I will post the letter I sent to my dealer who has forwarded it to the Montana Production Supervisor. NO answer or contact from Montana so far.
May 16, 2015
Montana Production Division
c/o Main Trailer Sales
Roswell, NM
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Mark Craddock from Artesia, NM. My wife, Teresa & I are Full Time RV’ers who prefer to live in a Montana RV. Our first model was a 2013 #3582. This was a perfect floor plan for our full time living in comfort. We saw a new 2015 #3720RL at Main Trailer Sales in Roswell, NM. Our salesman, David told us about the Legacy package and we decided that was for us. This is our third trailer from Main Trailer and 2nd Montana. However, we have some major bones to pick about this new trailer. I will explain each item we are unhappy about and start with the bedroom.
BEDROOM:
The closet clothes rod has a bend in the middle and will fail due to a lack of stiffness in the rod. I will send a picture of the rod to Main Trailer Sales. As you can see from the picture there is a pronounced downward bow in the rod. The solution we came up with is to replace the rod with a galvanize rod the same diameter and length.
The storage under the bed was reduced by about 2/3 due to the water lines and not sure what else leading to the washing machine area. Again here is a picture (sorry it is not the best) of the storage area. This hurts our ability to store items there and help maintain our enjoyment of the trailer.
Window shades in bedroom should be the day/night shades as well. Why just go half way in allowing the owners to sleep in comfort. When trying to sleep at sunrise the light comes thru and wakes you up. In your printed material it does not say that the day/night shades are not in the bedroom. This is at best a misleading statement and at worst, false advertising.
The quiet cool air conditioning system is another item that is misleading. The second air conditioning system in the bedroom is not quiet. Again the print material does not say that it is only for the AC system in the living area. Same misleading statement.
The heater does not put out enough heat to heat either the bedroom or the bathroom. I have not checked the heating system in the basement yet to see if the heating duct is connected correctly. Also, why not put a heating duct on the other side of the bed as well. This would allow for better heat distribution on those cold mornings. Since we are on the subject of heating, the floor heater for the bedroom/bathroom does not heat up the floor. This is a major reason we purchased this trailer was so we could have a warm floor when getting out of the shower on cold mornings. This part of the legacy package is a failure. How do you plan on fixing that one? Remember, we live it this trailer full time. Also the heating duct to the bedroom in the basement is a cheap dryer vent instead of being the same ducting as the main living area.
The mattress provided with the 3720RL was thin and uncomfortable. The word CHEAP comes to mind. We had to replace it in order to get a good night’s sleep. I suggest that you upgrade the mattress to a memory foam at least 10 inches thick. I would not mind paying for a better mattress.
The bedroom could use another cabinet with a mirror on it instead of just a mirror. As full timers we need and use all of the storage space we can get.
BATHROOM:
We already covered the floor heater problems with the bedroom. The toilet bowl will not hold water. When you flush the toilet and put water in the bottom it leaks out. I have tried to clean off the gasket around the bottom of the toilet. This did not work and it also allows some swamp gas to leak into the bathroom.
The exhaust fan in the bathroom is so powerful and placed over the stool that it pulls up swamp gas from the black tank. It should be moved more into the middle of the room. Also, the stool has a design problem with the water that cleans the bowl. It does not reach the front of the stool allowing the urine to be washed down the drain.
The shower leaks around the bottom due to no caulking where the rails join each other. I have sent a picture to David at Main Trailer Sales. My solution was to get some clear caulking and caulk the bottom of the shower door. This should have been done at the factory.
The cabinet under the sink could use a shelf. This would allow us to make better use of the cabinet space.
LIVING AREA:
There is a major lack of cabinet storage in this area. You redesigned the cabinets around the walls above the windows. When you removed a section of three cabinets and made the window above the table bigger you did not think about the loss of storage. You were trying to keep up with JAYCO. Again, you failed to take into consideration how this would hurt your consumers. The cabinets at each end of the wall were reduced in size by removing the angle that made it deeper and allowed more room for storage. The window did not need to be bigger as for the most part you only sit at the table to eat. The storage is more important as it allows for full timers and I am sure even weekenders to bring along items they want and a place to store them.
