Hey Betty,

We feel your frustration, we had issues after our cross country last September with Dutchman and Lippert and our 2009 COLORADO.  The major issue was found because of a blow-out; that led to the discovery of a cross member behind the rear axle that was never attached in construction, resulting in the discovery of leaf springs that were broke at the frame connection.  Still in warranty period...THANK GOD!!!

After I had turned my trip squawk into the dealer and set the apointment, I had some time to get a rack extension added to the rear.  (Yeah, everyone...I know that voids the LIPPERT warranty......NOW!)

Anyway, after the first month and return deadline passed, the dealership said their hands were tied.  So I took over, which I thought was B.S....but I had to deal with Lippert first.  I made the complaint, and Lippert said they would check it out and call me back.  That led to a 4 day wait, after I politely (in USMC fashion) explaind that on the West coast, when someone says they will call back, it's not 4 days later, and I would like to speak to a Supervisor.  I ended up wth the Division Mgr. I let them know that I did have all the pictures and e-mails between the dealer and Dutchman and Lippert.  I just stayed calm, essential, and explained that the extension had only been on for 43 miles of driving, which was like blaiming the unborn baby for the speeding ticket, and if their product was so inferior that there was frame failure in that distance.....

Now my terms...... being calm and logical got me the entire frame reinspected, re-welded, three more 2 x 2 cross member bars added, and then because of that...for whatever reason we do not know...Dutchman included a stiffener bar that goes on the MOR-Ryde suspension. 

The entire work order which had 11 squawks and a replacement of the inverter, because the welders forgot to turn off the battery cutoff switch... took 4 months. 

Sadly, because of the economy, factories and dealerships are having to deal with sub-contractors going out of business....which I do empathize with, but that never helps the customer.  Stay strong, take lots of pictures and keep an e-mail trail....that advise is for anybody here.....that way you have the "they" in they said...... 

We bought a new MONTANA 3750FL and as I write this we're going in for some warranty adjustments and replacements.  Because of the above, I got ahold of Keystone first, and told them I was going to contact the dealership after I verified some things with them regarding my build order.  I took pictures of everything on the squawk list. I sent the photos to BOTH parties and then on our way out of town, dropped by to verify the photos.  The dealership contacted me to set the apointment once they knew everything was in......so we'll see how this visit goes.....We love our Montana, but yeah there's some bugs that need to be worked out.....I wouldn't expect anything less......I would also advise the Good Sam extend warranty It's really reasonable for the terms and it helps for the uexpected closures of the sub-contractors......

Good Luck, and our thoughts are with you in your repairs.......

Kevin

-- Edited by snowman8 on Wednesday 10th of November 2010 11:43:16 AM

NorCal Dan wrote:

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I hope they make things right for you.

From what I have seen, all rigs go through this stage. You buy a new rig and then spend the 1st year ironing out all the problems. I would guess that all rigs come with 1 year factory warranty, hence getting everything ironed out before it expires. The real difference is how your dealer handles the problems. I know my dealer is always booked for at least the next month, so getting an appointment is less than 30 days is impossible. I just keep a list of the problems and email the updated list to my service adviser so he can be sure to have parts on hand and technicians available to take care of me when my appointment time rolls around. As would be expected, some dealers are better at this than others.

Keep us posted on your progress.

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I hate to disagree but I do..this is not a 'stage'..this is a poorly constructed RV/Rig...you can't iron this one out...this is major...flooding with eventual health issues due to mold etc never mind the cost of running from dealer to dealer trying to get them to honor warranties...this is not a problem it is catastrophic...this has got to be due to a factory defect!!

 

Gene makes a good point.Although over all Keystone bears responsibility for the unit,individual componets must be taken care of by that particular supplier.Keystone bought those parts in good faith from them.I still believe Keystone or whatever brand you have should put forth the effort to make sure their suppliers take care of the customer.I still feel in this case though, Betty should be compensated with a new unit due to the totality of the problems.