Wildcat RV

[Grizzly]

Should have shopped a bit more. 35-40% is becoming the norm (atleast around here in the midwest).



As far as service thats the norm, by it here we'll fix it. Not here, it will get looked at if there is no pay or bought here service work to be done.

I'm not too sure that we would buy an RV today, even at 40% discount, knowing what the economy and diesel prices have turn out to be.



We purchased our 08 Arctic Fox for 28% under MSRP in October of last year, which was a very good price then. More especially when you consider that we special ordered it and picked every color and option. Hind sights 20/20

 

[Ram4Sam]

Should have shopped a bit more. 35-40% is becoming the norm (atleast around here in the midwest).



As far as service thats the norm, by it here we'll fix it. Not here, it will get looked at if there is no pay or bought here service work to be done.

Shouda, woulda, coulda... I shopped for a number of weeks, until I was sick of it. Three dealers(two local and one internet) let me walk and didn't call back and accept my offers. We wanted this model and it came down to buy it or not. We ordered ours and got exactly what we wanted, just the price of poker. As far as warranty work goes, I doubt I will have any problem. I drive past the dealer twice a day(work commute) and the factory is only 20 minutes from my house and they will do warranty work.



Like the bumper sticker says "I am out spending our childres's inheritance" and "you can't take it with you" I'm not going to fret about fuel prices too much, I'm going camping as long as I can afford it. Life is just too darn short!



Sam

 

[mberry]

Sorry I haven't been here in a while. My wife went and had a baby on me. Well, not actually physically ON me but... . Never mind.

I hear what everyone is saying and I truly appreciate it. The problem with an older, higher quality unit is that they do not have the floorplan we want. What's the point of buying a high quality unit if it still won't do what you want or need it to do?

 

[Grizzly]

Sorry I haven't been here in a while. My wife went and had a baby on me. Well, not actually physically ON me but... . Never mind.



I hear what everyone is saying and I truly appreciate it. The problem with an older, higher quality unit is that they do not have the floorplan we want. What's the point of buying a high quality unit if it still won't do what you want or need it to do?

If I'm understanding your post correctly, CONGRATULATIONS are in order on you new arrival!



WAY TO GO!

 

[AClayton]

Perfect time to purchase an RV... . My youngest was 7 days old and we had her loaded up in the Motorhome to go to Memphis to see her Aunt. Matter of fact... . took MH to Doctor's office for her 1 week check-up and left from there!!Of course,all they do is sleep for the 1st few weeks anyway,so it is no big deal to boast about traveling with an infant



Anyway,she is 3 1/2 and has a sister that is almost 2, and we use ours about twice a month on average in the spring,summer and fall mos. With fuel prices,we just don't go over a 3 hour distance from home.



Congrats on the newborn! and good luck with your choice of purchase. We will all help no matter what you finally decide to go with.



Alan Oo.

 

[Grizzly]

Perfect time to purchase an RV... . My youngest was 7 days old and we had her loaded up in the Motorhome to go to Memphis to see her Aunt. Matter of fact... . took MH to Doctor's office for her 1 week check-up and left from there!!Of course,all they do is sleep for the 1st few weeks anyway,so it is no big deal to boast about traveling with an infant** Anyway,she is 3 1/2 and has a sister that is almost 2, and we use ours about twice a month on average in the spring,summer and fall mos. With fuel prices,we just don't go over a 3 hour distance from home. *** Congrats on the newborn! and good luck with your choice of purchase. We will all help no matter what you finally decide to go with. Alan.





CONGRATULATION TO YOU ALSO ALAN!

 

[mberry]

Thanks everyone! Yes, a newborn baby boy born August 25th 2008, 6:11pm. 8lbs, 20. 5 inches long and a full head of hair. I've learned that I must include this information in any baby post/email for the women folk. It's weird, but he got down to 7,11 in the hospital, and at his 1 week checkup, he's already up to 8,11. A full pound heavier. Strong as an ox too (like I USED to be before I started doing IT work). He could hold his head up when he was born. His doctor said he's like a 2 month old. Thank GOD my wife doesn't go back to work until the middle of November.

So anyway, I think we are going to stick with the Wildcat. It's got a floorplan we really like and having seen a few up close, their fit and finish is a lot better than some. It's only going to see weekend duty so it will be lightly used. I know what some of you are going to say, but the AF/Nash does not have a floorplan that works for us and we can't afford anything else that's higher end that is newer than 2004 that I have found.

I can tell you it will have 16" load range E tires. I'll also upgrade the axles at the factory if I can.

