The Used Car Index

2020 Forest River Cherokee problems

NHTSA lists 14 complaints for the 2020 Forest River Cherokee, 0 of them mention a crash and 1 mention a fire. 0 complaints mention an injury, with 0 injuries and 0 deaths reported.

Data build 2026-10-08.

NHTSA lists this vehicle as FOREST RIVER CHEROKEE.

At a glance

Complaints
14
With crash
0
With fire
1
With injury (complaints)
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
0
Recalls
7
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
9,261
Investigations
0
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
1

Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. No sales source is available for this record.

Where the complaints are

Top systems
SystemComplaintsShare of this vehicle's complaints
STRUCTURE535.7%
TIRES428.6%
SUSPENSION321.4%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM214.3%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER214.3%
EQUIPMENT17.1%
SERVICE BRAKES17.1%
WHEELS17.1%
Top subsystems
SystemSubsystemComplaints
STRUCTUREBODY4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEMIGNITION1
EQUIPMENTMECHANICAL1

One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.

Model-generated complaint tags

These labels are model-generated, not NHTSA data.

Failure modes
LabelCountShare of taggedMean confidence
mechanical failure857.1%0.95
structural or corrosion428.6%0.94
fire or overheating17.1%0.80
unclear17.1%0.97
Severities
LabelCountShare of taggedMean confidence
moderate964.3%0.78
low321.4%0.63
high214.3%0.68

Model: typesafe/jev-1.13-20260917; schema version: tag-v1. 14 tagged complaints of 14 complaints (100.0%).

Confidence is the model's own probability for the label it chose (0 to 1), not accuracy.

Model-generated labels on tagged complaints only. Model years 2013 and newer are tagged in full; 2012 in part (see tagged_share); earlier model years have no tags. NHTSA's own flags remain separate in the complaints block.

Recalls

See new recalls and investigations this week.

7 recalls.

24V003000

Date: 2024-01-05. Systems: EQUIPMENT, STRUCTURE.

Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2020 Cherokee travel trailers. The draw bar locking mechanism may break, which can cause the front end of the trailer to contact the road.

Consequence: A trailer that contacts the road during transit increases the risk of a crash or injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the Ice Hose swing arm draw bars, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 5, 2024. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-825-4995. Forest River's number for this recall is 95-1705.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

20V654000

Date: 2020-10-26. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

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.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

20V075000

Date: 2020-02-12. Systems: EQUIPMENT, TIRES.

Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Surveyor, NO BO, Cherokee, R. POD, Clipper, Viking, Independence, Puma and East to West trailers. The spare tire carrier U-bolts may fail allowing the spare tire carrier and spare tire detach from the vehicle. (excerpt)

Consequence: If the spare tire carrier and spare tire detach from the vehicle while in motion, it can become a road hazard and increase the risk of a crash. (excerpt)

Remedy: Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will replace U-bolts, free of charge. The recall began March 20, 2020. Owners may contact Surveyor, NO BO, R. and POD customer service at 1-574-642-3119, Independence, Viking, and Clipper customer service at 1-269-467-4600, Puma customer service at -574-642-0606, East and West customer service at 1-574-264-6664 or Cherokee customer service at 1-877-42 (excerpt)

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

19V844000

Date: 2019-11-25. Systems: TRAILER HITCHES.

Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Cascade and Cherokee travel trailers. The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of the vehicle exceeds the GVWR of the trailer hitch coupler, potentially resulting in the coupler failing and the trailer detaching.

Consequence: A trailer that detaches from the tow vehicle can increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Forest River will notify owners and dealers will replace the coupler, free of charge. The recall began February 17, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100 or 1-541-995-3447. Forest River's number for this recall is 64-1114.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

19V785000

Date: 2019-11-01. Systems: EQUIPMENT.

Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2020 Cherokee Alpha Wolf Travel Trailers. The wire supplying the 12V power for the refrigerator may have been connected incorrectly to the circuit breaker.

Consequence: The incorrectly connected wire may not have overcurrent protection, allowing the wire to melt, increasing the risk of fire.

Remedy: Forest River has notified owners, and dealers will correct the wiring, free of charge. The recall began November 19, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100. Forest River's number for this recall is 76-1109.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

19V668000

Date: 2019-09-20. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2020 Cherokee trailers, models CKT16BF-D, CKT16BFH-D, CKT16GR-D and CKT16GRH-D. The protective paneling may not have been installed around the distribution panel, allowing the distribution panel wiring to be exposed in a storage compartment, which can lead to damage to the panel and wiring.

Consequence: Damaged distribution panel wiring can increase the risk of electrical shock or fire.

Remedy: Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will install a divider in the storage compartment to ensure the distribution panel wiring is protected, free of charge. The recall began October 9, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100. Forest River's number for this recall is 17D-1089.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

19V453000

Date: 2019-06-14. Systems: EQUIPMENT.

Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Cherokee trailers, model CKT294BH. The Federal Placard states incorrect Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC) and Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) information, which may result in the trailer being overloaded.

Consequence: An operator may rely on the incorrect Placard information and overload the trailer causing a loss of control and increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Forest River has notified owners, providing replacement placards that contain accurate Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and Cargo Carrying Capacity information, free of charge. The recall began June 24, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-541-995-3447. Forest River's number for this recall is 64-1033.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

Investigations

0 investigations; 0 open.

Manufacturer communications

1 manufacturer communications.

Communications by system
SystemCount
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM1

11015784

Date: 2025-03-19. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

Generic drawing of a 87A relay wiring diagram for holding tank warmers.

Notes on this record

  • Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
  • System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
  • Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
  • A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.

Other names NHTSA uses

None listed.

Matched NHTSA models

Matched labels and complaints
NHTSA model labelComplaints
CHEROKEE14

Same model, other years

All model years | All Forest River models

Other Forest River models, 2020

Sources

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