Would you buy Montana again?

[Eagleback]

Every company has good and bad floor plans, designs, warranty's, reputations, build days. you name it. if it hasent happened it will. We look at the company first, the warranty, any problems more than likely yes, but who has what seems the less headache to deal with than others. Then find the dealership and again the same due diligent, then the price, floor plan and so on. We find Montana to fit the bill but so do a lot of others also. Just make sure you research everything and then research it more. We avoid the rv shows, Too many people going in and out of the units so you cant see if it is a fit for you, we go when the dealerships are slow then do an inspection on all the units that are in your brand type to see the fit and finish, I climb in the basement and on top and under the units, if they all seem to look good then maybe its a good unit. This will take months to do and lots of miles but in the end you will be a lot better off.

[mlh]

But with all that said, our next RV may be a Class C as my DW has a major back problem and being hammered for hours by a solidly suspended truck doesn't help her outlook.[/QUOTE]

This is the exact reason we have a class C and the HC. The first time I saw an X-ray of my wife’s back I almost fainted.
Lynwood

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by mlh

But with all that said, our next RV may be a Class C as my DW has a major back problem and being hammered for hours by a solidly suspended truck doesn't help her outlook.

This is the exact reason we have a class C and the HC. The first time I saw an X-ray of my wife’s back I almost fainted.
Lynwood[/QUOTE]


Yep, that was about my response too. Surgery in my DW's case is not an option either. If it ever gets warm again, we will be harassing a couple local dealers. I just wish Ford would put the 6.7 diesel in their 'C' chassis and it would be a no brainer as the V10, while a great power plant has never passed many gas stations (yes, I had an F350/V10 guzzler)

[Mark N.]

I haven't read all the posts here, but the short answer to the leading question is an absolute "NO". In fact, just today, I finished emptying out my 2013 3400RL for it's final journey attached to my truck tomorrow. I traded it in for SOB and I'll probably forever be done with Keystone products.

[adams7806]

Our first fiver was a 2005 Keystone Challenger and we loved but it did not have all the "convenience" items like auto leveling etc. We bought our current fiver, a 3160RL, in 2016 and we love it. Yes, I'm sure we will have some issues at some point, but maybe we are the lucky ones because we haven't had any serious issues that haven't been taken care of by our dealer. I think part of the issue is finding a dealer that you are comfortable and has a good reputation for taking care of its customers!

Bottom line, a resounding YES, we would buy another Montana!

[topjustice]

Originally Posted by Mark N.

I haven't read all the posts here, but the short answer to the leading question is an absolute "NO". In fact, just today, I finished emptying out my 2013 3400RL for it's final journey attached to my truck tomorrow. I traded it in for SOB and I'll probably forever be done with Keystone products.

Can you share some of your bad experience?

[Castner's]

Montana is a great unit, but very slow authorizing warranty work. Have been waiting since Dec. 22, 2017 to present time to have my toilet seat/cover replaced, table replaced and the wall behind theater seating to be repaired!

[captl27]

I am a no I will not buy Montana again. I really like the unit a 2015 3725RL but the problems I had started when we got the unit and the minute the year was up they would not help with any of the repairs. Also the extended warranty through camping world which the camping world salesmen and finance officer touted was a fine print nightmare. If you check my posts you will understand why. Trailer Life was no help either probably because they are owned by Good Sam which is affiliated with Camping World.

[Platteborze]

We've had nothing but issues with our 2017 Montana. Supposed to be the Rv of the year in 2016. Service department is horrible. never again will we own a montana

[Fred S.]

We love the floorplan of our 2017 3791RD, but I will not buy another Keystone RV. Trying to get problems fixed under warranty is a nightmare. Keystone service is just bad.

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by Fred S.

We love the floorplan of our 2017 3791RD, but I will not buy another Keystone RV. Trying to get problems fixed under warranty is a nightmare. Keystone service is just bad.

Not just Keystone all of the Thor companies are experiencing the same problem.

