2015 / 2016 Montana Construction & Quality - Page 2 - Montana Owners Club

waynemoore · 11-27-2015, 05:00 AM

Well I for one am happy with my rig. I had better be as I spend about 7 months a year in it. At first I was a bit disappointed that Keystome was downgradeing the Montana but they have to build what the customers are buying. So at my age I will keep what I have and just enjoy it.

richfaa · 11-27-2015, 06:40 AM

They are not downgrading the Montana they still build the same Montana I have in the legacy package. They just added a model at a lower price range.

Mudchief · 11-27-2015, 12:45 PM

If you get the Legacy package it is like the older Montana. It is a lot nicer inside because everything is all solid wood plus other candy. The all wood does make it weigh a little more.

bigskyjimmy · 11-27-2015, 01:48 PM

For those of you that think they have started cheaping out DO NOT CONFUSE the regular Monty and the Legacy Pkg there is a big difference as was stated there are MANY upgrades with the Legacy another Example is the cheaper Furrion/Jensen TV/surround in the NON Legacy(old Moutainer) compared to the Sony/Surround DVD home theatre Blu ray in the Legacy pkg IMO The Monty Legacy has many more nice upgrades than the competition in the same price range..Grand Designs Solitude,Jayco Pinnacle,etc or I would have bought one of those brands....as a matter of fact I think the Non Legacy Monty is just as nice and same features as the GD Solitude and some others in the Legacy price range

rames14 · 11-30-2015, 11:40 AM

We have had a 2005 3400, a 2010 Big Sky 365 and now a 2015 3160 Legacy. First and foremost, Montana came out with the Residential model (flat back, 3100 Suspension, wood faced cabinets, convention day/night shades, cheaper AV equipment and non-heated bathroom floor to compete against a myriad of other brands (Jayco, Open Road, Grand Designs, etc). This is the same reason they don't put G rated tires on standard. There are customers that buy on price, period. We are not full timers. We put 70 nights per year in our units while working and now we do over 100. We have not had any serious issues with any of our three units. Our 2015 has been especially good. Perfect, no, but close. We buy Montana's for two reasons - ours have been good quality units and the MOC. That's us. Everyone's needs are different. We have been to every fall rally in Goshen, talked to the sales people, management and the workers. We have been satisfied customers. This is not a paid testimonial. Seriously, the friends we have made through the MOC are friends for life.

wagal64 · 12-14-2015, 08:05 AM

We ordered our 2016 Montana 3911fb because our dealer only got models in with E range tires and I had all I could stand with those on our 2012 3750fl. We got the 614 G range made in USA. We are full timers and have had 2 previous 5th whl with a 41' diesel motor home in between. This is by far the best floor plan we've ha. Our problem is not the RV but the quality of the equipment that came with it. I won't go through every thing, but both commodes would not hold water in the bowl, the inverter did not work, and the fan motor on the furnace was defective. This was straight from the factory and things you would not notice on the walk through. After many trips back to the dealer, hopefully everything has been corrected. Since we are full timers this has been a real ordeal. By the way, I thought maybe the seals on the commodes were just dry and I tried putting silicone grease on them, but did not work and they had to be replaced. All in all, we are thrilled with the RV and hope we have the bugs out now. You just wonder how so many defective items could be on a brand new RV.

bigskyjimmy · 12-14-2015, 11:24 AM

The Thetford toilet problems are well documented for MANY years and other Brands of 5er's use them as well and they have the same problems,after all these complaints you would think Keystone and all the other brands would stop using them and Go Dometic...they must be getting them real Cheap,when I bought my 2015 first thing I did was take out the Thetford and throw it in the Dumpster and went Dometic PROBLEM SOLVED

**DQDick** · 12-14-2015, 12:53 PM

All of this still goes back to getting the equipment from the low bidder.

richfaa · 12-20-2015, 03:44 AM

There are so many variables in terms of how we use these things. We have had two Montana's a 2006 3400 and now a 2013 3402 Big sky. we have the Montana because it met our needs and the price was right. Over 10 years we find the customer service to be excellent of course we live not to far from Goshen and we attend every fall rally.

We have had many problems we consider serious in both Montana's such as multiple holding tank failures frame flex and suspension failure along with multiple other problems. Extended warranties on both Montana's brought down the financial burden as well as excellent help and service from Keystone.

