Poor materials

[Wickedtactical]

I have a 2020 Keystone Montana legacy and it's falling apart. Made with great materials but not secured well. Ceiling pieces trim all coming loose. Refrigerator failed needed a new board. Theory on video system only works half the time. They do put a lot of junk and what's supposed to be a luxury coach!
Please tell me your new coach woes.

[Wickedtactical]

At least with my cheaper Mallard it was expected.

[Wickedtactical]

I forgot to mention when bringing in the main bed Box it doesn't it dug into the floor and destroyed itself! And linoleum! Thx Keystone.
Part of the sofa came loose and when bringing in the living room ripped it off the sofa.

[DutchmenSport]

Yes, it takes the first year of ownership to unearth all the problems and get things fixed. It isn't right, that's for sure. But we've all been there, done that, and keep trying to warn folks making new purchases to be very frugal in their inspections before purchasing. But all the warning we do seems to always fall on deaf ears, .... until .....

[MandK]

Originally Posted by Wickedtactical

I have a 2020 Keystone Montana legacy and it's falling apart. Made with great materials but not secured well. Ceiling pieces trim all coming loose. Refrigerator failed needed a new board. Theory on video system only works half the time. They do put a lot of junk and what's supposed to be a luxury coach!
Please tell me your new coach woes.

In the first year of ownership I needed to replace the motion light at the stairs and a soft closer mechanism on one of the bedroom drawers. I called my dealer, he called keystone and keystone sent me the parts. On my doorstep in 4 days and I did the repair myself. Obviously simple. Never had the camper back to the dealer.
Second year of ownership, which we are in now, I had a structural issue, not a serious one, but a problem none the less. Called my dealer, he called keystone and I called keystone and sent photographs to customer service. Next day keystone called me back, told me they had been in contact with my dealer and they were sending parts to them. Later that same day my dealer called me and said they had talked to the factory and parts were being sent and when they arrive, he would call me to set up a day to drop it off (about 120 miles for me). 3 days later he called and said I could bring it in anytime and asked me when I needed it back. It was The beginning of October and I told him we leave for Florida right after Thanksgiving. He said no problem, you’ll have it back in two weeks. One week after I dropped it off I had it back. It was an amazing experience. The keystone rep kept me in the loop 100% of the way.
This past winter the refrigerator restraining bar broke while driving across Florida. I took it off and spent $40 to have it welded and beefed up a little.
In February I read on here that some people were having issues with the awning rails pulling loose. Out of curiosity I pulled the screw cover on the main awning and found several #8 screws loose or stripped in the filon. I replaced them with a combination of #10 stainless screws and Oscar rivets. I still have not checked the rail on the slideout awning. Keystone could have done a better job on the awning rails.
Also in February I replaced the igniter on my furnace. The Dometic rep walked me through the troubleshooting. No problem.
Last week I had Dometic send me a new water valve for the toilet. It was leaking around the valve stem. They covered it under their 2 year warranty after I sent them a photo to prove it wasn’t frost damage.
So I’ve had a few issues but nothing real bad except the structural issue and everything else I took care of myself. I figure I have to expect issues. Hopefully they will continue to be easy stuff.
Obviously I have been extremely pleased with my Montana and would buy another one in a heartbeat. I feel bad about some of the problems I read here and by the sounds of things all of the manufacturers could do better.
Recently I installed disc brakes on this one with keeping it a while in mind. Hope our luck holds out.

[1retired06]

As you can see I have had several Montana fivers. I have seen the quality diminish both in workmanship and materials each time I traded to a newer one. I also saw a decline in Keystone customer service. Believe the slow decline was due to a business decision to keep the prices stable. Like others have said, took me over a year to get our 15 squared away, much of the work I did myself. Our 15 has served us well. Quality is an RV Industry-wide problem. Suspect happiest owners are the ones who do their own repairs.

