KEYSTONE QUALITY

[DarMar]

It's taken 14 months to get all the kinks out of our 2015 unit. We would rather be enjoying our rig rather than deal with all the frustrations that now seem to come with each new unit. Our current, now fixed up, 3610 will be around until we have the confidence of the brand back before considering another.

[mlh]

QC is expensive. Think about how much you would be willing to pay to have all these inspections done. It is going to come out of your pocket.
Lynwood

[richfaa]

It comes out of our pocket anyway when we have to pay out of pocket for the repairs caused by poor quality control.

[DQDick]

The only bright spot is that we are able then to put the good parts in that Keystone could have put in to start with.

[1retired06]

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

It comes out of our pocket anyway when we have to pay out of pocket for the repairs caused by poor quality control.

Exactly right. And even when the dealer repairs, there is the lost time and cost of traveling to the dealer.

[richfaa]

Just my opinion. I do not think it is so much the quality of the vendor parts but the quality in how they are assembled. Those of us who have been on the factory tours some of us many times can see up close the assembly process. You can give me the best paint, canvas, brushes and I will not paint the Mona Lisa because I can not paint.

[waynemoore]

The following is just MHO. But I resent the fact that It is ok for me to take my time and money to take this $70,000.00 rig to a dealer to repair something that should not have gone wrong in the first place. That compounded by the fact that it may set there for mouths waiting on parts. Plus being worked on by untranded personal.
Just think how POed one would be if that were how your truck manufacture treated you.
Again JMHO.

[ranch560]

WOW, I'm blown away with the response this post has generated. It appears just about everyone of us has experienced quality control issues from small to large. When a brand new Montana is returned to the dealer and is unusable for months on end, this is serious. Keystone and Montana management, I hope you are paying attention.

If there really was a serious quality control program in place, our MOC members wouldn't be posting and venting the way they are. I think the majority of us truly love and enjoy our units with some of us on our 3rd and 4th Montana's. And from the stories I've read, QC is getting worse, not better. Right now the whole RV industry is going crazy and every company is having record sales. And that means more, more, more! That also means hire more people. With the majority of all RV manufactures being located in North Central Indiana, there has to be a lack of qualified labor. And I'm sure there is very little training if any available to the new hires. And the fact most of these new hires will be pieceworkers makes it worse. Slow pace - less money / faster pace - more money!! It's pretty obvious what's taking place.

I think Keystone and Montana are aware they have a problem, that's why this video was produced. Thor Industries, Keystones parent company has to be having this same problem in all their divisions. But until they take a very serious look at fixing these issues, it will be business as usual. Sadly, I don't think our voice as a few Montana owners with grievances will be heard very loud. But we can try.

[Clemson1881]

I was considering buying a new Montana this Fall, but I think I'll keep what I have. Thanks for the warnings. I have passed this information on to a friend looking at the rear den model (currently a SOB). He said thanks and has shifted his eye to another SOB. Previous poster calling out inexperienced labor is probably dead on.

[baybum10]

Wow, I didn't realize Thor Industries was the owner of so many RV divisions. No wonder quality control is an issue.

[mlh]

Sad thing is Montana Thor is no better or worse than any of the other manufactures. Like friend who owned a camper store said " When you get the skin off of them there isn't much difference".
Lynwood

[1retired06]

quote:Originally posted by Clemson1881

I was considering buying a new Montana this Fall, but I think I'll keep what I have. Thanks for the warnings. I have passed this information on to a friend looking at the rear den model (currently a SOB). He said thanks and has shifted his eye to another SOB. Previous poster calling out inexperienced labor is probably dead on.

Lots of us were venting frustration, based on what used to be and what seems to be now, with a decline in quality. That having been said, Montana is still a good unit, you just have to be prepared. Unless you are prepared to jump to a more expensive unit, you will likely experience the same problems with any SOB. Before we bought the 2015 we looked seriously at the Redwood, which has a better reputation, but also runs (MRSP) $20-40K higher depending on options. Repeating what I said in a previous post, after finally getting all the crap fixed under warranty (new frig, new M/W, new gray/black tank valve/cable assemblies, replacement dining room chairs, fixing of hydraulic leaks, slide leaks, steps, toilet leaks, plumbing leaks,delam on cargo door, etc etc, we are enjoying our Montana. AND, yes I know a real pain to deal with, Keystone and our dealer did fix everything under warranty.

[DQDick]

Talking to owners of other rigs and monitoring other forums you'll find Keystone is as good or better than the others for the price. They just used to be consistently better.

[Clemson1881]

Nothing's perfect. Not autos, electronics, or anything. Can't justify spending the kind of money it costs for a new RV and deal with the problems I've been reading. My current camper is performing well. Think I'll wait it out and see what the landscape is looking like in a year or two. Keep pushing for improvement. And yes, I would pay $1000 more for great quality control.

[bigskyjimmy]

I can justify spending 68K on mine and me and my wife are really happy with my 2015 With minimal problems of Fulltime use as I was with my 2012 and I can assure you I am not alone,yes there are some folks with some problems on new one's (and Older) and they do need some quality improvements on ALL brands but I bet it is a small percent of Monty's built IMO,You got to realize there are some Angry folks that have got some Lemons and I get it and feel bad for them but the Majority of folks are happy with their New Monty's they just don't post it like the PO'ed people.....Man this thread is going on Forever....OOOOOPPPPPSSS I just kept it going DANG!

[Mark N.]

Well, as you might guess, my desire for another Keystone product is going further south by the day. I might not even own this one a month from now, depending on how Keystone handles this mess:
http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ad.php?t=65536

[richfaa]

Do some reading on "Nielsen ratings." Billions in marketing and the life a and death of TV programming is determined by a small representative group of people with common interest such as Montana owners. The representative group of Montana owners and their comments are large enough to determine quality or the lack of it among all owners.

I have always stated that the Montana is no better no worse than any other brand in the price range and If I thought there was better I would have it. That is not a compliment.

What we experience with our Montana's is experienced by owners of all brands. It is not going to get better any time soon.

[guru1961]

Amazing how much quality has deteriorated in the last few years with the Keystone brands. We bought our first Montana (2006 3400RL) and were really satisfied with it and the quality of the product. NOW the 2014 Big Sky 382RL is another story all together. Bought this rig in Oct 2014 and have had worked on 2 times with several more to go seems like. Complained to Keystone and originating dealer (still in discussion with them) but all Keystone did was leave voicemail on my phone stating "unit not defective" after looking over information you gave us and sent to dealer. Major issue is with insulation I believe. Scenario is after temps go above 75 outside, inside temps will not hold 72...just keep going up and up. Typically the RV inside will be 80 degrees when outside is 90. Hottest inside with both AC's running has been 88! All I get from techs is that AC's will only do 20 degrees cooling. Hmmm...my math must be off. Keystone stated that that is acceptable. Yea for them, but not me. Still trying to fight the good fight to get unit repaired or replaced. Will not buy Keystone in future if this issue is not resolved.