Opinions on Forest River IBEX and No Boundaries

[Tex_Hunter]

Spent the past weekend camping in Death Valley with the family. As we have done in the past we rented a trailer off of Outdoorsy and pulled it up to our campsite. We've been renting trailers for the last year or so to try out different options with a plan to probably buy a travel trailer here in the next year or so. The most recent rental was a newer model Forest River IBEX, cant remember the specific model but in looking online I think it was a 23MBH or whatever the predicate was for model years prior to 2025 (25ft with slide out dinette, dual oversized bunk beds and queen sized murphy bed). This size and layout is perfect for the trips we've been taking (trying to hit all the National parks that we can while we're out here in CA), in looking at used and new trailers I also stumbled across the No Boundaries series (model NB20.3 Beast Mode) which seems to be essentially the same but with some minor upgrades like independent suspension, offroad/AT tires, and options for 400W solar. We loved the IBEX, the build felt very solid compared to some of the other trailers we've rented and it looks like it can get a lot of similar options to the NoBo on the IBEX and cost seems to be pretty comparable between the two. I think I like the slightly more offroad aspect of the NoBo as we plan to venture further afield on future trips, but realistically we'd never need anything as hardcore as a Black Series and the NoBo seems to be a happy medium here.

With the intro out of the way, wanted to get people's opinions on these two offerings? Anyone on here own either of these and have good/bad experiences to offer? What other options are out there that fill a similar niche (Coachman Apex Nano seems similar)?

Relative newb here so school me.

 

[AMTRV]

I'm an Ibex dealer in Texas. Carried them since they came out and use them behind my Tremor from time to time.
I'll be happy to answer any questions about the product as unbiased as I can.

 

[Abe Fromen]

check out Ember RV we are picking ours up the end of December it is an off-road or overland capable trailer with out having to spend 80000 dollars

 

[Tex_Hunter]

I'm an Ibex dealer in Texas. Carried them since they came out and use them behind my Tremor from time to time.
I'll be happy to answer any questions about the product as unbiased as I can.

Awesome thanks, at a high level wanted to understand what the real differences are between the IBEX and NoBo, there seems to be a lot of crossover between the two. Is it mostly just construction differences? and maybe some qualitative reasons why you’d want to go with one or the other. I can send you a PM if that’s easier.

check out Ember RV we are picking ours up the end of December it is an off-road or overland capable trailer with out having to spend 80000 dollars

The Ember looks really nice, I like all the options for storage/access but looks like I’d need to step up to a 27-28ft model to get the floor plan I’d want, not a deal breaker but some parks are harder to get good sites at with a trailer over 25ft. Pricing seems to be just short of halfway in between the NoBo and the Black Series.

 

[thatdood]

Don’t have the IBEX but have been pretty happy with the Forest River Wildwood, and have it’s not as nice than the IBEX from what I understand.

My only complaint on my Forest River is the underbelly panels are garbage, and don’t stay on. I like the concept of it, if you need to do work underneath you don’t have to peel back the entire underbelly, but the material and workmanship suck.

 

[Wildcat82]

Have a friend that has a NoBo and it's not sealed well at all. Tons of dust comes in it when towing. Perhaps just a bad egg. I've enjoyed this channel for a while https://m.youtube.com/@JoshtheRVNerd

 

[Blade420Play⚔️]

Personally, the only thing I would say is to steer clear of Murphy beds. And you'll probably want something with a wall between you and kids/others. Pretty much the only reason I went from my 18BH Coleman to my 255BHLE East to West. Lost my "outdoor kitchen" but got a slide out dinette and couch, and my bedroom wall to separate us from the kids. Plus a lot more storage

 

[TX Tremor]

Big fan of Josh the RV Nerd. I can usually find the most thorough walk throughs and unbiased opinions on a particular model I’m interested in on his YouTube channel.

 

[Modman]

Big fan of Josh the RV Nerd. I can usually find the most thorough walk throughs and unbiased opinions on a particular model I’m interested in on his YouTube channel.

Take this for what it's worth... We bought our Winnebago from the dealership he works at. It's been back for service twice - nothing major just minor inconveniences. The last time I was there I asked the service manager what they see the least of for warranty and/or repair and he said Forest River.

