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Old 09-21-2021, 06:17 AM   #1
Guyjo
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Looking at purchasing a 2022 Montana HC 331RL

We are former Cougar owners getting ready for retirement, we like Keystone never had issues with our old Cougar.

Reading the reviews on Montana HC is kind of making us second guess our choice...

Can someone with this model talk about their trailer what they liked or disliked.

We need to make a decision by this Friday.

HELP !!!
 
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Old 09-21-2021, 07:16 AM   #2
Montana Man
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We complain a lot about our trailers. A lot of it rightfully so. Quality isn't near that of new cars and other things. Find a dealer with a great service department and do a thorough PDI. Expect problems so you won't be taken by surprise. Going into this with somewhat lowered expectations will reduce frustrations should they occur. I don't mean to be negative, just a realist. If you enjoy rv'ing then one must take the good with the bad.
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Old 09-21-2021, 08:13 AM   #3
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Considering you are currently an RV owner, and an owner of a Keystone product, you are in a great position to formulate your own opinion. Every camper, when brand new, will have initial issues. And unfortunately, those issues do not unearth until the camper is actually in use. A camper that sits stationary and never moves will never have issues with tires blowing on the side of the road, or the bed of the truck making contact with the over hang of the trailer (for example). Screws, bolts, and cabinet doors and shelves will never bounce around and break off either. But, bounce these campers down the road in 70 mph, hitting transition joints on bridges, pot hole, and cutting corners too short, and things happen ... to all of them.

I can't say how good a "quality" a new RV is today. All I know is, today is is 3 year anniversary when we signed the dotted line for our current montana! And in 3 years, I have fixed, repaired, and adjusted so many different things on this camper, I truly do feel like I've rebuilt it from the ground up.

My advise is, and I STRONGLY advise, if you purchase a new camper and REALLY plan on full timing, purchase the camper at least a year ahead of your intended full time, sell the house and hit the road strategy. Why? It gives you a year to fix all the "fixes", which is easier to do in your own driveway than on the side of the road.

You will have initial shake out problems with your new camper. Count on that. It's how you deal with those problems that makes or breaks the love-hate relationship we all have with our Montana's! (But hopefully, the "Love" is greater than the "hate.")
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Old 09-21-2021, 08:48 AM   #4
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Welcome aboard! You are asking good and fair questions. In today's marketplace, the issues of quality you are reading about are true for all manufacturers...demand is high and skilled labor force is diminished. Personally, I wouldn't buy a new RV right now. But if that is what you decide to do then be prepared, as mentioned above, for some warranty issues. There have always been initial warranty issues but they are potentially higher in the current environment. Fore-warned is fore-armed. You can still end up with a very nice unit, just set your expectations accordingly.

The 330/331 has a sweet floorplan and I would seriously consider that model if looking today. You might be able to find a used, well-maintained 2018 or 2019...a pre-covid build.
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Old 09-21-2021, 09:01 AM   #5
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We have a 2019 331RL

Thankfully we purchased long before the covid prices added average of 20k to 30k.
I agree with others who stressed to give yourself a year IN the new rig, prior to full time.
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Old 09-21-2021, 10:40 AM   #6
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I wouldn't hesitate we have an HC and a Montana and have had the usual amount of issues with them. We have a good dealer and in several places we frequent good mobile repair folks and I'm handy to a certain extent. We've hauled over 100,000 miles and full time in each for six months at a time so the issues we've had are mostly wear related. If I was in the market, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Montana.
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Old 09-21-2021, 05:52 PM   #7
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We bought our new 2020 High Country 331rl in June of 2019. We have absolutely no regrets!! Excellent floor plan for sure! We have two boys. 14 and 6, and a dog. We never feel cramped. We do not fulltime, but have taken about 10 trips or more for about 60 days total camping.

I did a very thorough walkthrough of the unit before purchase, and the dealership fixed everything before I left with it the next day. Well with the exception of a pass through door that was a little warped. They ordered a new one and I took it back in a few weeks later to have them install it. By then I found a couple of the windows needed to be sealed at the top, and our fridge wasn't attached right and found it hit the island on our first trip. So they had to replace one door. Besides those issues, I have not had any concerns since.

As others have mentioned and you well know, we do haul these homes down the road, so overtime there will be maintenance items and small repairs to be made.

I have no regrets, just wish I would have waited a few months until they added the second awning off the dinette! It's going to make a huge difference in the cooling of the unit in the summer. I'm planning on adding one soon.

Good luck��
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Old 09-26-2021, 03:21 PM   #8
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I personally would wait until the RV industry in general gets their quality issues resolved, or look for a pre 2020 used unit.
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Old 09-26-2021, 03:26 PM   #9
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I love the idea of the High Country. But I hate the design. No drawers in the bathrooms the kitchen layout sucks. I really love the layout of the Grand Design Solitude or Momentum as it's very much the same and they've done tho,he that Keystone ignored, but I hate the quality of the Grand Design. I wish Keystone would come up with the exact same layout to a T because I would buy it tomorrow
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Old 09-26-2021, 03:31 PM   #10
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We also have the 2020 331RL. Most of the first year warranty issues were electrical (had to replace the fireplace). Plumbing under the island sink can be problematic. They press fit the drain pipe into the 90 degree elbow under the waste basket, it disconnected itself before they even winterized it at the factory, so pink all over the floor under there. This trip, the nut connecting the tail pipe to the p-trap won't stay together, have to reattach it after every move. Other than that, it has been a great replacement for our 2006 329RLS Mountaineer.
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Old 09-26-2021, 03:52 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeririgged223 View Post
I love the idea of the High Country. But I hate the design. No drawers in the bathrooms the kitchen layout sucks.
Curious which HC you're looking at. Ours has drawers in the bathroom. Kitchen layouts vary with different models...some are quite nice.
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Old 09-26-2021, 05:11 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Guyjo View Post
We are former Cougar owners getting ready for retirement, we like Keystone never had issues with our old Cougar.

