What are the common problems with the 2015 Forest River Cardinal?
Owners of the 2015 Forest River Cardinal have filed 11 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the wheels (6). In NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026, 9 of its 11 complaints list a mileage (20 to 15,000 miles), too few to say when problems were reported; a complaint is an owner's report, not a proven defect.
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See what the paid report includes →NHTSA's file holds 11 owner complaints on the 2015 Forest River Cardinal. Owners named the wheels most often: 6 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component. None of the 11 complaints reports a crash, a fire or an injury.
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Common problems with the 2015 Cardinal
NHTSA's file holds 11 owner complaints on the 2015 Forest River Cardinal. Owners named the wheels most often: 6 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheels | 6 | 4 | Under 5 mileages |
| Structure | 3 | 3 | Under 5 mileages |
| Suspension | 3 | 1 | Under 5 mileages |
| Tires | 2 | 2 | Under 5 mileages |
| Visibility/wiper | 1 | 1 | Under 5 mileages |
None of the 11 complaints reports a crash, a fire or an injury.
Mileage when owners reported a problem with the 2015 Cardinal
Too few complaints on the 2015 Cardinal list a mileage to say when owners reported problems: 9 of its 11 complaints list a mileage (20 to 15,000 miles), and a median is given here only with 10 or more.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2015 Cardinal wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Is the 2015 Cardinal a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2015 is a good or a bad Cardinal: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2015 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
The 2015 is the only Forest River Cardinal model year with 10 or more complaints in NHTSA's file, so there is no other year to compare it with.
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
2015 Forest River Cardinal recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 1 recall campaign that names the 2015 Forest River Cardinal. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 21V523000 | Jul 9, 2021 | EQUIPMENT:RECREATIONAL VEHICLE/TRAILER |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2015 Cardinal lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2015 Cardinal.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 2 of the 11 complaints on the 2015 Forest River Cardinal give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA name counted: CARDINAL. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only this one.
- Recall-file name matched: CARDINAL.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2015 Forest River Cardinal questions
What are the most common 2015 Forest River Cardinal problems?
NHTSA's file holds 11 owner complaints on the 2015 Forest River Cardinal. Owners named the wheels most often: 6 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component. None of the 11 complaints reports a crash, a fire or an injury.
At what mileage do owners report problems with the 2015 Forest River Cardinal?
NHTSA's file gives no mileage figure for the 2015 Forest River Cardinal: 9 of its 11 complaints list a mileage (20 to 15,000 miles), and this page gives a median only with 10 or more. These are mileages at a reported problem; they do not say how many miles a 2015 Cardinal can cover.
Is the 2015 Forest River Cardinal a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2015 is a good or a bad Cardinal: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2015 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. The 2015 is the only Forest River Cardinal model year with 10 or more complaints in NHTSA's file, so there is no other year to compare it with.
How many recalls does the 2015 Forest River Cardinal have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 1 recall campaign that names the 2015 Forest River Cardinal. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2015 Forest River Cardinal before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2015 Forest River Cardinal.