 

[Whaler27]

Spent the past weekend camping in Death Valley with the family. As we have done in the past we rented a trailer off of Outdoorsy and pulled it up to our campsite. We've been renting trailers for the last year or so to try out different options with a plan to probably buy a travel trailer here in the next year or so. The most recent rental was a newer model Forest River IBEX, cant remember the specific model but in looking online I think it was a 23MBH or whatever the predicate was for model years prior to 2025 (25ft with slide out dinette, dual oversized bunk beds and queen sized murphy bed). This size and layout is perfect for the trips we've been taking (trying to hit all the National parks that we can while we're out here in CA), in looking at used and new trailers I also stumbled across the No Boundaries series (model NB20.3 Beast Mode) which seems to be essentially the same but with some minor upgrades like independent suspension, offroad/AT tires, and options for 400W solar. We loved the IBEX, the build felt very solid compared to some of the other trailers we've rented and it looks like it can get a lot of similar options to the NoBo on the IBEX and cost seems to be pretty comparable between the two. I think I like the slightly more offroad aspect of the NoBo as we plan to venture further afield on future trips, but realistically we'd never need anything as hardcore as a Black Series and the NoBo seems to be a happy medium here.

With the intro out of the way, wanted to get people's opinions on these two offerings? Anyone on here own either of these and have good/bad experiences to offer? What other options are out there that fill a similar niche (Coachman Apex Nano seems similar)?

Relative newb here so school me.

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The Boat and RV show season is right around the corner. Shows are a great place to shop, as the good ones are done at huge event centers with dozens of dealers and hundreds of RVs to compare. For folks who are inclined to finance, the banks usually offer show-special finance rates. If you’ll be financing, check the show schedule and ask your bank or credit union if they will be matching/participating in show rates. If you’ll be paying cash keep that under your hat. Contrary to popular belief, offering to pay cash doesn’t improve your negotiating position. The dealers make more money if you finance through them*.

** Finance games: In 2001, I took a short break from my profession and worked for a boat manufacturer, so I’d go to boat and sportsman’s shows to help out. At those shows the dealers got paid 1% of the amount financed for every quarter-point difference between the dealer’s buy-rate and the rate the customer was financed at. At that time, it was common to finance boats at 9.9% over fifteen or twenty years. The dealer’s buy rate was 6% — so the Monday after the show the bank would write the dealer a check for 16% of the amount financed — or about $8,000 on a $50,000 loan. In some cases the dealer’s profit on the financing was the biggest part of the sale profit.) (Post 2007 finance regulation changed some of these games. I’m not sure how they are paid now — but I know they are still paid for financing.)

Margins and depreciation: I’ve been buying boats and RVs of every kind for more than forty-five years. We have owned everything from pickup campers (3) and trailers (5), to class-Cs and diesel pushers. I anticipate good deals this coming January, as the last few shows (2023 and 2024) we’ve attended have been poor and declining for RV retailers. In a sense, they’re paying for the record sales they enjoyed during COVID, when interest rates were comparatively low and people were spending money like drunken sailors.

RVs, like boats, have never been an “investment”. For most of the last 50 years both have depreciated more quickly than cars and trucks, often much more quickly.

For most of the last 25 years, most RV retail prices have included massive margins — as in 35% or more. For most of that time, I’ve been able to buy new RVs for approximately 30% below MSRP. The only two exceptions to that rule were a Lance camper when the model we wanted was in very short supply, and our Tiffin diesel pusher, which we eventually bought for approximately 23% below MSRP. (We loved that coach for 3.5 years, then sold it on consignment during the covid craziness. The dealer put it on the market for $70,000 more than we paid for it new, and it sold in less than a month.) That was great then, but crazy COVID pricing brought a huge number of people into the market at very inflated prices. Most of those folks are so upside down in the RVs they bought between 2020 and 2022 they can’t afford to trade up. The combination of high interest rates and huge “negative equity” has locked up a significant chunk of the folks who would normally be working their way up the RV progression. A dealer we know well said his show sales were running at about 20% of 2021 levels. That’s grim for him, but good news for shoppers who aren’t stuck with a trade that’s only worth 40% of what they paid three years ago (and 65% of what they still owe on the loan…)

RV quality: If you visit RV sites you’ll see all kinds of conflicting opinions. In my experience, Coachman and Gulfstream were two notches below awful. I have many incredibly awful and personally verified stories involving those two makes. I’m talking about campers and coaches just falling apart. And yet, on the RV sites I’ve found lots of happy Coachmen owners. I can’t explain it.

Forest River’s reputation is okay for an economy unit. It’s definitely a lower price-point. And sometimes you get what you pay for — but that’s not always true in the RV world. (Look at recent reviews on Airstream coaches).

Best plan: Find the features and floor-plan you like best, then google dealers and look at their reputation. RV dealer reputation matters much more than the reputation of the dealer where you buy your truck. Whatever you do, don’t buy from DumpingWorld. It’s terrible… Buyer beware. If you have money you’re in the driver’s seat. Good luck.

 

[gmbpilot757]

RV quality: If you visit RV sites you’ll see all kinds of conflicting opinions. In my experience, Coachman and Gulfstream were two notches below awful. I have many incredibly awful and personally verified stories involving those two makes. I’m talking about campers and coaches just falling apart. And yet, on the RV sites I’ve found lots of happy Coachmen owners. I can’t explain it.

