“From 2015 to 2024, Forest River issued more recalls than any U.S. automaker or RV manufacturer—many due to human error rather than flawed parts.”
RVtravel.com publisher Chuck Woodbury will have more to say about this in this Sunday’s newsletter.
On Tuesday The Wall Street Journal reported on deep-rooted quality control issues within the RV industry—especially at Forest River, the second largest RV manufacturer, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
The article centers around a fire incident involving Jay Nelson, a Montana highway patrolman, whose Forest River trailer caught fire in 2020, allegedly due to faulty wiring. His lawsuit has become the focal point of growing scrutiny on Forest River’s manufacturing practices and safety record.
Recall “insufficient”
Nelson’s legal team claims the company’s wiring issues are widespread, potentially affecting more than one million RVs. They argue Forest River’s recent recall of 41,000 units—prompted after inspecting Nelson’s trailer—was insufficient. They support their claim with field surveys, which found about 60% of sampled Forest River models contained similar wiring problems.
Forest River disputes the scope and validity of these claims and contends the recall affected only two specific models over a 20-year span. A Montana judge is expected to rule soon on whether to grant class-action certification, with a trial scheduled for September.
The leader in recalls
From 2015 to 2024, Forest River issued more recalls than any U.S. automaker or RV manufacturer—many due to human error rather than flawed parts. Examples include misaligned furnace vents, wrong fuses due to supply shortages, and microwaves damaged by incorrectly sized screws.
In one case, workers punctured microwaves they were installing with screws that were the incorrect length. In another, inspectors discovered misaligned furnace flues a month after the employee who was checking them quit. Then, in 2023, the company recalled 50 towable campers after finding that workers had created a fire risk by inserting the wrong fuse into power distribution centers. The reason? The factory had a shortage of the correct fuse.
“Forest River averages 50 recalls a year—many of them from manufacturing errors.”
These problems are linked to the industry’s labor practices: RVs are largely hand-assembled in Elkhart, Indiana, the RV manufacturing hub of the U.S. Workers often earn “piece rate” pay—getting bonuses for hitting production targets and sometimes leaving early—encouraging speed over precision.
Forest River defends its practices, saying many of its highest-quality plants use piece-rate systems and that it conducts thorough inspections before RVs leave the factory. It also notes that the RV Industry Association performs unannounced inspections several times a year. Still, the company has a history of regulatory conflict: In 2015, it paid a $5 million federal fine for failing to properly report defects after issuing internal service bulletins about issues that should have triggered recalls.
Systemic flaws
Critics argue that Forest River’s high volume of recalls points to systemic flaws, not just caution. Michael Brooks of the Center for Auto Safety said it’s “unusual” for a company to treat recalls as a proactive “tool,” arguing they are instead a sign of failed quality assurance.
Consumer experiences reinforce concerns. Buyers reported severe problems soon after purchase—from water leaks to collapsed ceilings and inaccessible fuses—often facing slow or contentious warranty responses. Some, like Allison Paul and Wade Mullins, said their new Forest River RVs required near-total overhauls. One couple, Heather Timmerman and Christy Csernyik, lost their home and pets in a fire, only to learn later their trailer had been recalled for the same wiring defect at the center of Nelson’s case.
Despite Buffett’s ownership and Forest River’s scale—selling more than 100,000 RVs a year—its reliance on fast-paced manual labor and limited automation may be compromising safety and consistency, the Journal concludes.
Read the full article in the Wall Street Journal.
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- For more Forest River recalls, click here.
RVT1215b
The article mentioned also included Thor and Winnebago, indicating that all three companies have issued more recalls than the Detroit Big Three. Obviously, these problems aren’t just limited to Forest River. And, a more in-depth reporting of recalls would break down recalls by the internal companies of Forest River, Thor and Winnebago. That would be much more informative.
Objectivity is not always the goal, and is evident even with some authors.
Note that these recalls were primarily for trailer products. “Motorized” were not nearly as subject to recalls.
But, as long as customers keep buying products with defects, most companies don’t have the integrity to resolve the lack of quality. In the RV industry, Quality Control has a confusing meaning. Quite often, it is non-existent especially the “Control” part.