Phil P

[bshgto]

I really think the satisfaction with any camping unit is directly related to your attitude and the amount of repairs you can do your self. I, we love our new Rear Den but hate keystone. We particularly like the High Country we had last but felt we needed to go bigger before I had to go smaller because of age,health and the like. Keystone is really no different than the rest in quality and the amount of problems you have with any unit is "just the luck of the draw". I have been back to the dealer once in 6 years and only because I could not repaint the front cap because of oxidation on the High Country my self. Of course Keystone denied the claim as I did not wax enough, then said never heard of that happening before even though my dealer had 2 other identical units in for repaint for same issue, then stalled decision unit warranty ran out and said "Hey your out of warranty" just lied right to my face, threaten to sue and I got painted end of issue. The other repairs I have done and don`t really consider it a game breaker keystone. Just something you have to do when owning a camper.
Some people play the warranty game and want the dealer to fix everything to include tightening screw on the cabinet doors. If one of the shades dosen`t go up as fast as the others it`s on the 30 count list. Really, I don`t want our unit to sit at the dealer for weeks to more likely months for this stuff to get repaired, fix it your self and move on. You have to remember the people that put the camper together, it`s not Rocket Science.
You do know there is a certain amount of personal satisfaction from repairing things that are broken, you look good in front of the wife instead of whining about the terrible camper that I will never buy again go on the internet find the repair and get to it. We`ll buy another Keystone because of floor plan, colors, local dealer availability. That`s my story and I`m sticking to it.

[topjustice]

Originally Posted by bshgto

I really think the satisfaction with any camping unit is directly related to your attitude and the amount of repairs you can do your self. I, we love our new Rear Den but hate keystone. We particularly like the High Country we had last but felt we needed to go bigger before I had to go smaller because of age,health and the like. Keystone is really no different than the rest in quality and the amount of problems you have with any unit is "just the luck of the draw". I have been back to the dealer once in 6 years and only because I could not repaint the front cap because of oxidation on the High Country my self. Of course Keystone denied the claim as I did not wax enough, then said never heard of that happening before even though my dealer had 2 other identical units in for repaint for same issue, then stalled decision unit warranty ran out and said "Hey your out of warranty" just lied right to my face, threaten to sue and I got painted end of issue. The other repairs I have done and don`t really consider it a game breaker keystone. Just something you have to do when owning a camper.
Some people play the warranty game and want the dealer to fix everything to include tightening screw on the cabinet doors. If one of the shades dosen`t go up as fast as the others it`s on the 30 count list. Really, I don`t want our unit to sit at the dealer for weeks to more likely months for this stuff to get repaired, fix it your self and move on. You have to remember the people that put the camper together, it`s not Rocket Science.
You do know there is a certain amount of personal satisfaction from repairing things that are broken, you look good in front of the wife instead of whining about the terrible camper that I will never buy again go on the internet find the repair and get to it. We`ll buy another Keystone because of floor plan, colors, local dealer availability. That`s my story and I`m sticking to it.

Well said!!

[richfaa]

We noted at the fall rally that all the Manufacturers are swamped with service issues same here in Florida it is taking 3 weeks to get a Mobil tech out to out site for repairs. C.W is swamped with Rv's in for repair and you can not hardly get into the parking lot. We have owned enough RV's from different manufacturers to understand that they are all pretty much the same in terms of quality and the more you use them the more likely you are to have issues. I am not Montana loyal floor plan is the determining factor in purchase.

[mtlakejim]

I’m with y’all on this one. About half the time I would do a superior repair anyway so why not do it myself. Besides I can use it’s excuse to buy yet another power tool.....

[rollingdownthehighway]

We ordered ours about 3 weeks ago, and after reading through this and a lot of folks saying "NO never again", my question is, what did you expect when buying something that is built to go down the interstates at 60 mph and rattle like an earthquake? If it's the CS department, then, that's entirely different issue on it's own, no CS department is worth any value. What do you guys do if you have issues with your trucks, house, appliances, etc. do you stop buying that product, sell your house, most likely not, you buy another one because you like it and in most cases stay in your house. Houses aren't even built like they were 20 years ago, and they come with a 1 year builders warranty (I've built 2 and issues with the 2nd one after 10 years, and yes I would build another one). Every RV has issues, bottom line, from your 5k pop-up's to your million dollar coaches. Now, I've owned several FR trailers and never had major issues with it and would buy another one if we found a fiver that we liked, however, we didn't, so we went with the Montana 3700LK that we liked.

Not to hi-jack the thread, but does anyone have anything good to say about Montana? It can't be the #1 selling fiver (per reports) for nothing. It can't be all that bad.