We have added the Mor ryde suspension .We have the G614 tires and just added the Hensley Trailer saver hitch to the truck in a attempt to minimize frame flex and other frame damage to the 2013.

We are high end users. We live in it 6 months during the winter as we are doing now and spend another 2 /3 months in it during the summer .We will be doing @ 5K/6K this summer. We have averaged Over 8k per year in the 10 years we have had the two Montana's. There are several here that do the same or much more.

The longer you live in them and the more miles you put on them the more likely you are to have problems of every kind. The low end user may never see a problem other than quality and poor workmanship issues.

Helen and I sold RV's (not Montana's) and the Montana's were RV number 5 and 6 we understood the industry and there were no surprises.

Keystone builds as good a product as any brand in the price range and their customer service is better than most. We have said many times if we thought there was a better brand in the price range we would have it.

RKassl · 12-20-2015, 09:31 AM

To all you current Montana owners, who bad mouth the new Montana's, and you know who you are, I am really tired of your comments. When we bought our 2005 it was great, and as the years rolled by and all of you folks upgraded to the 08, 09, 10, 11, and etc. Nobody insulted your choices of model years so why do you do that now? You know who I am talking about. I hear everything from that's "no real leather" to the back cap controversy to laughing at the "heated floors".

This board is really taken a turn for the worse, it used to be enough to be a proud Montana owner, now you have to listen to the comments from fellow members who bad mouth fellow members. I really don't need this anymore.

richfaa · 12-20-2015, 11:02 AM

One of the purposes of this forum is to share our experiences with the Montana the good, the bad, the ugly. We learn from others no matter what the experience has been. We have prevented many issues by reading about them here then being proactive in correcting them before a failure occurs.

The change in model names that resulted in the "rear cap" issue was hard to understand. We saw them at the fall rally and wondered what in the world is this but after walking around the models we realized the flat back was a " Mountaineer" with a name change and the Legacy was the standard Montana like we have. Folks who did not have that experience or did not understand the name change thought it was a downgrade to the Montana where it was actually a upgrade to the Mountaineer and nothing more than a name change.. The leather issue. many folks did not do the homework to determine what the material really was. We knew what the Material was and we had the "leather" changed out for cloth material. Heated floors have no idea except what we have read here. I would want to check them out before purchase.

If you want to hear the Montana bad mouthed go over to RV net. In our experience since 2005 on the forum bad mouthing the Montana or fellow members will get you banned from the forum in quick order.

One more thing. From RVIA...."•Today’s typical RV owner is 48 years old, married, with an annual household income of $62,000 — higher than the median for all households, according to the Michigan study. RV owners are likely to own their homes and spend disposable income on traveling — an average of three weeks annually, RVIA research shows."....... Three weeks a year.....????

BTW This is what it says on the Montana website...."Optional Heated Bedroom and Bathroom Floor w/ Legacy Package" That would suggest to me that the entire floor is heated..

1retired06 · 12-21-2015, 08:40 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

One of the purposes of this forum is to share our experiences with the Montana the good, the bad, the ugly. We learn from others no matter what the experience has been. We have prevented many issues by reading about them here then being proactive in correcting them before a failure occurs.

The change in model names that resulted in the "rear cap" issue was hard to understand. We saw them at the fall rally and wondered what in the world is this but after walking around the models we realized the flat back was a " Mountaineer" with a name change and the Legacy was the standard Montana like we have. Folks who did not have that experience or did not understand the name change thought it was a downgrade to the Montana where it was actually a upgrade to the Mountaineer and nothing more than a name change.. The leather issue. many folks did not do the homework to determine what the material really was. We knew what the Material was and we had the "leather" changed out for cloth material. Heated floors have no idea except what we have read here. I would want to check them out before purchase.

If you want to hear the Montana bad mouthed go over to RV net. In our experience since 2005 on the forum bad mouthing the Montana or fellow members will get you banned from the forum in quick order.

One more thing. From RVIA...."•Today’s typical RV owner is 48 years old, married, with an annual household income of $62,000 — higher than the median for all households, according to the Michigan study. RV owners are likely to own their homes and spend disposable income on traveling — an average of three weeks annually, RVIA research shows."....... Three weeks a year.....????

