Opinions on Montana 333DB 5er quality

dfb wrote:
We have a new 2015 Montana 3611 rl.. Love the floor plan.had a myriad of warranty items. Front cap pitted in transit. Sat 3 months at body shop til fixed. Rope light section burned out. Black valve fixed twice. Shower door handles fixed twice til I fixed them myself. Screen door latch broke. Water heater did not work on electric..screws for skirting constantly coming undone. Factory WIIL NOT HELP YOU IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR NEED PARTS,! Everything must go to dealer.. Thetford toilet would not hold water after two repair attempts. Put dometic in.

Everything but the cap paint is an outside supplier. That cap should be a no brainer for the dealer as that paint and gel coat problem is well known over many brands, not only Keystone products.

That toilet - clean the seal then put some grease on the ball and seal. I'm on the third warranty one (busted inside) and if it breaks again, a SeaLand will go in its place

Skirt screws - look on the McMaster-Carr website, spend $15 bucks including UPS and get some #8x3/4" stainless screws, nuts and serrated lock washers. It took me all of 20 minutes to replace ours. If the HW tank is over one of the fenders, you may need 3-4 #8 or $10 self tapping screws from Home Depot as well as you don't have finger room to install the nuts. http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/122/3041/=12c6j1w

You can knock any brand, but unless it's a part of the box, someone else manufactured that item and Keystone or whatever other brand name you choose, just screwed it in place.

Now, do you like the 5er or is there something wrong with the 'box'?

We have a new 2015 Montana 3611 rl.. Love the floor plan.had a myriad of warranty items. Front cap pitted in transit. Sat 3 months at body shop til fixed. Rope light section burned out. Black valve fixed twice. Shower door handles fixed twice til I fixed them myself. Screen door latch broke. Water heater did not work on electric..screws for skirting constantly coming undone. Factory WIIL NOT HELP YOU IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR NEED PARTS,! Everything must go to dealer.. Thetford toilet would not hold water after two repair attempts. Put dometic in.

Every RV brand, regardless of the so-called quality level or price will have problems, from little nigglers to major. Montana is right there with them. Unless there is a rotted spot or a torn roof, a 6-7 year old 5er will usually have the manufacturer supplied problems fixed. This leaves the overall physical condition as your guideline along with some sort of base dollar figure for purchase. NADA RV books or website will give you a starting point but in reality, that's all as you can be sure the selling dealer didn't pay near low book unless he had a really hot deal on an expensive new RV. Problem wise on Montana's are the decals, some toilet models and possibly slide mechanisms if the old Lippert rack and pinion (usually easily fixed). Other then that, a usually good solid unit, better then a good many, mediocre vs a few top end/top buck.

I wouldn't hesitate to offer a crazy low amount and see where it lands. I'm not in a position where I HAVE to change RV's, the question is if I want to.

My current TT has served us well for 12 years. However, it's developed a rotted place in the floor and I'm just not certain I'm all that interested in fixing it. I have fixed rotted floors before and it's a huge amount of work. I'm pretty certain I'll have to disassemble the entire back 1/4 of the camper to get to all the rotted areas and repair it properly.

Maybe I'm getting lazy in my middle age. We've spent all school year chasing our kids around to one event after another. I've basically had no free weekends for months and the thought of spending hours upon hours, basically all my free time, for the next several weeks to fix that floor just doesn't interest me a whole lot. I have the skills and tools to do the work, just not the motivation.

I could pay someone to do the work, but then why would I put that kind of money into a 14 year old TT? Why not just cut my losses, get what I can out of the old TT, and upgrade?

So, there's my dilemma. I can choose to fix me old unit, or just punt and upgrade.

KJ

I know for sure that Keystone had severe decal problems around 2010. Mixed reviews exist about Montana in general although there are lots of Montana fans hereabouts. I think you have to take asking prices with a grain of salt. The dealership was asking $41,900 for the 2014 we traded in three weeks ago. Today it's listed as $36,700. Don't feel bad about offering a ridiculously low number for your first offer; you can always raise your offer.

We have had two Montana's 06 3400 and a 2013 3402. Many , Many many miles on the 2006 and & 8K on the 2013.several problems large and small on the 06 3400 and several problems large and small on the 2013. Warranty by Keystone was great as was our Extended warranties.We use then hard put many miles on them and although not full time live in them 7/9 months of the year/.IMO they are no better no worse than any other brand in the price range.

You will gets lots of opinions about Montana good and bad here, all I can tell ya is my experience I have owned 3 of them a 2004,2012 and my 2015 and have loved every one,are they perfect?? Nope but none of the other brands are either,just my 2 bits from a longtime Monty owner