Unhappy Montana owner right now!

[jameswbarton]

I think the High Country Air conditioning is a design issue in the new whisper quiet cool systems with the 15,000 btu rear and the 13,500 btu front configuration. The fact that Keystone is trying to reduce cost by disavowing warranty issues is there but it seems like some dealers get the authorizations and others do not? I have no idea why it takes Keystone weeks to ship parts and days to weeks to give authorizations to do warranty work. For Keystone to pay the work must all be pre authorized by Keystone otherwise the dealer is our of pocket.

I think they will be fine once the assembly bugs are fixed so just do not drive it off the lot if buying new until all is demonstrated to be working. I have met 2 other purchasers in a local park having similar repair issues with brand new keystones all purchased from my seller.

[jcurtis934]

WELL guys...the whole senario you guys with new units has convinced me that I will NEVER buy another keystone product and if asked by another rv'r about montana..I will say that keystone is not a company to deal with anymore. I can see this post getting me removed from the forum...but you know what...it doesn't matter to me anymore. John

[chris199]

What about the other 95 out off 100 satisfied customer scenarios we don't hear about?

[bigskyjimmy]

I have been a Fulltimer for 5+ years now and have met ALOT of NEW and old Monty owners over the years in a whole lot of campgrounds and it is SELDOM that I hear they don't like them,most of us have had a few little problems but nothing Major just like any other brands,This Forum is not a good indication Of Montana RV satisfaction AT ALL, It Sounds like you are Listening to much to some angry folks here that have got a Lemon or close to it and want to Vent(And I get that) or have a Bad dealer that is not helping them and we ALL Try to help here so they can get back on the road again,What I do not like myself is People going on FOREVER about it at some point you have to quit Venting here and Start Venting to Keystone Customer Service or Your Dealer OR a Therapist and Move on,We can only do so much for Ya here to Help

[richfaa]

It will be no better with another brand. Might never have a problem ..might have many.

[1retired06]

quote:Originally posted by chris199

What about the other 95 out off 100 satisfied customer scenarios we don't hear about?

X2! And it sounds like High Country models are getting more bad press than the Montana or Montana Legacy rigs?

[DQDick]

I believe it still comes down to the dealer. Do they advocate for you with Keystone to get the repair done or do they try to keep from having to do warranty work when they can fill their bays with full price work. That's why I always called Keystone first and set things up and then went to the dealer. I also keep a list of folks who've had problems on the forum and those that have had good experiences. I avoid the dealers where folks have had problems and look for the good ones. So far it's worked well for us.

[Golfmedik]

Finally, she is at the dealer for tear down. Will let you know what they find.

[dieselguy]

Best of luck with your dealer experience. There's several on the MOC and other forums that quote the old adage ... "you'll always hear from owners with issues, but seldom from owners that have had smooth sailing". This is basically true, but you need to experience how the service side sees that statement to get a better picture. I spin a few wrenches on RV's and so do about 1/2 dozen of my friends across 2-3 states. I won't even begin to get into quality of workmanship at the average service center. Good units without major issues built in say the last 3 years are no where near 95 out of 100. Think about it ... why does it take weeks if not months to get a rig into a dealer to get it worked on?? It's because there are so many units with problems piled up ahead of you whether the problems be big or small. Why do you see units on a dealer's lot cannibalized ... the factory is so behind in shipping out parts that some dealers simply can't wait and still have a happy customer. This observation is not exclusive to the Montana line, but pretty much industry wide. For those of you with good units that carry the banner high for whatever manufacturer ... glance over at the bulging service area if you drive by a dealership to get a better handle on just what is what.

[jameswbarton]

It has taken 7 weeks to get a new window from Keystone. The window was ordered expedited authorized by Keystone Owner Relations. You need to learn how to fix it yourself and make your own parts. My last warranty experience has been to take it to the dealer on August 5th for the AC, plumbing leaks, new window, new window shade, slide cable issues. I get to pick it up today September 29th. Warranty Service is non existent if it involves Keystone. I would like to see the statistics that 95 RVs out of 100 Keystone products are trouble free.

[chris199]

I would never say these things are trouble free. I have had issues with the shades falling off over the table, ceiling fan blades coming loose, shade anchors popping out of the wall from passing them in the stairways, kitchen drawer clasp coming loose, the co2 detector going off in the middle of the night and having to be cut off and replaced, the bedroom thermostat not reading them correctly and not throwing cold air on a hot evening....

All of the issues above I handled and in some cases my resolution is better than the factory. I still consider myself one of the 95%. I'm very happy with the rig overall. It has been up and down some of worst roads...NY state to Niagara Falls and I75 in South Michigan...wow that was atrocious. It's been used a lot in the last 18 months or so. We don't park and leave it. It's on the back of the truck very, very often.

I admit you have serious issues and wish you well in getting them resolved. I'm sure I'd be extremely frustrated as well. I just pause in generalizing.....but I totally understand your perspective/experience.

[1retired06]

Dealer had our window replacement within two weeks. Guess we were just lucky.

[Golfmedik]

UPDATE!! When the front Filon was removed, the source of the flex was revealed. I am happy to report that no broken welds, cracked or split steel was found. The cause of the movement turns out to be a sidewall glue that has come loose. Actually, doesn't appear that much adhesive was used. Anyway, Montana has approved for a marine facility to repair the wall. Actually, the wall just pulled away from the beam running along the floor of the camper. Luckily, my dealer is 2 miles away from Lake Lanier and has dozens of places that could repair it nearby. Funny thing is the resin/glue/adhesive is a marine product, it'a a no brainer. The camper is already there and is supposed to be glued and clamped today, if not, tomorrow morning. It will have to stay clamped for 48 hours to cure. Then it will be taken back to the dealer and the filon and trim put back on and caulked. It may be ready this weekend, but may be first of the week before I can pick her up. Here is a pic. You are looking from under the nose of the camper, on the street side, up at the bottom of the bedroom slide.
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[1retired06]

Good news!

[chris199]

That's excellent news!! Glad to hear it!!

[Smitty8934]

If you don't mine, What were your results in getting this fixed?

[dieselguy]

Sooooo ... what about the other end of your fiver as to repairs? What are they going to do about the J panels falling down. You mentioned some story that you were told about staples and shy edge margin installs.
Hope the glue is stout stuff ... I had the extruded trim piece they have off under your front overhang off my 2005 Montana back when. There were large flat head screws underneath the extrusion into the skin helping hold the side skin and underlayment to the aluminum frame as well as glue. Perhaps manufacturing processes have changed since then.

[PatnRich]

Glad to see your issue is being resolved.

[Golfmedik]

quote:Originally posted by dieselguy

Sooooo ... what about the other end of your fiver as to repairs? What are they going to do about the J panels falling down. You mentioned some story that you were told about staples and shy edge margin installs.
Hope the glue is stout stuff ... I had the extruded trim piece they have off under your front overhang off my 2005 Montana back when. There were large flat head screws underneath the extrusion into the skin helping hold the side skin and underlayment to the aluminum frame as well as glue. Perhaps manufacturing processes have changed since then.

The skirting will be taken off and re stapled when we get back after out trip in 8 days. They've not come down any more and have really taken a backseat to this. Funny thing, I walked out onto the lot when I took mine in and found another new unit that the right rear skirt had done the same thing. The rig had not even been PDId yet as it was delivered last weekend when the staff was at the Rv show in ATL. I'm not that worried about this part as I know what the problem is and how it is repaired.

[richfaa]

keystone said at the fall rally that all Montans's will be equipped with two 15.5 BTU A/C's and pre wired for a third AC.