Informal and unscientific poll!

[exav8tr]

We took a 32ft Class C from Anchorage to Fairbanks for three days, upon returning decided it was too small for our purposes. Selling our home and leaving Alaska was a way to get Cathy out of working, I had retired several years earlier. We looked at Jayco Designer and liked it, unfortunately so did the dealer. He wouldn't deal at all. We left after exchanging some not so nice words. The next day I was driving and noticed a Montana Dealer, I stopped and looked at several and when I saw the 3400 I thought this would be soething Cathy would like. She was still at work so I called her to come look at it, when she walked inside she said "Buy it", me, being a obedient husband,, said Yes Dear! Made a ridiculus offer and dealer accepted. This was in August '06. We did not sell our home that year so the dealer kept it over the winter, next Feb we sold our home, moved into Montana at Ft Richardson FAM Camp for two weeks, then went to Fairbanks for a few days. Everything was working fine so we left Alaska from Fairbanks, Haven't stoped yet.......

[kilch123]

Sorry this turned out long - but it's a story near and dear to me...

Bought my truck in 2001 with the express purpose of pulling a 5th wheel camper... That was my "dream" - to have the camper to travel with, and as soon as we could afford, go full time

Things changed (a lot!) and I went shopping about a year ago for my "dream" looked at MANY different brands, floor plans, and finish levels. I had been talking seriously with two local dealers who were doing everything they could to find me what I wanted: a rear living room, fully enclosed bathroom (for the price we pay, I didn't want the sink and shower in my bedroom and have a hospital curtain for a bedroom door!)

They had me looking at Cardinal, Everest, HR, Jayco, and some others that I can't remember. I saw a Bighorn going down the road (had never heard of it) and started searching for a dealer to look at one - closest one was about an hour and a half away. I went and looked at the unit, and really liked some of the innovations and the layout.

The dealer told me that there was an RV show in two weeks (In Virginia) so I decided to go. Looked at that same unit again, and was nearly ready to jump on the "Show Price" but decided to have a look around. While looking, I ran into a Big Sky that was EXACTLY the floor plan I was looking for. I wandered around looking for the sales rep to ask some questions, and when I found her, she worked for a dealer that I had heard bad stuff about from a friend (Uh-Oh!) I decided to sit down and talk to her a bit, and when there was no-one else in the rig with us, I asked her about the issues that I had heard about - turned out to be a non issue - you know how heresay can be.

We discussed the floorplan, and features of the Big Sky and I was really interested, but it was out of the price range that I had hoped to be in. The sales person got really busy, so I left her my contact info, and she was going to "look around" for me now that she knew what I was looking for (I really didn't expect to ever hear from her again). Well, bright and early Monday morning, I received a call from her, and she had two units on her lot that were the same floorplan, but a different brand (Mountaineer - at the time I didn't know that Keystone made both). She sent me a web link to look at, and I really liked what I saw. Went up to see them, and picked one. Then came the deal - they did everything they had to to put me in the unit - added a W/D combo and slide toppers and hitch installation into the price, and still came in under my target number.

I haven't looked back - I would recommend that dealer to anyone - they have been great since day one, and my rig is exactly what I was after!

[sfretts]

A couple years ago, my wife and I started researching a RV for weekend and some vacation uses. As we checked out floor plans etc, we learned of the quality of Montana products. When we settled on a floor plan, we narrowed it dow to I believe three brands. We kept coming back to the Mountaineer model line as it had what we were looking for and the quality of the build was better from the furniture to the cabinets to the kitchen and outside compliments. We paid a little more, but felt it would pay in the long run. We have stayed in it several times for up to two weeks at a time and love everything about it. It was a smart decision for us based on quality.

Steve

[Johnnyg]

We rented onsite trailers for several years when we lived in upstate NY in the the early 90s. One year ago this past October we decided to buy our first rv, a used class A. We took 3 trips and was towed home twice. Not to be discourged I sold it and purchased our second rv, a used Class A. It served us well and enjoyed the rest of the summer.
In September we went to the Hershey RV show to buy a cover for the coach and couldnt resist looking at all a the units on display. Before the day was over we owned our 3rd Rv. Why Montana? If I still have it a year from now I'll let you know!!

[stiles watson]

We had shopped extensively. Being of Scot heritage, I am always looking for the best bang for the buck. We kept coming back to the 3670 RL Big Sky, but determined it was too pricey for us. Then we discovered a year old 2003 Big Sky 3670 RL on the internet for an unbelievable price with a truck included. We went, we looked, we bought.

That was in 2004. We returned from 2 years in Hong Kong in March 2007 and took that rig to Canada and back. We were very happy with the performance of the Montana, but had some damage caused by blowouts and during the repairs, we wandered into the showroom.

