Quality

[mlh]

I have friends who bought a used DRV. I wouldn't tell them but set the Montana and DRV side by side and flip a coin. I don't see any difference in them. One is no better quality wise than the other.
Lynwood

[rames14]

Chris and James, as I have said many times, the dealer makes all of the difference. As for the original poster's question, we are on our third Montana. We have traded because of changes in our life, not because of problems. We have had some minor issues, always taken care of. All of the manufacturers use Lippert, Dometic, Atwood, Suburban, etc. Good luck in your decision. The one thing none of the others have is the MOC. You see the issues here because it is set up as an open forum. It is not run by Montana, but by a private MOC member. Many of the issues brought up here are fixed as a result of the MOC feedback. Anyone remember the remote thermostat or the Quest stereo? JMHO.

[richfaa]

If I thought that there was a brand in the price rang that was any better than the Montana or would give me better service I would buy it today.

[1retired06]

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

If I thought that there was a brand in the price rang that was any better than the Montana or would give me better service I would buy it today.

Agree completely

[dfb]

I have had 6 previous new 5th wheels. Non have given more issues than this one. My others were an Aljo 1902 for 8500.. NO PROBLEMS, A TAHOE BY THOR WTH WARIPNG END CAPS. A 15000 prowler, once again, no issues.. Another aljo lite, No PROBLEMS. ANYONE WHO SAYS, " it's a rolling home home expect it! NO I DONT EXPECT IT, this is what they are made to do. That statement is like saying, it's a boat, expect it to sink, or it's an airplane, expect it to crash.... No I refuse to accept it.. I refuse to accept poor quality and craftsmanship! When shower handles fall off, or the medicine cabinet sticks out so far one cannot wash their face without spilling water all over, or fender screws come out, or slides crack the walls, or flooring gets damaged by the slides or leaks... This is a design and quality issue! And NO, I won't accept it. A fridge not working ok.. Or converter etc ok... But Never build quality! Never! Imagine fenders on cars falling off and someone says,"well, it's on the road, accept it". Some one has very low expectations.

[dfb]

I have had 6 previous new 5th wheels. Non have given more issues than this one. My others were an Aljo 1902 for 8500.. NO PROBLEMS, A TAHOE BY THOR WTH WARIPNG END CAPS. A 15000 prowler, once again, no issues.. Another aljo lite, No PROBLEMS. ANYONE WHO SAYS, " it's a rolling home home expect it! NO I DONT EXPECT IT, this is what they are made to do. That statement is like saying, it's a boat, expect it to sink, or it's an airplane, expect it to crash.... No I refuse to accept it.. I refuse to accept poor quality and craftsmanship! When shower handles fall off, or the medicine cabinet sticks out so far one cannot wash their face without spilling water all over, or fender screws come out, or slides crack the walls, or flooring gets damaged by the slides or leaks... This is a design and quality issue! And NO, I won't accept it. A fridge not working ok.. Or converter etc ok... But Never build quality! Never! Imagine fenders on cars falling off and someone says,"well, it's on the road, accept it". Some one has very low exceptations..

[dfb]

quote:Originally posted by paiceman

We are considering a Montana, but most of what I read are quality issues and keystone not being cooperative. So, we started looking into New Horizons, very expensive but also very few issues.

Would appreciate insights, good and bad.

Thanks

Bud

Bud, this is just my opinion. This is our 1st Thor keystone Montana 3610 legacy. It's ticketed at 92000! We have owned it for over a year... It is a high priced low quality Rv. If we were to do it again, I would look for any Rv not made by Thor as its parent Company. I would even buy a slightly used unit..every manufacturer will have an issue or two. However, ours goes beyond this. It's not an a/c unit of fridge.. This is leaks, substandard parts, poor quality and lack of pride..picture board coming apart, and more than all else,,,, when calling the factory
the girl I spoke to was oblivious, non caring, we did you a favor by making this attitude...

[TLightning]

One reason Montana has so many published problems is because there are so many Montanas on the road. In order to be fair, folks need to compare the total number of Montanas with problems to the total number of Montanas on the road. Then due a similar comparison with other companies that build 5th wheels.

