Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

woodman · 07-03-2014, 04:18 AM

Like all manufacturers, Keystone will make changes in their design or periodically deal with different vendors, most of which whom have had a consistent pattern of quality themselves, however; some of which get decided after a litany of complaints are registered with their customer service dept. Such was the case with the decals, according to Keystone's engineering dept. It wasn't until after years of exposure to the elements, did Keystone recognize there were inherent problems with the decals, thus they changed the vendors and corrected the problem. I think the same has occurred with the tires, they're no longer using Marathons. Quality control is two dimensional, it requires not only the company that ultimately builds the unit have quality control, but also from the vendors thru which supplies are derived. In other words, some things are out of Keystone's control, especially when your making changes crafting new designs, seeking new technology and just finding that the vendor you've been dealing with, has undergone changes in ownership, management or whatever. In business, it happens all the time. You want to experience consistency, and for that part, I think that the Keystone Montana division has done an admirable job. Many owners of other brands have experienced real structural or cosmetic defects, and they believe that that is the norm or in some cases, that company had gone out of business. They often times have not done the research or asked the right questions. Many of them bought impulsively or via the poor advice of an acquaintance or friend. When we started looking at 5th wheelers, it was a 2-3 year journey which resulted in a 5th wheel that had consistently high quality standards. In essence, we became educated and we're happy with our choice. Have we experienced problems? Yes, but most have been very manageable and nothing like we've seen in other brand models. At this time, I'll stick with Montana or their new Big Sky, period. Granted, this site has a partisan group of owners, but many have said much of the same. IMO, it is still the best choice and value for the dollar spent.

07-03-2014, 04:18 AM	#23
woodman Montana Fan Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Elkhart Lake Posts: 141 M.O.C. #12256	Like all manufacturers, Keystone will make changes in their design or periodically deal with different vendors, most of which whom have had a consistent pattern of quality themselves, however; some of which get decided after a litany of complaints are registered with their customer service dept. Such was the case with the decals, according to Keystone's engineering dept. It wasn't until after years of exposure to the elements, did Keystone recognize there were inherent problems with the decals, thus they changed the vendors and corrected the problem. I think the same has occurred with the tires, they're no longer using Marathons. Quality control is two dimensional, it requires not only the company that ultimately builds the unit have quality control, but also from the vendors thru which supplies are derived. In other words, some things are out of Keystone's control, especially when your making changes crafting new designs, seeking new technology and just finding that the vendor you've been dealing with, has undergone changes in ownership, management or whatever. In business, it happens all the time. You want to experience consistency, and for that part, I think that the Keystone Montana division has done an admirable job. Many owners of other brands have experienced real structural or cosmetic defects, and they believe that that is the norm or in some cases, that company had gone out of business. They often times have not done the research or asked the right questions. Many of them bought impulsively or via the poor advice of an acquaintance or friend. When we started looking at 5th wheelers, it was a 2-3 year journey which resulted in a 5th wheel that had consistently high quality standards. In essence, we became educated and we're happy with our choice. Have we experienced problems? Yes, but most have been very manageable and nothing like we've seen in other brand models. At this time, I'll stick with Montana or their new Big Sky, period. Granted, this site has a partisan group of owners, but many have said much of the same. IMO, it is still the best choice and value for the dollar spent.