Forest River Georgetown 36k7 owner reviews

[DaveL]

Getting close to pulling the trigger on a 21 Forest River Georgetown 36k7. Looking for the good the bad and the ugly. Any GT 7 owner’s perspectives would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[manholt]

Dave L.  Welcome to the Forum! 

Forest River is owned by the Berkshire Hathaway Group, Warren Buffet.  Since BH took over, its become a quality product, Georgetown is a gas coach that seems to hold up well. The one thing we get on the Forum is complaints, not much in the way of compliments.  I have read no comments at all on either the Georgetown or Berkshire Diesel, having bad reviews!

Any new RV, regardless of Brand, will have problems but a gas coach seems to have less and they are less expensive to maintain.  

If I may ask, where are you getting it (Dealer, Location)? 

[DaveL]

We are in the Atlanta area, have been in contact with several dealers locally and have the FR area representative Jay working with us as well.

[manholt]

National Indoors RV Center in Atlanta is my recommendation.

[urbanhermit]

When did BH take over Georgetown, please? 

 

 

[manholt]

Warren Buffet bought Forest River and rolled it over into Berkshire Hathaway, June 28, 2005.

[urbanhermit]

Thankee.  I got hot and bothered with their Berkshire floorplan, didn't know anything at all about the quality/refinement level, then decided it would cost me too much to make the change.  We're reasonably happy with Mother Superior, our 06 Cayman 36.  Going to roll the dice on the total lack of technical support from REV.  

[manholt]

If it was mine,  I would spend a dime and have it remodeled...cheaper to keep her! LOL

You have no Particulate filter or DEF to deal with and that is a big plus!!!

Forget REV, plenty off other places to deal with.

[jleamont]

6 hours ago, urbanhermit said:

Going to roll the dice on the total lack of technical support from REV.  

What did you call them for? So far...I have had good luck with them on our coach. The three times I called I got an old Monaco employee that knew more in their head than they had on paper for support. 

[urbanhermit]

On 4/1/2021 at 11:45 AM, jleamont said:

What did you call them for? So far...I have had good luck with them on our coach. The three times I called I got an old Monaco employee that knew more in their head than they had on paper for support. 

The cooland temperature guage -- new, one of three in one gauge with fuel and oil pressure -- failed.  A highly competent major truck and RV facility here, Empire Truck Sales (and service) determined that the fault was with the wiring between the new sender they put in and the new gauge.  REV refused to divulge any informaiton to them over the phone.  I phoned REV myself, trying to add owner pressure, and was quickly and firmly rebuffed.  Empire then e-emailed.  The response was that massive amounts of technical data for the 2002-2006 years, including all wiring schematics, had disappeared during REV's purchase of Monaco.  (This wasn't discussed, but I assume for Holiday Rambler as well.)  In the process of discussing how to deal with the failure of the cocolant gauge, Empire mentioned that the wiring was part of a complex centralized system and just disconnecting the wiring would probably make the system go haywire.  I then feared that some future failure might "haywire" something that would disable the engine and/or transmission and could not be tracked down.  Empire also told me they'd replaced an entire wiring harness one time at the cost of $15,000.  That's what prompted me to go looking elsewhere -- a preemptive move -- and stumble on the Berkshires.  The Berkshire's floor plan appealed to us more than a 2007 onward Cayman.  But, agreeing with Manholdt about the cost of making the change, we've decided to roll the dice and accept a distant maybe of having to spend up to $15,000 on a new harness over a certain loss of at least that much buying/selling.  Empire, bending their rules about not doing anything non-stock because they are a dealer for Cummins, did a beautiful job of installilng, in parallel with the original, a separate coolant gauge that matches the air pressure and boost gauges.  All is well -- for the moment. 

Edited April 8, 2021 by urbanhermit

[manholt]

REV did NOT buy Monaco, they sold it to Allied Specialty Vehicles, in 2015 Allied became REV....Allied still is in the commercial business, in 2015 they bought out Thor commercial bus business!

Confused yet?  In 2002 to 2006 Monaco was alive and well & REV had nothing to do with them!  Who ever you talked to is giving you BS info! 

Navistar bought Holiday Rambler, from Monaco..

[dbenoit]

We have a FR GT XL369. Only issue was a roof replacement under a recall. Other than that the "nut" can't be tightened behind the steering wheel.

[kaypsmith]

4 hours ago, dbenoit said:

We have a FR GT XL369. Only issue was a roof replacement under a recall. Other than that the "nut" can't be tightened behind the steering wheel.

Hard to believe that there can be a loose nut behind the steering wheel, LOL.🙃

Edited May 4, 2021 by kaypsmith

[dbenoit]

15 hours ago, kaypsmith said:

Hard to believe that there can be a loose nut behind the steering wheel, LOL.🙃

If I shake my head there may be a few in there!

[manholt]

DB, give the nut a couple of drinks!

As long as the loss nut is not affecting the handling of coach....forget about it.  I got one in my coach also, Co-Pilot. 🙃

[wildebill308]

9 minutes ago, manholt said:

I got one in my coach also, Co-Pilot. 🙃

I would be carful, remember she is back on the forum.

Bill 

[urbanhermit]

On 4/8/2021 at 7:07 AM, manholt said:

REV did NOT buy Monaco, they sold it to Allied Specialty Vehicles, in 2015 Allied became REV....Allied still is in the commercial business, in 2015 they bought out Thor commercial bus business!

Confused yet?  In 2002 to 2006 Monaco was alive and well & REV had nothing to do with them!  Who ever you talked to is giving you BS info! 

Navistar bought Holiday Rambler, from Monaco..

Then I would presume, if what Empire and I were both told during at least three contacts about not having any tech information for 2002-2006 is correct, that the manuals, etc. disappeared when ASV bought Monaco.  I accept the possibiity that Empire and I were both handled a shovel full of male gender bovine fodder byproduct.   (Made the assumptoin about Holiday Rambler because the coachs are so obviously the same basic design and construction as Monacos, at least at the Monaco Cayman level.)

Yeah, late to the party again.  My CRS condition keeps me from tacking threads effectively. 

[iggy]

FYI if anyone here has a Forest River Georgetown, FR3, GT5 or GT7 any age I'd like to invite all FMCA members to the new site on Facebook for assistance on any thing you may need assistance on your motorhome.

It is called:
Georgetown RV Owners Group (aka GROG)
We have over 2,000 present active owners/members and growing fast after being active only since last year.
We have planned rally, mini rally's, documentation on equipment and a great group of experts on all subjects.
Hope you take the time and find us.
Just answer a few basic questions and you are part of a private group. 
Hope to see you there.

John I aka Iggy

Georgetown RV Owners Group (GROG) | Facebook

[frugalRV]

On 3/22/2021 at 6:40 AM, urbanhermit said:

When did BH take over Georgetown, please? 

He owned back in 2016 when we bought our Georgetown XL 369. They used to have a national rally at their manufactory site and would fix anything basically for free if you owned or bought a Forest River product. We had our slide fixed and recall items, and new retractable windshield night shade. They don't do that any longer.

 

 

[frugalRV]

On 5/4/2021 at 1:30 PM, dbenoit said:

We have a FR GT XL369. Only issue was a roof replacement under a recall. Other than that the "nut" can't be tightened behind the steering wheel.

What year is your FR GT XL369, ours is a 2016.