[mlh]

I agree with what my RV dealer says. "They are all junk".
Lynwood

[jlb27537]

We bought our first 5th wheel in '93 after owning pop-up campers, campers on 3/4T trucks and tents. Even did a stretch of towing small stuff with our Gold Wings. While newbies in '93 we did purchase a Aljo. We had ONE issue. The black tank drain valve was glued shut. Since the Dealership had not checked it, I got to fix it at a remote spot. I returned the valve to them and gave them my thoughts.

We next bought a small 5th for a lake lot in '96, not a single issue.

Next we purchased a SOB 5th in 2000 and used it for 6 years fulltiming with not a single issue. Warranty by the Dealership in Carthage, Mo was flawless. The sink chipped and they replaced it.

Next a used 10 year old pusher. I became best friends with it and was either in or on every part of it. The DW decided it was time for the 17 year old pusher to go. We fulltimed in it for 7 years.

Now, time to go back to a 5th wheel. Montana had a floor plan we liked, a 3150RL (now discontinued). We bought from a dealership in Elkhart, In. Sales a 10, Service a "0". thus started our service issues.

Being retired from automotive dealerships, I can run a few simple tools. Took a year or so, but got most of it going now.

We are getting ready to move back to a pusher, and the one thing I am going to look for is the lack of anything Thor related.

Keystone Customer Service is worthless. You call, they note it in your file, that is the end of it. I had a emergency window latch break. Not available, part discontinued. A member here had a picture of a bin full of the parts with the part number. I called Steve Holmes, GM for Montana. After his parts person said they were not available, now she can find them in her warehouse. Steve sent me one.

A sad day when a customer has to provide the mfg. with the part number. Today, other than the closet doors will not stay on track, and fixing most of the stuff that dribbles off one of these it is working.

Will I buy another Thor product, not today. I will go back to the SOB that made my 5th wheel or a M/H maker in Alabama where I can call and actually talk to the owner.

Mr. Thor, you have gotten to where GM was in the 80's. I told my wife in '83 we would live to see GM file bankruptcy. At the time I was managing a Cadillac Dealership and the cra? they were putting out was just that cra?. Along came Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Nissan and what happened. Folks quit buying Detroit stuff, and bought stuff that did not break, did not leak, did not have wind noise, did not do anything except work properly.

Me, probably in a year or so, I'll have another pusher.

Jim

[jameswbarton]

Buyer beware you are rolling the dice buying Keytone.

It is becoming apparent that by the time I get My Montana HC 375 FL back from the 3rd warranty dealer where it has spent the month of August it will likely be too cold to know if they fixed my AC issues. Out of the 95 days I have owned it, it has either been waiting to go to the shop or in the shop or in the shop waiting for parts or Keystone authorization. The tally is 39 days waiting appointments and the rest is in the shop. We have no idea how many complaints Montana owners have. Unless the selling dealer fixes the defects out of his profit they are all dependent on Keystone to pay them for all warranty labor and parts and most dealers will not touch a warranty claim without Keystone authorization or they will not get paid by Keystone. It appears the longer a company is owned by Thor the worse the Quality gets. The mistake I made was driving it off the lot without using it a couple of days before I gave them all the money. They are still on the first list of defects I found on 3 June the day after I paid them all the money and drove it off the lot.

[davidaf]

Up until last month I had no opinion of Keystone's customer service. I was fortunate in that I didn't have any issues that required warranty work. All the issues I had were ones i could take care of myself. Last month we dropped the rig at dealer to investigate what I suspected was frame flex. Long story short Keystone agreed to pay for the fix 2 years out of warranty. I absolutely didn't expect any support from Keystone much less complete coverage of the repair but my pocket book is very happy and while I wasn't considering Keystone for my next rig they have made it back on my list.

[1retired06]

Great news for you! We have been satisfied with all four of our Montana units, and although we experienced some irritating issues with the newest one, our Dealers and Keystone have always stood up to the plate and fixed. Good to hear when someone experiences good service.

[JandC]

Since I assume the rule about not mentioning brands has been temporarily suspended, I may as well come out of the closet. When we began our search for the MH we began looking at Jayco Class C units but soon discovered that we were headed to a class A. The Jayco Class A units in the 31' to 35' range were okay as far as interior trim goes but nothing to get excited about. I even checked out their forum to try to become more familiar with them. They ended up having a pretty good reputation. On the test drive the thing drove like an overloaded cheap bread truck. When a semi would pass it would almost knock you off the road and the coach inside made a ton of creaking-knocking-banging noise while underway. I guess I was looking past all that thinking it was just the way most MH's were.

