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Old 06-18-2015, 03:26 AM   #1
JandC
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Compliment From Another RVer

In another post I mentioned my buddy and his DW moving our Montana for us due to flooding on the Illinois River. He has a 2012 or 2013 SOB Toy Hauler, around 42' long.

Again it was really nice to have a good friend move your RV in an emergency when you are over 1300 miles away, especially when that friend knows how to operate slides and your 6-point level up.

When they called us after moving it to assure us it was safe and placed in "storage" mode he also made several observations. He said my level up worked really smooth and nice, plus my slides seemed to "glide" in very quickly and smoothly. All in all he was pretty impressed with my unit.

Even though I have been extremely disappointed in my dealer and Keystone RV after purchasing this unit, this was a good reminder for me that these Montanas are still pretty good quality units for the money.
 
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Old 06-18-2015, 04:27 AM   #2
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What that probably tells is that all the other SOB owners also have all their own little annoyances and frustrations with their rigs.
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Old 06-18-2015, 05:59 AM   #3
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Our slides after the dealer adjusted them are whisper smooth. The only sound is the Motor running. We always get comments on the 2013 Big Sky. It is pretty I always hope they do not ask me if we had any problems. I am a honest person and they get a honest answer.
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Old 06-18-2015, 08:50 AM   #4
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Usually, at a Rally or other gathering, when SOB owners start talking about problems they experienced I'm glad I own a Montana.
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Old 06-18-2015, 12:10 PM   #5
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From 2002 thru 2014', I was a flag waver for the montana line, recommending to potential buyers. Gave montana an A rating when asked. After my expereriences with our 2015, I see a decline in material quality, workmanship, and keystone customer support. When asked now, I give a B minus rating. Have no comparison with SOBs , just against my previous three Montana units.
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Old 06-18-2015, 02:13 PM   #6
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quote:Originally posted by 1retired06

From 2002 thru 2014', I was a flag waver for the montana line, recommending to potential buyers. Gave montana an A rating when asked. After my expereriences with our 2015, I see a decline in material quality, workmanship, and keystone customer support. When asked now, I give a B minus rating. Have no comparison with SOBs , just against my previous three Montana units.
Strange how it works out for some, and not others. I would give an "A" rating on our 2014. Compared to our 2008 and 2011, the quality seems much better. I'm going to jinx us, but in a year and a half, we've had NO problems. Our 2014 stays warmer/colder (depending on what we need) than the old ones. Insulation seems better. The slide outs seem to seal better. Overall we are quite happy. Granted we've done a few modifications, but not due to problems, just personal choice. Tomorrow it will probably collapse in a heap because I said this, but at least for today, everything is good!
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Old 06-18-2015, 02:24 PM   #7
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On a side note, I'm having the opportunity to compare our new(er) Montana with an older luxury fiver. I'm helping a friend prepare it to move to a new location from it's current one. It's a 1998 Alfa Gold, 38 foot fifth wheel. Three slide outs, and everything imaginable inside. The thing is MASSIVE. Interesting the changes in quality and products from 1998 to now. I saw the original sales receipt, in which it sold new for $75,000.00. I guess that puts it in the luxury class for it's day. Empty it weighs well over 14,000 pounds, and has triple axles. Also fascinating to me is the heating/cooling system. It's a heat pump/gas furnace setup. Nothing on the roof, it's all underneath. The unit in like new condition, having been stored inside it's whole life, when not being used. And because of a death in the family, it has not seen the light of day since 2009. Quite an experience for me!
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Old 06-18-2015, 08:37 PM   #8
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The last few posts say it all; it's a roll of the dice. You may get a good build, but then again, you may not. The end-user is the QC on these units and you just never know what you're going to get off the assembly line. I'd like to think the good ones outnumber the bad ones by a huge percentage, but it's hard to say. Like has been stated many times on many forums, most of the posts are coming from disgruntled buyers. It's the same with any product. Do your homework, negotiate the best deal you can, and pray for luck. As for me, my 2010 is awesome!
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Old 06-19-2015, 03:30 AM   #9
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by 1retired06

From 2002 thru 2014', I was a flag waver for the montana line, recommending to potential buyers. Gave montana an A rating when asked. After my expereriences with our 2015, I see a decline in material quality, workmanship, and keystone customer support. When asked now, I give a B minus rating. Have no comparison with SOBs , just against my previous three Montana units.
Mike, I have to agree with you. I've had 4 new Keystone 5th wheels, from an entry level SpringDale, Cougar, and 2 Montanas. Currently on my 5th day sitting here at Lazy Days in Seffner, FL with a sizeable list of problems n waiting on parts. Something seems to have changed in the manufacturing process since my 2007 Montana came off the line.
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Old 06-19-2015, 04:00 AM   #10
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It depends on how you use them. If you are a low end user the chance of problems of any kind decrease. If you are a high end user the chances increase. When problems are reported it would be nice if the poster stated how many days and how many miles a year they put on the unit.

