Forest River VIBE reviews

Before we decided to build our retirement home next year, we decided to purchase a second RV for living purposes on the family farm. We have enjoyed our first RV purchase in 2021, a new Heartland Bighorn Traveler 5th wheel with minimal issues. So we went into this second purchase with great expectations. But reality, like a large hat-pin, punctured that hope with acuity that has been both a physical and mental anguish. We now wish we had waited on this second purchase. The Vibe 3400XL floor plan is a good one, rear kitchen and easy pulling 2 plusses. But the little things that happened every day drove us to the edge of buyer's remorse. On the first day we found out that extending the awning all the way prevented the entry door from opening all the way with pushing it into and past the awning. The awning also went over the slide-out and rested on it, worrying us that the contact on the sharp corner would wear a hole in that part of the awning. The only way to avoid the door issue was to pull the bracket down on the slide side for water drainage, but it still rested on the slide. The service specialist at the dealer we bought it from later told us we had the awning out too far. Huh? Isn't that what an awning is for, to extend and cover/protect as much area as possible? Next, when inside going to sit in the theater chairs, we felt as though the slides were tilted down slightly; a level proved us correct. The service specialist claimed this not true when his mechanic checked it. Having new stuff stacked everywhere and hungry, we sat on the bar chairs at the nicely elevated island to eat, and nearly fell over. Both bar chairs where horribly unbalanced and wobbling so badly that we thought we were sitting in rocking chairs. Then, we opened the newly installed washer to do a load of clothes and discovered 4 items of wet clothing already in there! So, in the dryer they went. The dryer started, then stopped after a few minutes, then started up again, then stopped...you get the idea. This happened on every cycle we tried, with nothing else on in the RV, while plugged in to 50-amp shore power. Nor breakers popped either. Service mechanic response? Can't duplicate. The washer has a coin slot on the bottom to open and remove any debris, but only after pulling the rubber tube out to drain any excess water. Did that, tube dry, opened the coin slot plug and woosh! A tidal wave of water came out! Both times we washed a load. And the dryer continued to start and stop... Next, my wife is cleaning the floor in front of the beverage cooler. And what did she see? Two deep grooves cut into the flooring. Service specialist said later that two screws, too long on the cooler had cut into the floor as it was pushed into the hole under the counter. Next - I'm back at work and my wife is staying in this new RV by herself, and after she retires to the bed, it starts raining out, a nice steady rain. After a couple of hours, much to her horror, she sees a trickle of water coming into the track on the floor, then pooling onto the floor by the washer/dryer closet. The service specialist "could not duplicate" again, so I suggested they check the water lines. They found that the hot water shut off for the washer was broken, and letting water leak into the track and floor. Well, the last slap in the face was when my son hooked up to the RV to take it back to the dealership for all this service, and he found one of the tires was flat. He aired it up, took it 65 miles to the dealership without further issue, and they, repeat after me, "could not duplicate." These mechanical defects happened all in the first 13 days of use. We asked for a buyback; the dealership refused. We asked for the entire floor to be replaced since the factory worker tore it up; Forest River refused. I would not buy another travel trailer from Forest River. The floor plan was good with tons of counter space, a coffee bar, and windows everywhere. But based on our experience in less than two weeks, no. Will this happen with other Forest River brands? Don't know and we aren't going to find out since we will not purchase from them again. Show less

Just bought this unit the furnace that came in it didn’t work right was bad from factory . Was sent a new one and it works better but not correct have to keep re setting the thermostat it is absolutely ridiculous the heater is in back of camper bedroom in front and only has one vent it struggles to keep warm in there apparently this system is new 6 months old I don’t recommend buying this until that system has bugs out and a good working furnace Show less

