Well, we're very happy with our 3295RK, which we've had since July, 2002. It's a 2003 model and has roughly 25,000 miles on it now. It's not been perfect, but sure has been better than any other brand we've owned in the past. Montana has been the number one seller in North America for three years running, so they must be doing something right.
You do seem to have some problems. Some of them look like real problems but I think a few of them maybe aren't really a problem but rather different than you expected. If I may, I'll add my thoughts on some of them. You, of course, are free to just ignore them or cuss me out for them (please do that privately, off line,
) It's not my intent to blast you at all but rather to just express my thoughts on them.
1. Quest system. We don't have this one. It became the standard in a later model than ours. We have on this forum heard of a number of complaints with this system. I agree this should be changed. You might read through the forum or do a search to find what others have done. Some of your problems may (or may not) have "easy" solutions, just difficult to figure out the first time. Others are truly problems. Again, just my opinion and remember I know only what I read about this system. As for when the surround sound speakers work, I'd want all speakers to work, even if in monoraul mode. Stereo systems use all speakers even when not in stereo mode.
2. Remote thermostat. Can't help on this one, either. Don't have it. There are some posts about this but not as many as about the Quest system. Sorry can't help on this one.
3. Fireplace/microwave/kitchen outlets. We don't have the fireplace so don't have that switch. A number of other folks do but I've not heard an outpouring of concerns about the switch. I would like to see them on separate circuits, though. I assume you have 50amp service. The peninsula outlets, the kitchen outlets, the computer desk outlets, the bathroom outlets and the outlets on the bed side of the bathroom wall, the fridge, and the patio outlets are all on the GFCI circuit on our 3295RK. Yours likely is the same. I feel this is far too much to have on a single circuit. However, we are able to use far more items than you say you can in yours. Right at this moment we have an electric heater running from the peninsula outlet, a light and this laptop running from the computer desk outlet, the furnace, a heater upstairs, several lights, and the fridge is on electric and we're doing just fine. If we want to run the toaster, microwave, or washer/dryer we'll need to turn one of the heaters off. I'd like to see this circuit broken into at least two circuits. Rarely do we pop the main breaker. It's almost always the GFCI circuit. Still, you should be able to do more on yours than it appears you can. Is there anything else running off any of the outlets mentioned above?
4. Don't have the towel rack on the shower door. That's actually an improvement over ours - we have NO towel rack (we added two on the throne room door). I've not heard of doors being shattered because of pulling the door open with the towel rod but maybe it happens. I think I'd be careful to use the normal door opener just in case. I guess I don't really see this as a big problem since I don't recall anyone reporting a shattered door. Maybe if it's happened to someone they'll speak up. Still I would use the rod only for its intended purpose.
5. Fridge. If your Thor had a 10 cu. ft refrigerator, then it was an extra cost option and highly unusual. RVs of that size usually have a 6 footer as standard with an 8 footer as an option. Larger ones, like your 3295RK have an 8 footer as an standard and a 10 footer as an option. Check the brochures or your order sheet. It's there. We have the 8 footer (had a 6 in two smaller fw's) and get along just fine with it even though we're fulltiming. It's not quite like our 25 cu ft fridge we had in our stick home but we make do. We just stop more often for milk, etc., on our way home. And we also will pour a gallon of milk into quart containers so they can fit on the door, when we have more than one gallon onboard. A few of the high end fifthwheels now have a house style fridge available in larger sizes (I think they're 110v only?). But the vast majority of rv's have either 6 or 8 footers. A few have 10. By the way, Keystone is owned by Thor, also.
