Recent Quality Concerns? Fall 2015 On Especially?

I'm smitten with the 2016 r-pod 179 and have one "waiting for me" nearby if I could take the plunge and buy it already. But in the course of my research, especially on this forum, I've come across a lot of complaints posted recently about the quality issues in the 2016's as a whole, and with back window leaks when it comes to the 179's.

Overall, do you guys feel these issues are the new norm for r-pods, or is this just a case of unhappy consumers are more likely to post than happy ones and these problems are more of an exception? Does anyone have an r-pod produced in Fall 2015 with the new changes and, if so, have you experienced major issues or seen quality deficiencies?

I'm just trying to assess whether these issues have become so rampant with the new r-pods that'd I'd be better advised to look at something else?

Thanks!

I have had my 2015 RPOD 179 for over a year now, camped in it a total of about 12 weeks, and have had only very minor problems with it.  As with most forums, people tend to post when they have problems.  Not too many posts that just say "I have no problems with my RPOD!"

As we stated in our introduction post, we bought our brand new 2015 172 this past October and yet to take it out camping. Currently, the two problems we have are minor cosmetic ones and after we visited Forest River's factory here in Oregon (we were there for a tour) last weekend the wonderful folks there simply took care of it. Should we have any other problems, they gave us the option of bringing in the rPod when we're in town so they can take care of it right away or call them. They would prefer to take care of any problems as soon as possible before they worsen. Plus the folks there are very informative and give lots and lots of tips regarding the rpod.

There is also the "Friday afternoon effect" often cited on camping forums when problems crop up. If they build 50 a week, 10 a day, then 5 of them will be finished up on Friday afternoon. Just like holidays, the guy with the caulk gun will have other things on his mind, then. Or he'll be under pressure to get them all done before closing time so he'll rush.

While the root problem is the quality of the original construction, there should be a "safety net" with a quality control feedback loop. On Monday morning the QC manager should be going over those same campers with his checklist, sending them back if he finds a gap in the caulk or any other problem. Instead those problems are just shipped along (literally) to the dealers. There should be a second "safety net" in the form of a delivery acceptance inspection (or pre-delivery to the consumer, or both), where the dealer should catch those problems and fix them - charging FR for the repair, which is more expensive than if they took care of it at the factory. Finally there should be a third "safety net" during the consumer walk-through. It seems many of these problems are making it to the walk-through, or worse, the consumer is finding them post-delivery.

To be fair to FR - there are some problems that just won't be evident until the camper gets on the road. A tail light with a bad solder joint (from its manufacturer) may not break until you hit a few pot holes. Caulk on the roof that passed a quick spray-down during the QC inspection loosens up during a heavy downpour at 60 mph. Pipe joints that held up during a pressure test during QC and dealer inspections, but vibrate loose at mile 100. This stuff happens.

I am on my second pod. Have been really lucky with both. Each had a couple of minor issues and were brought ride back to the dealers and all issues were fixed under warranty.