Thankfully they couldn't figure out the "check engine" light and delayed delivery twice. We cancelled the deal and just happen to be in contact at another dealership the day after they took in a Thor Challenger 37GT with 3,200 miles. I know how a lot of folks feel about Thor owned anything so I was holding back my opinions until I not only climbed all over this thing but did a test drive on some bad roads. The thing is trimmed better and with higher quality contents than any Jayco (Flexsteel seats and couch, etc...), and rides like a dream, no coach noise and no semi trucks pushing you around. I honestly thought I was driving a diesel pusher except for the total lack of power (V-10 gaser). We bought it of course and after living in it for 7 days I am still finding additional features I like. We are taking the factory tour this week in northern Indiana where the Challenger is made.

My point is, the whole RV industry lacks good quality control. Has Thor always owned Keystone RV? Can they have any type of control over dealers anymore than Keystone can? Jayco is suppose to be this "family" owned RV manufacturer but in my limited experience comparing a Thor MH to a Jayco MH is like comparing lawn leather furniture to lawn furniture.

[jameswbarton]

Not the whole RV Industry lacks Quality Control. Thor and Forest River are slugging it out for last place. Jayco is now owned by Thor so if you want one buy it soon before it degrades like Montana has degraded. Newell has good Quality and should last you a lifetime if You like Motor Homes.

[phillyg]

Most if not all mass-produced FWS have issues because of poor or non-existent factory QC. All I can say is at six months new, our Montana has been significantly better than the Forest River it replaced.

[Phil P]

Hi

We have now toured a number of RV production lines. We did not see any QC on the line in any of the places we toured in Indiana. However we did see production line QC on the production line in Kansas.

Now I just had a look at the Internet site of a company in Indiana that says they have a QC program with inspection at every stage of the production line. Their MSRP is comparable to Keystone. We plan to go have a look and see for ourselves some time before it gets cold up that way.

Phil P

[Buckeye83]

We have only had our Montana for a month but we had several items addressed during PDI. Our Monty dealer has been great.

Our first TT was a Grand Design purchased through General RV. I would probably not but from General RV again. We loved our Grand Design and some of the features it had that our Monty does not have. We looked at the Solitude line when upgrading which was very nice (comparable to Montana) but a heavier pin weight and General RV would have been our local dealer without traveling 2 hours away.

Based on our experience with Grand Design their customer service is most likely second to none (when comparing apples to apples). If something broke I would have new parts and manuals overnighted to me at no charge. All of the GD owners came from Keystone.

[jameswbarton]

When you bought your Grand Design from General RV did they have you sign a paper titled "General RV "As Is" and Warranty Disclaimer Acknowledgement.
This paper releives General RV from doing anything to your RV since you bought it aw is. I would never buy anything from General RV again.

[bigskyjimmy]

Only problem with that is you are comparing a Solitude to your High Country ,their Reflection line Or MAYBE the Non Legacy Monty(even that is a stretch) is your comparison,I have 2 friends with a Solitude and compared to the Montana Legacy they are outclassed,they have only a dated 10in frame,cheap Tv's and stereos no central Vac system,cheaper suspension,,no ceiling fan,no rear cap,cheaper pin Box the list goes on and they are the same price,they are nice looking but that is far as it goes and they have been back for warranty work many times and they have a horrible dealer network that sells them(Paul Everets, General RV etc.. Although you are right they do like GD's customer service

quote:Originally posted by Buckeye83

We have only had our Montana for a month but we had several items addressed during PDI. Our Monty dealer has been great.

Our first TT was a Grand Design purchased through General RV. I would probably not but from General RV again. We loved our Grand Design and some of the features it had that our Monty does not have. We looked at the Solitude line when upgrading which was very nice (comparable to Montana) but a heavier pin weight and General RV would have been our local dealer without traveling 2 hours away.

Based on our experience with Grand Design their customer service is most likely second to none (when comparing apples to apples). If something broke I would have new parts and manuals overnighted to me at no charge. All of the GD owners came from Keystone.