The island was reduced in size and the cabinet was removed again reducing our storage area. The smaller island makes food preparation difficult. The sink has also been reduced in size. WHY?? The reduction of storage space hurts our ability to store food, dishes, and other items needed for living in our trailer.
The entertainment area has been redesigned and not for the better. The shelves on the sides can’t hold anything while traveling. So we must add another step in our getting ready to move the RV. The doors should be put back in place which will allow us to store items on the shelves. This is a no brainer. Placing the DVD player on the top shelf is a poor idea. My wife must use a stool in order to reach the DVD player due to the fact that she is only 5’ 2” tall. Put the sound bar on top of the TV and the DVD player, radio, and satellite receiver below the TV. Also the drawers under the TV are smaller in height than in our other Montana.
The dining table has been made smaller and no drawer. The fact that it does not swivel does not trouble me. The folding chairs could be done away with since we lost the under the seat storage areas. After all, even folded we need to find a place to store them. So what real difference does it make? Put the real chairs back into the trailer.
Adding an 18 cubic foot refrigerator was great. We now have cold/frozen storage that allows us to plan for the week. However, the wall next to the refrigerator is warm to the touch and when putting a thermometer the temperature was 65 degrees. The bottom of the refrigerator keeps filling up with water. This forces either me or my wife to take out the crispers and clean up the water. I have checked to ensure that the drain pan is under the fins and that the drain line is hooked up properly.
EXTERIOR:
The awning is higher and can’t be lowered enough to give shade where you would like it. Also, the awning is set so straight that it fills up with rain water causing it to sag.
The Basement area has some problems as well. The first thing we had Main Trailer Sales do was come out and fix the crimp in the water line that leads to the washer. Both hot & cold were pinched which would have led to them breaking with a basement full of items. The other problem is that the storage space has been reduced by about 1/3 when compared to our old Montana. You did give me an additional small space which did work out nice. Why don’t you put additional storage bins at the back end of the trailer? This would allow for additional outside storage and for a few dollars you would be a hero to the customers. Our Fleetwood Pride had storage like that and it worked out great for us. They don’t need to be real big just enough to hold leveler blocks or extra sewer hose.
CLOSING:
The items we covered in this letter were not noticeable until we stared transferring our items into the new trailer nor I am sure all we will find in the future. That is when we discovered the problems with this one. This trailer, in our opinion, does not live up to the “All Season” living standard that we enjoyed in our 3582. Montana has been the number ONE selling RV for over 10 years. WHY? Because they set the industry standard not following one of their competition’s cheap ideas. If you did adopted an idea from one of the competitors it was done to a higher level. I hate to say this, but if we wanted a cheaply made trailer we would have purchased a Jayco, Columbus, Redwood, or Open Range. My wife and I purchased a second Montana because of the quality and livability we had come to expect. This new Montana 3720RL does not meet this standard.
Whoever decided that changing the designs for livability has never spent a month or more living in a trailer or did any market research as to how it effects the consumer who is either a part-timer or a full-time RV’er. We chose Montana because we felt it was the best RV on the market. If you haven’t figured it out by now that we are VERY UNHAPPY with this trailer than you are very dense. I really don’t want to switch to one of your competitors but you are going to make it happen by not thinking things thru on how the redesigned trailer will affect your customer base. I am sure that we are not the only ones who are thinking this way. We have shown our Montana 3582 to lots of people on the road. We don’t plan on doing that so much with this one. If asked we will tell the truth. At this point, the truth as we see it will hurt Montana because we as fulltime RV’ers find the new “improvements” done with poor planning.
If you have any questions please call me at: 575-748-5069 or email me at:
cavalry59@yahoo.com
Mark Craddock
Dissatisfied Montana Owner!