RoadVitals

2012 Forest River Forester

Recalls, owner-reported complaints, investigations and safety data

Data refreshed

Owner complaintsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
1
Latest Jul 23, 2018
Safety recallsA safety recall is issued when a manufacturer or NHTSA determines that a vehicle has a safety-related defect or does not comply with a federal motor vehicle safety standard. Recall repairs are free. Whether a specific vehicle is covered depends on its VIN — a recall listed for a model year does not necessarily apply to every vehicle of that year.
1
Latest Sep 18, 2012
InvestigationsNHTSA opens an investigation to examine whether a safety defect may exist. An open investigation is not a determination that a defect exists, and many investigations close without a recall. Investigations can, however, lead to one.
1
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0

Overview

Our database contains 1 NHTSA owner-reported complaint for the 2012 Forest River Forester, most frequently naming the body & structure and electrical categories. 1 safety recall has been issued covering this model year; and 1 NHTSA investigation names it.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

What owners report

Complaints grouped by the component NHTSA recorded

  • Body & structure150.0%
  • Electrical150.0%

Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.

Safety recalls

1 campaign cover this model year

Recalls apply to specific vehicles, not to every vehicle of a model year. Check your VIN with NHTSA or your manufacturer's dealer to confirm whether a recall affects your vehicle.

Check a VIN on NHTSA.gov
12V458000

EQUIPMENT:RECREATIONAL VEHICLE/TRAILER:LPG SYSTEMS:LINES AND FITTINGS

Sep 18, 2012
1,585 units potentially affected
The defect: Forest River, Inc., (Forest River) is recalling certain model year 2010-2013 Sunseeker 2860, 3120, 3170, Forester 2861, 3121, 3171, and Lexington 283 Class C motorhomes, manufactured from August 18, 2009, through September 12, 2012. The liquid propane gas (LPG) fuel line that supplies fuel to appliances in the slide out, can become damaged.
The risk: A damaged LPG fuel line can lead to an explosion and/or fire, increasing the risk of injury or death.
The remedy: Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will repair the affected vehicles free of charge. The recall began on, or about October 23, 2012. Owners may contact Forest River at 1-574-206-7600.
FOREST RIVER, INC.View on NHTSA.gov

Safety investigations

NHTSA inquiries naming this vehicle. An investigation is not a finding of a defect.

RQ14004ClosedRecall Query

Trailer tire may contact floor

Opened Sep 10, 2014
Closed Jul 9, 2015

ODI opened RQ14-004 based on 3 Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) which reported a condition similar to recall 13V-554.This recall addressed insufficient clearance between the tire and trailer floor.The condition was due to a frame supplier change which resulted in reduced clearance between the top of the tire and the bottom of the wheel wellOf the three VOQs reported in the opening resume two were not included in recall 13V-554 and one was.Both of the vehicles not included used a different frame than the recalled trailers.Upon thorough examination of the condition experienced by the owners it was found that neither unit exhibited insufficient tire clearance between the bottom of the floor and top of the tire.Forest River's initial Information Request Response (IRR) submission did not adequately address all the questions asked by ODI.Following a meetingwith Forest River personnel on March 20, 2015 an IRR was submitted on May 22, 2015, which satisfied ODI.This submission is included in the public repository.When asked how Forest River identified the recall population they used a production change to determine the start and end dates.On February 3, 2012 Forest River introduced a new frame.The engineering drawings used to launch this new frame failed to identify the frame rail height.Furthermore, Forest River failed to verify that the new frame rail height was the same as the one it replaced.This created a half inch reduction in clearance.This issue was not identified and remedied untilFebruary 4, 2013 which is the end of the recall population. A thorough review of the complaint and warranty informationreceived during this investigation was preformed.After removing claims that could be associated with recall 13V-554 a defect trend was not identified on the remaining population.The only crash which also included an injurycould not be positively associated with the alleged defect. This investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that no safety-related defect exists.The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following complaint identification numbers: 10598458, 10598344, 10538519.

SUSPENSION:REAR:SPRINGS:LEAF SPRING ASSEMBLY:U-BOLT, LEAF SPRING TO AXLE

Recent owner complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA, shown in the owner's own words

Body & structureElectrical
Filed Jul 23, 2018

2012 FOREST RIVER. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO DEFECTIVE INSTRUMENT PANEL. *LD THE CONSUMER STATED UPON DELIVERY OF THE VEHICLE THE SLIDE WOULD NOT FULLY RETRACT, AND THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WAS INOPERATIVE. THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WAS REPAIRED. *JS

NHTSA ID
11111619
Incident
May 20, 2018

Compare model years

Complaint and recall counts across every year of this model

Forest River Forester by model year
YearComplaintsRecallsInvestigationsIssue Index
2026010—
2025120—
2024120—
2023140—
2022230—
2021250—
2020030—
2019120—
2018131—
2017220—
2016730—
2015610—
2014330—
2013041—
2012Viewing111—
2011010—
2010010—
2006110—
2005110—
2004320—
2003020—
2002010—
2001110—
2000010—
1999010—
1998010—
1997010—

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers. Older model years have had longer for reports to accumulate.