Reading the reviews on Montana HC is kind of making us second guess our choice...

Can someone with this model talk about their trailer what they liked or disliked.

We need to make a decision by this Friday.

HELP !!!
Finding a GOOD dealer is as important, if not more important, than the quality of the 5er.” Quality” is relative these days. I have a 2018 Monty HC I bought used, and have had some issues but most I fixed myself or my dealer fixed. I have a great dealer so that helped a lot. Most ALL your warranty work will be done by your dealer. You WILL have warranty work needed, so make sure you spend 3-4 or more hours going through your PDI , making notes and taking pictures. Turn on everything and make sure it works. Have your dealer make all the fixes BEFORE you sign your paperwork. You will be at the front of the line for your repairs, rather than being on the end of the line. Also, you are likely to have to wait for parts as we al have heard about the shortages. There are some good PDI check lists on this forum that you can print and take with you. There will be upgrades and add ons you will want to make, so like several folks have indicated, take some long trips in your new RV before you jump in full time. If you have warranty repairs needed down the road, document them in writing with dates and pictures and communicate them to your dealer right away. Document your communications so everyone stays on the same page. Hope you have a great experience and a solid RV. Come here for advice and guidance if you have issues. Happy Camping!!
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Old 09-27-2021, 11:40 PM   #13
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Have it inspected by a pro

I would not take delivery of any rv currently being built without a thorough inspection by a qualified person. There are too many horror stories out there about the extreme low quality and lack of craftsmanship in the new units. Good luck!
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Old 09-28-2021, 06:45 PM   #14
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We have bought our last two Montanas at a dealer 500 miles from home - not on price but because of the quality of service. In seven years, ours have never stayed overnight at the dealer (without us). We spent three days on our PDI - mostly because of a Winegard issue. We have owned Montana’s since 2004. In our fourth. As others have said, pick your dealer wisely and not on price. You will hear horror stories of rigs at the dealer all summer. How much is it worth not to go through that? You can sell cheaper if you don’t have to pay master techs.
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Old 09-28-2021, 08:29 PM   #15
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You are truly fortunate to have a great service department. We also bought our Montana at a family owned dealership with a fantastic service department and manager. We did our due diligence and for a couple of years it paid off. The dealership was just swallowed up by one of the mega stores and the people that made it great are gone. Unfortunately that includes the service manager. Over night the service rate went from $80 to $164 per hour. Now we are looking again.
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Old 09-28-2021, 09:25 PM   #16
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We bought a 2021 High Country 373rd in March 2021. We love it. At the rally last week we heard about all the improvements being added to the 2022 High Country. They are getting rid of the cable driven slides. They are adding a small solar panel to all 2022 Montanas to run the Co detector etc. when not connected to power. I can’t remember all of the other options added. Keystone is always making improvements.
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Old 09-30-2021, 07:19 PM   #17
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We have the 2020 330RL and love it. We’ve owned several RV’s and my husband has worked in both the warranty department at a keystone plant and also as a service technician for a few RV manufacturers over the years. Everyone has an opinion, ours is that they’re all built similarly using similar materials and all of them have their issues. Since you’re not new to RV’s I assume you know and accept that there will be maintenance and repairs needed at some point. For what it’s worth we’ve enjoyed ours and not had any major problems.

We find this model to have an excellent floor plan being spacious and well thought out overall. We do a mixture of dry camping closer to home and park camping while traveling across states and it’s worked great for both. I like the interior layout and comforts of home, he likes that it met his needs for structure, tank capacity, exterior storage, and the ability to easily add what he needed to for longer dry camping excursions. I hope some of this helps and good luck on your decision!
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Old 10-07-2021, 08:26 PM   #18
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We just purchased a 2021 Montana HC 372RL. We have been looking seriously for 4 months. The dealer had Montana’s, Legacy’s and Alliance brands. We spent 2 saturdays pouring over all these brands, and another dealer down the road had the Solitude 380FL, which is our favorite. In the end I think that GD is overpriced because of the hype, Alliance has the best bathroom, but there are quality issues. In the end we went with the 372RD because of storage and the price point. We do the PDI in 2 weeks and will do local camping to “shake it down” in the local area. Goal is to full time in the future. Good luck with your choice.
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Old 01-23-2023, 01:35 PM   #19
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We bought our 2022 Montana High Country 331RL just about 4 months ago and I am actually in it right now, enjoying the fireplace, we absolutely LOVE this model, we haven’t had any serious issues, and God willing we won’t!!
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