6. Arctic Package and hitch on rear. I hope you read your manual and noted that by installing a hitch on the frame you voided your frame warranty. It's in the manual. If your dealer installed this he should have told you. Nevertheless, some folks have done the same and have not reported any frame problems. Arctic Package. On the 3295RK if you lift the door in the kitchen that accesses the water heater you can see an opening along the back wall where some wires come in. You can tell there is no insulation back there. But there should be. At our September rally when we toured the factory I pointed this out to a highly place person who was very interested in hearing this. Hopefully this will be rectified on future 3295rk's. For us, I filled that space best I could by shoving roll insulation through that hole, up along the top of the peninsula lower cabinets where it's also open to the water heater area, insulated along the inside back wall below the computer desk and in the peninsula, and insulated around the water heater cabinet (inside) since that area is vented to the outside. I didn't close off the venting, just preventing that cold air from coming on into the inside of the coach by isolating that area from the inside of the coach. We spent last Nov/Dec in weather down to 14 degrees with a number of days never rising above the low to mid twenties. We're in the same area now until early January. We did just fine although it was not super hot in here. We used some electric heaters to augment the furnace and cut down on propane use. We also put 3M window film over our windows since we did not get the optional dual-paned windows (a mistake not to get that, for us). And I used that expanding foam to close all openings into the underbelly and in the basement storage area. I also used foam pipe insulation on exposed water lines in the basement, just to cut down on heat loss. That hot water travels a long ways to reach the shower and bathroom sink. It states right in the manual that Montanas are not meant for fulltime living and temperature extremes (I think it says that latter, would have to look). So we have to make some adjustments if we want to do those things anyhow.
7. leaking bedroom slide. This is a serious problem. Do some searching on this forum and you'll find where others have had this problem and how it was solved for some. Others are still fighting it. We've not had this problem but did have wet carpet from traveling in rain but it was by the kitchen slide. We have a Jan appt to get this fixed since the last fix only lasted a couple of days. Your dealer should fix this for you under warranty.
8. bathroom fan. True in every single RV I've been in including multi-hundred-thousand dollar class A's. The easy fix is to replace the fan with a quiet ball-bearing 12v computer case fan. Did that two years ago and this would be my first change in any new rig. Major major difference. Pulls more air and much quieter.
9. Fantastic Fan Wall Unit. Just added our Fantastic Fan but didn't get the wall thermostat. Our prior Montana had the wall unit. It really wasn't difficult to use. Didn't even have to read the manual. It's a thermostat. What problem are you having with this? Sounds like a wiring problem?
10. Microwave/Convection Oven/Half time oven - most have either an oven or a convection oven or a microwave. Sounds like you have all of the above? You're lucky, you have a choice. Some folks love the convection oven, others hate it. Not sure what the problem is here?
11. AC. You must have a problem here. We don't have the remote control but our thermostat you can run either the AC or the furnace but not both. If yours can run both maybe there's a deeper problem the dealer needs to check out. First make sure you didn't hit the wrong buttons on the remote. Sorry, don't mean to make that sound like it does, just wouldn't want you to find that out while demonstrating for the dealer. If you find you can replace the thermostat with a hard wired wall unit, check out the posts in this forum about going with a Hunter or Lux wall unit that allows adjustment of the swing in temperature to eliminate the hot/cold/hot cycle you mention.
12. Propane tanks. If the switchover doesn't work the dealer should replace it. The other problem sounds like a problem with a tank itself. The newer tanks have an interior valve to prevent overfilling and also to prevent mass discharge in case of an accident. I know these valves can occasionally get stuck when filling the tank and cause the kind of problem you describe. Sometimes you can take the tank out and tilt it back and forth a bit and gently tap on the side and it will break loose. I don't know how you tell other than it starts working. This one might be hard to demonstrate for the dealer but I'd ask him if he'll swap tanks with you if you get yours filled and bring it in.
I hope your dealer gets the problems fixed to your satisfaction. I don't think you'll find a better FW for the money than the Montana, despite what your neighbors think of theirs. I have enough experience to have some serious doubts about their comments, especially the one with the Terry. As for them having 10 cu ft fridges, that's an option your neighbors got and you didn't. By the way, if you look at
http://www.komfort-rv.com/, look at the features page, you'll find this statement under "interior amenities" - "Extra-large double door refrigerator with Norcoldİ 821 user-adjustable thermostat". That's an 8 (actually 7.5 or thereabouts) cu ft refrigerator. No options are listed on the site but if there's a 10 footer available it's an extra cost option, just like your Montana and mine. So I don't think you can blame Keystone if your fridge is smaller than your neighbors'. I didn't check the Terry but would bet it's the same. Neither of those brands is the quality of the Montana. We also have researched heavily before we bought our first and second Montana. Since we are hard on ours, living fulltime in it and traveling the country, I'll take the Montana. Hope I'm not sounding harsh, just expressing my thoughts.
Good luck. I really do hope this all gets worked out to your satisfaction. Please keep us posted.