Should we dump the fiver?

[sgf]

This past wed.,the 22nd of Dec.,we picked up our fiver from the dealer for major fiberglass repair.The work looks like it was done by my five year old grand-daughter,we thought the dealer was taking it to the factory but found out keystone authorized a local body shop to do the work.Sand marks are very visible in the filon sides of the unit, the graphics that were replaced are full of bubbles,the dealer said they will come out when it gets warm.We initially refused to take the unit home,but;the dealer said it met keystones repair criteria and we would have to pay them to store it until we contact keystone about being upset about the quality of the repair.They also replaced the entrance door and it looks like it was installed crooked,plus the white seems to be a different color.The carpet replacement was okay as was the rest of the repairs.This unit has had plenty of problems and now the dealer says it is over 1 year old and out of warranty,even though they assured us they would talk keystone into giving us an extra year free.We are just sick and tired of fighting all the problems with this unit and do not know whether to fight to have it fixed again or just trade it on a different brand of fiver and take our losses in stride .Any suggestions to help us, we really love the lay-out of this unit, just not all the problems.

[CountryGuy]

My two cents, on Monday AM, have a LONG cup of coffee, and a nice breakfast, then calmly CALL KEYSTONE, on the phone! Tell them everything that your dealer told you, and be prepared to furnish them photos of this repair to the sides.

GO to Keystone now! DIRECTLY!

It can be so discouraging, and Al and I fully understand your frustration. We have seen fiberglass repairs that do not look like what it seems you are describing.

Good luck, try to remain calm, even tho in your gut you may not be!

Let us hear how this washes out.

Carol

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Well sgf I don't really know what to tell ya. I also have a 2004 2955RL and other than a shower door have had no problems.
From your description of this problem it seems to be more dealer related.

As far as the sloppy repairs, etc I would get on the phone to Montana first thing Monday morning.

Just what was the cause of the fiberglass repair and door replacement?

[prariepoodle]

sgf, I agree with country guy go to where you can get the right kind of help and if it takes Keystone to help then that is where you should go. I have read on here that they have stepped up to the plate many times when the dealers did not.

I feel so bad for you and hope that you can get things done like you want them to be, please keep us posted on what you find out.

[lightningjack11]

By all means take the warranty. Take a lot of high quality photos. Looks like you might have to take a trip to Goshen.

Also I agree with having a long cup of coffee before making a decision to trade. Other mfgrs are having problems. HR is having a frame recall similiar to the early Montanas even though the Presidential is a high ended unit. Be careful. Give the factory a chance.

[sgf]

Thank you all for your kind words, we did try and call keystone on thursday after work but were told they were on plant shutdown until after the holidays,the repairs were done to remove some large bubbles that appeared in the side wall between the two slides,the door proble was also because of a large bubble that appeared in the middle of the door,the door I think I can repair, but I am not a body shop tech so do not know what to do about the sides.We are off monday so will do as you all suggest, be calm is going to be hard for me,but; I know that honey goes alot further than vinegar.Thank you all and Happy Holidays.

[sreigle]

SGF, I agree with the others that the work should not be this shoddy. On our first Montana we had bubbles on the side and Keystone had Fox RV in Middlebury, IN, do the work. In just the right light and looking at just the right angle you could tell where it was repaired if you knew it had been done. But 99% of the time you could not tell. Yours should be just as good. Calling Keystone is probably the best way to get this fixed. Plus, this is not a warranty issue, this is an issue of correcting an unacceptable repair job. Keystone needs to know about this both to get you taken care of and so they avoid that repair facility in the future. Good luck. Please let us know how this turns out.

[rames14]

SGF -

I have noticed that the problems many people talk about on this forum are a result of their "dealers" beliefs and not Keystones. I know that I was just at my dealer to pick up some items and they told me also Keystone was down this week. The dealer can make or break an RV experience. We are fortunate to have a dealer that cares in Rollin On RV in Indiana. If you're like me, you're probably impatient to get it taken care of but just take a deep breath and it'll work out. Keystone does not want disgruntled customers on this site - I'm sure they'll come through. Have a good New Year and relax.

[Thunderman]

SGF,
I can understand your frustration and disappointment. I would be concerned as to why the bubbles appeared. My experience with bubbles was costly and became a continuing problem. I had a roof leak which I was not aware of. To make a long story short, I had a bubble appear on one side above the large slide out which became larger as time passed. There were two bubbles on the nose of the 5er which appeared after spending around $2,000. on repairs. Another small bubble appeared on the other side, much lower on the 5er. The small bubble appeared roughly a year later. If keystone will help that would be the way to go due to costly potential problems. If water related, suggest you file a claim with your insurance company.
The only bright side was when I traded the unit in on the Montana, I was very concerned about the the value the dealer would place on the unit for trade in. I did tell them about the bubbles, when they looked at it, they were concerned about appliances working and the cleanliness of the interior. Did not pay hardly any attention to the bubbles. Let's hope for some good fortune to get the new year started off right. Good luck!

[sreigle]

Thunderman suggested figuring out what caused the bubbles. I think that's a good idea and also thought I'd tell you what caused the bubbles in our 2001 2880RL, just in case it fits your situation.

The bubbles on ours were just outside the shower stall. On initial delivery inspection we noticed the shower stall was not caulked along the bottom on the outside wall. So the dealer caulked that for us. Come to find out, caulking there is a no-no. It is intentionally not caulked to prevent moisture buildup between shower stall and outside wall. It was the moisture buildup that caused the bubbles. Keystone paid for the repair anyhow under warranty.

[sgf]

Our bubbles are on the opposite side of the shower, between the slides about halfway up between the black tank flush and the roof,dealer said no water damage, that someone probably just did not put any glue there, yea right, they also said the unit's repair work was satisfactory to them and would meet keystones approval.No more bubbles are there, just large sand marks,clearly seen lines where they cut out the bubbles,2 squares worth, and now since it got colder, the repairs sides have cracked where bonded together, looks like it was done with bondo and the body shop hoped the graphics would cover it.Have sent pics to keystone but no reply yet.Have has unit appraised for trade, different dealer;would not take to big of a hit on it, of course this dealer is only 4 miles from our dealer and is the other son of the past owner of our dealer. They had a falling out some years ago and one son now owns our dealer(partner) and the other son would love to take this sale,of course he said our dealer would have to re-repair,am at a lost, really do not want a Holiday Rambler.Sorry so long!