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FR Forester vs Sunseeker - what's the difference?

way2roll
Nomad III
Nomad III
We've narrowed down our next RV to the Forest River Forester 2401B on the Mercedes chassis.

In my search I see some dealers have the Sunseeker 2400B. This looks exactly the same. Is there a difference, or is this just marketing/branding? (reminds me of Winnebago vs Itasca)
2023 FR Sunseeker 2400B MBS
19 REPLIES 19

hugh_manity
Explorer
Explorer
spec'ed differences in cost between our Forester vs Sun Seaker & found the only difference was in cabinetry. More contact paper used in SS vs Forester, if that makes much of a difference to purchasers.

bobndot
Explorer II
Explorer II
Pick up the new unit Saturday.


very nice, sounds great hope you have many healthy miles ahead ! :C

tnx for the comparison update .

way2roll
Nomad III
Nomad III
Thanks for all the replies. Per FR reps and any dealer I spoke to the Sunseeker and Forester are the same provided they are appointed the same. I ended up buying a 2023 Sunseeker 2400B MBS but without recliners. The recliner models are difficult to find and either the dealer wouldn't offer enough on trade for my FW or they didn't have paint or they were too firm on price - or any combination of those. I want paint and thought it was more important than recliners. I can add recliners later - I can't add paint. Same dealer I bought my FW 2 years ago offered me a great deal on trade (close to what I paid 2 years ago) and still beat everyone's price on the new unit. And to boot a local auto dealer is giving me my full asking price for my truck (which is more than I paid 2 years ago). I would have never thought either of those was possible. But I guess timing is everything. We bought our FW and truck when demand was low and prices were reasonable right before everything went nuts and I guess values haven't declined yet to pre-covid numbers. But I am not complaining. Pick up the new unit Saturday.
2023 FR Sunseeker 2400B MBS

way2roll
Nomad III
Nomad III
The latest from the engineers at FR say; "Unfortunately we have two different slide floors for the U-dinette and the power theater seat option. The main things being the overall depth and backers for the power theater seat to mount to. Fwiw, the seatbelt holes/catches are in the same placeโ€ฆ There just wont be much to screw the power theater seat to and both the seats and floor will be sticking out in an odd wayโ€ฆ"


Hard to visualize what they are saying and it doesn't make a ton of sense. May be moot however, I was told that it would invalidate any warranty for that section of the slide if I were to swap them.
2023 FR Sunseeker 2400B MBS

Richert
Explorer
Explorer
I have a sunseeker and we swapped the couch for recliners, I actually bought the recliners on line at wayfair, we shopped a lot of places and wherever we shopped they had to be ordered, we sent for color swatches from wayfair and ordered from there, took about 3 weeks to receive, came in pieces, had to dissassemble couch to remove from coach and put together new furniture once inside. We really like our decision.
Blake
2019 Sunseeker
2012 Jeep Wrangler Toad
Wife in passenger seat.

BruceMc
Explorer III
Explorer III
You are most welcome, bobndot!
2016 Forest River Sunseeker 2250SLEC Chevrolet 6.0L

bobndot
Explorer II
Explorer II
My experience, FR warranty reps are pretty good. Many people get better results dealing directly with the same factory rep. throughout. In general, the less profit the dealer is making the less they are willing to help.
If you can find an rv repair shop that you will always frequent , they might be willing to accept what the FR rep offers them as an hourly repair rate for warranty work. I have gone that route as well, but that will depend on both parties coming to terms.

Big tnx to BruceMc, those makeover pics are awesome.

way2roll
Nomad III
Nomad III
BruceMc wrote:
I swapped our dinette for theater seats. It's not a simple job, but very doable IF there's no services under the seats. Check for the water heater and/or furnace, or any other object that cannot be moved before undertaking the task.

Here's pics of my dinette/theater seat mods:

Original Dinette:



Current Theater seats:



Full albums of the Dinette mods, then finally the removal and installation of the theater seats: 2016 Sunseeker Seating Projects
This album also includes the passenger swivel seat mod in a sub-album if you are interested. If not, just skip the first image in the set.


