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Old 01-15-2009, 03:50 PM   #21
rames14
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I would put one caveat on that. Many of the issues that were written are items that Keystone purchased from someone else. Frames come from Lippert, Fantastic Vents come from Fantastic Vent, fridges come from Dometic, etc. Every year we, the RV customer, push for new items, bigger slides, more amenities, bike racks, etc. They don't build 17 million a year like the auto industry. When Johnson Controls builds seats, the first week they get more feedback than a year in the RV industry. Doesn't make it right, but I doubt that any of us would be able to afford the cost of the automotive style testing, manufacturing and control plans, etc. that the RV industry would spend to do what is done in that industry. I've crawled under my unit and replaced the cable brackets, suffered through the remote thermostat, replaced my Quest stereo, and replaced the landing gear fuse. Keystone, my dealer and the MOC helped get us through those relatively minor issues. We aren't full timers but do put about fifty nights a year in it. It is unfortunate that a few people get a lot of issues. Statistically you will have a few with very bad exeriences, a few with very excellent experiences and the rest of us with average experiences. True with GM, Ford, Toyota and Chrystler. True with Keystone, Coachman, NuMar and the rest. I hate to see te few that have the bad experience suffer through it, but I also know that it happens in all brands. They all buy from the same suppliers. And I will say that every year, Keystone has tried to upgrade away from the issues based on the MOC member comments. I don't know if I can ask for more. The MOC is a great place to have an open discussion and air your issues. If nothing else, you will get plenty of empathy.
 
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Ron and Terrie Ames - MOC #1920/KF0NTA
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Old 01-15-2009, 04:44 PM   #22
Dean A Van Peursem
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Ron & Terri,

High quality components and excellent quality control costs less than buying cheap stuff that has a high failure rate. The auto industry learned that a long time ago but the RV industry hasn't yet. We RV purchasers are paying for the high warranty costs when we purchase a unit. That high cost has to be built in to the initial price or the manufacturers would go out of business. But if that can be palmed off to Extended Warranty companies or to non-warranty repairs at our expense than that can be minimized for the manufacturers. Auto manufacturers provide 5 year warranties. RV manufacturers provide 1 year warranties but some of the applinces are more. But why deal with all the hassle? I think Rich has hit the nail on the head. Keystone builds an average quality RV. Rich and I just have used ours more than the average RV owner and brought out more of the inadequacies thereby approaching "lemon" RV status. I also suspect that some of the problems that Rich and I have suffered through, many owners haven't even realized they have a serious problem. Example: the sagging roof on the super slide. That problem and getting it fixed for us took three trips to the dealer under warranty but each trip to the dealer cost us well over $100 in out of pocket expenses and several days. Getting things repaired under warranty isn't expense free or hassle free either. Actually it is a PITA!
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Old 01-16-2009, 02:15 AM   #23
Delaine and Lindy
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We had the Cambridge 358 when we were full timing and Keytone has the record of the 3 repairs it had and the Cambridge was never back to a dealership. I have no idea why some folks have so much problems with their 5th wheels. We also had a Everest 343 L and pulled it over 22,000 miles thru out the West for 9 months and had only one problem, which was a factory mistake, a wall board was cut to long and all the flexing we had thru Yellowstone and other places caused it to bow out about 3 inches up from the floor. That was the only Keystone product we owned that was ever back to a dealership, we went to the Service center at Goshen and got nothing except professional care. If you haven't been to Goshen service center you should go there.
We have been in our (SOB) for close to 4 months now and no problems other than the damage I did by closing the super slide on a fold up table. I am sure we will have problems but thats to be expected. I do know we Love what we are doing and expect to travel as much as possible in the future.

I sometimes think we forget if the industry used better materials, instead of the light weight things that are used, we wouldn't be able to pull them down the road. I think the manufactors that mass produce does at time take short cuts. Some of the best RV manufactors have had to close their doors, Tetons, Hitchhiker, Travel Supreme and other who made high-end 5th wheels. They were very heavy and expensive to buy. Heavy because of the materials used in the way they were built. Most all are using the same components, some not as good as other. If you want to pay the price I think you can get a better built 5th wheel in some cases. But as you know the high-end 5th wheel aren't selling. I have been satisfied with Keystone products, some aren't and thats to be expected. I was at the Tampa RV show Wednesday and seen many great looking 5th wheels and MH. But some weren't built near as well as others. You can feel the difference just walking thru the coaches. But due to price they will sell. This is just some of my experiences and of course my opinion which we all have. Good Luck to all. GBY...
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