2016 Fleetwood Discovery 40G

[tamdle]

I have been researching for few months on the Forest River Berkshire 38A and love the layout and heard plentiful of good thing about the coach with many happy owners as well as the excellence service from the Forest River manufacture.

However, have a chance to visit my family in Houston, TX this week and did drop by Holiday World RV in Katy, TX... They showed me the 2016 Fleetwood Discovery 40G and I was so impressed with the quality, design, layout and looks like that they have 3 slides and all of the slides are hydraulic; porcelain tile floor, power passenger recliner with foot rest which my DW really like. Even though it only has one bath instead of 1.5 baths like on the Berkshire 38A, it was roomy design... We love it...

Having that said, I was wondering if any of the proud or not so proud owners could shed some light for me about your experience with the coach itself before I set on this beauty.

1 - How reliable Fleetwood? I found the quality of the workmanship is quite good, but not sure how your thought would be.

2 - How good is the Factory Service? Are they very customer oriented? I heard that Forest River customer service really bend-over-backward to keep their customer satisfy with the product... not sure what should I expect from Fleetwood.

3 - I heard some horrible story of slides using mechanical gear with electric motors, how is your experience with the Fleetwood hydraulic slides?

4 - It has the 380HP on a Freightliner Chassis with the Alison 3000 transmission... I am assuming that is the best for this coach... just wonder if how bad the fuel economy on this coach as far as the MPG... I know the diesel is very low price now, but still... any dollar save for the RV service (LOL).

5 - What should I expect as far as % discount from the MSRP.

Your input is really valuable to me, thanks in advance for your time.

Thanks again.
Tam Le

[sims5]

I just bought a '15 Discovery 40x a month ago and drove it 40 miles home and put in my shop. Patiently waiting on spring now. We got it for 35% off the sticker. On a '16 I doubt you will get that much off. My parents have had several Fleetwood products, last being a diesel Bounder. They were very impressed with the Fleetwood product.

[brian-nicola]

We have the 40e, no issues, we love it. FW couple of questions to customer service handled promptly and fully satisfied, hopefully you would never need "factory service". Never had any slide issues, they work fine. Cummins hooked to the allison is bullet-proof, lots of power and we average 9MPG. We just did a trip this summer, 8% grades and no issues. She cruises very happily at 65mph.... This time of year you could likely get a smokin deal on a 15...2016 not just yet-they're still building them although depends how long the dealer has had it on the lot. Here is one in Canada (30% premium on your dollar remember)Discovery 40G "Bunk Model" by Fleetwood - Woody's RV World

[tamdle]

Originally Posted by sims5

I just bought a '15 Discovery 40x a month ago and drove it 40 miles home and put in my shop. Patiently waiting on spring now. We got it for 35% off the sticker. On a '16 I doubt you will get that much off. My parents have had several Fleetwood products, last being a diesel Bounder. They were very impressed with the Fleetwood product.

Congratulation Sims on you new purchase...

2016 Discovery 40G is the model that I was looking at. However, there were plenty of 2015 Discovery 40G model in Alvarado, TX which we will go to take a look at them this weekend. Thanks for your baseline on the 2015. At least I know what I have in mind to work with.

[tamdle]

Originally Posted by brian-nicola

We have the 40e, no issues, we love it. FW couple of questions to customer service handled promptly and fully satisfied, hopefully you would never need "factory service". Never had any slide issues, they work fine. Cummins hooked to the allison is bullet-proof, lots of power and we average 9MPG. We just did a trip this summer, 8% grades and no issues. She cruises very happily at 65mph.... This time of year you could likely get a smokin deal on a 15...2016 not just yet-they're still building them although depends how long the dealer has had it on the lot. Here is one in Canada (30% premium on your dollar remember)Discovery 40G "Bunk Model" by Fleetwood - Woody's RV World

Thanks Brian and Nicola for your input... I will look into the possibility of the Canadian market as well.

TL

[Statgeek]

We were where you are at a couple of years ago. Good friends of ours owned a Berkshire bunk house, which we liked, and were considering purchasing as an upgrade to our gasser. Then we found the Discovery 40g and liked it even better.

We bough our 2013 40G and we love it. The quality surpasses, in my opinion, the Berk., and their customer service is good.

Having said that, I have had a couple of problems with the full wall slide. Within a few months of ownership it had to go back to Fleetwood for repair of the FWS. It requires a new set of rollers to be installed. There was no service place nearby qualified to do the work so Fleetwood sent down a driver, picked up my coach, repaired it, and delivered it to my driveway.

