Montana or Alpine

[Avofarmer66]

We had a good look at a new Alpine by Keystone and are thinking about one. We currently have a Montana 3400RL that the DW loves. What is the big differences between the Montana to the Alpine???

[HOOK]

Having looked at both, I don't see much difference. Mostly trim and some few features. I even asked the rep. His answer was, very little. Although, here and on other forums they are frequently talked about. I'm told that they are a little more expensive and not selling as well as they hoped. The Redwood is also similar but a good bit more expensive.
The Montana is the queen of the Keystone family. They do have 12" frames. They were the first in the industry to have the dropped frame, there fore the large storage areas.
I shopped 2 years before buying mine. I am convinced, based on my forty years experience with RVs and having sold many, to include Airstream, there is no more trailer for the same money, anywhere.
As I said in another thread, I'm just waiting for a call from Mark Krol, our rep, to tell me when some changes in furniture are made, to order a 14 BigSky 3900FB. Hope to have it for Mid Atlantic. Two employees at our CW store own trailers, the ser. mgr. and myself. Both are Montana's. That should shout volumes to you.
I'll sell you anything you want, and CW has them all some where. As for me I'll stay with the #1 seller for the last 11 years. We who buy at their price point cannot buy more value for our dollar.

[bethandkevin]

Be sure to check anything you hear from your salesman as far as features "only on Alpine". Larry would be a great sounding board for this. The salesman we talked to Saturday while my brother was buying his unit clearly didn't know the product. He told us 12" frames were an Alpine only feature as well as G rated tires. The unit we were in had E rated tires and were not Marathons. There were some things we really liked about the Alpine, but could never step out on "Hannah".

[DQDick]

Last summer just before the Rally we were there getting some work done on our rig and had the opportunity to take an Alpine tour and also talk to an Alpine owner who had some real issues. It was an eye opening experience. In my opinion the Alpine is a great looking rig, but cheaper on infrastructure and most likely cheaper to manufacturer. And the cheaper infrastructure extends beyond just the frame. They do put tires other than Marathons on them, but I've seen two Alpines with severe damage from blown tires so I doubt the tires are any better. I'm not sure the rig I saw last fall was a fair example, but it had nails working out of the carpet on the kitchen slide that had ruined the floor and a number of other issues that made me glad I didn't own one. Just happy with what I have.

[richfaa]

As many of you may know we are NOT brand loyal. We also took a good look at the Alpine(and other brands) before we purchased this 2013 big sky. We also toured the Alpine factory. Would not have known which factory we were in. Same looking line, same people, same vendors.

[vibetech1]

Hello, just curious as to what type of changes you expect to see in the furniture? We are expecting our 2014 3900FB next month and was wondering if the changes come with the 2014s? As much as we love the quality of the unit the furniture lacked in my opinion. Especially the leather recliners. Thank you for your thoughts.

quote:Originally posted by HOOK

Having looked at both, I don't see much difference. Mostly trim and some few features. I even asked the rep. His answer was, very little. Although, here and on other forums they are frequently talked about. I'm told that they are a little more expensive and not selling as well as they hoped. The Redwood is also similar but a good bit more expensive.
The Montana is the queen of the Keystone family. They do have 12" frames. They were the first in the industry to have the dropped frame, there fore the large storage areas.
I shopped 2 years before buying mine. I am convinced, based on my forty years experience with RVs and having sold many, to include Airstream, there is no more trailer for the same money, anywhere.
As I said in another thread, I'm just waiting for a call from Mark Krol, our rep, to tell me when some changes in furniture are made, to order a 14 BigSky 3900FB. Hope to have it for Mid Atlantic. Two employees at our CW store own trailers, the ser. mgr. and myself. Both are Montana's. That should shout volumes to you.
I'll sell you anything you want, and CW has them all some where. As for me I'll stay with the #1 seller for the last 11 years. We who buy at their price point cannot buy more value for our dollar.

[1retired06]

We also have compared the two and tough to find significant advantages one has over the other. We have talked with three couples with new Alpines who were not happy with their units because of issues such as wall separation, vinyl flooring bubbling up, and electrical issues. We are not sure why the line was introduced, and either did the dealer we talked with. Guess we would go with another Montana, based on the track record of our three, as we have had minimal issues with all of them, and have experienced nothing I could not repair myself.

[richfaa]

The Alpine and the Avalanche replaced the Challenger and the Everest. Same factory, same line, same workmen. Just a effort to replace two name brands that were not in Keystones opinion, selling well. There was not much difference between the Everest and the Montana and there is not much difference between the Alpine and the Montana. It is nit a new rv just a name change.

[2007dura]

quote:Originally posted by HOOK

The Montana is the queen of the Keystone family. They do have 12" frames. They were the first in the industry to have the dropped frame, there fore the large storage areas.

Actually, Heartland came out with the drop frame in 2008 and Montana on their 2009's.