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Are others having these issues?

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Cane Corso View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Cane Corso Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Are others having these issues?
    Posted: 20 Sep 2021 at 11:28am
I've been meaning to do this for quite some time. I am usually not the complaining type, but when things just keep happening, after spending a lot of money... I then think, are others having this same experience?

So here it goes. This is my first in buying a new RV. I've owned a lot of pre-owned RVs, a lot, and many campers. I see now why some rich people buy used.

I have the R Pod 202, 2021. I liked the interior design, semi light look, so i bought it. At the time the used RVs in the States were selling so fast, that by the time I traveled 2-7 hours to view one, it sold.

The salesman that helped me did look hesitant when I decided to buy it. He had two on the lot. This one was the only one I was only permitted to see. The other sold. I suppose, when it comes to New RVs, I had put my ever so scrutiny inspector on the shelf, because, come on, it is new, right?!

The first day I noticed that one sliding door didn't work (it was badly bent) and the other sliding door was scared from pertruding screws in the wall. I had them order me new ones. While still in the States they never sent me the new doors, because, as they said, if we send them to another dealer, we will not get the extra parts income. ?!? So, to this day, I have one door that needs a hydronic pump to open, and the other, i keep open because of two massive scratches in it, like as if I owned a puma.

Soon i learned that i had to slam the entry door shut every time. I used to do body work on cars, so i know a sprung door when I see one. Come to find out, yup, this one was sprung.

My first day out I learned that I should have kicked that little voice in my head on and do a full look see. I went to use the propane stove and it blew up in my face. It was leaking gas for two days. Imagine the blast on using it for the first time. Could not smell the gas because it had the glass lid on it. Thank God I am a handyman, I learned that the assembly line guys didn't test for leaks. So i took it apart and gladly repaired it. It took a week or more for my facial hair to grow back.

Two days into it, the slide out froze on me, I mean froze.... The tech people said the battery was probably low. Okay, hmm, they gave me with this $27,000 rig, one (1) really cheap china battery from China. The slide has 4 electric motors. So I figured out how to get by. I hooked up the power cable to the truck, charged the one cheep battery, then operated the slide. I later bought another battery. Okay, all is well. Keep trucking..

Then the next day the refrigerator went out. Thinking, ok, must be something minor. I looked it over and could not figure it out. So I took it to a RV place and they said it was the fuse link. They gladly replaced it and off I went.

Three days later the refrigerator blew again. I had to find away to keep my food from spoiling until my appointment. It was a long weekend, no one was open. I lost a lot of food. Thank you Desert RV for seeing that the manufacturer put the fuse link too close to the exhaust.. okay off again...

My shades in the kitchen and bedroom kept falling down. Come to find out that again, the guy on the rapid express no brain assembly line, missed all the studs and put the screws in that incredibly durable 1/16 cheap plywood.

The next day I began to see water leaks all around the bathroom sink. Come to find out the tip to the faucet was missing. Okay off the hardware to buy one and fix it. Later that same sink was leaking inside.

Then i noticed that the TV was falling off the wall, many of the hall attachments fell off when traveling (gas detector, outlet covers, thermostat, light switch covers). Okay, i fixed some of them. Come to find out that who ever did the work, again, never put the screws in any studs, just the incredibly durable 1/16 cheap plywood. Man do i miss the old RVs.

Then shelves began following down in the front storage. The cheap plastis shelving had a very hard time supporting 5 pounds. That storage is big! What is supposed to be put in it, foam? So I went to a hardware store and fixed it.

Then I noticed that my shower floor was getting lower, storage under the sink began to sink lower and lower and lower... Okay, again, I was far from an RV repair, so kick the ol handyman in again, go the hardware and buy all the stuff for the repair of my brand new RV! Yes! I feel great! Off and running!

The mattress in the bedroom became very thin, and where? The part i did not use, the middle. When sleeping i found myself falling to the center of the bed. It sunk at least 2 plus inches of that top quality 5" mattress they gave me for $27,000.

The panelling all around the bed began to fall off. Sorry, I was by then, absolutely sick of repairs, so I let it go.