[jlb27537]

I have a 2014, built in March 2013. The dealer, Tiara, Elkhart, In. Was a joke. The PDI was a joke. Items were missed on the PDI, that I had to bring to their attention. They were fixed. After spending 3 days at the dealership after I gave them 10 days to do a PDI.

Once home, the problem with the sliding doors in the bedroom continued. The problem was corrected by bungie cords holding the doors in a open position. No help from Keystone.

Next a emergency window latch failed. After a year, I am told it is not available. A member here found a dealer with a drawer full of the needed part. Wrote Keystone, gave them the part number, dugh, yea, we have some.

Remember SALES sells the first one, SERVICE sell the next one.

My first and last KEYSTONE/THOR product.

[captl27]

I have repaired my share of things over the last 15 years in the 6 Fifth wheels I have had including replacing axles and slide components but when the shower drain is clogged when you pick up the new unit. Then after they fix it the shower floor cracks because they removed support to fix the drain and never replaced it you would expect Keystone to either replace the shower unit or make Camping world replace it. Neither one of these thing happened and writing to Trailer life didn't help even though I have been subscribing for the last 15 years. I guess I should know a Lawyer but I don't and now I am left with a poorly repair floor of the shower and Floor covering that is lifting after the glue got cold. I am willing to say that my last two Cedar Creeks which had there share of problems that the manufacturer stood behind every issue were better then what Keystone has done.

[jeffba]

Most of the issues we have had so far were minor, tanks sensors wired backwards, leaky vavle, and when opening skylight cover the anchor bar pulled out. Okay that last one almost knocked me off the ladder.

Originally Posted by captl27

I have repaired my share of things over the last 15 years in the 6 Fifth wheels I have had including replacing axles and slide components but when the shower drain is clogged when you pick up the new unit. Then after they fix it the shower floor cracks because they removed support to fix the drain and never replaced it you would expect Keystone to either replace the shower unit or make Camping world replace it. Neither one of these thing happened and writing to Trailer life didn't help even though I have been subscribing for the last 15 years. I guess I should know a Lawyer but I don't and now I am left with a poorly repair floor of the shower and Floor covering that is lifting after the glue got cold. I am willing to say that my last two Cedar Creeks which had there share of problems that the manufacturer stood behind every issue were better then what Keystone has done.

On a SOB we had a leak that he dealer could not fix. I followed the steps outlined in the Texas Lemon law. Trailer went back to the factory and they put a new front cap on it. Of course the SOB TT had a blow out on the way back that the dealer did not disclose before I drove down to pick it up.

So far our Montana has not had any more issues than anyone of our other SOBs that we have had. Head banger door not included.

I would check your state's lemon law. They are designed ( at least Texas is) so that you do not need to get a lawyer involved

[speedster100]

It's an RV people, its going to have issues, there are pieces of trim that are going to fall off due to going down the roadways at 65mph. Bolts will loosen, toilet seats will break, plumbing parts will leak etc etc... So does the stuff in your house eventually, if you have been RVing for any length of time (its been 35 plus years) and multiple rv's from tent trailers, motorhomes, conventional trailers and 5er's you will know that RV's require constant maintenance, so does your car or truck, so does your house. Many of the complaints I read are for small piddly stuff that most people can fix themselves easily or a day at a good RV dealer would have all fixed up till the next time (it;s and RV so there will be a next time). One thing we've always done is buy from a reputable dealer with a good service department. When we've had issues I can't or don't have time to repair we take it in and they jump on it and get the fixed and back on the road. The dealer is the most important link in the chain of RV owning. For the most part we've had great experience with many different units and manufacturers over the years, only recently in the past 5 years did we get a brand new lemon Crossroads 5er that had so many leaks that the dealer spent huge time on trying to fix which didn't go away so the dealer set up for the trailer to be returned to the factory for repair. Instead we dumped it and traded for the Monty. The Crossroads dealer dropped that brand due to issues with most of the units and on his recommendation we went with the Monty which he didn't sell anymore. Luckily found the unit we liked at a dealer with a good reputation who has jumped to fix the couple issues that required their assistance since we took ownership of our 2015 3790RD. We spend about 8 -10 months a year in it and couldn't be happier with it.... If you want completely trouble free go buy a Condo and pay the maintenance fee's............