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Old 08-10-2016, 03:41 AM   #21
jameswbarton
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Well for all of You very happy customers, spin that wheel and pray you do not get a lemon cause I have one and am parked next to another one when mine is not at a dealer. It is not nearly so funny when it is personal! BTW Dealer selection means nothing as it is Keystone who will not pay those dealers. I suppose some will fix issues for free but not many. Keystone does not stand behind their products. period. Broken beds, frames, non working HVAC, delamination are not minor issues to most customers.
 
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Old 08-10-2016, 07:53 AM   #22
shovelhead86
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Speaking of Samsung. Yesterday I drove over my Samsung cell phone with my F350 truck. The phone still works. Cracked front cover but it still works. Takes a licken and keeps on ticking
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Old 08-10-2016, 08:07 AM   #23
shovelhead86
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I bought my 2007 Montana on Ebay 8 years ago. (a bank forclosure). It has been the best purchase I ever made. The only time I had to contact Keystone they sent me a complete set of new decals. I have had less problems with this unit than most stick and brick houses wiuld have in the same time and they dont travel from Mn to Az to Ak and to Fl over all the bumpy roads. Just saying I'm happy with my Montana and the next will probalbly be a Montana.
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Old 08-10-2016, 09:37 AM   #24
Mark N.
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I wish sooooo badly that the American RV industry had some serious foreign (Japanese?) competition! It would absolutely force the manufacturers to straighten up their quality control and lack of innovation just exactly like Detroit had to shape up in order to stay in business. I see the RV industry right now in EXACTLY the same place that Detroit was in the 70's, and 80's...No quality at all, no innovation at all, just rolling out bad products and knowing people would have to buy them. Then, along came Toyota and Datsun (Now Nissan) and boy-oh-boy did Detroit have to do some quick realignment!
To everyone's benefit, competition makes it better!

By the way, I own a Toyota Prius, a Honda CR-V, a Subaru Legacy, and a Ram 3500 diesel. Guess which one has been in the shop 11 times in 2.5 years? Yup....The American made Ram!
Yeah, I guess I'm a bit biased as a consumer in charge of my own spending.
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Old 08-10-2016, 10:01 AM   #25
waynemoore
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2X on the bad quality on the RVs. But my past 3 rigs were very good very few problems. As for the cars I own a 2013 Toyota Highlander never had a problem with and a 2015 F350 bought in 2014 never had a problem with that one either. Both these vehicles repalced a 2003 Toyota Highlander with 135000 miles and a 2008 Ford F-250 with 99000 miles. Both had no major problems. Soooo I can say I have been very lucky. I do take care of them with regular oil changes.
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Old 08-10-2016, 05:11 PM   #26
c214dick
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Brand loyalty is only a part of why we stay with Montana. We have a great service dealer just a few miles from us who sold and serviced our first 5th wheel which was a Cedar Creek. Since than they added Montana so when we were ready for a new unit we stayed with them and bought a Montana. Fast forward to 10/15 and it was time to trade in and we stayed with the Montana brand for the same reason.
However, one of the biggest reason we stay with this brand is the friends we have made through this forum and the rallies we have attended. When the time comes for us to give up towing our Montana will be parked on a permanent site and we will still have our MOC family.
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Old 08-10-2016, 07:23 PM   #27
Artemus Gordon
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Interesting discussion, I have my concerns that Thor no longer has lasting commitment to any of their brands. Montana's were once the pride and joy of the parent company, out selling all others. Now after acquiring DRV etc and all the shuffling, consolidations and uniformity of floor plans etc., I doubt Brand has any real meaning today. Big Sky is perfect example of Thor's arogance, abandoning a name that use to mean, "top of the line". Therefore buying a Thor Product today, is more of a statement of the actual brand. The other names on the fronts are just that...names, or models! Lastly was reading a DRV brochure touting the "Molded front and rear Caps" as a sign of quality. Not trying to bring up that discussion, but when my Montana was built, it was a statement of quality. Today the same language was in the DRV brochure.
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Old 08-11-2016, 02:43 AM   #28
1retired06
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Artemus Gordon

