Forum Discussion

Hedgehog's avatar
Hedgehog
Explorer
Aug 22, 2015

Keystone quality ?

My friend has been camping in fifthwheel a for years. He usually trades every three or four years. He recently bought a brand new keystone Alphine and has had a ton of problems with it. Light fixtures falling off the wall, plumbing leaks where we find washers missing during assembly, crack in one piece fiberglass tub, doors falling off esc. These problems make me wonder as I just purchased a 2016 Montana 3160rl. I haven't had a chance to use it yet mainly because I am still waiting for a truck that I ordered 10 weeks ago. I bought the Montana because I had a 2004 Montana that was trouble free for the entire time I owned it. So, does keystone still build a quality unit or is the trouble free ownership like I had with my 2004 a thing of the past? Also, is the alpine and Montana built the same as far as quality ? Same assembly plant?

29 Replies

  • I have had my 2016 Keystone Carbon for 4 months with 25 nights slept in and I am very happy with the initial quality. Minus three interior LED lights going out and both Vacuum Breakers not working on the black tank flush system the unit has been awesome. Workmanship, fit, trim and quality are very good IMO.
  • Our Outback, which is middle of the Keystone line, has been virtually trouble free, except one slide motor, which was quickly replaced under warranty.

    Quality is kind of "luck of the draw" these days.
  • We have numerous problems with our 2013 Cougar 331MKS - mostly minor but problems with the control panel have been persistent. We even had an electrical fire in the front storage area related to the control panel. Thankfully that happened while under warranty. Like another person said, I would probably buy another but with a longer warranty.
  • I have a 2007 Montana (bought new and as trouble free as I could ever possibly hope) and as such I frequently visit the Montana Owners Club forum. It seems that while the vast majority of owners have very few problems there is the occasional one who has more than his share of problems. Couldn't begin to tell you why. But then, the same happens with cars and trucks, some owners being just terribly unlucky.
  • DW and I bought a new Alpine 3500RE May 2014. After 10K mi we have had the following issues - inop license lite, wood moldings reglued, led glass lite lense warped, black tank drain valve not opening fully, samsung tv intermittent shutoff, interior wood panelling reglued. Not bad in my opinion. A friend bought an Alpine 3010RE a month after looking at ours. His first trip the 4 door dometic refer cooled his beer down to 60 degrees on a 75 degree weekend. When he got home the tech found nothing wrong and it has worked great ever since.
  • We're are picking up our second Keystone next week. Our first was a 2005 Laredo TT BH. It has been a great trailer and other than some cosmetic age issues, I haven't had any problems. Friday we pick up our first fifth-wheel, a 2016 Cougar 336BHS. We looked at a lot of RV's before deciding on this one. There were some during a quick walk through I could tell were not built well and others I liked but the floor plan or price didn't work. I'm anticipating some issues with the new one just because bouncing down the road is pretty rough on a house. I hope the stuff that is going to shake loose will do so during the first year.
  • We are on our 2nd Cougar and it seems that quality has improved a bit. Although the weight is about the same between the two, the suspension and tires are much better. Some of the "improvements", like the remote controlled switchboard, are ill-conceived and poorly executed. The floor decking and some other structural things seem to be improved (we took the factory tour). We have a kitchen sink that is developing pits in the finish and will need to be replaced some day. We still have a few repair issues after each trip but am starting to think that some of that is normal for something that bounces down the road a lot. Many of the repairs are for things like the cabinetry, appliances and furniture which are not necessarily model-specific, so I'm not sure if a high-end model within the Keystone line might have many of those same problems. It seems that Keystone uses the same "parts drawer" across many models.
  • I think some RV manufacturers, have a low end line, mid, and upper end. After owning several TTs, I bought my first FW in 1995. I was looking at a used upper end 92, and a new 95 low end model, made by the same company. They were about the same price. I bought the used 92, from someone I knew, as the quality difference was very visible.

    The new one was needing repair, just to get the door open! The sales guy needed to pry on it, before we could look at it. Once inside, a cupboard door came off, when he showed us all the storage space. Then we noticed the cheap kitchen sink was cracked open, about an 1/8 inch. We walked/ran away from that low end trailer, and bought the used upper end one.

    Used that one for many years, with only a few small issues.

    It seems the Montana, has a pretty good overall rep.

    Jerry
  • After my Keystone I would have to cautiously say that the quality is there but the third party parts such as windows that leaked & windows with no drain holes, chairs that fall apart, brakes that squeaked, has been our biggest problems. along with some assorted assembly issues. Would I buy another one? From what Ive read most of them have issues for the first year. Next time I think I would get one with a longer factory warranty.