had a 171 and then bought a 179 having enjoyed the 171 so much and just needing a larger footprint. I'm greatly enjoying my 179 right now snowbirding in FL. R-Pods are a very good value exchange for the dollar IMO. Check out some of my 179 specific Youtube videos (link below). All the best. ~PP ------------- Portage, MI — 2017 RPod 179 - sold / 2017 Toyota Tundra — https://johnmarucci.com/r-pod-video-list/ - My RPod YouTube Videos |
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2018 at 6:43pm
Same here, started with 171 and loved it but wanted something just a bit bigger, moved to the 179 and really like it.......will now wait for them to straighten out the bed ------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: Pod People
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2018 at 6:13am
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I will add our experience with a second rpod. We started with a used 173 model in 2011 and traveled all over the country with it. We loved it. When we retired, we decided that we wanted more travels, so used the pod for extended trips of 3 months or more. We traveled from NC to NY, Fla, Michigan, Idaho and cross country to Washington, Oregon and California twice. Our longest trip was 11,000 miles and 3.5months. We recently decided that we wanted a little more room and sold the 173 and bought a 179. We look forward to the same great travel experiences with our new pod. I will have no trouble recommending the rpods. We have had minor issues as we would with any rv, but overall we are very happy travelers. Safe travels Vann ------------- Vann & Laura 2015 RPod 179 https://postimg.cc/0zwKrfB9"> 
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