Rear Cap

[sabercat]

I was on the Lazy Days website, and notice alot if not all of the 2015/2016 Montana's did not have a rear molded cap. They had a few older models that did. When I went and looked at the 3791RD, the sales guy said they did not have a rear cap for that model because of the height of it. I assumed maybe some day they would have one for it. Anyway I was just wondering why no rear caps on them. Thanks

[1retired06]

Mid-year production change for 2015. To get the rear molded cap, you need to buy the legacy package.

[BB_TX]

Yep, it is an option now.

[1retired06]

Want to get a few more thousand dollars out of you, above and beyond the pre-midyear change production Montana.

[jcurtis934]

Mountaineer with name change...legacy name equals montana models...all marketing as with most things in rv land. John

[Rondo]

If you do a little searching here you will find numerous posts about this. We heard about the change at last years Fall Rally. The Mountaineer is now the Montana and the Montana we all know and love is the Montana Legacy! It comes with the back cap and you can get some extras like full paint and other extras with the Legacy package also.

[sabercat]

I never really looked at the montanas till bout a month ago. I'm interesed in the Rear Den model, so much I did the factory tour. The tour guild told me basically the reason there was no cap on the rear of the RD model, was they did not have one molded for it, and didnt really say there ever will be on on it. The reason, the roof line is straight from the front to the rear, somewhat like a toy hauler roof. The dealer where I looked at the rear den, told me the legacy pkg, was the differant shades, morryde suspension higher gloss and whisper quiet air, and a couplse other things. I notice in the Legacy package it included a rear cap, he crossed that out and said similar to what the tour guild said. The tour guild said they are discountinueing the Big Sky, have not release the name that will take its place yet, probably in sept.

[chris199]

Specs clearly omit the 3790/3791RD for rear cap as part of Legacy pkg upgrades. Would have been nice.

[stengels]

Hope that means my Big Sky will become a classic collector's unit, not that I'm looking to get rid of it.

[Artemus Gordon]

I like my "heated" rear moulded cap with "Auto Wash & Rinse" option and scanning LED taillights. Of course that package is only available with the "select customer edition", oh it has been renamed as well! Ok they are discontinuing the "Big Sky"! I guess the marketing department has been overrun with "Rhesus Monkeys"! I know, hey Bob, let's take a well respected, brand loyal customer Icon, award wining brand name like "Big Sky" and toss it out. That's a great idea! Now how about something traditional like "Park Trailer Warrior" and then on the back molded rear cap, we can use Script Type, and put "PTW" back there. You know like they do on Mobile Suites?! Great ideas, then Greg interrupts, but we eliminated the molded caps to save money!!! I Am getting ill!

[sabercat]

It will be interesting what they rename the Big Sky, I told the wife we will hold out till the new product year comes out. The Factory and the Camping World salesman told me the RD is a top seller right now, so I'm hoping the (new renamed) Big sky will have a RD floor plan, with all the options on it already, like the hi-gloss sidewalls, upgraded suspension, air condition etc.

[jlb27537]

quote:Originally posted by Artemus Gordon

I like my "heated" rear moulded cap with "Auto Wash & Rinse" option and scanning LED taillights. Of course that package is only available with the "select customer edition", oh it has been renamed as well! Ok they are discontinuing the "Big Sky"! I guess the marketing department has been overrun with "Rhesus Monkeys"! I know, hey Bob, let's take a well respected, brand loyal customer Icon, award wining brand name like "Big Sky" and toss it out. That's a great idea! Now how about something traditional like "Park Trailer Warrior" and then on the back molded rear cap, we can use Script Type, and put "PTW" back there. You know like they do on Mobile Suites?! Great ideas, then Greg interrupts, but we eliminated the molded caps to save money!!! I Am getting ill!

By Jove, I think you got it.........

My '14 has the stuff that now they charge extra for. Rear cap, 4000 suspension, shinny side walls, quite A/C.

O'h well, got to love those marketing guys and gals.

Jim

[woodman]

What all this does is add confusion. I actually wrote to the CEO of Keystone and told him what a blunder I felt this was. I mentioned to him that I had been to the well-attended Ft. Myers RV show last winter, and all they had there were Montana's, all with flat backs. Same thing at the Camping World near where we live, they had 6 models, all with flat backs. This is now what the public sees. For those discerning RV'ers comparing more upscale models with moulded rear caps, the quick comparison may leave Montana out of the running. Seeing is believing and unless you have the opportunity to speak with an informed salesperson or rep, you'll move on. The sales guy I was talking to at the FM show, had no clue, didn't even know there was a Legacy option. Brilliant. The CEO actually did write back and thank me for my opinion and would send my letter on to the marketing department. I doubt if there'll be any impact. Remember, just because you work in marketing, doesn't mean you actually know what you're doing. I know unbundling standard items can get you some quick dollars, but name brand loyalty and recognition for something like the Montana is very strong, you just don't mess with it.

[stengels]

Well stated.

[rames14]

The reason they did the Legacy package and Residential is they had customers that wanted a lower cost unit similar to Jayco, Open Range and others. They felt that Mountaineer, Montana, High Country and Big Sky gave a confusing product offering. Mountaineer and Montana got merged(same floor plans, separated by Residential and Legacy trim packages). The High Country is their low weight offering and Big Sky their premium offering. I don't have access to their marketing data, but I know our local dealer orders a lot of Residential units to compete against the other lower cost offerings. By the way, MCD shades and heated flooring are the other two differences in the Legacy version.

[sabercat]

I noticed Big Horn at a dealer, had a straight roof line and had a nice rear cap on it. That tells me they can be made.

[richfaa]

The big sky has Not been discontinued it is being "Reevaluated" it may come back as a higher level model or it may be discontinued no decision has been made .That was clearly explained at the Keystone session at the fall rally.

James 14 was listening at the rally and his post is a good one.

[RKassl]

Hey Guys, I love my 2015 Legacy Edition, just like you love yours!

[mlh]

When you manufacture a product you haft to know what that product is. Do you remember when Cadillac put the name Cimmeron on a Chevy. A front wheel drive Chevy and thought their customers would be fooled with fancier seat covers and a different name. What happened was very easy to predict their customers left in droves. Now that they are making world class cars. These customers have been hard to get back.
Now we see Keystone Montana doing the same thing. Slap the name Montana on Mountaineer and hope their customers won't notice the difference. Good luck with that. They have lost sight of what Montana stands for. They may have never known or they have new leaders who don't know or are willing to compromise the name for short term profit. We will see how that works out in a few years.
Lynwood