2021 Forest River Cherokee: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2021 Forest River Cherokee
On the 2021 Forest River Cherokee, the failure owners report most often is other wheel or tire problem, with 18 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 1,400 miles. Overall it scores 80 out of 100, severe risk for a 2021.
Severe risk for a 2021 — 31st riskiest of the 231 2021 vehicles we can rate. 58 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
The failures owners actually file about
Owners have reported 11 named failure modes on the 2021 Forest River Cherokee, and the three most-reported carry 64% of everything filed, so the trouble here is concentrated rather than scattered.
Other wheel or tire problem leads with 18 reports and about 5.8 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other body or interior problem follows with 11 reports.
Tire blowout or tread separation follows with 8 reports, median 900 miles. 1 of those report mention a fire.
By system, the reports fall mostly into wheels (27), body (11) and suspension (5).
The mileage the reports cluster at
Too few of the reports on this year carry an odometer reading to describe the timing: 6 of them do. The mileages quoted elsewhere on this page come from the modes that have enough of them.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
Severity, and what it costs
Across the named modes, 3 a fire. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 3.86, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: other wheel or tire problem at $200–$1,500, other body or interior problem at $200–$2,000, tire blowout or tread separation at $200–$1,500 and other suspension problem at $350–$2,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
3% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 18 | 1 | — | 200 | — | 5.8 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 11 | 0 | — | — | — | 3.6 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Tire blowout or tread separation | wheels | 8 | 1 | — | 870 | — | 2.6 | $200–$1,500 | Critical |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 5 | 1 | — | 2k | — | 1.6 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 3 | 1 | — | 2k | — | 1.0 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Thermostat failure | cooling | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $250–$900 | Moderate |
| Brake line, hose or caliper failure | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 7k | — | 0.3 | $250–$1,600 | Critical |
| Tire pressure monitor failure | wheels | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $80–$600 | Low |
| Other engine problem | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 100 | — | 0.3 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Unclassified problem | other | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 2.3 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2021 Forest River Cherokee draws about 19 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 94th percentile of complaint rates among 2021 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 3,087 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2021 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
Recalls on the 2021 model year
NHTSA has issued 3 recall campaigns covering the 2021 Forest River Cherokee, affecting an estimated 4,442 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover equipment:recreational vehicle/trailer:lpg systems:lines and, equipment:other:labels and electrical system. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
EQUIPMENT:RECREATIONAL VEHICLE/TRAILER:LPG SYSTEMS:LINES AND FITTINGS
99,190 vehicles 2022-04-13- Defect
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Coachmen Adrenaline, Apex, Catalina, Freedom Express, Spirit, East to West Alta, Della Terra, Silver Lake, Forest River Cedar Creek, Cherokee, Columbus, Flagstaff, Impression, Ozark, Rockwood, Sabre, Salem, Sandstorm, Shockwave, Stealth, Stealth Evo, Vengeance, Vibe, Wildwood, XLR Toyhauler, Palomino Puma, Prime Time Avenger, Crusader, Lacrosse, Sanibel, Shasta Oasis, 2022 Coachmen Cross Trail, Prism, Forest River Aurora, Rainier, Wildcat, Work and Play, Prime Time Tracer, 2021-2023 Coachmen Leprechaun, and…
- Consequence
- A gas leak in the presence of an ignition source can increase the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the quick disconnect and perform a LP system check, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 20, 2022. Owners may contact the applicable customer service number for their vehicle model. Please see the recall report for the list of phone numbers.
EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS
31 vehicles 2021-11-12- Defect
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Cherokee ACKT29TEBL travel trailers. The tire size and Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) on the Federal Placard are incorrect, which could result in the vehicle being overloaded. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims" and 49 CFR Part 567, "Certification."
- Consequence
- An overloaded vehicle can lead to a loss of control, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Forest River will mail owners a new Federal Placard, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 29, 2021. Owners may contact Forest River Customer Service at 1-260-499-2100. Forest Rivers number for this recall is 17A-1439.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
9,261 vehicles 2020-10-26- Defect
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Cherokee recreational trailers. The shore cord inlet wiring insulation may not have been sufficiently stripped back, causing a poor connection with the set screw.
- Consequence
- A poor electrical connection can increase the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will remove the inlet, and rewire or replace the inlet completely if necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 23, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100. Forest River's number for this recall is 17D-1201.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2021 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
How 2021 compares with the other years
Severe risk for a 2021 — 31st riskiest of the 231 2021 vehicles we can rate. The comparison is always within the same model year, so an older car is never penalised for having had longer to break.
Across the 5 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2020 comes out best at 77 and 2018 worst at 84, with 2021 itself at 80.
If the model year is negotiable, 2020 scores lower than 2021 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2019–2023 generation specifically, 2020 is the strongest year at 77 and 2022 the weakest at 80.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2019-2023 generation, 2020 Forest River Cherokee scores best at 77 and 2022 Forest River Cherokee worst at 80.
The limits of complaint data
58 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 58 reports, 6 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 10% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2021 Forest River Cherokee?
The most-reported failures are other wheel or tire problem (18 reports, median 200 miles), other body or interior problem (11 reports) and tire blowout or tread separation (8 reports, median 900 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2021 Forest River Cherokee reliable?
It scores 80 out of 100 on our risk index, which is severe — 31st riskiest of the 231 2021 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2021 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Forest River Cherokee is best?
Within the 2019–2023 generation, 2020 scores best at 77 out of 100 and 2022 worst at 80. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed