5-Year Ownership Review: My Experience with a 2017 Forest River R-Pod Travel Trailer

In this comprehensive review, I delve into my five-year journey of owning and using a 2017 Forest River R-Pod 179 travel trailer, which I recently sold. This article provides an honest look at the ownership experience, including a detailed cost analysis, and concludes with a reflection on whether I would recommend or repurchase a similar model. My 2017 R-Pod served as my primary vehicle for extensive longer trips, and despite facing numerous maintenance challenges over half a decade, I generally found the R-Pod 179 to be a suitable compact RV floorplan for exploration and travel.

I acquired my 2017 R-Pod in April 2017 and utilized it heavily over the subsequent two years, accumulating over 200 nights of use. Following this initial period, I purchased a second RV, which naturally led to fewer nights spent in the R-Pod.

Highlights and Challenges of Ownership

It is impossible to discuss my R-Pod 179 experience without acknowledging the persistent structural and ongoing maintenance issues that were a significant part of my ownership. My 2017 model was manufactured during a peak production year for RVs. At that time, R-Pods were positioned as compact yet well-appointed entry-level travel trailers, typically priced in the mid-teens of thousands of dollars. As I will detail in the cost analysis, the initial purchase price was considerably lower than current market rates for similar units.

The initial build quality of my 179 seemed acceptable until its first extended trip. It was then that several critical issues emerged, most notably the widely reported black-tank hanger failure and severe cracking in a specific area of the fiberglass exterior. I documented the issues encountered in the first year in a video titled, R-Pod 179 – 1st Birthday Review. I promptly reported these problems to Forest River’s R-Pod warranty department. They responded by inviting me to the factory for repairs. The work was executed competently, allowing me to resume using my 179 relatively quickly.

I’ve mentioned in several videos about R-Pods that upon my purchase in April 2017, Forest River offered an optional full warranty extension for a second year for a mere $150. This seemed like an excellent value at the time, and I immediately opted for it. Notably, Forest River discontinued this warranty extension program shortly thereafter.

I made good use of this extended warranty during the second year when a significant flex began to develop in the kitchen floor area. Unfortunately, my interaction with the warranty department representative was far less accommodating this time. I was instructed to take the trailer back to the purchasing dealer, located 150 miles away, merely to have the issue confirmed.

The dealer was unable or unwilling to address the floor flexing problem, which necessitated taking the trailer back to the factory – a much closer 40-mile drive – for the necessary repairs. I created two videos detailing this frustrating exchange with the R-Pod warranty department, outlining their process and how the issue was eventually resolved. It was a trying experience that required significant persistence on my part, but the factory did reinforce the floors. Ironically, this floor reinforcement solution developed for my trailer subsequently became the standard repair for other owners encountering the same issue.

For the subsequent three years (years 3-5), the 2017 Forest River R-Pod was primarily used for shorter trips, mainly at Michigan State Parks, typically lasting less than a week, though some excursions were slightly longer or shorter. While the intensity of usage decreased during these later years, the maintenance issues unfortunately persisted. This period culminated in arguably the most significant structural problem: the necessity of adding several outriggers to the frame to counteract sag in the slide-out wall. All these problems and their fixes are extensively documented across numerous videos. If you are interested in more in-depth details, I have over 37 R-Pod-specific videos available.

It would be inaccurate, however, to suggest that my 2017 R-Pod 179 was solely a source of problems. It undeniably facilitated many wonderful camping trips, both short and long. Yet, reflecting on the experience, I often recall the challenges, the substantial effort involved in repairs, and the inconsistent (and sometimes poor) treatment I received from the company. Therefore, my ownership experience was decidedly a mixed bag.

Detailed Cost of Ownership Analysis

Let’s now turn to the cost of ownership over the five-year period. I will present a breakdown of costs, focusing on what I term the “rental cost” – essentially, how much it cost to own the unit for the duration. This analysis will exclude variable expenses such as fuel and campsite fees.

The calculation begins with the Initial Purchase Price, plus Dealer Fees and Tax. To this, we add costs for additional equipment purchases, supplies, repairs, insurance, and storage. From this total, we subtract the Resale Value (the amount the trailer was sold for, minus sales costs). The final figure represents the total cost of ownership. Dividing this by the total number of months owned yields the monthly rental cost. I will also calculate the rental cost per night of use.

Here is the breakdown:

The total purchase cost for my 2017 Forest River R-Pod 179 was $16,747. This figure encompasses the trailer itself, a Blue Ox weight distribution hitch, dealer fees, and applicable taxes, taken directly from the April 2017 purchase agreement.

Costs for additional equipment, supplies, and repairs accumulated over the trailer’s life amounted to $3809.78. This figure was significantly higher than I had initially anticipated. Insurance costs over the 61 months of ownership totaled $921.57, and storage expenses for the same period were $2,110.50.

The resale value when I sold the trailer was $17,470. By adding up all expenditures and subtracting the resale value, the total “rental cost” or net cost of ownership comes to $6,138.95.

Based on the 61 months of ownership, the monthly rental cost calculates to approximately $100.64. We used the R-Pod 179 for a total of 320 nights over the five years, resulting in a nightly rental cost of $19.18.

One could argue that incremental travel expenses should be factored into the total cost of ownership. However, doing so would require also netting out the opportunity cost of alternative travel that was forgone because the RV was used. This calculation becomes overly complex, so it has been excluded from the analysis above. Furthermore, the analysis does not quantify the value of the significant DIY time invested in performing numerous repairs and maintenance tasks. There is a clear opportunity cost associated with this time that is not included in the monetary figures. In summary, the cost of ownership was not inexpensive, and the total expenditure of both money and time on the R-Pod far exceeded my expectations prior to purchasing it. Notably, the cost of additional equipment, supplies, and repairs alone represented nearly 25% of the trailer’s purchase price after tax.

Would I Recommend or Buy Again?

Given this extensive experience, would I purchase the same travel trailer again? More pertinently, what advice would I give myself back in April 2017 before acquiring the R-Pod 179? Honestly, I would caution that this unit will not be the most reliable or robustly built trailer, and its maintenance will demand substantial time, effort, and financial investment. I would anticipate positive interactions with the manufacturer during the initial year, followed by generally fair to poor experiences for the remainder of the trailer’s lifespan. My advice would be to prioritize purchasing from a local, reliable dealer in the future. I would strongly advise against buying a trailer without a solid structural foundation, composite floors, or a warranty duration of less than two years.

I would also tell myself that virtually every problem encountered during the R-Pod ownership – from converter failures and floor bounce to the necessity of adding outriggers – will ultimately serve as valuable lessons, informing others about potential issues or guiding them through similar repairs. Despite the challenges, the trailer will enable visits to remarkable locations and foster enjoyment of RV travel. In this perspective, the difficulties faced will be validated by the quality of the travel experiences.

Finally, it is important to reiterate that this review pertains specifically to a 2017 model year R-Pod, not the more recent versions. Many significant changes have been implemented in R-Pods over the past five years, including the adoption of Azdel walls and improved structural supports. However, as of the time this article was written (corresponding to the original video creation), R-Pods still come with only a one-year warranty and lack composite flooring – two key factors that have led me to consider other manufacturers for my next RV purchase. Depending on when you are reading this, Forest River and R-Pod may have addressed these specific points.