I agree Steve, the devil is in the details. My Rockwood Ultra-Lite fifth wheel (a division of Forest River) has been virtually trouble free. Having said that I agree, overall RV industry statistics are bad, and leave a lot of room for improvement. In the steel industry (where I worked for 45 years) they learned that production bonuses could work well, but ONLY after they were tied to quality and safety. It couldn’t just be tons produced, it had to be QUALITY tons produced without lost time accidents. Then it was a win-win-win for producers, workers and buyers.
Somebody even builds RV’s worse than Thor? Is that possible?
Forest river is thor
No, that’s not true, Jeanne. It’s part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway company.
This article isn’t helpful. Include a breakdown of recalls for each brand. There is a wide variance of quality between brands within Forest River.
WSJ is late to the party. The Indianapolis Star published an extensive and damning report on the RV industry’s failing almost three years ago (https://renting-dirt.com/2022/10/21/indystar-blasts-rv-industry-big-time/), but because it doesn’t have a national audience, was effectively stonewalled by the RV Big Three and its trade group and its reporting slipped out of public view. Too bad, because that meant nearly three more years of unchecked misfeasance.
Hi, Andy. OMG! And we even ran your story here. Oops. Have a great day.🤗 –Diane
This is what happens when corporations won’t pay decent wages to attract better workers who care about their job. Especially ones like FR owned by one of the richest men in the country.
While pulling through Ontario lake county a few years ago and stopping at a famous fish and chips spot we were approached by a couple. “Is that your 09 Cedar Creek”?
”Yes” I answered. He said “. “Don’t ever trade up!” “We have 3 times since our 09, and the quality is worse and worse.”
After I retired from a near 40 year Law Enforcement career, I drove for Uber as a fun gig for a bit back from 2018 through the start of the COVID. One of my regular riders was an Upper-Middle Management guy from FR who would fly in from time to time for meetings. He told me never to buy a FR product. His particular segment of the company was being forced to increase production to un-sustainable levels with a workforce that he described in less than favorable terms. He said that even at their current quotas, the quality of the units produced was terrible and yet they wanted them to build more and more in the same time allotment…
Thank you for summarizing Wall Street Journal’s article, RV Travel! To WSJ’s suggestion that Forest River has systemic production and quality control problems, “You think?” Have a great weekend and safe travels!
The original article in WJ reads like a hit piece produced by the legal team involved in the above mentioned lawsuit, spoon fed to a WJ writer, and polished up to read like an investigative report with the purpose of forcing a high end settlement. This is a tried and true method used by law firms for more than fifty years.
That being said the industry can always use improvement, particularly in its manufacturing divisions. just as investigative reporting needs to get back to being more reliable than it has been in the last few decades.
You would think they would bring in some efficiency folks with backgrounds in six sigma or similar quality programs and focus on bonus systems centered around recalls and defects. My FR unit I scratch my head at some of the idiotic half a$$ things they did. You buy any rv you need to be ableTo work on them or have plenty of $$$ for someone else to take care of. If I was younger I’d go to them and find a way to develop some of those programs on a % of savings and know I could retire a millionaire within two years.
The headline says From 2015 to 2024, Forest River issued more recalls than any U.S. automaker or RV manufacturer, but the circle chart shows Forrest River way down the chart. Could it be a higher percentage of recalls than cars? The car makers produce a hugely larger number of cars the FR produces RVs. Even with the huge number of cars produced, quality is remarkably good and far better warranties.
On the chart, Forest River is fourth for its number of recalls of ALL automotive manufacturers, and the first of all RV manufacturers.
I agree, and if I read graph correctly on the actual NHTSA web site (https://data.transportation.gov/Automobiles/NHTSA-Recalls-by-Manufacturer/mu99-t4jn) the number shows the number of times the OEM had a problem requiring a recall from 1966 to present, not the number of units affected.
Our Forest River 2021 has the black & grey tank sensors wired wrong. We figured it out when we could smell the black tank but it read only half full. We just relabeled them as getting it repaired would probably just cause new issues. No great RV shop but Camping World here.