2017 Forest River Surveyor reviews

We have had this camper for four years. We traveled from Florida to Maine on a three week camping trip one year. Another year we went from Florida to Northern Minnesota and over to Toronto Canada. The camper did awesome. Our family and young boys enjoyed the experience and all the bonus features of the camper from the power awning, to the stereo with DVD and Bluetooth, to the outdoor shower for easy cleanup. The camper has been good for us and has held up well. We had to use the warranty once for a minor issue. We didn't have any problems with that. Forest River is a good product. Show less

We have camped for four years with this camper. Our family has enjoyed it. We never had any problems with the expandable Surveyor 191T. Lots of storage. The upgrades are good. It has served us well. Show less

“Arctic package” my a**. We’ve had to put insulation in the underbody of the trailer. Apparently “Arctic package” means they just put a big piece of plastic over the underbelly. Doesn’t work at all. And to top it off, their employees thought it would be a good idea to leave trash within that piece of plastic covering the underbelly. We’ve also had to skirt the trailer, and now we have to look into getting a heater or a heat lamp to ensure we don’t wake up with no water. Consistent issues and a huge headache for how much they charge. Don’t buy into the “Arctic package” scam. These people are robbing you! Ours is only 3 years old and it’s wearing really badly. Won’t ever get another from this company. Show less

Would not recommend the Forest River Surveyor 247bhds. We did extensive research before deciding to choose the 2017 Forest River Surveyor 247bhds. We bought new and it is not of good quality. From the moment we got it we have had issues. We should have returned it from the get-go. It’s nearly impossible to get any support from Forest River. The trailer was advertised as fade resistant, but not true. The trailer is 3-years old and looks terrible. Even after repeated waxing, we can’t keep it from fading. The back now has a very large bubble that we will have to find out what this may turn into. Will the trailer start peeling? The first time we used the trailer, all of the pantry shelves fell down because they were too cheap to add an extra quarter inch of shelving to actually stay on the brackets. It was on warranty so they added ugly strips inside to accommodate the too small shelves. Word of advice, just make your own quality shelves to add. Even the curtains are too small, perhaps to save on an inch of material? We had to buy new curtain rods because the rods were so cheap they were bent and we couldn’t get them to stay straight. The hydraulic hinges under the bed were broken, again fixed under warranty. The bathroom screen door sticks, tried to have fixed under warranty, but still wouldn’t work right and the actual door needs to slammed to be shut. The screen door handle eventually broke off because it never did fit correctly. Tried using duct tape, but failed. You actually need to have long fingernails or tweezers to pull the plastic piece to get in and outside of the screen door otherwise you are stuck in or out. On our last trip the refrigerator quit working, the inside ceiling stripping was falling down, we had a flood of water come into the bedroom from the opposite wall (and this was supposed to be a relaxing trip). Still not sure what it is, but apparently when hooked up to city water there is a failed check valve or something and the water was spraying everywhere into the trailer wall. Instead of an overflow to somewhere outside of the trailer, it went directly toward the wall to the trailer. We will need to do a lot of research to figure out how to fix it. While under warranty we did have the fridge looked at as it had trouble lighting and was noisy, but they didn’t find anything wrong. When we returned from our 5 day trip, the fridge no longer works on electric or gas. Another fix we’ll need to figure out. During this trip the illuminated buttons to show water and battery levels was inaccurate. Also, the outside rubber trim has been replaced numerous times. The entire trailer rubber trim was replaced under warranty, but now we are experienced in replacing since it’s a common problem. On our last trip, we lost another strip of rubber and it will again need to be replaced. Each time the slide-out goes in and out there is some kind of sawdust that comes out at the bottom. This too was reported while under warranty and was looked at, but they didn’t find anything to report other than possibly residual from build although it still happens and we hope it isn’t anything to be concerned about. If you saw this trailer, you’d think it was brand new (except for the fading and visible issues), we take Very good care of it, it is not thrashed and it’s not used much. There are probably other items we have not mentioned, but we want to get the word out to others. Perhaps we got a lemon, but it will never be anything Forest River will care about, they make it difficult to contact them. We are not happy about spending $30k of our hard earned money to give us grief and constant maintenance. Even though Forest River claims they have the best trailers around, they truly cannot be honest about that. They must know how flimsy their product is. It’s obvious by this review. Show less

Liked floor plan but terrible durability. Paint fading, molding strips split. Replaced one AC and repaired another in 3 years. Too much tow weight. Awning not durable. Like full size fridge and closet space. Show less

I've owned this camper since I bought it brand new in 2017... truly no other camper on the market that provides so many amenities in such a small package! My family of 4 loves every single inch of it and if you think you won't use each and every little seemingly inconsequential feature, you'll love it all! From the double slide with kitchen island, to the outdoor kitchen, the outdoor shower, the second entry door in the bathroom, the bathtub, everything! This camper packs your whole wish list into one perfect package and I am so lucky to own this perfect model! More than highly recommended!!! Show less

If it were not for the lay out of the pull camper from the bath to the back end we would trade it in a heart beat, and not a Forest Rivers brand. Our experience has been a night mare. We have had our camper since March 2018. Have used it maybe 6-7 times and every time we have had a problem. The first 4 times we tried to use it we had to drive 200 miles back to Mid State to their service department.Where we had bought it. The number of problems are to numerous and involved to go into detail. Briefly a few of the problems: kitchen sink looked like a 2 yr. Child had installed it. major water problem. Water was thrown into camper while driving in the rain, electrical problems 3 times back to Mid State service dept. Never was fixed, yet our son )found it as soon as we described the problem, This week we planned a well earned R & R week, What happens the commode started leaking leaking again & this had been checked by M.S. SERV.DEPT. before the warranty went out. Now we are having to fix the commode leak just a few moments ago a new leak has been found coming into the bedroom from maybe the lavatory. Not related to commode leak. I also would like to say we are not people that do not take care of things, nor are we people that do not live with out the guidance of The Good Lord, we just wanted you to know that we believe we have purchased a poor quality of camper Nothing more. RECOMEND YOUR BRAND OF CAMPERS UNLESS THE GOOD LORD SHOWS US DIFFERENTLY WE WILL BE GETTING ANOTHER BRAND OF CAMPER SHOULD WE BE FINANCIALLY ABLE. Show less

Wow, looked so good on paper! Terrible quality and workmanship, everything is failing apart and it's only 6mos old. Arctic package means next to nothing, single pane windows and next to no insulation, only the heated holding tanks help. Never buy one of these! Show less

We have had our Surveyor for about 2 years now. We love this unit. It fits our needs and has been a good unit. There have been the normal amount of issues with trim coming loose but the dealer fixed everything right away and under warranty. The furnace was making a sound like a jack hammer when we first used it. The squirrel cage in the furnace was out of balance, our dealer fixed it under warranty. If you are buying one of these, I strongly recommend the 2nd air unit. We had the dealer install it and we are glad we did. The main unit will not keep the bedroom cool on hot days. Overall we are very happy with this purchase. Show less

I researched several Months for the best constructed RV for the money and chose the 201RBS. The floor plan is perfect for a couple and has an attractive interior. This trailer pulls very well with a half ton pick up with out a stabilizer or sway bar. This is one of the few trailers with aluminum trusses on 16 inch centers and a PVC top Cabinets are above average in quality. The small slide out utilized the swhintec system and has been flawless. We have had minor issues involving the stereo sound bar and the shower pan is a little soft for a 275 pound person. Dealer support has been the only area that needs improvement. Show less