The first year is almost in the books

[bncinwv]

We are approaching the first year anniversary of the purchase of our 3850FL and there have been some good times and some not so good times with the rig. The first major snafu involved the front entry door and the new friction hinges. Consider this a warning for those who have this same setup. I actually managed to break the door because of what I feel is a major design flaw. The friction hinges will not hold the door in wind and as a result when I was retracting the front living room slide, the slide hooked the door and cause it to physically break down the middle when the door was pulled across the awning arms. Kudos to Keystone-Montana and Camping World of Fayetteville for stepping up and replacing the door under warranty. We (that we is really DW) are very pleased with the dishwasher installation, and feel it is one of the best options we have added to the rig. We also realize that the addition of the Sleep Number bed was a definite winner! Our other primary problem was a Spendide washer that leaked from day one and was finally remedied after two repair attempts by replacing the washer with a new one. Camping World again stepped up and did a great job of meeting our needs. Another major snafu we encountered was cracked panels in the interior of the front entertainment center which were dealer repaired in a piece-meal fashion. We will see how the repair works going forward and will submit photographs to Keystone in the event future problems arise. My impression is that the panel were cut too long (front closet models have reported similar problems), and as a result of movement and compression associated with travel, the panels cracked all of the way across. The only other issue is the phone charging station. We will soon be on our third one after the first two failed. If it fails again, the charging station will be replaced with a shelf in the wall location where the station is mounted. Lastly, upon the trip this weekend to CW for the repairs, the service writer noticed that a rivet on the front steps had broken. They repaired with a bolt which is acceptable to me until I can come up with a more aesthetic solution. I think the four step models have some stress and strain related issues that may present problems going forward so I will keep an eye on it. All-in-all we are extremely pleased with the rig so far, even with the minor problems. We are pleased with the response we have had from Montana and the resolution of the door fiasco. We are very pleased with Camping World from the aspect of management (Donnie has exceeded our expectations and has resolved every issue we faced), sales (HOOK has been fantastic through everything), financing, and relatively pleased with the efforts of the service department to remedy our problems (the service department is improving but still has issues as all service departments seem to have). Even though we had to make an additional trip to NC after the initial repair list was not completed, management made our trip worthwhile and were very fair with regards to treating us right. I still have a long list of modifications to accomplish as part of our second year of ownership since I have been a little occupied with other matters this year. Have yet to install the LED lights (still contemplating a mounting scheme that when completed details will be posted), still need to install the Autoformer, want to finalize dishwasher trim, install sliding tray in basement, finish installation of cabinet struts, construct a slide-out shelf for clothes folding above the washer, add shelf in battery compartment for additional storage, replace floor registers with more decorative ones, and more to-dos that I am sure will arise int he second year of ownership. So the bottom line is we are happy to be blessed with what we feel is our best Montana yet, and looking forward to many more good times in the future!!
Bingo