Mountaineer vs Montana

[Montana_1424]

The wife and I just put our Monty up for sale. We would like to get a different floor plan, and also a boat LOL.
Anyway, we are looking to purchase our new rig in right after the first of the new year. We would like to definatly get another Montata, but becasue we want a boat as well, we might drop down to a Mountaineer. So my question is , what are the major differences, including the price point? Obviusly, if there is not a big difference in price, we will stay with the Monty, but we are curious.
Thanks

[Montana_2779]

Based on what we saw while shopping, the Mountaineer is about "a step down" on the price scale. We were looking at Montana's starting in the low $40's and going up pretty quickly to the high $50's and low $60's (did not see all of the models, so I surely can't speak for the entire line). We ended up in our 297RKS for about $32K. The "lot price" on the big orange sales signs had the Mountaineers in the mid $30's to mid $40's in our area. Although the Mountaineers aren't quite as fancy, we really like the craftmanship and decor. We were dead-set on an Open Road 37' rear living room model at $46K when we happened upon our Monty (Mounty?) on the last day of 2004. The dealer really did give us a price we couldn't resist, so we downsized a bit and couldn't be happier!

[sreigle]

One thing that might shed a little light on the Montana/Mountaineer question -- At the Tampa RV Show we talked with one of the Keystone/Montana execs. He told us that, with the Big Sky going away, a lot of the features that were standard on the Big Sky are now on the Montana. And the Mountaineer was taking on many of the features you used to have to go to a Montana to get. He also commented that the new Mountaineers are essentially what the Montana was just a couple of years or so ago. Thus, I'd expect a 2006 Mountaineer is very similar to our 2003 Montana. I could not tell you what attributes he was talking about but when we toured a couple of 2005 Mountaineers my impression was they are a beautiful rig.

[trukdoc]

We bought a 328RLS Mountaineer well equipped, almost every option. Purchased in the lower side of the $30K's. I love it. It is very comfortable and on and on. For the money I do not believe I could have done better.

[Montana_3032]

If ya don't mind my asking....are you not happy with the 3650 floor plan? I thought it was a really neat floorplan...but I don't spend much time in the kitchen at home...so the big real kitchen in the Montana really wouldn't have been a good fit for us..

I'm mainly asking just 'cause I'm curious/nosey

[Montana_1424]

Thanks for all the input, the 328 is exactly what I am considering.

We still are not sure if we are going to step down to a Mountianeer or not yet, I love the Montana, but they are a good value, and we would like to purchas a boat as well, so we might take the step down so we can.

As far as liking the floor plan, I love it, my wife more than I , I really wanted the Rear Living room, and now that we are thinking about buying a boat, I convinced her it was time to sell it, and maybe downsize a little. Either way, I get a new Monty out of the deal, boat or no boat :-)

[dbrill]

I haven't looked since I got the Mountaineer but the big differences a couple of years back were that things that were standard on the Montana were options on the Mountaineer and some Montana options were not avaiable at all on the Mountaineer. Of course for me needing a bunk house floor plan took the Montana out of the running. When I no longer need a bunk house (if that ever happens now that I am a grandpa) I would still consider a Mountaineer if they have a floorplan the wife likes.

[old turbo]

Have the 2004 Mountaineer 297rks. We were out looking at the shows for years. We had a list of what we were looking for one of which was more kitchen counter top space,the 297 has enough for us ,has plenty fo storage, can see the tv from all the seating,and the trailer is plenty long enough at 33ft.I have made lots of changes on things in and out of the trailer but thats the way I am.

[mgdg]

I was upset with the quality of My Mountaineer 328rls at first. It seemed that after every trip we made it was back at the dealer for warranty work!! Then I read about problems with the Montanas on this site and the Mountaineers have the same problems as them. Sure the Mountaineer is a step down from the Montana but as is said on this site for the money I`ve found its a good deal. I was ready to get rid of her, but I changed my mind, everything is fixed and I haven`t had a problem in the last 3 outings!!! Next weekend our group of 30-40 people go to the Rifle river in Michigan for our annual canoe trip, what a blast. I`ll find out how the new shocks handle the trip. We love the layout and it fits us perfect, I feel more confident in her ability to standup to the rigors of the road. Looking forward to many years of camping with her now, and maybe a trip down to Arizona and Mexico with her in a couple more years. ALL brands of TT`s and 5er`s have problems with them. Visit other sites of different brands and you find the same results.

[Jeff Heiser]

We have a 2005 327RKS Mountaineer Travel Trailer and just love it. But, my wife says it's becuase I am easy to please. Unlike most, we have had very little problmes with our TT. We love the floor plan but Keystone told us they only made it for a very short time and it will not be available in a 2006 model. We have all the options you can get except for the Washer/Dryer which is not available in our model. The layout is very comfortable, the TT goes down the road with no problem and it looks good to boot.

The differences we saw between the Mountaineer and Montana models were things like upgrade (fancier) interiors on the Montanas, upgraded wood trim on the Montanas and like another post stayed what were options on the Mountaineer were standard equipment on the Montanas we looked at. We paid around $38K for ours loaded. After going to dozens of dealerships looking at all kinds the bottom line was the Mountaineer was the best deal for what we were looking for.

God Bless America
Jeff Heiser
Merritt Island Florida