Considering a Forest River Sunseeker

[philippo]

After many wonderful years in our Northern Lite truck camper, my wife and I are considering a small class C, and for now are looking at a 2016 2250LE Sunseeker.


Of course we have numerous specific questions, but first we would really love to hear from current Sunseeker owners about how pleased they are with their camper – and of course (almost more important) we'd love to hear about any misgivings or things that they think didn't quite work out – what's NOT so wonderful about it. Gripes welcome!


We would very much appreciate it if anyone is willing to chime in on any of the following:


CONSTRUCTION: how well is it actually built – was it put together carefully and well? How is the "fit and fittings"? Do the the drawers work smoothly? Are the doors aligned & do they close easily and seamlessly? Is there anything that looks slightly off when you're gazing around the living space?
Any plumbing or electrical gremlins?
Do the slide-outs work easily & reliably? (This would be our first experience with slideouts)
How well thought-out is the layout and the attention to details?


COMFORT:
How comfortable are people finding the following: the cockpit (for long periods of time), the bed, and The dinette?
Of course it's fairly easy to warm up a smaller camper, how easy is it to keep this larger unit heated in cold weather?
Is there more than one heater or is the heat ducted elsewhere from the source?
What about cold weather camping – how close are Sunseekers to a "true 4 season" camper? I see they do not have double pane thermal windows – how does one deal with the attendant condensation problems?


GUT FEELINGS...?
How do owners feel overall about the reliability and longevity of their units? Any feelings or word-of-mouth indicators about these? Overall satisfaction? Would you buy one again?


I could go on forever but I think I'll stop here...that's more than enough to chew on in one sitting!


Thanks immensely😎
Philip

[RRR]

We bought a used 2007 SS 2860 in 2008 from a local RV rental company. I was very pleased with the fit and finish.

No big problems with it. One slide was not working properly but I lived with it. I have a hunch that it was damaged and then mis-aligned. My only big complaint was that the generator exhaust was under the fore-mentioned slide and had problems with exhaust smell unless there was enough breeze. Even if the slide didn't have problems I felt it wasn't the best designed.

The furniture wasn't the greatest. The MasterCraft couch had a broken spring and the front seats were uncomfortable. Replaced the couch, took out the dinette and replaced with a small chair so the DW could rock, and had the front seats redone.

I think the coldest we were ever in it was in the low 20s. No their are not a four seasons rig, the furnace was a 30,000 btu (?) and it did fine.

The last time we were at a RV show in 2013 we looked at a new version of the 2860 and we both felt that it was a good bang for the buck. Seemed as though it was better than some of the mid entry A's or the dealer fixed it up before they displayed it.

The Forester line is the same as the Sunseeker but some more bells and whistles. You might do some comparing. Forest River has a forum that you may find helpful too. http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/

[hilgert]

We recently purchased a 2017 Sunseeker GTS 2800QSF. This was after a multi-year search and walking through 100's of motorhomes. I'm an engineer, and fairly picky, and aggravated salespeople along the way by crawling under units, on top of units, pulling on everything with a handle, etc.

I believe the Sunseeker has a level of workmanship in the top end of the Class C units we looked at...many things you don't see on the lower-end Class C units, such as a full fiberglass roof. We've put over 6000 miles on ours in the few months we've had it (Texas to Yellowstone and Texas to Florida, plus some more local trips), and it's held up nicely thus far.

On the trip to Florida a few month ago it was hot during the entire journey, and we ran generator and AC all the way there/back for the daughter and her boyfriend. Both when travelling and when in Florida, where it was especially hot, the single AC (ours is a heat pump) kept up just fine.

[bluepill]

Good place to get lots of owner feedback:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/

[RKGlover]

we bought a 2016 2860DS 18 months ago and really like it. It had several ridiculous things that had to be fixed before we took possession but our dealer corrected them all. All were due to manufacturing techs being in a hurry. We bought it because it was the right floor plan and price. The issues were all easily repaired. One late arrival because it was hidden Is we just recently found the toilet flange was broken during manufacture and the commode finally came loose 3 months out of warranty during a long trip. Our dealer was able to get it repaired under warranty. So hats off to them and forest river for that. All in all we love the motorhome.

