The PDI and shakedown report on 07 Big Sky 340RLQ

[traveltunes]

Hello everyone, I thought you would want to know this. We took possession of our new 2007 340 RLQ Big Sky on Fri. the 18th at Mid America RV in Carthage, Missouri. We spent 4 hours inspecting our unit. Thanks to David and Joanna, I did not hit my head on the slide out.LOL. But I am sad to say, I'm not pleased with what I saw. Here we go!

Dealer PDI prior to our possession:
-Small end table leg busted/replaced table
-Window on roadside top (bedroom)leaking water/sealed top with waterproof sealer
-Chanderlier light/one light is haging down, cause:screw broken and light needs to be remounted
-Trim around entry door is too long/cause wrong size/replace trim
-Water seal flap on bottom shower door is missing /correction:added weather strip adhesive to flap and added 2 screws to hold flap on door.
-Compartment door on front roadside has latch that won't turn/Removed latch,repaired, reinstall latch.

Here is what we found when we did our inspection:

-Dent on bottom kitchen slide.
-Scratches to outside bedroom slide.
-Back rear on fiberglass cap has scratches.
-Entry door trim-holes need filled and nails need resunk/they sunk nails and filled with wood putty. They did a terrible job of correcting this problem.
-Front fireplace outerwood cover needs replaced/missing wood dowel and has a chunk of wood missing.
-Washer/Dryer has a chunk of wood missing in door.
-Missing the standard rechargeable flashlight.
-Scratch on the countertop/they sanded and repolished it.
-Scratch on table door/covered it with old english.
-Scratch/nick on left door to table storage.
-Chip out of countertop by stove.
-Dirt spots in carpet due to wood putty/cleaned carpet.
-Scratches on marbled shower.
-2nd step furnace return grill has nicks in the wood all along it.
-Bathroom sink scratched/Sanded and polished out scratches.

I would like to know if anyone else has had issues like this or is it just my bad luck?? We are still doing the shakedown until wed. the 23rd. So far in addition to all the other problems we have found, our main a/c won't work/it is frezzing up and won't blow cold air at all. The rechargeable flashlight they put in won't work, and the level master I had put on the hitch was installed incorrectly and the unit cannot be leveled. I hope everyone else is having better luck than we are currently. I am anixously awaiting your responces. Thanks everybody.



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[Wrenchtraveller]

I am sorry to hear that your unit showed up with these flaws. This is unacceptable in entry line units and when a higher line like a Big Sky shows up like this it reflects badly on Keystone.
I have been buying new RVs since 1974 and I am well aware of the way some RVs leave the factory so I was very pleased when my 06 Montana showed up almost flawless and I believe a lot of it has to do with the factory production schedule and possibly mine was made when orders were slow. Many people claim the Cougars made in the Oregon factory are better built than the Keystone products made back East because the Oregon factory is not so production pushed but I have seen Cougars that looked pretty shoddy as well so I believe poor employees can live anywhere.
All I can hope is that your dealer and Keystone make everything right for you and your Big Sky turns out to be the unit you expected it to be. Good Luck .

[SlickWillie]

We picked up our Mountaineer Friday. It was in the shop for warranty service. The dealership owner told us he is having to spend several hours on each Big Sky he gets in, just correcting poor factory workmanship. We looked at a couple, and I noticed some of the storage compartment latches wouldn't turn to open. Must have a problem with those. He mentioned the lights hanging down loose and having to be repaired. Sounds like the QC person went on vacation. On second thought I'm beginning to wonder if they have anyone for quality control. And that rechargeable light, you're better off without it. You won't grab it and it not work. I threw mine in the trash.

[Jim Jarvis]

None of these issues with our Big Sky. We couldn't be happier. Dealer never mentioned anything either. Wonder if yours was made on a Monday morning?

[kwolff7]

I am sorry to hear of your problems. We are to pick our Big Sky up in June and now I am a little concerned. Everyone on the MOC that has picked up their Big Sky seems to have very few problems and hope that is true of ours. We will be looking for all the things you are talking about. Do you know when yours was built. Ours was suppose to have been built on a Friday and they probably couldn't wait to get home for the weekend.

What is your serial or VIN # and are they the same. Do you know what the whole number is. We were told our number is 710005. That number does not seem to make sense. Hope you get all of your problems corrected soon. Karen

[richfaa]

traveltunes... You need to send that post to Mike Spencer at Big Sky. Go to the big sky website and click on "send us your ideas" Ole Rich would have sent that back to the factory...for sure..

[David and Jo-Anna]

Sorry to hear you have issues. We only had a few very minor things that our dealer promptly took care of.


Jo-Anna

[txkrumm]

Take care of problems now; don't let anything you are uncomfortable with slide. You are paying a lot of money for a new rig; you deserve to be 100% happy.
t

[rldriver]

We also only had a few minor things that we found and have a short list but nothing of major importance.

I think that the rechargeable flashlight is not being installed in the new units so if you got one installed it's a freebie.

As "richfaa" said let the factory know about your problem and that you are a MOC member.

[kerry]

How do we contact Mike Spencer. My unit is due off line 6/5. I certainly don't want any of these problems, Kerry !!!!!