[phillyg]

Your expectations were too high IMHO. I don't think Montanas are luxury units. KS, and really all manufacturers, build them with poor materials and even poorer assembly, since forever. I think most of us would be priced out of a luxury RV. I might be too cynical in my old age, but your issues seem typical.

[Theunz]

I don’t think his expectations are too high at all. Most of the problems are related to nothing but poor workmanship. A number of problems could be avoided by just spending a couple hundred dollars more per unit on stronger and larger fasteners. So many areas are grossly under built but would only cost a few dollars more at the time of manufacture.
I think what it boils down to is competition and the business plan of building to a price point to match or undercut the competition. It’s all about fancy gadgets and ornate trim, and when you add all that and still have to hit your price point it’s quality that takes a backseat.

[JNLVaughn]

Quality is definitely a thing of past. They rush them through the build and pride themselves on how fast they can build one. Not only is quality gone they put the cheapest furniture, appliances, sinks/faucets etc. in them as well....VERY IRRITATING! Should have higher end "stuff" for $ we pay!
We have 2021 with peeling furniture, sinks/faucets peeling...stainless junk.

[riflegunbuilder]

A friend of mine had an Avalanche 5th wheel. They had tons of problems, and still are. They tried to discourage me from buying my Montana. I thought it was a nice unit and bought on the experience of another friends 11 or 12 Montana. My current unit has convinced to never buy Keystone again. I was looking at Redwoods briefly until I discovered they are Keystone too.

[JNLVaughn]

Riflehunbuilder:. We have had 3 Keystone RV's, 2 Cougars and now Montana. We had better quality in our Cougars and definitely better quality furniture, faucets/sinks. I've always wanted a Montana but now kind of kicking myself.. The floorplan we love but...........

[Rod Spohn]

Originally Posted by DutchmenSport

Yes, it takes the first year of ownership to unearth all the problems and get things fixed. It isn't right, that's for sure. But we've all been there, done that, and keep trying to warn folks making new purchases to be very frugal in their inspections before purchasing. But all the warning we do seems to always fall on deaf ears, .... until .....

I thought I did a good job inspecting my unit. Most of the real problems have been things you wouldn’t have seen. Poor quality furniture, poor workmanship , under sized solar, etc. We have replaced most of the furniture We added tons to the solar so we can actually get through the night.
As for the things found during our inspection - they had the trailer over 6 months and fixed only some of the issues. We decided to live with the problems rather than leaving it for another 6 months. Now 3 years later we have a unit we can enjoy..

[Foldbak]

Expectations to high. Look around, not just at ANY trailer but stuff in general. This isn't our generation.....if you get my drift

[Wisconsin Retiree]

In my opinion the build on these trailers is certainly not done with the intent of it staying together...When I go to repair an issue like the toilet, bathroom door, kitchen cabinet etc. I come upon multiple other issues that develop from the normal use & effects of the rolling earthquake but truly some of these issues could easily have been avoided with decent quality fasteners and/or hardware. There would have to be some actual concern on Keystone's part to put out a better product knowing the environment and abuse these trailers are subjected to. Bottom line is they want to assure profits/money ends up in their favor and do not truly concern themselves with our expense at redoing their cheap & ****** workmanship.

[Ricefarmer]

Originally Posted by Wisconsin Retiree

In my opinion the build on these trailers is certainly not done with the intent of it staying together...When I go to repair an issue like the toilet, bathroom door, kitchen cabinet etc. I come upon multiple other issues that develop from the normal use & effects of the rolling earthquake but truly some of these issues could easily have been avoided with decent quality fasteners and/or hardware. There would have to be some actual concern on Keystone's part to put out a better product knowing the environment and abuse these trailers are subjected to. Bottom line is they want to assure profits/money ends up in their favor and do not truly concern themselves with our expense at redoing their cheap & ****** workmanship.

Amen, you hit the nail on the head!!! Our 2015 Outback was a lot better built than our 2020 Montana