Interesting discussion, I have my concerns that Thor no longer has lasting commitment to any of their brands. Montana's were once the pride and joy of the parent company, out selling all others. Now after acquiring DRV etc and all the shuffling, consolidations and uniformity of floor plans etc., I doubt Brand has any real meaning today. Big Sky is perfect example of Thor's arogance, abandoning a name that use to mean, "top of the line". Therefore buying a Thor Product today, is more of a statement of the actual brand. The other names on the fronts are just that...names, or models! Lastly was reading a DRV brochure touting the "Molded front and rear Caps" as a sign of quality. Not trying to bring up that discussion, but when my Montana was built, it was a statement of quality. Today the same language was in the DRV brochure.
Hmm, and now Montana does not come with a molded cap unless you pay for the legacy package
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Old 08-11-2016, 02:58 AM   #29
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We have only owned 1 RV-our 2006 3475 Montana. I have upgraded many systems from wet-bolts to televisions in our unit. Probably towed in 60,000 miles and plan on keeping it till the wheel just stop turning. So--I guess I am brand loyal. I know I am MOC loyal--great site good info and lots of friends. My experience has taught me to stick with a local dealer, develop a relationship, and always try to make it home for repairs. Too many stories to tell about dealers I have encountered on the road. Enjoyed all the comments.
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Old 08-11-2016, 03:41 AM   #30
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Sitting here in Sevierville TN in our 2015. Hot outside, 95 when we arrived 0900 yesterday. Inside temp was in the 90s. Our dual ACs (one whisper, bedroom traditional) had us down to 78 by 2 oclock. Everything in the rig working. One broken window, our dealer has in hand and will install Tuesday. Had plenty of problems initially with this rig, but all have been worked to resolution. As a matter of interest, we lost the Living Room AC, whisper air, and it was replaced under dometic two year warranty. It had worked OK until it quit. During the replacement the tech discovered the unit had not been installed properly, some air ducting to guide the air to the vents was missing. Kind of like when we lost the refrigerator our second trip because Keystone did not remove the packing material from the back of the frig before installing. Guess my point is, you grit your teeth, and fight the good war till everything is right, and then Our opinion, a Montana is a pretty reliable unit except for the normal maintenance and things associated with the pounding these rigs take on the road.
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Old 08-11-2016, 03:52 AM   #31
jameswbarton
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Iretired06,
Now that is a nice way to state a Montana opinion. If it were not for the many helpful owners and tips and experiences on this site I would have been lost as to how to get my issues fixed. This is my first New RV I have ever purchased so I have no comparison to other Manufacturers Warranty's or off the line manufacturing Quality. Perhaps Thor/Keystone/Montana is near the top of Quality Value. If so the entire industry needs to become Customer Focused or they will eventually fail if their competition makes happier customers.

Were I not retired I would not have had the time nor energy to overcome my three local warranty dealers. Had I had a dealer who would fight for me it might have been different. Had I known how bad Keystone Warranty Issues were initially it would have been far cheaper to drive it back the few hundred miles to the factory in Goshen.
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Old 08-11-2016, 04:53 AM   #32
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James, completely understand your frustrations. And I do not think thor/keystone/Montana is near the top of the quality value, but better than many re price point in the industry. We spend Six months in Florida and lots of traveling. Meet a lot of folks. Regardless of brand, people have problems with inferior work and lousy customer support, both dealer and manufacturer. We have a couple of friends who never buy a rig unless at least two years old, so all the fixes have been accomplished by the original owner. We have friends in our park in Florida who said enough is enough, sold their rigs and got park models or moved to condo or double wide trailer parks. We have friend with $500k class a diesel pushers, and problems . And you are right a good dealer saves a lot of headaches. We have met people so frustrated , they simply quit rving altogether. We also run across a majority of folks who like and enjoy their rigs whatever the brand and have great times. I hope all necessary fixes get done, and you get to enjoy that rIg, and that find that we end up one day parked next to each other, and we can pop a couple of beers and share warranty war stories with each other.
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Old 08-11-2016, 05:24 AM   #33
jameswbarton
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Thanks Mike,
I spent a career in manufacturing in the Quality, Customer Service and Engineering departments of a fortune 500 Company now in Bankruptcy. In Quality Assurance management we are the first to go to raise profits levels and when we are eliminated it takes a few years for it to be noticed. The RV industry fell on hard times in 008,09,10 and did a lot of things to stay profitable while sales were down. I really believe it was Thor's influence that has degraded the Big Sky Montana name. Once any coach is out of warranty most find other repair facilities more convenient to their locations just like they do in the automotive world. Unfortunately if you do have a major issue such as mine where the ceiling might need removed an owner just cannot out of pocket a $200/hour taking several day expense. I am getting far too old physically to be climbing around roofs any longer so that is why I bought new with all warranties so I could enjoy living in it rather than fixing it. I do hope we meet some day. We are trying to get back to traveling full time again next year. Brinca is a traveling RN so the Montana is truly home for us while we are on assignment. I will miss my BAMC "Big AAss Motor Coach" but I will not miss the $10K annual repair and maintenance cost of a 12 year old Motor Home that had to visit Freightliner at $250 per hour and needed $4,000 in tires every 4-5 years. I can usually get better warranty service with my business experience but it is clearly evident in both Dealers and Keystone that the lawyers are more in control than those pushing for customer satisfaction.
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