We purchased a 2023 Vibe rear kitchen in October 2022. Love the floor plan, beautiful to look at . We have used the camper 9 times and in August of 2024 we went to use the over the bed cabinets and saw that the "wood look" paper was peeling from the sides of the cabinet. Looking further we found the same paper peeling in various places including the entire top of the pull out section. We called the dealer who said it was no longer under warranty. My husband called Forest River directly and they said oh yeah, we had a bad batch of glue. Two days later we found the entire bedroom closet door and jam had fallen off the wall. There is a crack in the top corner of the shower wall. The bathroom faucet handles are cracking and falling off. The camper jack fell down when we were coming home from a trip - scraping the highway all the way home. We had to buy and install a new one. The kitchen seats broke with the first use as the screws were not completely in the correct place. We have since had to reinforce both booth bottoms. Just one issue after another. I have never been so disappointed in such poor use of materials and workmanship for something that we still owe $30,000 on. We paid $50,000. What a complete waste of hard earned money. Do NOT buy a Forest River product!! Show less

is the fourth camper I've owned? I'm not very impressed with it. Some of the cupboard doors in the bunkhouse portion don't shut in the master bedroom. The outlet is coming out of the wall and in the kitchen there's one that is loose as well. There is absolutely no cupboard space for dishes! I honestly didn't realize that until after I got it and tried to put dishes away. No cupboards. There is the most ridiculous door in the master bedroom. It's always in the way. There's no room in the master bedroom to change clothes or to barely walk through it. Show less

Our Forest River Vibe model is actually a VBT27FK-OR bit that choice was not available on this site. Our dealer declared bankruptcy soon after we purchased the unit. The next closest dealer is two hours away. Parts are not available through Forest River at all. On our first trip, we had a part break. We filed a warranty claim and were told the parts were on order. Now, nearly two years later we do not have the parts. We have noticed several quality defects since then. Our sliding door fell from the ceiling. The screws holding it up are secured to 1/8” ceiling panels. I would not recommend Forest River for your next purchase. Show less

Would not recommend Forest River to my worst enemy.i have had nothing but problems with this trailer since purchase in 2015; This is not my first review, however last June one of the windows in the slider literally exploded into a million pieces . When we returned from our holidays took it to be replaced along with a few other problems. Forest River discontinued that design and the windows are not available. Apparently the windows have to be custom made at a cost of $2000. 00. It is now The middle of February and still no windows. So after market sales Forest River just takes the money and run. I have spent so much in the last 9 years I cannot do anything with this trailer Show less

The worst trailer we have purchased fist trip out the water tank dropped on to the axel. Manufacture told me to take it to the dealer we were in the States at the time. That was only the beginning of the problems. Every time we took it out something went wrong. I have replaced every possible screw with hollow wall screws , which were not measured . Window covering are crooked I have spent over $4000. On repairs on a scale of 1 to 10. Minus 10 . I have so much money I have so money invested in it can’t afford to trade in. I could go on and on but I think you get the idea Show less

We purchased this camper last Friday, and headed straight to the lake for a 3 day 2 night stay. We loved the features and amenities it came with, and honestly didnt even really leave unless it was to buy new items for it! The recliner is very comfortable, the tv is easier to use and is great quality. the only complaints we have are the matress is not good quality at all, and the shower latch broke literally the very first use. WE also had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to use the oven until we had seen the procedure on Youtube. Other than those small items, it was a great trip with what i consider a high quality camper that we keep calling our apartment on wheels. Show less