[dottedlines]

We purchased a used 2015 Sunseeker M-3050S Ford E450 6.8l in Feb of 2016 from LazyDays in Florida. The things we liked esp: fiberglass roof/ext, floor plan, full size fridge, adequate amt of storage (esp for a class C),having a full wall slide,and an entrance door not right behind passenger seat. We took it on a 7000mi trip visiting national parks this past summer and there were some issues. The most concerning one was that the refrigerator almost fell out and had to be bungee corded in until we got home; the support structure under the fridge (esp when full with food) was inadequate and the wood support actually collapsed. The fridge kept working though, which was a relief. We removed fridge and the entire support structure under it has been redone after many days of hard work (I doubt it will ever come loose again). New wood, metal brackets, more cushioned base support to prevent wt shifting towards front of fridge. Screws at top of fridge were missing and no holes indicating they had ever been installed. (previous owner did have fridge removed to fix ice machine while under warranty so that has resulted in us not being able to prove it was a manuf error) We have had discussions with FR customer service dept to make them aware of this safety concern since someone could have gotten hurt.
The other issue we are continuing to deal with is with our full wall slide. We had noticed before our trip that the anterior portion of the slide was beginning to pull away from the side of the MH when the slide is brought in. We tightened screws and re-caulked, but this continued to worsen throughout our trip. The slide worked well at all times, but we were concerned as to what might be causing that as we do not want to have to replace the slide. We contacted the FR service dept and were hoping to take it in to them to have it investigated but, without having a warranty or having purchased it right at manuf they do not work on them there. The referred us to a company near our home and we took it in; after just over $200 cost, they put larger screws and rivets in and told us this was not uncommon. Within a few weeks and after one short trip it has begun to come apart again. Currently discussing with customer service to see if they can offer any insights as to cause. We don't want to take it back to same place and be charged more, believe they should have fixed it right the first time!
I have to say that FR customer service has been responsive to my inquiries and prompt in their responses although most likely will not be able to do much more than offer suggestions.
We have been very happy with the handling of the Ford, the ease of towing our car, and both of us being able to drive it.
Have not had any issues with cupboards or drawers; no generator problems, heating and cooling have worked adequately, no noted condensation problems so far (we brought it from Fl to Mi late last Feb) We do not plan to let it sit unused for any length of time tho. When it has been colder, closing the blinds has given an added layer of warmth.
We find the cockpit seats to be very comfortable and I have arthritis so comfort is not easily obtained. The bed has been pretty comfortable, I think ours has an upgraded mattress and we added a memory foam mattress pad. We also purchased a foam topper for the bed above the cockpit to provide more comfort for family/friends that occasionally join us. In our unit the couch is comfortable, but shorter than the one we had previously in our TT; works for a smaller person to sleep, dinette bed is also a bit short for an adult, but is reported to be comfortable for a short trip.
I think that about covers our experience so far, some disappointments, but do not fully regret the purchase so far, ask me again after our 3mo trip this winter

[Randor707]

I'm new here. Can anyone tell me if the 2005 Sunseeker would likely have a fiberglass roof? I found one for sale that looks nice in the photos, but haven't seen it in person yet.

[hilgert]

Originally Posted by Randor707

I'm new here. Can anyone tell me if the 2005 Sunseeker would likely have a fiberglass roof? I found one for sale that looks nice in the photos, but haven't seen it in person yet.

We've run into a few Sunseeker owners in our travels. The more recent one's we've seen all had fiberglass roofs, but to be honest we were mostly interested in user experiences with similar (more recent) Sunseekers.

Randor707, I sent you a PM. We just moved to downtown Chicago from Dallas and considering selling our 2017 Sunseeker (which we love) since it's expensive to store and it appears thus far that we won't be using it as much as in Texas...perhaps it might work for you (lots of upgrades).

[HighDesert]

We have the Sunseeker 2400R model in the Mercedes Benz setup. For years I really poh poohed the sea of a motorhome as we primarily used 5th wheel rvs (have had 1 tent trailer, 3 slide in campers, 1 TT, and 4, 5th wheels over the years). We downsized rm a 31' 5th wheel to the 24' MBS setup and really, never looked back. I am very pleased with the build quality, and have had only a few minor issues arise that were easily taken care of by the dealer under warranty. The seats are comfortable, a pleasure to drive and plenty of room in the cab without the doghouse being there. If I could have one thing improved upon, I would have like a bit bigger bed than the standard RV queen. We have the fiberglass roof, and full body paint which is a vast improvement over older RV's for leaks and fading complaints. I don't know if you are looking for a larger class C, but we are happy with the 2400R with two adults, small dog and 2 cats.