Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

richfaa · 04-02-2007, 02:06 AM

Our search for a camper was a bit more complicated. First we determined what we could afford. That narrowed the field down to 5 or 6 manufacturers .Understanding that beauty is skin deep we needed to see and understand what was under the skin.Having been a salesperson for campers we have seen many folks walk in look around ..say ..oh we love this model we will take it..without knowing anything at all about it.Great for the salsperson..worst reason in the world to purchase one.We were fortunate to live @3 hours from Elkhart, Ind.. where most all the campers are built. We spent summer vacations for 2 years touring various plants and learning about Quality, workmanship, fit and finish. Next we needed to learn about the reputation of the manufacturers in terms of service, Warranty, Etc then finally the dealer in terms of reputation, service, honesty.Note that to this point brand name has not been mentioned. but after going through the above exercise you may be down to 1 or 2 brands.In our case the dealer of choice handled both of our top two choices. Next floor plan.. The actual brand of the camper was the very last thing that was identified and it jumps out at you as it has satisfied all your needs.Other things that help to decide...Join forums or owners groups of all the brands of interest.Question dealers who carry several different brands and ask which manufacturers give them the best service.Go to RV shows and ask questions, questions, questions.Now why the Montana..It met all the above criteria, Had the floor plan that best suited our needs and..was the best bang for the buck.. I did not say it was the best camper. I am saying that we understood what we were purchasing so no big surprises..it met all our needs, it was what we could afford.. After 112 days on the road and living in it, 12 States and over 6k miles towing we are disappointed in some areas and very satisfied in many others. But...Although there have been failures we are absolutely confident, in fact we have written assurances that Keystome will make our 3400 as good as new. All things considered in the RV industry that justifies the purchase. That is indeed a simplified version but covers the procedure.

04-02-2007, 02:06 AM	#12
richfaa Montana Master Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: North Ridgeville Posts: 20,229 M.O.C. #2839	Our search for a camper was a bit more complicated. First we determined what we could afford. That narrowed the field down to 5 or 6 manufacturers .Understanding that beauty is skin deep we needed to see and understand what was under the skin.Having been a salesperson for campers we have seen many folks walk in look around ..say ..oh we love this model we will take it..without knowing anything at all about it.Great for the salsperson..worst reason in the world to purchase one.We were fortunate to live @3 hours from Elkhart, Ind.. where most all the campers are built. We spent summer vacations for 2 years touring various plants and learning about Quality, workmanship, fit and finish. Next we needed to learn about the reputation of the manufacturers in terms of service, Warranty, Etc then finally the dealer in terms of reputation, service, honesty.Note that to this point brand name has not been mentioned. but after going through the above exercise you may be down to 1 or 2 brands.In our case the dealer of choice handled both of our top two choices. Next floor plan.. The actual brand of the camper was the very last thing that was identified and it jumps out at you as it has satisfied all your needs.Other things that help to decide...Join forums or owners groups of all the brands of interest.Question dealers who carry several different brands and ask which manufacturers give them the best service.Go to RV shows and ask questions, questions, questions.Now why the Montana..It met all the above criteria, Had the floor plan that best suited our needs and..was the best bang for the buck.. I did not say it was the best camper. I am saying that we understood what we were purchasing so no big surprises..it met all our needs, it was what we could afford.. After 112 days on the road and living in it, 12 States and over 6k miles towing we are disappointed in some areas and very satisfied in many others. But...Although there have been failures we are absolutely confident, in fact we have written assurances that Keystome will make our 3400 as good as new. All things considered in the RV industry that justifies the purchase. That is indeed a simplified version but covers the procedure.