How do we explain the defects that come out the factory on a regular basis.
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Old 06-19-2015, 06:15 AM   #11
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We are on our third Montana. We chose our dealer carefully. We put over 100 days a year in our unit. So far, since picking up our 2015 3160, we have had 30 days in it. Like the other two, we have had very few problems. We did break springs twice in our last Big Sky, but one of those was Alaska. We put over 20,000 miles on the Big Sky last year and since April, we have over 6,000 miles on the new unit. We both feel the build fit and finish is better on this one. I don't hesitate to recommend the brand. Like Dick, I've probably jinxed us. Choosing the right dealer is every bit as important as choosing the right model. And, the one feature no other brand has - the MOC. Most every brand use Lippert, Dometic, Norcold, Thetford, Suburban, etc. Sorry to hear others have had issues. We recognize that the RV industry is still representative of 1960's auto manufacturing. Unfortunately, there isn't a Toyota to gobble up market share to spur change.
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Old 06-19-2015, 07:30 AM   #12
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This is our second Montana. We Full time in ours during the winter an live in it 186 days during that time. Of the remaining 179 days we spend a minimum of 60 days at rallies or travelling usually more. We have put 105K miles total on the two trucks we have used to pull our Montana's. We do not keep mileage records but the sole purpose of our trucks is to pull the Montana when we are not towing the truck is doing little else.

A conservative estimate of mileage towed would be 90%.We have had this 08 truck for 100 months it has 73,500 miles on it nearly all with a Montana behind it.

There are MOC'ers who full time and live in it 24/7/365.There are MOC'ers that travel many more miles. We have had many failures on both Montana's and IMO due to poor workmanship. I tell it as we experience it. We still recommend the Montana line to those who ask as we have said many times IMO they are no better no worse than any brand in the price range. In our 10 years of Montana ownership keystone has been out standing in Customer service. We are beginning to question that in the last three or so years. We are not unhappy Montana owners..but..we use them hard and they fail.
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Old 06-19-2015, 10:20 AM   #13
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I was reading a poster on another forum 2-3 weeks ago complaining about his SOB. Not a Keystone product, but similar price range as Montana. Another poster chimed in and said not to feel alone. The sink had fallen out of his Mob... Sui.... (read high dollar rig). Shows that it is not just Montana and not just Keystone and happens even to high end rigs.

Sign of the times?
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Old 06-19-2015, 11:59 AM   #14
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You are right Bill it is a industry wide problem. At our winter campsite we see the mobile repair truck at all brands. However I have a Keystone Montana and that other brands have just as many problems does not make me feel any better.

The high end units may use better material but they are assembled by the same workforce pool using the same assembly line methods. Poor workmanship is poor workmanship any brand. We do not have a big problem with the materials that go into the Montana rather how they are put together.
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Old 06-20-2015, 06:07 AM   #15
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We placed over 15000 miles on our western trip last summer with about 19000 total for the year 2014. Issues related were mostly created by me with refrigeration and level up issues as manufacturing problems that needed to be fixed. We have been either fortunate or just have a great Big Sky model or both.
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Old 06-20-2015, 06:56 AM   #16
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Glad you got it out of there Joe. Nice to have helpful friends you can count on when needed!
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Old 06-20-2015, 01:28 PM   #17
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Yep, you are right Scott. I was really starting to stress because I didn't want just anyone trying to move it with the 6-point level up plus I needed it put in true "storage" mode until I get back in 6 weeks.

VERY lucky to have him and his wife in that area at the exact time I needed it moved.

I sent you an email with a photo showing my site back there as of this morning. About 3 inches of slimy, muddy, nasty river water covering it. May crest tomorrow at another 2 or 3 inches but more rain upstream predicted for Monday.
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Old 06-20-2015, 02:20 PM   #18
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I missed something Joe. Did you gys get flooded out??
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Old 06-20-2015, 08:16 PM   #19
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Joe glad to hear everything worked out so well. Sounds like a scary situation. Good to have good neighbors. As far as the quality goes on the Montana I think all RVs have problems. Keystone puts these RVs together so fast. Keystone needs to work on the Quality Control. I think that bang for the buck Montana is a good buy. I think what is really important is how the dealer handles the problems. My 2014 3582RL had the staple problem in the roof. Keystone turned me down the first time I talked to them. They turned me down without even having a dealer look at it. I finally got the ok to have my dealer inspect the roof and call Keystone. I know that my dealer really stressed to Keystone that the roof was defective and that it needed to be repaired. I think Keystone needs to take a look at the way they take care of customers. I have ran into several Montana owners that are having the same problem with their roof on their Montana's and Keystone has told them they are not going to do anything at this time. I hope Keystone takes a good look at the way customers are being handled and they make some changes. Customer service is everything.
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Old 06-21-2015, 03:26 AM   #20
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Joe, where in Illinois do you camp? Near Peoria? Always enjoyed the white bass run on the Illinois. Glad they were able to get your rig moved.
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