--Bruce.



Very nice work! Thanks so much for the link to the detailed pics. Yes I think it's very do-able. Funny though, my continued research found me a unit with recliners for the lowest price yet. It's about 10 hrs away at RV wholesalers - which doesn't have the best rep for post sales support - but $11k lower than my local dealer's unit without the recliners is hard to pass up.
2023 FR Sunseeker 2400B MBS

Deb_and_Ed_M
Explorer
Explorer
way2roll wrote:
The next obstacle; The 2401B comes with a recliner option. Oddly, not a single unit for sale in the US has the recliner option, just the dinette. Anyone know how challenging it would be to swap out the dinette for the recliners? The local dealer won't do it. I think CW sells the electric recliners.


I have a Class C Thor Chateau, and on the shorter models like mine (22E) there's a TON of stuff inside the dining benches. I had dreams of making ours into more of a "lounge-type dinette" until I saw what was under the seats. Now I like my dinette just fine the way it is.....LOL!
Ed, Deb, and 2 dogs
Looking for a small Class C!

BruceMc
Explorer III
Explorer III
I swapped our dinette for theater seats. It's not a simple job, but very doable IF there's no services under the seats. Check for the water heater and/or furnace, or any other object that cannot be moved before undertaking the task.

Here's pics of my dinette/theater seat mods:

Original Dinette:



Current Theater seats:



Full albums of the Dinette mods, then finally the removal and installation of the theater seats: 2016 Sunseeker Seating Projects
This album also includes the passenger swivel seat mod in a sub-album if you are interested. If not, just skip the first image in the set.


--Bruce.
2016 Forest River Sunseeker 2250SLEC Chevrolet 6.0L

way2roll
Nomad III
Nomad III
The next obstacle; The 2401B comes with a recliner option. Oddly, not a single unit for sale in the US has the recliner option, just the dinette. Anyone know how challenging it would be to swap out the dinette for the recliners? The local dealer won't do it. I think CW sells the electric recliners.
2023 FR Sunseeker 2400B MBS

way2roll
Nomad III
Nomad III
bobndot wrote:
I just found my list of stuff
In 2018 my Sunseeker lacked as standard eq. ,
Outside shower
Black tank flush
Recessed lighting
Under cabinet ledโ€™s
*Serta pillow-top mattress
*Arctic package
*Hydraulic jacks
*heat pump on AC
* Not sure if the spare tire was standard or not. I have one.
Also not sure if the 30,000 btu furnace was standard or part of the Arctic pack which i also have.

My dealer just happened to order these options marked *


But today, they both might have the same eq, really not sure.


Thanks for that. Yeah, it seems even if they are options and the dealer orders them, the end result is the same.
2023 FR Sunseeker 2400B MBS

bobndot
Explorer II
Explorer II
I just found my list of stuff
In 2018 my Sunseeker lacked as standard eq. ,
Outside shower
Black tank flush
Recessed lighting
Under cabinet ledโ€™s
*Serta pillow-top mattress
*Arctic package
*Hydraulic jacks
*heat pump on AC
* Not sure if the spare tire was standard or not. I have one.
Also not sure if the 30,000 btu furnace was standard or part of the Arctic pack which i also have.

My dealer just happened to order these options marked *

But today, they both might have the same eq, really not sure.

BruceMc
Explorer III
Explorer III
I believe there used to be a difference, similar to GMC vs Chevrolet. But like those brands depending on the years, the products seem to get more similar, then migrate to differentiators, such as more bright-work (chrome) and differing body skin/grilles, etc.
The main difference these days between Sunseeker and Forester is body paint/decals, and the name. There may be differences in price, based mostly on dealer perception of the two nameplates, but you can purchase either nameplate and you'll get nearly the same product.

We purchased our Sunseeker because it was offered for a terrific sale price, and because it's what we had been looking at anyway. Had it been a Forester, we'd be Forester owners today!
2016 Forest River Sunseeker 2250SLEC Chevrolet 6.0L