BTW This is what it says on the Montana website...."Optional Heated Bedroom and Bathroom Floor w/ Legacy Package" That would suggest to me that the entire floor is heated..

Nicely stated

kozzy · 12-27-2015, 02:59 AM

Back when I had my 2004 3650RK, it had the nice end cap, was nice yes, but it was in the back, so who cares, right? Funny thing too, was back then when we bought it, the sales rep said it would only be a matter of time before the Cougar was Mountaineer quality, Mountaineer was Montana quality, and Montana would move up. I agree with many of you, that options and quality are 2 different things. We got the new 3950 BR, we were up against the Solitutde by GD, both great rigs, we chose the Montana because we felt we got more for the money. Quality of both units was comparable. As we went through the Montata, we saw many upgrades and changes from our 2004, and they were not for the worse. I think it just comes down to options and what people want to pay for...Some things are more important to others. We ordered ours, and we didn't get the legacy package simply because we didn't think the extra options were worth the extra cost, but that's just us.

richfaa · 12-27-2015, 03:51 AM

And that is why Montana did what they did.

joyhunton · 12-27-2015, 08:57 AM

We have enjoyed our 2005 Montana for many years. Because of our great experience, our best friends upgraded to a 2013 Montana and have had a terrible experience with the quality. During their almost 2 years of trying to get warranty work done (mostly issues with the dealer being booked up all the time), we've done a lot of research and was surprised to learn that Keystone is now owned by Thor (as is Heartland, Airstream, and many others). It is believed by many that the quality decreased after that change. With that said, my husband and I are ready to upgrade and after a year of research have settled on the Montana High Country mainly due to it's lighter weight (so we don't have to upgrade our truck) and the floorplan and standard items. Although the High Country is considered a "lower end unit" to the Montana, it's an upgrade over our 2005 model. I think a very key point in being a happy customer is finding a quality dealer that performs an extensive PDI before you pick it up (we are ordering ours). Although we would love to use our local dealer, their service is not great (focusing more on Class A's instead of "lower end" 5th wheels) so we located, read reivews, and met with a dealer almost 700 miles away. We will camp nearby for a few days testing everything out before heading home and if necessary, drop it back off for necessary repairs. My belief is the quality has dropped across all RV lines over the years, whether it be cost or just the fact that only a couple big guys now own all the brands so they're really just competing against themselves and control the market. I'm still going to love the lifestyle and do my best to insure as many kinks are worked out before we take possession. We can only do what we can do!

richfaa · 12-27-2015, 10:55 AM

Thor purchased Keystone in 2001 so your 2005 was "Thor" quality.

joyhunton · 12-27-2015, 12:46 PM

Good to know, thanks!

fauch · 12-29-2015, 09:28 AM

The Legacy Package:

Decorative fiberglass rear cap
Exclusive MOR/Ryde LRE 4100 Suspension
Hardwood Cherry Cabinet Framing (stiles)
iN-Command Control System
Upgrade day/night roller shades
Rear accessory hitch

Ragtacker · 12-30-2015, 05:06 AM

We have owned 3 previous SOB rv`s and always had major issues with them. The last 2012 SOB unit was sending me off the deep end with problem after problem and i am not talking about a bit of water leaking from a toilet that I could of handled. Our new Montana has had two minor issues and were fixed immediatley by the dealer. We really like this unit, the layout works well for us would I have prefered a few changes yes but you will never get it all in one package I beleive. Maybe we are in the minority with our new Montana but could care a less its ours its paid for and it works for our lifestyle.

richfaa · 12-30-2015, 05:26 AM

I would like to see some data on Rv use vs problems. How do you use the RV in terms of living in it and miles on the road as related to problems large and small.

I have said before this is our 6th Rv and second Montana. Our first four we used as weekenders and maybe a week or 10 day vacation every year .Our average yearly use was from March to October the put up for the winter. Our average use was @ 50/60 days per year mostly weekend trips to Campgrounds within 2 hours drive our longest trip was 1,000 miles round trip.

We had more problems with our first Montana in the first year than we had with all of our previous Rv's over 15 years. We also put more miles and lived in our First Montana in the first year more than we did in all the years in our previous campers.

In our case the more we used them the greater chance of problems. We were not surprised. We are now pushing 90k miles on these two Montana's since 2006 and live in them 6 to 9 months of the year.

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