[traveltunes]

But wait there's more!
We have since found out the a/c is freezing up, we have turned it off and re-adjusted the temp. and fan speed, turned it back on and it still freezes up. We have done this 5 times with same results. Also when we arrived at the campground we realized the dealer had installed my level master wrong, not a big deal but keeps adding to the list of problems. There wasn't anything we could do until Monday since we bought it on a Friday. So this morning while I was making the other post, I was waiting for the dealer to open up. I had to take it back for the repairs, they wouldn't come 3 miles away to look at it. While I was watching the servicemen like a Hawk, I also noticed the surround sound speaker mount was cracked all the way through. The flashlight was added by the dealer. I just know it was a standard option on the broucher that I have. The dealer did fix everything that was wrong in this reply and a lot of the wood and countertops will probably be fixed or replaced at the factory. The a/c there was air mixing from the intake and outgoing air in the ceiling assembly. Correction: Pulled control box and taped all areas around intake. Ran unit. No freezing was found. Air was also mixing up top under shroud. Freeze sensor was not installed in the fins. Installed sensor. I wanted everyone to know this, that way everyone has better awareness around the Big Sky. "Keystone's flagship coach"

Richfaa: I did send the post I typed earlier to Mike Spencer like you said. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens. I'll let everyone else know what he has say about this. I'm to tired to post any pictures just yet. Jess

[bjlks]

I agree with Ole Rich would have sent back to factory.

[kerry]

How do I contact Mike Spencer ??

[richfaa]

Mike Spencer is the "Big Sky'Guy. When you click on "send us your ideas" on the Big Sky Web site the msg goes to his desk. We have met him, He is really trying to please. They only make 3 of these a day..can't imagine how such a mess could come out of the plant.

[Verle and Sue]

quote:Originally posted by kerry

How do we contact Mike Spencer. My unit is due off line 6/5. I certainly don't want any of these problems, Kerry !!!!!

HI, when did you order your unit? Ours is supposed to be built sometime in early to mid June, but haven't gotten a date or VIN yet.

Guess we'd better be very vigilant in doing our PDI. So far the reports on the Big Sky have kept us feeling very positive. I hope they get this one with problems fixed up to your satisfaction. Sue C

[stevemc]

So sorry you have had so many problems. Those are beautiful coaches and you certainly wouldn't expect so many problems. Most new owners I've heard have had relatively few minor issues. Summertime does present some unique problems in manufacturing due to vacations. You have more people gone and more people doing jobs that are not their normal jobs to cover for those on vacation. I does tend to cause more quality issues. The best manufacturing facilities have documented instructions for each step in the process to help 'new' people on a specific job, but the supervisors must make sure the instructions are followed.

[traveltunes]

Alright everyone here is what Mike Spencer had to say:

Jess, I am very surprised by these quality issues. We have had very few
complaints so far. Please forward the last 6 digits of your VIN #. I
will discuss these issues in our meeting this week with the plant
managers and quality control team. Thank you for bringing these items to
my attention.
Mike

We will be sending the vin# to Mike Spencer in the morning. We'll keep you posted.

P.S. The a/c is still working. (So far)

[DarMar]

So sad that you are having all these problems. When buying a high end unit like the Big Sky one should not have to deal with these issues, both Keystone, but mostly your dealer have let you down. I do believe it's up to the dealer to PDI these units properly before the owners do their PDI. We bought our last unit at Bruce's Four Seasons in Virder Manitoba because they spend 12 - 14 hours doing their PDI before the customer does theirs. They also do a thorough PDI not just skim over the top and bill Keystone for something else. On the subject of the dealer not coming out 3 miles to look at you unit, shame on them!!! Again, Bruce's has a fleet of on site repair vans travelling around and will travel up to 500kms to do on site repairs. Every new unit comes with a 2 year on site repair service and they actually back that up! This past weekend was our May Long holiday weekend and on Sunday one of their vans travelled 150 kms to our Rv park to repair a fridge that wasn't working in one of their USED rv's they had sold. That's the service we should expect when we spend $60000.00 Canadian on an rv. Hopefully more dealers will come along to help set this standard of service and soon the rest will be forced to follow or just plain get out of the business!!!

[traveltunes]

Update:
We have since spoke with Craig Crouch at Keystone; Mike Spencer has dedicated him to deal with our issues. He is going to try and see if we can stop off at the Pendleton factory in Oregon, on our way to Eugene on June 4th. There is a dealer called Drake RV in Pendleton who handles Keystone's overflow, which might be able to help us. He was supposed to call me back today, he did not. I also am having trouble with our ViewSonic television. I had also asked Craig about the poor quality images on the TV and he said "the ViewSonic was comparable to the Sony Bravia, but it was more economical to use the ViewSonic brand in the Big Sky's" I really don't think Keystone should call the Big Sky their "Luxury" or "Flagship Coach" when they use a word such as "economical" when describing the quality of electronics in these units. Craig did say he was going to send us some component video cables and a signal booster for the bat-wing antenna. It makes me think, if it takes these items to make the picture quality better, then why didn't Keystone put these items in the units in the first place.

Everyone else who has a new Big Sky:
Is anyone else having trouble with the wallpaper boarder coming off?? What were the small issues you had in which the dealer fixed?? You can private message us if you like.

[richfaa]

You are being open and honest about your Big Sky purchase experience. Stay with it. Perhaps it will prompt others to take a better look and the factory to be more observent.