Then my TV stopped working and my fan for the breaker box just kept on eating up my DC battery power. The front axle drivers side dropped 2". Meaning the axle spring is going out. I called all these in, but seeing I was still traveling, I eventually bought another TV and repaired the fan issue myself. I am still waiting to hear about the axle I'm positive other R Pod satisfied buyers are doing the same and trucking on happily!

The manufacturer must not have tested the plastic coating they put on all the cabinets, because any oil from the fingers, permanently stained the paneling. So i have 50 or more spots, blotches all over the place. Looks like an RV that's 30 years old, yet I only had it a few months.... Yah great!

Traveling threw Arizona all of a sudden the front window shattered. I had to put cardboard and duct tape on it for a month until the new one arrived. Luckily Arizona was bone dry. Any rain would have been disastrous for the bedroom mattress, walls, panelling and flooring. Thank you Almighty God!

I cross the boarder to visit some friends, oops, bad news, because there are no RV parts, repair and sales down here.

All along the water pump came on for a slit second ever 4-5 hours or so. I did my own inspection but could not find leaks. I mentioned it to a RV repair and they said it was probably the pressure valve not holding. No big deal.

Then the toilet began to leak. Since I could not buy pressure ring plumbing in Mexico, I had to fix it with a bonding material.

Then the water line to the outdoor sprayer began to leak. This one also could only be repaired by a puddy.

Then I noticed water running down the wall of the passenger side bedroom window. After considerable time, I figured it out. Half of the screws did not penetrate the beam around the window. When traveling the window dropped enough to leave the seal open at the top. Again, please teach those assembly line guys to make sure all screws penetrate wood or metal. That incredibly "strong" 1/16 cheap plywood ain't gunna do it.

Other things I would modify on this brand new RV are:

A bigger fresh water holding tank. 30 gallons goes fast.

Fix the fresh water sensors properly, because it goes from 3/4 to empty really fast. No time to refill.

Get rid of that stupid shelving in the bedroom. It's for what? A million old CD's and DVD's? No room for clothes.

Change the vinyl cabinet and wall coating because this type is stained with every finger print with a tiny amount of natural oil.

The water inlet for filling the tank leaks more water than water entering the tank. It needs to be angled down more.

Get rid of that ever so thin cheap plywood 1/16" panelling. Man than stuff is junk!!!

Four electric slide out motors powered by one super cheap china 12 volt battery!?! Come on!

The air conditioning takes for ever to cool this small place. What you do wrong? I had a 38 foot trailer that cooled in 40 min in California heat. This one runs for ever and the temp drop 3 degrees. Also only one vent in the bedroom? It never cools with three windows. Come on guys!

Get rid of that "Step above" 500 capacity entry steps. It is hard to level so the door closes. Twice I forgot it is out when I drove off. It is total overkill for the width of all the doors, cheap shower floor (200 lb max) and cheap bedding. Sorry, someone weighting 400 lbs ain't gonna live in this RV.

Lastly, at first i thought the kitchen table was ok, but after two days, turning my head just to watch the TV, and eating, was a total pain.

I feel sorry for anyone who bought this RV without RV repair skills. Your gunna need em!! I'm still using mine, but the repairs go on and on and on... I'm just glad it didn't come with a motor.
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jato View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote jato Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Sep 2021 at 2:05pm
Wow, that is indeed one sour lemon!  We ordered a 177 back in January 2011 without the following: no A/C, entertainment system, or convection/microwave.  No regrets almost 11 years later.

About the only complaint I had was the mattress, obviously they still use the same P.O.J. mattress today as they did when we purchased ours.  After 3 sleeps it had collapsed to about 2" in thickness.  It was more comfortable sleeping on the ground than that mattress.  Ordered a 8" Eurotop mattress and here I am 10+ years later and that mattress is still just as firm and comfortable as the day I got it.

Have done some upgrades over the years but with over 37,000 miles on this over all sorts of road and back road conditions, this has held up very well.  The first big expense came last year as the Dometic fridge came down with an ammonia leak, replaced with the same Dometic shipped to my home at a price of $ 1150.00. 

Sounds like you have a new full time job, repairing your R-Pod!  ugh!
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"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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KellyP View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote KellyP Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Sep 2021 at 1:28pm
Well I thought I was the only one with serious issues with my R-Pod.....