While I would rather not have had the problem, they could not have been better about fixing it.

I am now having a second issue with the FWS, but I believe it to be unrelated and an easy fix. One of the locking arms that holds the FWS in for travel failed. I am working to have this repaired and expect it won't be a big deal.

If you buy from Holiday World you may pay a little more than elsewhere, but it could be worth it because they will not work on Fleetwood RVs that they did not sell. I know, because i fit that category, and they flag-out told me as much. They get pissy if you buy elsewhere.

I bought mine from La Mesa RV in Tuscon. Got a great deal that made it worth the drive out and back.

I do simple maintenance myself, but when I need expert service, I take it to the Fleetwood dealer in Bourne, or Alverado, Tx. Or I get s mobile technician.

Good luck with your decisions!

[dubdub07]

When looking at bunkhouses, we looked at Forest River, Thor, Tiffin, and Fleetwood. For the money, the 40G is pretty nice. They have a lot of amenities that the others just don't. 380hp, ceramic floors, king bed, washer/drier, the list goes on.

As far as 9mpg, you might as well be travelling with a unicorn, because in 14,000 miles, we average about 6.5.

WW

[tamdle]

Originally Posted by dubdub07

When looking at bunkhouses, we looked at Forest River, Thor, Tiffin, and Fleetwood. For the money, the 40G is pretty nice. They have a lot of amenities that the others just don't. 380hp, ceramic floors, king bed, washer/drier, the list goes on.

As far as 9mpg, you might as well be travelling with a unicorn, because in 14,000 miles, we average about 6.5.

WW

Hello Dub Dub (WW),

Your configuration sounded like a great combo with MH and Toad... It is great because that is what in my mind. The 40G and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

However, I have some question:

1 - How would you like your 40G after 14000 miles as far as performance, ride and maintenance. Have you had any major issue especially the slides.

2 - How is the annual maintenance cost, was is ginomous or manageable? Was all of your maintenance as far as the engine and chassis was done by the dealer or Freightliner?

Have a wonderful time. I am so close... I could feel it...

Thanks again...

Tam Le

[dubdub07]

Tam Le,

I like the 40G a lot. We are doing about 60 nights a year in it, towing each of our Jeeps behind. The Grand tows much nicer behind the coach, and I really like having the Grand to drive when we get to our destination. Maintenance is minimal. Changed the oil myself and the fuel filters for about $120. I grease the fittings and maintain the batteries myself.

Slides are no issue. I have read people having issues but I am always pleasantly surprised every time I run the wall slide in or out how well it operates. Nice and smooth every time.

We are in Colorado and climb lots of steep mountain passes. the 380hp motor does well. I would like another 7mph up some of the passes, but that is just selfish. I think the fuel mileage is climbing and should round out about an average of 7 mpg.

Any questions, just ask.

WW

[Statgeek]

Mine is a 2013 40G, and we tow the Jeep Unlimited (4door) at about 4300 lbs. I regularly get 8.9 MPG here in FLAT Texas.

This is our second bunkhouse Class A. Our first was a 35' gas Coachman Mirada. I agree--the 40G is a wonderful coach. Fleetwood put a lot of really nice features in this RV and I've compared it to many others. We get a lot of bang-for-the-buck. There are some cheaper aspects, like the tape-over-wooden cabinets, and thinner walls/insulation, and we don't have all the fancy electric options (ex. power window blindes, televator), but we also paid quite a bit less than the RV's that have those upgrades.

I am one of the guys who had an initial FWS issue, but Fleetwood took care of that for me. I also just repaired one of the travel clamps too, but that's just a component that could have failed in any other brand too. The good news is that Fleetwood customer service works very hard to keep customers happy, and because they build more RVs than any other company, they have buying power with all the parts manufacturers. That means they can get parts cheaper and pass SOME of the savings onto us, and it also means that when there are issues, these manufactures are motivated to make things right. In the case of my FWS travel clamp, HWH came through with a free replacement part. I don't know if that would have happened with other RV brands, but I do know that it happened for me because of the Fleetwood customer service person who made calls on my behalf.

[dubdub07]

For those getting 8.9, 9.0, or anything above that, I applaud you!!!! For those newbies that are venturing into the MH world, you need to expect 6-7 and anything above that you should rejoice to the MH gods!!!