Illustration2012 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
2012 Forest River Forester
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Limited comparison data
There is not enough comparable history to draw a useful model-year comparison.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Forester years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
Limited mileage data: 0 of 1 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Electrical System. Review the 1 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Structure. Review the 1 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
0 crash reports0 fire reports0 injury reports
What owners actually said
1 reportsOfficial recalls
112V458000 · Equipment:recreational Vehicle/trailer:lpg Systems:lines And Fittings
Sep 18, 2012
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.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: A damaged LPG fuel line can lead to an explosion and/or fire, increasing the risk of injury or death.
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.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
1RQ14004 · Trailer Tire May Contact Floor
Opened Sep 10, 2014 · Closed Jul 9, 2015
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Suspension:rear:springs:leaf Spring ASSEMBLY:U-BOLT, Leaf Spring To Axle
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.