I bought a 2020 R-Pod 195 and here is the list of things I have repaired in the last year or are waiting repairs, and keep in mind we have only gone camping with it 6 six times since purchase.

The brake lines located by the wheels have broken TWICE
The screws keep falling out of the steps 
The screen door and main door will not stay linked together when opening 
The panel under the fridge that hides the water tank will not stay on, screws are misaligned with wood
Part of the molding fell off where the outside table is held  
The molding surrounding the pantry and slide out was not attached over the pantry or along the entire side by the bed
The slide out completely ripped one of couch/dinette pieces off the floor while moving out
The fuses for the jack blow on a regular basis
There is visible peeling rust on the steps, stability jacks and frame
The faucet in the bathroom blew apart when we turned the water on 
The weather stripping over the awning has cracked and is falling off

Most items have already been repaired or will be shortly, it is very frustrating to have a brand new unit with less than 3000kms on it requiring so many repairs. It has spent more time in the repair shop then at a campsite.

I also sent a complaint to Forest River directly and never did receive a response from them. I am now looking at trading it in once it comes back from the repair shop AGAIN 

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StephenH View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote StephenH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Sep 2021 at 11:23pm
I don't have the answer for all of these, but I do have some answers.

Screen door and main door won't stay together when opening
  Check the screen door. Is the latch sticking out any when the two are together? If so, adjust the part on the main door that holds the screen door opening handle so that the latch on the screen door is fully retracted when the two doors are together. I had that happen to me recently.

Weather stripping over the awning
  That item is one that will crack in the heat. FR does not use a high-quality strip. You can purchase a much higher quality replacement strip on Amazon. This is the one I purchased:  https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031Y7Z0A
It is much higher quality than the original strip and will last a lot longer.

I would investigate why the brake wires broke. I had one set of brake wires break, but that was due to the backing plate weld not holding and the whole brake assembly was spinning along with the hub. Once the axle was replaced and the wires repaired, I have not had any problems with wires breaking.

Screws falling out:  Locktite helps.

Not knowing where you live, I can only guess as to the cause of rust on the frame. Since you gave the distance in Kilometres, I would guess you live in Canada. If you are in an area where salt is used and you pulled your trailer through it or you live near the coast, you will have rust. You do need to clean it off and use something like Rustoleum Rust Reformer and then top coat with a good quality paint. We did a winter trip and I had to do a lot of rust removal and repainting the following spring.
StephenH
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TeamRPod View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote TeamRPod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Nov 2021 at 7:23am
Thanks all i feel a lot better always repairing my 2011 175 that I bought a year ago.

The front of the pod is separating from the 2 sides at the bottom, the A/C on high shakes violently, i replace light bulbs before every trip, and I am afraid I will fall through the sagging floor. Regular stuff.  I consider myself lucky that those are my issues but know I have more on the horizon.

I purposefully chose an older Pod assuming construction back then HAD to be better, and hey if it survived that long, maybe she's got a few more in her. 
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Post Options Post Options   Quote StephenH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Nov 2021 at 9:11am
The AC should not shake. You might wish to see if there is something on one of the squirrel cage fans that is throwing it out of balance.
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Pod_Geek View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Pod_Geek Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Nov 2021 at 1:04pm

Not saying that these solutions are necessarily related to your issues, but FWIW:

Originally posted by KellyP

The fuses for the jack blow on a regular basis 

>> Don't exceed the jack's upper and lower travel limits as marked on the vertical post

Originally posted by KellyP

The faucet in the bathroom blew apart when we turned the water on

>> Make sure that you use a pressure regulator.  Some RV parks have really high water pressure.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote TeamRPod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Nov 2021 at 1:16pm
Originally posted by StephenH

The AC should not shake. You might wish to see if there is something on one of the squirrel cage fans that is throwing it out of balance.

I have been poking around and it seems the top side is missing some vibration dampeners. 

I amazingly found the A/C specs and I clearly had the bolts too loose and tightened them up to the point on low speed all is well.  The Pod is SO small running the AC on high is simply never needed. I will tighten things up further and figure out a way to get the top more secure over the winter. I think I need like a giant piece of stiff foam or Styrofoam wedged in at various points. 
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