Community Forums

Ace01 · 03-23-2016, 04:49 PM

Can't find much on Northland Trailers on our forum. Any input on them? Thank you!

TVG · 03-23-2016, 06:03 PM

Hey Ace! , I pick mine up tomorrow. The 21FBS. This is what I know. Northland was a RV manufacture that was purchased by Pacific Coachworks. They worked out a sweetheart deal to sell an exclusive line at Camping World ONLY. And I am guessing since they have an abundance of Northland branded stickers, decals and such... they chose to name the line Northland. Still a Pacific Coachworks product, but a cross between a couple of their models. Nicely upgraded, affordable product. At least on the surface.

Curb71 · 03-30-2016, 06:14 PM

I just bought a 2016 21FBS too. Looking forward to taking it out ASAP.

troyman · 01-11-2017, 08:19 PM

I realize this is an old thread, but never hurts to warn potential buyers....

So we bought one of these nightmares on wheels in April of 2016, brand new from our local Camping World - Pacific Coachworks Northland 24IKS. This thing has been a nightmare to say the least. To put it into perspective, we bought this in April of 2016 and have used it 6 times as of January 2017. Every single trip, including this last one has had some sort of major failure.

This trailer was purchased brand new, luckily we bought an extended warranty because Pacific Coachworks definitely has ZERO interest in fixing their problems. We've actually finally had to hire an attorney to sue the manufacturer for a buy-back under our state's lemon laws. Just a short run-down of the problems we've had:
* Refrigerator - Won't cool on 110v - been in SIX times attempting to repair, dealer won't work on it any further because it needs to be completely replaced and manufacturer won't authorize
* Water leaks - Where to start, guess from the back to front...
* Toilet feed line - leaked, sprayed water everywhere
* Bathroom sink feed line - leaked, sprayed water all over cabinets
* Outside shower line - leaked, sprayed water all over cabinets
* Shower - They didn't bother sealing the shower pan, and the shower walls are not sealed to the walls.
* Oh, and the plumbing failed filling up the underbelly with grey water since our very first trip. It wasn't until the 5th return trip that it was finally diagnosed and fixed
* Barely any water pressure to the shower
* Water pump - This is inside of the bathroom cabinet, leaked TWICE. Last time completely destroyed our bathroom cabinet and the trailer floor. Previous time saturated the floor half-way throughout the trailer
* Fresh water supply line - Messed up from the get-go. It's cockeyed and leaks
* Kitchen sink - Just a disaster. Everything from incorrectly designed vent stack (they used cold water feed line for the vent stack) to loose fittings, sealant not applied, leaks, leaks, leaks

Other "minor" issues:
* Kitchen side slide (ours has two) - Is sticking when opening and closing now, and is now cockeyed. Sounds like it's about to get stuck at the half-way point going in or out on either 12V or 110V power.
* Refrigerator - Attempted to fix six times and it still doesn't work right. Can only use on 12v/propane or it overheats. They actually even put in a cooling fan and new ductwork as advised by PCW - didn't help at all. Dealer won't even work on it any further because it needs to be replaced and manufacturer won't authorize it.
* LED lights are already burning out
* Stereo - Burned out on the 5th trip
* Slider doors in bedroom area - Keepers for those pop off whenever you open/close the doors
* Vent in the bedroom area leaks
* Propane lines - Already cracked and leaking propane
* Rust spots on the frame from where they obviously spray painted areas

Whatever they did on this last attempt, we have some sort of major power draw when on just 12V. We went through 3 batteries a day with just the refrigerator running on propane/12V and occasionally turning on lights and washing our hands. Rest of the time we were on generator power.

There's actually even more problems that I haven't listed, it's honestly just ridiculous. For a general idea of the problems - over a period of about 8 months, they had it in for repair work for something like 160 days. Most of that time, was waiting for Pacific Coachworks to just authorize the repair work. When I last talked to the service advisor, he told me they had no less than 4 of my model sitting on their repair lot waiting for repair authorizations, most of which had the same refrigerator issue as mine. The last repair trip, it was dropped off in the beginning of August, we actually picked it up right before Thanksgiving just to get it off of the dealer's repair lot - (Was about 110 days on that trip alone)

So my advice, run away from this brand as fast as you can. Search out information about Pacific Coachworks, not just the Northland brand. There are multiple people on multiple forums who have, are or are considering suing them. Everything from toy haulers falling apart on the first road trip problems like mine, wiring issues, water leaking issues all over the place and a lot of warranty repair complaints. If you try to file a complaint against them through BBB, it's nearly impossible. They fall under a parent company with a horrible rating that is based out of Chicago I believe. They have ZERO quality control on these units. Hopefully the people on here who bought them have had better luck than I, as ours makes complete lemons look like a sweet deal.