We have a 2019 Coachman Apex 288BHS that fits our family of 6 and couldn’t be happier. Bought it from a private seller in 2022 and a normal price, not COVID inflated. Haven’t had a single issue with the RV in our 2 years of ownership, but then again I baby it. Not sure where you’re getting “awful” from. When we looked in 2022 I could name a handful of makes where the quality of the build was atrocious. Bottom line is they all come from 3 RV makers and have different stickers slapped on the side.

A lot stems from how you take care of an RV.

 

[Whaler27]

We have a 2019 Coachman Apex 288BHS that fits our family of 6 and couldn’t be happier. Bought it from a private seller in 2022 and a normal price, not COVID inflated. Haven’t had a single issue with the RV in our 2 years of ownership, but then again I baby it. Not sure where you’re getting “awful” from. When we looked in 2022 I could name a handful of makes where the quality of the build was atrocious. Bottom line is they all come from 3 RV makers and have different stickers slapped on the side.

A lot stems from how you take care of an RV.

I completely agree with your last statement. Care and maintenance is critical.

I’m glad your Coachman experience has been good. You’re not alone, as I said. I saw plenty of happy customers on the web.

I’ve also seen occasional horror stories about the brands that have generally stronger reputations, like Winnebago, Airstream, Tiffin, Alliance, Grand Design, Jayco, and Lance.

I’m not sure who told you that all RVs all built by three manufacturers that just slap on different stickers, but it’s wrong. We have lots of separate manufacturers in the northwest alone, and some are quite popular. I drove by the Forest River Harrisburg facility on the way to Thanksgiving dinner today. A few weeks ago I went by the Northwood plant (Arctic Fox and Nash) in La Grand, Oregon. If memory serves, Keystone RV’s are built in Pendleton, Oregon, and Eagle Cap/Adventurer RVs are built in Washington. Marathon Coach is built in Coburg, OR. Monaco Coach and Safari were both built in Oregon too, but went belly up in the 2008 crash. There are many, many RV manufacturers.

Of course, there are a few mega companies, like Thor, that have been swallowing up other manufacturers (Airstream, Tiffin, etc), but the companies Thor buys continue to build their unique products, just as the companies swallowed by Pepsico aren’t all selling pepsi and just slapping different labels on the containers. (Gatorade, Quaker Oats, Cheetos, Lipton, Fritos, etc)

A buddy I hunt with bought a Coachman camper brand new almost thirty years ago. He gave it back to the dealer after less than two months. My buddy treated it like a lemon law case: he whined, squawked, and threatened until the dealer took it back for a beating my buddy could tolerate, and he was well rid of it. In the two months he owned that camper the roof leaked (bad), one of the windows wasn’t caulked at all, a pipe separated under the sink, the water tank leaked, and most of the driver-side of the exterior wall delaminated and separated from the camper to the point where we had to duct tape it and drive home slowly to get it back intact. As we were patching things together we saw countless other examples of terrible workmanship. Long screws used where short screws were required, and vice verse, joints that didn’t but up, drawer bottoms that had not been glued, etc. It’s as though a couple drunk guys put it together and there was no quality control or other oversight. My friend turned around and bought a Lance which he’s had for more than twenty-five years. My brother in law’s experience with Coachman wasn’t quite as bad, but it was still terrible. Poor workmanship, etc. It required a disproportionate amount of repair over the five or six years he owned it.

All RVs end up requiring maintenance and repair, and even the best companies lay an occasional egg (just like Lexus and Toyota occasionally build a problematic vehicle. They just do it less than others.

 

[AMTRV]

Awesome thanks, at a high level wanted to understand what the real differences are between the IBEX and NoBo, there seems to be a lot of crossover between the two. Is it mostly just construction differences? and maybe some qualitative reasons why you’d want to go with one or the other. I can send you a PM if that’s easier.

The Ember looks really nice, I like all the options for storage/access but looks like I’d need to step up to a 27-28ft model to get the floor plan I’d want, not a deal breaker but some parks are harder to get good sites at with a trailer over 25ft. Pricing seems to be just short of halfway in between the NoBo and the Black Series.

There is no reall difference between NoBo and Ibex.
They are both obviously Forest River products which in my experience or not real high quantity trailers especially in the lesser units like Wildwood……you pretty much get what you pay for in most cases.
Travel trailers are like most everything else….they are only as good as the dealer that sells them to you.
The Ibex seems to have a bit of an edge on quality but that is just my educated opinion….lesser of the 2 evils if you will.

Looks like you should ask Whaler27as he seems to know a lot about everything…..trailers included

 

[Blade420Play⚔️]

"Lexus and Toyota occasionally build a problematic vehicle. They just do it less than others."
Haven't seen a single Lexus that has blinkers that work....

