What breaks most · 1998 to 2023 model years
Forest River Cardinal problems by year
Owners have filed 61 safety complaints with NHTSA about the Forest River Cardinal across model years 1998 to 2023. Three years stand out: 2015 for wheels complaints, 2006 for tires complaints and 2017 for tires complaints. The quietest years are 2001, 2002 and 2003.
- Years to check closely: 2015, 2006, 2017
- Fewest complaints: 2001, 2002, 2003
- Complaints on file
- 611998 to 2023, all trims
- Worst year
- 201511 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 13 fires · 2 injuries · 0 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 6kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 38Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 1 | Electrical system (1) | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | Equipment and infotainment (1) | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | Equipment and infotainment (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 2 | Equipment and infotainment (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 2 | Equipment and infotainment (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 3 | Equipment and infotainment (1) | |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | Equipment and infotainment (1) | |
| 6 | 0 | 2 | Body and structure (3) | |
| 7 | 0 | 1 | Tires (6) | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Electrical system (1) | |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | Tires (3) | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | Tires (2) | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Wheels (1) | |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | Body and structure (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 4 | Wipers and visibility (1) | |
| 11 | 0 | 1 | Wheels (6) | |
| 2 | 0 | 4 | Wheels (1) | |
| 7 | 0 | 3 | Tires (3) | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | Body and structure (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | Body and structure (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 6 | Body and structure (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Latches and locks (1) |
What fails on the 2015 Forest River Cardinal
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheels | 55% |
6 | 0 | — |
| SuspensionStruts, springs and control arms | 27% |
3 | 0 | Shop all suspension parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Body and structureDoors, latches and body hardware | 27% |
3 | 0 | Shop all body and structure parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Tires | 18% |
2 | 0 | — |
| Unknown or other | 18% |
2 | 0 | — |
| Wipers and visibilityWiper motors and blades | 9% |
1 | 0 | Shop all wipers and visibility parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 6, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which Forest River Cardinal years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 2015, 2006, 2017 carry the most filings on the Forest River Cardinal. The 2015 alone has 11 complaints, led by wheels.
What is the most common Forest River Cardinal problem?
On the 2015 model year, the most-reported component is wheels with 6 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do Forest River Cardinal problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all Forest River Cardinal complaints that include mileage is about 6,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.