First year of ownership

[richfaa]

Our first year of ownership with the 3400 was completed My 8th, 2007 which also marked the end of Keystones bumper to bumper warranty(we have the extended Warranty) We have had a multitude of problems, Some serious, "the meltdown) most minor but problems just the same.We had a list of 26 issues to be corrected for our Service center visit not to mention at least another 26 or so we corrected ourselves IE: (leaky valve stems) Although seemingly in the minority here Ole Rich had this notion that when paying a large amount of Bucks for a supposedly high quality camper we expected just that. So...

.. After a year..We feel the 3400 is in the condition in should have been when it left the factory. The major cause of problems is inconsistent workmanship and lack of quality control.

Our interaction with Keystone, and there has been a lot of that, has been very positive. I have not always been initially satisfied.. but with patience and perseverance ..I have. Every single issue we brought to Keystone attention has been satisfied.99% of the folks at Keystone/Montana/customer service/ Service center have been responsive and professional.There are to many to mention but some of the folks who bore the brunt of Ole Rich's wrath with professional dignity. Mark Krol, Brandon Tom, Susan, Darrell and George at the service center. The crew at the service center where I would weasel my way back there while they were working on our unit to ask. What are you doing , why are you doing that..and..you can put that back together..right???

[Cyrus]

Rich,
I have on had my Mountaineer for about 7 months and less the 2,000 miles on it, not much use during the winter while building a new home. It came with a bad flashlight, must be expected since the dealer had a cabinet full and didn’t ask any questions. The valve stem problem is the only other one, but being new to the camper community maybe I don’t know about all the problems that exist??

I do have an issue with the slides that I plan to check on. I can’t extend or retract all three without the pump kicking off once or twice. Few seconds latter it will go again. Fluid is at the center line. My thinking is weak breaker but what do I know?

[Wrenchtraveller]

Rich, I am glad you had all your issues resolved. My experience has been easier than yours. We just returned from a 2000 mile trip over pretty rough roads and the only issue we had was the shower has a small leak into the basement. I know this is a common problem and is caused from the use of plumbers putty instead of silicone calking which is what I used when I plumbed this house 28 years ago. I will fix this myself before we head out in two weeks.
In 18 months and over 10 weeks of use my unit has been almost flawless so mine must have been made when the factory was not so busy or the experienced workers were on the job. For you to have 26 issues and me to have none suggests that RV making is like any other type of production and the type of people you have working on a unit makes the difference. Take the stripped screw issue on the cabinets. Anybody with half a brain and an ***hole knows when you strip out a woodscrew. To just send the unit out like that is real dumb thing for the factory to do. It is also a real dumb thing for a dealership to miss so here is a case where two different people are simply not doing their job.
Anyway, I hope your unit is trouble free for years to come.

[Tom Gina 06]

Rich,

Happy to hear that you resolved all the issues .99%. Pretty good when a company will stand behind their product like that. I do believe that you hit the nail on the head concerning quality control. But then that is a production cost, bottom line and like many companies in the USA, they are out to make the production numbers look good. Combined that with a production rushed employee and you have the formula for exactly what we have experienced. As long as Keystone keeps up with the customer satisfaction that they have to correct the problems experienced by customers. They will remain as one of the best for the money buys on the market. Sometimes getting a hold fo Team Montana is nerve racking but with persistance it is possible. When I have talked to someone they always have taken the time to listen never rushing me off the phone. Now that says a lot for the people representing the product we live in. This also explains why so many people have been repeat customers. I also hope you have many more years of trouble free enjoyment from your "condo" on wheels.

[richfaa]

Don and Tom..could not agree with you more. I am, and always have been a satisfied, but at times , disappointed Montana owner. After all we chose to purchase one.Folks may take the view that I had more than my share of problems. What I did was report and discuss each problem large and small in the hope that it would prevent another Montana owner from having that problem. In my questioning of scores of Montana owners, and other brand owners, on our travels,It is our observation that our issues are typical.Don here is something to think about..your unit is 18 months and 10 weeks of use and a fairly good experience.. My unit 12 months old this week and over 25 weeks of use.. 112 consecutive days and @6500 miles this winter alone. Why the difference..annnnddd...we both have nearly the identical tow vehicle..trouble with my Ford in 18,700 miles..exactly zero. It has traveled the same distance over the same roads as the Montana and had to work a lot harder in doing it.......HHummmm.Anyhow we are satisfied with our all over Keystone/Montana experience afer 1 year and we hope we have few, hopefully no, future issues to report.

[Wrenchtraveller]

Rich, I had my very first issue with my truck. The battery went dead and would not take a charge. It must be a lemon to last only 30 months.
It is only a 650 Cold Cranking Amp battery so I replaced it with a Costco 900 CCA battery and the engine cranks quicker and starts faster than before. I did not bother with Ford warranty as the new battery was only 70 bucks Cad. Also , on one part of the trip, the ABS brake light came on and I phoned a Ford dealer. He said it was probably a wheel sensor and it would only mean the ABS part of the brakes were not working. He said there was really no safety issue and they were too busy to look at it. The next day the light went out and the ABS is working again so I will keep an eye on it.
The V10 ran great and I did one long flat stretch with no wind and got just over 8 MPG.
Most of the time I get around 7.5 so I am happy with that and that is better than last year so you are right about the 12000 mile break in. I now have 15000 miles and she is feeling real good.
I have 3000 miles on this oil change, 2000 towing and 1000 miles solo and the oil level is not even down 1/8th of an inch on the stick. All my previous trucks including my last 3 PSDs used a little oil towing so the V10 is unique for me. I have always been comfortable adding a quart every 2000 miles or so and I am really surprized that the 5-20 Motorcraft semi-synthetic does so well. I am now using this same oil in my 02 Honda Accord and am able to go between changes with no adding. The other 5-20s I used in the Honda all were down a quart at 3000 miles but the Honda has been flawless in the 5 years we have owned it.
I always look rigs over pretty good on all the CGs we go to and IMO, the Montanas look as good as any. I have seen a few higher end units with very wavy looking high gloss. I am liking my flat fibreglass better all the time.Take care.