I had already bought an F350 dually, so was ready to pull a heavier rig. Four changes and the price caused us to swap rigs. (1) Flat floor in the bedroom, (2) the "U" shaped kitchen, (3) the double wide refrigerator, and (4) no longer having the inside "death step" (over which both us us had fallen in the past).

Now that we have lived in the rig full time for over two years our choice is confirmed. We are now experiencing sub freezing weather in about as far north as you can get in Washington and living comfortably in our Big Sky.

[GregN]

My wife and I had a travel trailer wish we liked very much. We knew we were going to travel alot after we retired. It started at a small Home and Garden show. There was a Cardinal on display there. We like the lay out and the more room. We thought of making an offer but we decided to look at other brands. So we started shopping. We even entertained the idea of a motorhome. Well after visiting many RV dealer, looking at several different makes and models we saw the Montana. The dealer was very nice no presure saleman. It was the 3650RK. My wife really liked the kitchen layout. We looked around some more, but were coming back to look at the Montana. I had done my research and the third time back to the Montana dealer, which I am sure he was thinking SALE. We made an offer, they excepted and a week later we were bringing it home. For the price and quality you can not beat the Montana.

[scductman]

Greg that is why we have the 3650RK my wife loved the kitchen just as soon as she walked in it. I had been looking at a cardinal but we just could not walk away from the montana. Besides she is the brains of the outfit and just lets me pull them around. "Hey I am OK with that". I am having 1 problem its called 3750FL. (she saw it).
bobby

[Gramps]

We bought our first 5th wheel shortly after our youngest daughter was killed in a traffic accident. We determined life was to short to waste and wanted something that would allow us to spend more time with family. We kept that SOB(be nice )for 5 years and finally decided we needed something a little larger. Enter our 2nd SOB, a 2000 Alpenlite, but within a few months after we brought it home, Western RV went under and with the lose of factory support, we decide to move on to something 1)still in production, 2) a little larger, and 3)something we could use in our retirement. We looked at everything we could find, and when it came down to it, the Montana 3670 had the floor plan and features we wanted all in one package. Nothing else we looked at compared.

[sreigle]

For us it was also love at first sight. We bought our first Montana new in January 2001. A 2880RL. After looking at several other brands we saw the Montana on the dealer's lot. We then looked at some more brands but nothing else compared. For our second and third Montanas the decision was based partly on our liking the floorplan and the model in general but also, heavily, on the customer service and follow through by Keystone that we experienced.

[radioattic]

We used to own a SOB motor home, but sold it when it started costing way too much to keep up. Going airborne on the Foley Beach Express several years ago started it on its downhill slide (that's another story).

We had discussed buying another used MH but we are living an austere retirement and decided we needed to wait until we started getting Social Security. My son has a SOB toy hauler fifth wheel and he loves it; he started putting the bug in our ears for a fifth wheel camper. Everything we looked at and liked was too old for us to get decent financing. So we stopped looking.

I collect antique radios and was looking for radios on Craigslist shortly before Christmas last year. Some unknown force took control of my fingers and they typed "fifth wheel rv" in the search window.

POW! Up popped a 2006 Mountaineer and a 2006 Silverado 2500 Duramax Diesel being sold together! Less than 40 miles from the house! Love at first sight came next. We were amazed at how much more walking around room we had than the old motorhome. And with the slides in, we could get to everything except the drawers in the bedroom. Just what we wanted.

[Yamaha_Mama]

We only started RVing a couple of years ago. Ken and I had never been campers.I suggested the idea of getting a trailer. Ken thought I was crazy...but he's been telling me that for the last 35 years!! We went to a couple of RV shows and saw a Komfort TT that we liked. It was about $40K. We couldn't justify that kind of purchase on something we had never done before...so I kept looking. I would have liked a vintage funky kind of thing...but I got him to agree to our first travel trailer...a 98 Komfort TT. He was sold on it when he saw it had a recliner!! That lasted a month. We went back to our dealer to pick up some parts, and low and behold, there was our dream trailer on the lot. Six months old, slightly used, tricked out and greatly reduced. We bought it on the spot. We tootled around Northern California but our first big trip was the following March to Spring Training in AZ and The Grand Canyon. While driving there we were stunned how many Montana's we saw on the road, so we thought we would check them out. While in AZ, we stopped at a dealership and liked what we saw. Six months later, we bought our first Montana...a 2008 3400. Loved it. A year later we had some time to kill before a family party in Sacramento so we checked out the new Montanas. We are now the proud owners of a 2010 3455. Like I said before, I am not looking again for quite a while. I would love to know the feeling of getting one broke in for more that just a year!!!