 

[AClayton]

Perfect time to purchase an RV... . My youngest was 7 days old and we had her loaded up in the Motorhome to go to Memphis to see her Aunt. Matter of fact... . took MH to Doctor's office for her 1 week check-up and left from there!!Of course,all they do is sleep for the 1st few weeks anyway,so it is no big deal to boast about traveling with an infant** Anyway,she is 3 1/2 and has a sister that is almost 2, and we use ours about twice a month on average in the spring,summer and fall mos. With fuel prices,we just don't go over a 3 hour distance from home. *** Congrats on the newborn! and good luck with your choice of purchase. We will all help no matter what you finally decide to go with. Alan.





CONGRATULATION TO YOU ALSO ALAN!

Thanks Grizz... . but I think mberry tops all of us. He has had to deal with a preganant wife right through the worst months of summer!!!



Alan

 

[AdamH]

I just came across this thread and I feel like I have to jump in, even though you have made up your mind. At least I can say I told you so later. I am on my second Forest River product. I SWORE after the first one that I would NEVER buy another one, but because of availability and timing, my impatience, and yes, the best floor plan I could find at the time I bought a Wildcat. I have regretted it ever since. If you have a very good dealer that is willing to eat a lot of warranty work when Forest River refuses to cover it , you'll be golden. I found the reps for FR to be willing to help, but when it came across the main mans' desk for approval, he would cancel it. I wish I could remember his name so that I could slander the arrogant jerk!:-laf An important thing is, make sure you take care of every issue promptly. The most important thing is, ENJOY it every chance you get. There is nothing like spending time with your family on the open road, at the lake, park or wherever.

 

[Grizzly]

Thanks everyone! Yes, a newborn baby boy born August 25th 2008, 6:11pm. 8lbs, 20. 5 inches long and a full head of hair. I've learned that I must include this information in any baby post/email for the women folk. It's weird, but he got down to 7,11 in the hospital, and at his 1 week checkup, he's already up to 8,11. A full pound heavier. Strong as an ox too (like I USED to be before I started doing IT work). He could hold his head up when he was born. His doctor said he's like a 2 month old. Thank GOD my wife doesn't go back to work until the middle of November.



So anyway, I think we are going to stick with the Wildcat. It's got a floorplan we really like and having seen a few up close, their fit and finish is a lot better than some. It's only going to see weekend duty so it will be lightly used. I know what some of you are going to say, but the AF/Nash does not have a floorplan that works for us and we can't afford anything else that's higher end that is newer than 2004 that I have found.



I can tell you it will have 16" load range E tires. I'll also upgrade the axles at the factory if I can.

mberry, I'd rethink your discission and learn to live with a different floor plan. There's not much fun in being out in the middle of nowhere and have something major go wrong with the truck or the 5er, I know, I've been there.



If you do go with the Wildcat and you get the 16", Load Range "E" tires, just make sure they're LT's.

 

[THoltz]

mberry, I'd rethink your discission and learn to live with a different floor plan. There's not much fun in being out in the middle of nowhere and have something major go wrong with the truck or the 5er, I know, I've been there.



If you do go with the Wildcat and you get the 16", Load Range "E" tires, just make sure they're LT's.

Griz,



Why would you use a quality LT over a quality ST given the same size and load rating?

 

[jray]

I just came across this thread and I feel like I have to jump in, even though you have made up your mind. At least I can say I told you so later. I am on my second Forest River product. I SWORE after the first one that I would NEVER buy another one, but because of availability and timing, my impatience, and yes, the best floor plan I could find at the time I bought a Wildcat. I have regretted it ever since. If you have a very good dealer that is willing to eat a lot of warranty work when Forest River refuses to cover it , you'll be golden. I found the reps for FR to be willing to help, but when it came across the main mans' desk for approval, he would cancel it. I wish I could remember his name so that I could slander the arrogant jerk! An important thing is, make sure you take care of every issue promptly. The most important thing is, ENJOY it every chance you get. There is nothing like spending time with your family on the open road, at the lake, park or wherever.

I too have had a bad experience with Forrest River particularly a Wildcat bunkhouse model that I bought new in 2003. Like AdamH I swore that I would never buy another Forrest River product. My particular problem was related to the dining area popout. Day one of ownership, I picked the trailer up in Carson City, Nv and decided to spend the night in Bridgeport, Ca. Upon retracting the slide the following day a screw protruding from the bottom of the slide ended up slicing the the carpeting and destroying the moulding between the carpet and the flooring. Took two months for repairs. Next trip out the circuit breakers for the popout end up poping and resetting about every one to two inches as I retract the slide. Back to the shop another two months and curcuit breakers replaced with larger ones. Next trip out screw at bottom of popout again destroys moulding in same area. This time I repair moulding and grind the screw off flush with the bottom of the flooring as there was no way to remove it. I continued to have issues with the circuit breakers popping while retracting the slide. Learned to live with the problem. When I sold the trailer the boot to the popout had fallen off as it was apparently never glued at the factory.