 

[Whaler27]

Looks like you should ask Whaler27as he seems to know a lot about everything…..trailers included

Sorry if I came off like a know-it-all.

I’m old. The list of things I know nothing about is very long, but now that I’m well into my seventh decade, there’s a small handful of topics I know a fair amount about, usually because they have been big parts of my work-life or my hobby-life, neither of which have changed much in forty years. I’m still teachable, so if you believe I’m wrong about something straighten me out. Since you’re an RV dealer, I invite you to school me on whatever I said above that isn’t correct. Maybe things have changed. Shit falls out of my head these days, but I’m still trying to learn.

 

[Blade420Play⚔️]

Forest river makes relatively nice trailers with $hitty workers. I've had two and both have had questionable quality control. But I am handy and they are cheap so it works out for me. Looked at higher end trailers but the cost to "better quality" ratio just didn't make sense, for me. If you're handy, buy cheaper. If you're not handy and have the money, buy "nicer". Either way, you're bound to have problems/complaints.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

There is no reall difference between NoBo and Ibex.
They are both obviously Forest River products which in my experience or not real high quantity trailers especially in the lesser units like Wildwood……you pretty much get what you pay for in most cases.
Travel trailers are like most everything else….they are only as good as the dealer that sells them to you.
The Ibex seems to have a bit of an edge on quality but that is just my educated opinion….lesser of the 2 evils if you will.

Looks like you should ask Whaler27as he seems to know a lot about everything…..trailers included

Interesting, so your opinion is that Ibex is slightly higher build quality than the NoBo? The one we rented sure felt a lot more solid than some of the other trailers we've used in the past. One evening we were having some pretty gusty winds in the 30-40MPH range and while I was inside cooking dinner, I was struck by the fact that I couldnt really tell it was windy other than feeling the buffeting/rocking in the trailer on bigger gusts; couldnt feel or hear any drafts/whistling etc. My only disappointment was just the quality of the interior trim, everything was made out of laminated chipboard/MDF and you can literally see the finish nails/screws ready to pull out of the stuff. I feel like that's pretty much standard for all new RVs/trailers these days though, nothing that couldnt be replaced in time I suppose.

Last trailer we rented was a Bullet Ultra Light (think that's also a Forest River product) and I could literally see light through some of the panel joints and all the exterior weatherstripping was rotting/falling off (on a barely 2yr old trailer).

 

[snoty]

Personally, the only thing I would say is to steer clear of Murphy beds. And you'll probably want something with a wall between you and kids/others. Pretty much the only reason I went from my 18BH Coleman to my 255BHLE East to West. Lost my "outdoor kitchen" but got a slide out dinette and couch, and my bedroom wall to separate us from the kids. Plus a lot more storage

I agree with this! We have two kids (now 6 and 8) and just upgraded from a 2020 Forest River Salem 178DB (big bunks and murphy bed) to a 2025 Grand Design Imagine XLS 25DBE. This gives us a lot more space and our own bedroom. I understand slide outs might not be desirable for off-roading though.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

Personally, the only thing I would say is to steer clear of Murphy beds. And you'll probably want something with a wall between you and kids/others. Pretty much the only reason I went from my 18BH Coleman to my 255BHLE East to West. Lost my "outdoor kitchen" but got a slide out dinette and couch, and my bedroom wall to separate us from the kids. Plus a lot more storage

One of the previous trailers we rented had a walled off "master bedroom" it was definitely nice but trying to keep overall length at 26ft or less. The only trailers I can find in that footprint with double bunks for the kids all come with a murphy bed, and anything with a wall/private bedroom ends up being 29ft or more (a lot of the parks we've visited havent had spots for trailers >25ft). The Ibex I rented had an opaque curtain that provided enough privacy while sleeping/changing clothes etc... for any "activities" that I'd want more privacy for a wall isnt going to stop people from noticing that the trailer is rocking

I agree with this! We have two kids (now 6 and 8) and just upgraded from a 2020 Forest River Salem 178DB (big bunks and murphy bed) to a 2025 Grand Design Imagine XLS 25DBE. This gives us a lot more space and our own bedroom. I understand slide outs might not be desirable for off-roading though.

I was initially anti slide out, seems that with everyone I know who has had problems with their trailers the slide out ends up being the culprit in the majority of those instances, but a non-slide out trailer really constrains floor space and wont fit the kennel for our dog when we bring him along.

 

[Blade420Play⚔️]

I agree with this! We have two kids (now 6 and 8) and just upgraded from a 2020 Forest River Salem 178DB (big bunks and murphy bed) to a 2025 Grand Design Imagine XLS 25DBE. This gives us a lot more space and our own bedroom. I understand slide outs might not be desirable for off-roading though.

I would never take mine off road already am planning on "flipping" the axles because it doesn't even do on-road very well