Everest

[Montana_1237]

I'm confused, we have a friend that winter down in arizona and they had another 5'er come in and it was a Everest. They met the couple and were invited in and they said it was beautiful and it was made by Keystone. The couple that own it said it was a notch above the Montana. My question is anybody heard of this Everest? and if so what is your take on the Everest. So far I have heard nothing but good things about it. Thanks in advance for any info.

[skyguy]

We looked at the Everest line this spring. From what I understand, the Everest line is simply more "eye candy". We really liked the bedroom layout!

[kdeiss]

I stopped by a dealer today and looked at one the dealer told me it has upgraded furniture etc I understand it is made by another Div of Keystone. We had looked at this brand prior to buying our Montana and as I remember priced higher like the montana Big Sky.

[Montana Sky]

I saw a small article in I think the 2005 RV buyers guide that talked about this same topic. If memory serves, I think Skyguy is on the right track. The Everest is the eye candy, fancy furniture, more for show and the Montana was more of the "quality built". Built for long term use. I have that magazine somewhere around here, will double check in the next day or so. I did like the Everest version of the 3650RK on the Montana. Keystone took the kitchen and put it in the center and took the living room and placed it in the back. Still has four slides just relocated the two rooms floor plan.

[jsnip42]

A few months ago I checked into trading to an Everest. I found that the price was not much different from Montana. The base price was higher but it included standard items that were options on Montana. I loved the divided floorplans but the quality was poor. In fact two on the dealers lot had leaks. The Challenger brand looks like a no frills Everest.

I really wanted divided rooms like the Montana 3650 has just not the price or 39 feet long. I always seem to want things hard to find.

[Montana_1235]

We liked the 2003 Everest 343L because of room it had and did some serious thinking about buying it. We also came very close to buying the Everest 364Q earlier this year, again, because of the floor plan. We liked the workmanship and the oak trim throughout the coach. However we really like the front living room that the Montana offered. So that was why we went with the Montana. Also the Montana dealer was only 50 miles from home.

At the January RV show The Montana was priced at just over 44K at the dealership where we purchased ours. The Everest was around 37K. Quite a bit of difference. The dealership that carried the Everest was located in Maryland and would have been about 110 miles from home. We had pretty much settled on the Everest 364Q. It did have some items on it or sold as options that the Montana didn’t offer or was only available on the Big Sky. Both are made by Keystone, although in different manufacturing plants. We still liked the front living room idea and after some negotiations the Montana dealer lowered his price to $35,800.00. That was what I was looking for, a good price and a dealer located fairly close to home. If he hadn’t come down we probably would be in the Everest right now.

As for the Challenger Division of Keystone, my sister and brother-in-law bought a 32TKB in 2001. They have had only a couple minor problems in their coach and it gets well used between April and November each year. They bought it from the same Maryland dealer that sells the Everest. They love it.

I think Keystone builds quality coaches. All models have a problem unit or two that is turned out. So I wouldn’t say that the Everest or Challenger are not built as well as the Montana. I think they’re all pretty equal.

After speaking with the dealer I learned that Keystone will not build the same floor plan for either of the three models. You can’t buy an Everest or Challenger with the front living room. You can’t get a Montana or Challenger with the sunken rear living room. Keystone wants to keep them separated.

Hope this helps some or at least sheds a little light on the subject.

Happy RVing

Bill

[Montana_1237]

Thanks everyone for your response on the Everest. My wife and I were at Laconner camping and we decided to take a ride and came across a new RV sales place in Mt.Vernon selling the Everest so we stopped to take a look. My wife fell in love with it, especially the large kitchen. It had more counter top space than any of the Montana's that we have seen, and we have looked at all of them. I've been in construction all my life a lot of it on the finnish end like cabs.and doors,trim etc. I found the millwork in the Everest to be of very good quality and installation wise very good also. The only thing wrong with this is now we have to make a decision between the 3400RL and the Everest. Bill n Pat thanks for your very good input also, it was really informative and helpful. My wife retires in a year and half and we can't wait for our 5'er, I want to get back to Virginia and see the history that was made back there. What is the best time of the year to make the trip weather wise, Thanks Again Tom n Phyllis

[sreigle]

Tom n Phyllis, take a look at build quality. We asked a Keystone rep what the difference is and were told Everest and Montana have the same overall budget dollar totals but Everest spends more on eye candy and Montana on build quality. One thing he mentioned as an example is the Montana has attic vents to vent moisture and the Everest does not. If you're a casual user then you might like the nice look of the Everest better. If you plan on long trips and/or fulltiming, the better build quality (in my opinion and what I've seen) of the Montana might serve you better. Either would be a good choice in the right situation, in my opinion. Montana has been number one for, what, three years running now? There has to be a reason for that. We're on Montana number two and if there's another fiver in the future it likely will be a Montana unless they seriously cut the quality. Good luck whichever way you go.