Montana fifth wheel 3455SA hello everybody I am judd along with my favorite wife Diane.. - RV-Dreams Community Forum

judd · RV-Dreams Community Member

Montana fifth wheel 3455SA hello everybody I am judd along with my favorite wife Diane..

Mallo · RV-Dreams Family Member

We were not fans of Montana's when we were shopping and to be honest while some folks love theirs just the two people on this forums issues post sale are enough to confirm my distrust of the company that builds them.

Mallo

Paul and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have the 3455SA and love it! Been in it since mid September and haven't had any problems. Some minor things to learn, ie; where is the second grey take valve? How to use the convection oven, and forgetting to open the grey tank when washing a load a clothes (Operator error). The floor plan is perfect for us.

We have done over night stops and can get to the bathroom, bedroom and refrigerator without opening any of the slides which makes it perfect when not wanting to do a campground.

Traveling from South Carolina, to South Dakota and now in Denver with our next route taking us through Arizona, Nevada and on to California for the winter, we hope it continues to be problem free.

Jo and Paul

phyllen · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have had a 3455SA bought new in Feb 2009 and have lived in it fulltime since, including a winter in NJ. We have really not had any trouble with the rig but are disappointed in the dealer and customer service at Keystone.

While in Texas in May we had an accident separating the back wall from the side. Temp repairs done in Texas that enabled us to return to NJ and the dealer who sold it to us. Took them over three months to place order for parts and then do the repairs. Should have taken less than a month. Then they replaced our steps, which had no damage to them. We noticed once we got it back to our daughters - 100 miles away. They claim they were to change steps on a rig next to ours and changed ours instead. Okay - so what did they put on the other rig. We believe they damaged them or needed them for another rig.

The new steps are more than 19 inches from ground and cheap, cheap, cheap. We had to buy a platform to use as bottom step. They said we could bring it back and they will give us new steps AND NOT CHARGE US! The nerve!

However, we were due on a project in three days in NC and did not have the time to make 200 mile round trip. I wrote to Keystone to intervene as we wanted to be able to go to any Montana dealer and have the correct steps installed. No reply. We waited a month and called Keystone customer service. They said they put our letter in our file and they don't get involved between customers and dealers. So what is customer service for????

So - although we like our unit and no major issues - we will never buy another Keystone product.

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome!

We have Keystone 5th wheel as well. Overall we're happy with the unit and the craftsmanship. We had an electric awning put on the unit and that is the only thing we've had problems with.

Keystone dealers have been another issue! When we had the 5th wheel about 6 months, we put the awning out for the evening. When we went to retract it, it wouldn't come in. This was Sunday evening. I called the dealer we purchased the unit from on Monday morning. I was told we had voided the warranty because we left the awning out overnight. You have got to be kidding!

I finally got ahold of customer service at Keystone and told them what happened. After some pleading, I got them to give me the names of other dealers in the area. Problem was, no one could tell us how to get the awning in so we could get it to a dealer. I finally got in touch with Dometic (the awning manufacturer) and they told me how to get the awning in and told me another dealer to take it to to get it fixed -- UNDER WARRANTY. That dealer replaced the awning motor, but it took 5 weeks and we had to pay $50 extra for priority shipping.

A few months later, the same thing happened. At least we knew how to get the awning in this time. We called Dometic again and asked for the name of another repair option that would be covered under the warranty. This time we got the name of an independent repair facility in the Houston area -- Bob Jones RV in case anyone needs some good folks. They replaced the motor again. Much quicker this time.

To cut the story short, we had to replace the motor 2 more times. The last time, Bob Jones' guys did some digging and found out that the original dealer had put in a cheap switch that stuck. It didn't stick where we could see it was stuck, but rather inside the switch. That's why we kept burning out motors. They replaced the motor again and the switch. All under the Dometic warranty.

My advice is to find a good independent repair facility that will work with your warranty. They are out there!

Besides, I think it is insane that they expect you to take your unit back to the original dealer for repairs! What if it breaks while I'm on vacation in Florida or something?

Okay, I'm done ranting. I just didn't want you to write off Keystone products. In our experience, the issue is with the dealers.

-- Edited by Ckerr on Monday 8th of November 2010 07:15:45 PM

nwlambear · RV-Dreams Family Member

Did you order your unit from Lakeshore RV in Michigan? That's where we ordered our 5th wheel and no problems at all. Our 5ver was delivered to us here in Ferndale, Washington. We got a good deal on it even with them delivering to us. Oh...the one problem was they put the wrong color scheme in it....and not the one we ordered. If I had wanted to wait a few more months, they could have one for me with my selection, but we didn't want to wait. So....because of that error (on their part) they decided to install awnings on each of our slideouts for no additional charge. We were happy. My husband never had any problems during the 1 year warranty, so I don't know if we would run into a problem with where we could have had issues handled while under warranty. You might check with your MI deal where would have to take your unit if you should need repairs or adjustments while under warranty?

-- Edited by nwlambear on Monday 8th of November 2010 07:45:57 PM

nwlambear · RV-Dreams Family Member

That's one of the things we like about our Cougar...that we can stop overnight and not have to open any slides to sleep and use the shower,sink,and toilet. It is a squeeze to get to the back and into the frig. Would only have to open the living room slide a little to make it easier.

Waggin Tails · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome Gary and Judd,
You certainly will find quality information here from experienced RVers. We have been looking at Montana, Cedar Creek and Mobile Suites. No mater what you purchase, some will say you did not make a good choice, others will support your choice. Good luck and happy traveling.

Paul and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Waggin Tails wrote:

Welcome Gary and Judd,
You certainly will find quality information here from experienced RVers. We have been looking at Montana, Cedar Creek and Mobile Suites. No mater what you purchase, some will say you did not make a good choice, others will support your choice. Good luck and happy traveling.

I agree with Waggin Tails, no mater what choice you make you will hear Pros and Cons. You have to go with the rig that will suit your needs and one that you will be comfortable to live in. Good Luck and welcome to the forums!

Jo

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Gary and Diane,

Welcome to the RV Dreams family. As you can already see, there are a lot of friendly folks here. You'll also find that there may be a lot to research, depending on whether you plan on part-timing of full-timing.

Full-timing may require more of an expense to get something that you would want to live in permanently. We plan on spending a lot of years in ours, so we went with a Mobile Suites. Partly because they are designed for full-timers. DRV Suites is the manufacturer and the owners used to be a part of Sunnybrook. It was later decided to start a brand specifically for full-timers and DRV (then called Doubletree RV) was born.

Take your time in your research. Even after you find a unit and floorplan that you like, keep looking. You never know whether the next unit you look at makes your original choice look inadequate.

Terry