Looking at 2012 Mountaineer 295RK - Montana Owners Club

my12by60 · 01-02-2021, 08:58 PM

We are going to look at a used Montana on Monday. The unit is a bit longer and a bit heavier than we would ideally like, but we do love the floor plan and the storage the unit offers. It is a one owner unit that has been garaged when not in use.

Was 2012 a good year in general for Montana construction quality?

Anything in particular that we should be looking for as far as problem areas with this year of unit or with older Montanas in general?

We owned a Cedar Creek fifth wheel from 2007 until 2015 and we towed that for about 40,000 miles. So we are not new to RVing. We are looking for whatever insights you folks have on these units.

We are wrestling between buying new or buying used. We bought the Cedar Creek new and had a good experience. I would not hesitate to buy another Cedar Creek, but all of the floor plans are too big for us now. We are downsizing since we will no longer be traveling with our kids who will both be in college now.

We were hoping to stay at about 7500 pounds dry weight and 30 feet in total length. The Mountaineer is about 10000 pounds dry weight and a bit over 33 feet. The truck we recently bought for towing is a 2003 F350 with a V10. So we do have enough payload and pulling grunt to handle the Mountaineer, but we know we won't be tearing up mountain grades. For the Cedar Creek, we had an F350 diesel with the 6.0L engine. With the Cedar Creek loaded, it was almost 15000 pounds.

Thanks for any comments.

WeBeFulltime · 01-03-2021, 09:28 AM

I don't recall ever going in a Mountaineer but we owned 3 regular Montanas (2008,2012, & 2015.5) all bought new. Overall we were happy with all 3 but if faced with choosing one over another I would choose the 2012 by far. We full-timed in it for 6 years and really enjoyed it. Didn't have any major issues with any of them and had only one minor issue with the 2012 and that was the control board for the leveling system which the dealer took care of in about 15 minutes.

**AZ Traveler** · 01-03-2021, 09:48 AM

Keystone builds units in the Cougar line that fit your bill size and weight wise.

**DQDick** · 01-03-2021, 10:36 AM

We had a 2010 and now have a 2017 and a 2013. All have been built well and we full time with over 150,000 miles so I wouldn't be afraid of a 2012 at all.

my12by60 · 01-03-2021, 12:18 PM

Thanks for the good reports on quality. The seller is asking $27,500, which seems quite high in relation to the original msrp of $44,000. In 2012, 25% off msrp was a fairly standard deal. That would put the original sale price at $33,000. I know we are in a seller's market at the moment, but I am concerned that the current conditions may reverse as we move into 2021 and the vaccine (hopefully) starts to diminish covid fears. That could put a bunch of near new RVs onto the market as some portion of the newbies decide to return to cruises and airplanes.

Vet4jdc · 01-03-2021, 12:41 PM

We owned a 2013 Mountaineer 295RK and loved it. The only reason we traded was because we really wanted a door-side slide. Our 2013 was well built and the only issue we had with it was one of the compartment doors delaminated and I ended up replacing it. Length and weight was very manageable. We only had the one factory air and if we kept it I would have added air in the bedroom. Good luck in your deal. Price seems a little high even during Covid.

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