After selling our 2006 Winnebago Journey DP in late 2019, we decided we missed traveling in a RV, so we started looking for our new RV. We were moving to a short TT (Travel Trailer), under 26’ long, under 7600 lbs GVWR and a bunk bed floorplan. We started our searched in early 2020, yes, the start of Covid and after looking on-line and in-person at dealers, we purchased our new 2021 Vibe 21 BH in May 2020. Note: Forest River makes two versions of the Vibe 21BH camper, West and Midwest, the West version 21BH does NOT have a slide-out. So my review is on a Midwest 21BH with a Dinette slide out and sold East of the Rockies. The Vibe 21BH is 25’ 7” long, 11’ 2” high, dry weights of 4925 lbs and a 627 hitch with an amazing CCC of 2702 lbs. It has one deep passenger dinette side with a large window. It’s a Bunk Bed style floor plan, which was what we wanted so we could take our grandkids with us on trips and it also becomes a huge storage area for us when we take longer trips. It has a front murphy bed, which can be stored ‘made’ (sheets on and pillows) including a 1 ½ topper. When the murphy bed is stored, it reveals a couch with two seats with a flip-out foot rest and a lot of storage under it. On each side of the couch there are small Wardrobes, not very tall, so I removed the fake floor in each wardrobe and added small doors to help access lower area. Other storage includes two door floor to ceiling wardrobes and storage cabinets in slide. And a small pantry at the end of the bunk area. And two large pull out drawers under the dinette seats, two kitchen draws and a pot and pan draw under the Oven. There are two Bunk beds that are quite wide, both have windows and ceiling lights that can be turned on and off from the bunks. Our two Grandkids, that have traveled with us, enjoyed their bunk space for play and sleeping. When the Grandkids are not with us, on longer trips, we use the lower bunk for storage of additional clothes, food and other items needed for longer trips. There is also a large storage area under part of the lower bunk that we use for container storage and a place for a kitchen garbage container. The Bathroom, while small, is very functional for us and grandkids. The shower is rectangle shape (roomy) with a pullout shower curtain and is big enough for a blowup Duck style toddler bath tub. It has an upgraded ceiling fan with an outside hood so it can be left open even if it’s raining outside. The Kitchen is functional for a 25’ long camper, includes a Microwave, 3 Burner stove, and small oven. The stainless steel farmhouse kitchen sink is a good size with a moveable faucet. Electrical: This is a 30 amp camper with a 15k Air Conditioner, Gas/Electric 6 Gal hot water heater and a 10.7 Cu Ft 12v DC only residential style Refrigerator, not a good choice for people who do a lot of boon docking type camping. We are always connected top power so this style Refrig is what we prefer. This is our first 30 Amp camper, so I added and inteletec Power management system that will enable me to run our hot water heater on Electric rather than on my LP. The system has been perfect automatically turning off the HW heater anytime the microwave is run, 45 seconds after the Microwave stops the HW Heater is turned back on. Entertainment: The Vibe 21BH comes with a single 24” TV, I replaced that one with a Smart TV and added a 40 inch Smart TV mounted on a Swivel Mount on the top of the Pantry. The couch/recliners face the new 40” TV. Since we stream everything, if good WiFi, directly on the smart TV, if poor WiFi, we will stream from our Ipad via HTMI cables. I’ve added a HTMI switch that enables me to stream the same content or different to each TV. I’ve installed a weBoost Drive Reach RV - Cell Phone Signal Booster to help in weak Cell Signal. The Vibe 21BH (Midwest version) is a great camper small enough to easily be towed by a ½ ton truck. It is very stable towing behind my F150. It has big bunkbeds for our grandkids, great size shower for bathing the infants and toddlers. A very functional kitchen and a great residential style refrigerator. Lots of storage for a small camper. We have enjoyed traveling in the Vibe 21BH on long multiweek trips and week trips to Fort Wilderness with our grandkids. It has been a great decision for us. We have towed about 8000 miles (three 2000 mile round trip trips from Florida to Pennsylvania) and a number of short trips and the only failure I have had was a outside Awning motor that failed which I replaced myself. I contribute my trouble free ownership from it being manufactured per-covid, late 2020. I did replace all the China-Bomb Castle Rock tires with Goodyear Endurance tires before we took our first trip. For it’s length and weight the Vibe 21BH was a great choice for us. -Russ G Show less

I loved my Vibe when purchased...now 3 years later and its not even paid off...HORRIBLE CHEAPLY MADE.. outside under camper cover (that covers wires,and pipes) fell off. .. Inside every door came off hinges.. Flooring is warped and carpet trim is off.. .WOULD NEVER EVER PURCHASE FOREST RIVER AGAIN Show less