Bad Montana / or unluck guy

[mtheo]

I'm here in Beach CA and there is a guy here with a 1 1/2 year old Montana, I've heard that he is has not been happy with his Monty since he first got it. I finally had a chance to talk to him and either he has the worst Monty or the worst Dealer or he is just the most unluckest person in the world. According to him it has ha to be worked on by the dealer once a month since he got it. From bad awning to leaking pipes to 4 bad slides, Even the awning had a hole in it when he got it. Accoding to him nothing has gone right. He came out of a Monaco coach and it hurts listening to him bad mouth Keystone all the time.

Not sure if it is him or the coach/ if it is the coach I feel sorry for him.
He said he is going to see if he can get CA. "Lemon Law" to be use.

[mhs4771]

Don't know the guy, but there are some people who would not pickup a screw driver and tighten a screw if their life depended on it. Not saying this is the case, but it seems some expect the world for peanuts. In the time we had our Monty (spent 364 nights and traveled better than 20K) not a single problem other than a grease filled wheel that came from Dexter that way.
There's an individual on the SOB forum I belong to that claim their rig has been at the Dealers since early last fall and rather that getting on the dealer all they do is blast the manufacturer on that forum and a couple of other forums. Seems to me for every one person who claims so many problems, there are hundreds of us with no or very minor problems that get resolved quickly. I take those complaints with a rather Large Grain of Salt. Just my feelings.

[pineranch]

What Michelle said!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike

[GreatWhite]

I'd give the guy the benefit of the doubt before passing judgement on him/her. You can buy a new car and have the same problems. The dealer takes care of it and you are done. If it goes back numerous times for the same problem(s).. the Lemon Law was created for such a purpose. I don't care what you buy... sometimes you get a bad one and expect the mfg to back it up... car, camera, RV, etc. If you spend $50K and even more.. why would one expect less from a RV mfg/dealer than an automotive mfg/dealer? Is that not why warranties were created.. to protect the consumer? Sure, some of these things might be fixed by the person.. but, maybe he's not handy. I, for one, feel for the buyer.. I feel his frustration.

[richfaa]

probably a combination of everything. we have had problems with both of our Montana's but never a problem with a dealer or keystone taking care of it in short order.

[pineranch]

I don't believe neither Michelle or I was passing judgement. I speak from the fact that I have a brother and son-in-law that wouldn't know which end of a screw driver to use. The good news is that both of their DW's do.
Mike

[HOOK]

Working at CW gives an overview beyond compare. Most owners are easily likable folks. Yet some few are impossible to satisfy. We eliminate most of our problems in the PDI. Some just seem to like to find fault.
After having many types of RVs, I'd say that to own an RV, you should be prepared to help yourself. You should have tools and some ability to use them. I have never owned one that never needed repairs. One of the most troublesome being a motorhome.
People sometimes make things worse than they are, and yet some have real problems.
As observed at the dealership, Montana being among the most trouble free. Our service mgr. just traded for his second Montana. His enthusiasm for them shouts louder than anything else I could say.
I would suggest that if he could, to contact his district Keystone rep.
IMHO, Montana is the most for the money on the market, not perfect, but excellent.
PS: he could take it to the National Rally in Goshen and see the techs face to face.

[DarMar]

I'll address the awning issue for one. Last summer we noticed a series of small holes in our A&E awning fabric that appeared to be a bit of a thin spot with small holes. This was just 2 weeks shy of our 2nd Anniversary of ownership. After contacting our dealer and then Dometic to confirm warranty the fabric was replaced at our seasonal site with no charge for labor, service call or parts.

Now do we bad mouth our Montana, dealer and Dometic about our awning with a hole??? Rather we praise our dealer, Keystone and Dometic for standing behind the product at absolutely no charge to us, just a slight inconvenience.

My point is after 30 years of being in retail we used to say that about 2% of the consuming public are not worth dealing with as you will NEVER please or satisfy them no matter what. After 30 years though I know that % has increased drastically. Like it or not that is my opinion and we never lost sleep over that 2% or so.

[DQDick]

Most of us feel that Montana gives us the most for the money. Here's what Camping World says about a Monaco: Monaco Diesel pushers are the largest, most luxurious of the motorized RVs. The engine is located in the rear, hence the name "diesel pusher". They are most commonly built on Freightliner chassis's with Cummins and Caterpillar the engines of choice. I venture to say that the "largest and most luxurious of the motorized RV's may have cost slightly more and should have come with much higher expectations than a Montana.

[RJI47]

Then is could be that the guy had a problem that wasn't handled right by the dealer, then another problem, and thus things got worse and worse and out of control. Some of us handle stress better than others. (I'm not one of them) No matter what you buy, there is always a good chance that something will go wrong. He's just probably overwhelmed. I've never owned a Monaco, so I can't relate that that aspect.

[1retired06]

must be unlucky and not handy with tools. Monaco owners have their fair share of problems just like everyone else.

[shovelhead86]

I bought my 2007 3475 used and it has been the best item that I have ever purchased. Not to say I haven't had to fix some things but I have to fix things on the stick and brick house as well.

[mail2us]

Monaco coach went bankrupt in last year or so. Our neighbor was stuck and sold it at a great financial loss. Just sayin'

[richfaa]

We also had a hole(Worn spot) in our awning that our dealer noted on their PDI before we even saw it and ordered a new one and replaced it. After seeing how these awnings are stored on the assembly line for installation I can see how they can be damaged at the factory. Yesterday our Toilet blew up and its was quickly addressed by Thetford tech rep and a temp fix via the phone was done. A new unit will be waiting for us when we arrive home in Ohio. We have dealing with Montana problems for nearly 7 years and two Montana's. We have always been treated professionally and promptly.

[Phil P]

Hi

Every manufacturer delivers a lemon now and then. The manufacture can remedy this with proper action to correct the problems.

When a lemon dealer also sells the lemon then you have a serious problem. The manufacturer could correct this as well.

Now make the problem bigger the dealer doesn’t have any trained technicians and makes the coach even worse. The manufacturer could correct this problem also.

Now throw in the mix a manufacturer that doesn’t have any integrity and will not allow the new owner at his expense to bring the unit to the factory so they can see what they built and what the dealer has done to it. Then when the new owner produces 5 other owners with the same problem and the manufacturer says, “we don’t cross reference things like that” you really have an irate owner.

Mine is 4 years old in June 2013. I have spent as much as I paid for the unit doing repairs that should have been done under warranty. This is according to a Thor repair facility.

Do you think I will ever ever ever purchase a Keystone / Thor product again.

Now with these scabby graphics I attract a lot of attention. So I tell every one my sad tail. They take notice when I show them the factory couldn’t even glue the sewer outlet on straight.

Phil P