Unlike AdamH, I followed through with my commitment to never buy a Forrest River product again. Last year I bought an Outback Sydney edition made by Keystone. I've had a few problems with the Outback but nothing like the Wildcat.

 

[hilda]

Forest River

Ok guys I have a 2005 Forest River Cedar Creek for few year and the wife and I live in it for a year, not a single issue. It is a great trailer fully loaded. Being a RV Service Manager I see things good and bad with every new trailer. I don't care who builds it. We spend 2-3 hours on every trailer before the customer gets it making sure everything works. What I mostly see is a failure in the assembly process that is easily corrected. There are a lot of dealers that skip this process, and that what give trailers and the dealers a bad reputation.



Jim



BTW Cedar Creeks for sale.

 

[Grizzly]

Griz,



Why would you use a quality LT over a quality ST given the same size and load rating?

There is no such thing as a quality ST tire. All ST tires are made in China and are made to last 3 years max. All ST tires are limited to 65 mph, not that one needs to tow a trailer any faster then that. ST tires are not regulated by the DOT. Need I say more, and there is much more.

 

[AClayton]

There is no such thing as a quality ST tire. All ST tires are made in China and are made to last 3 years max. All ST tires are limited to 65 mph, not that one needs to tow a trailer any faster then that. ST tires are not regulated by the DOT. Need I say more, and there is much more.

... ... ..... as discussed in detail many times in this forum. Do a search Trailer Tires and be ready to read alot of information.







Alan

 

[mberry]

Ok then. I think I'm going to try and take your advice. I'm looking at other brands to see if there is something else that will work.

Please, lets not get into the ST vs LT tires on trailers discussion here. It's almost as volatile a discussion as oil in other threads.

 

[AClayton]

Ok then. I think I'm going to try and take your advice. I'm looking at other brands to see if there is something else that will work.



Please, lets not get into the ST vs LT tires on trailers discussion here. It's almost as volatile a discussion as oil in other threads.

:-laf Most definitely!!

 

[Grizzly]

Ok then. I think I'm going to try and take your advice. I'm looking at other brands to see if there is something else that will work.



Please, lets not get into the ST vs LT tires on trailers discussion here. It's almost as volatile a discussion as oil in other threads.

Tires maybe the most important part on a trailer, safety wise that is.



Other good brands to consider are Eagle Jayco, Hitchhiker, Alpenlite, Kountry Star, American Star, Scamp to name only a few. I was searching for 3. 5 to 4 star rated 5er under $50K. Some of these brands have gone belly up.

 

[BimmerAgent]

Like my Wildcat

You know, I'm kinda tired of listening to some of you bash Wildcat. I'm in my 4th season with mine, and it's been a pretty good fiver. It's not been perfect, but it's been as good or better than some of my friends' non-Forest River units that have cost $10k or more than mine did. When I have needed service, I've used an independant shop approved by FR. FR never hassled me. They even replaced a blown out window (huge gusts in Wyoming) when it was out of warranty. And if you think for some reason that my rig is a garage queen, well, you're wrong. We probably use it for 8 summer weekends, and at least one week long trip in the summer months. We are not full timers, of course, but it does get some decent use, and we tow tandem with it. For the price, amenities and quality level, we are very satisfied. We knew when we bought it that it was not the top of the line. We didn't want to buy the top of the line, we wanted something reasonably priced, comfortable, and well built. Our Wildcat has fit that requirement nicely. Oh, and by the way, I have the original ST tires (made in USA) on it, and have had no issues with them either. Can you believe it? A Wildcat that hasn't fallen apart after 4 years of service or had its ST tires explode for some mysterious reason? I guess my unit must be an anomaly. Bruce

 

[AClayton]

I don't see it as bashing the Wildcat... . merely stating that other units may be built better and have better ratings. As far as your ST tires... you are a year past due on replacement and expect big problems any weekend now. BTW... you physically went outside and looked at your tires and can verify your ST's are... made in USA. I'm from Missouri on that one!!A 2006 trailer with USA made ST's is rare if not,impossible. Not bashing,just voicing an informed opinion!!!