best model of Keystone 5th wheel?

I know I'm late on this thread but I thought some of you might find this interesting. I just took my 2016 Montana 3711FL to Tom Johnson's in Charlotte NC for warranty work (breaking slide out cable and loose A/C fan) anyway Tom Johnson just sold to camping world and are a VERY busy service center. The woman there was very very helpful and I asked her what manufacturer has the least amount of problems and what manufacturer has the best warranty response. Her answer to both was Newmar was number 1 and Keystone second. She said all the rest were very difficult to deal with on all warranty work.

We have owned 6 rv's over 30 years. The last two have been Montana 5th wheels a 2006 and now a 2013. We are long timers and use the Montana hard. Like all brands they have problems. We have never been denied a warranty claim by Keystone and we had a few. For us Keystone customer service has been excellent.
We also had the extended warranty on both of them.

We purchased the Montana because they were within our price range and had the floor plan we wanted. We would purchase any brand that met that criteria and expect the same sort of problems.

topjimmy wrote:
You got it messed up a little Tennessee on the Order of Luxury and price The Newer BIG SKY is #1 and the Montana Legacy is #2 Alpine is just as nice as Montana Legacy so tied for #2 and number #3 is NON Legacy Montana (formally) Moutaniner then the High Country

I prefaced my post as being biased :) But you're right, the Big Sky is the higher end model. We are still saving for retirement and didn't want to be "camper poor". The 2010 3455SA has some of the same amenities as the comparable 2010 Big Sky and has basically the same layout... less the flashy paint job and the bigger price tag.

Hey Cedar Creek Guys why did you even respond to this post??The OP asked a simple question Gentlemen not YOUR opinion on Keystone or a Bash on Keystone, and about the Troll who posted about the LONG denial of warranty post recently you can see where that went......BS'ER....and yeah right Cedar Creek is Perfect..RIGHT :R I've owned 3 Montana's a 2004 and a 2012 and my new 2015 all have been great with no warranty denial issue's I think that makes me more informed about Keystone and answer his question than you guys

Ken B has it correct...After reading about their repeated warrantee denial problems, why would anybody want to buy a Keystone product - regardless of the quality.

This issue should make you (OP) re-consider trying to determine the pecking order...look for a different manufacturer.

My $.02

johnsken wrote:
What is the lineup of models best to not so best, Montana, Alpine, or Big Sky,

In my opinion, there are no good Keystone 5th wheels.
ken

You got it messed up a little Tennessee on the Order of Luxury and price The Newer BIG SKY is #1 and the Montana Legacy is #2 Alpine is just as nice as Montana Legacy so tied for #2 and number #3 is NON Legacy Montana (formally) Moutaniner then the High Country

We are obviously biased toward the Montana... but do your homework and find the one that best suits your wants and needs. Try to find one that matches up with your tow vehicle's weight specs well. That will rid you of a lot of stress while traveling down the road. We like our unit and it has served us well. Keeping in mind that NO unit will be free of some kind of "defect" but that's just the nature of the beast with any RV. Enjoy!

So...
#1 Montana
#2 Big Sky
#3 Alpine

C-Bears wrote:
Dealers are looking at them and writing up suggested warranty repair orders only to have Keystone RV refuse to pay. I have been going back and forth with them for months, they have now confirmed that I "may have" a roof problem and want me to take it back to the dealer again for an inspection, estimate, and warranty submission.

But I am not impressed with how Keystone RV treats their customers under warranty and I sure won't be buying another one unless something drastically changes.

Here's what I can tell you:
We've got a 5 month old RV where the roof has come up causing a big cut in the TPO membrane. Before taking it to the dealer, I took it to 2 independents who both said "new roof". Taking it to the dealer this AM, they said "new roof" also. We'll see what Keystone says.

Alpha Systems (they make TPO for Keystone) says that it can be re-glued unless it's been cut. Mine has been cut.


Keystone is approving work for out-of-warranty RVs where the front of the membrane is sealed and the dealer works with the end owner to get a claim in. In the one case that I know about, the repair is to cut the TPO and patch in... $1200 versus $6-12k for a new roof. That's still out of warranty.

Be aware that Keystone uses OSB as a roof deck. So when they pull up the roof, it can take a good % of the OSB with it. The correct repair is to either pull up all the OSB and replace it or over-deck the OSB with 1/8 laminant. The Laminant may or may not back out over time, so that's the risk.

The Keystone form doesn't really allow discussing Keystone non-service under warranty at least no than one post. You can report an issue once, but beyond that it may be considered a forum violation to continue to post dissatisfaction.

The Montana forum doesn't allow non-Montana owners to discuss Keystone manufacturing issues...

Videos where you can see this happening, on Keystone RVs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAmoXaU1Xrc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQet_grFELY

Take it from a guy that has owned 3 Montana's and this is the order #1 is the new Big Sky with the 100in frame(it used to be just a added pkg on Montana) #2 is the Montana Legacy edition, tied for #2 is the Alpine #3 is the regular Non legacy Montana which used to be the Mountaineer and then you have the High Country coming in at #4 then all the rest..Cougar etc.....