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Old 04-11-2019, 10:37 AM   #1
mskeyspirate
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Another Cheap box on wheels story

Well... here goes another story of what I feel Keystone is made of. Two weeks ago we took our 2015 Passport to the shop for a little "adjustment". We had been having some problem with moving the slide in and out. So...off we go to our favorite dealer. After a few days, I receive a call to inform me that the motor for the slide is completely shot. Ok, replace the motor ! Not to steamed because the extended warranty will cover that. Today I get a call to let me know that the cable that runs to the motor, and all connections are so corroded that it too needs replacement. Now of course the warranty company covers nothing that has the word "corrosion" in it. So...after 4 years and very little use, it's good to know that Keystone has had the foresight to use materials, or treat for corrosion. I've said this before, and it seems that every year Keystone does what it can to make sure that I never own another product made in their factories. I have never had a product that is more poorly constructed. I do notice that "built to last" is not their moto.
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Old 04-11-2019, 10:57 AM   #2
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Well, I’ve had a few diff brands and as probably everyone will say is they are all the same. They don’t use stainless anything and that’s why ppl are cautious to even buy one that might have been delivered in the winter. And maintenance is a major part of ownership. I wouldn’t even think of owning one if I couldn’t do most of the work myself. Also I’ve dealt with every dealer in 100 miles of me and have friends that can pretty much cover the entire north east and I can say that there are almost no quality dealerships. Not none. But close enough that I will drive mine 2hrs if it needs something I can’t fix. So yea. It’s prob half your campers issue and half the dealer drumming up work. And if u think for one second they don’t know that as soon as they say “corrosion” your paying not the warranty your probably mistaken. And I’m willing to bet you are paying more than the warranty job rate. Also I would advise anyone ever to never buy the extended warranty on anything. It’s always a dealer scam. I wouldn’t say this speaks to a horrible quality product.
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Old 04-11-2019, 12:08 PM   #3
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I agree with never buying the extended warranty. My brother in law has owned car dealerships in the past and he told me to never buy the extended warranty because it’s a scam.
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Old 04-11-2019, 12:31 PM   #4
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Like 336, I bought a TT expecting that I would have to maintain it. I picked up from these forums and others pretty quickly that the dealerships are sales yards and when it comes to maintenance / repairs, they're mostly useless. The RV industry is so busy just making and selling RVs and that's where they make what money they can. If you look at some of the videos of how RVs are made, you'll see why they're put together so sloppily. The workers in the factories do everything at a dead run.
Yes, the RVs are cheap. That's why so many people can afford one. We bought a 27 foot two slide TT for just over $20,000. Here in Oz, the same trailer would have cost us over $100,000AU, but it would have been made with better materials, by workers who have the time to do things carefully. The point is, you buy cheap, you get cheap. But also, as they say, you have a cheaply built house on wheels, and every time you take it somewhere, it's subjected to similar conditions as a hurricane and an earthquake that last for as many hours as you tow it. Most earthquakes only last minutes and look at the damage they do!
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Old 04-11-2019, 02:01 PM   #5
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I looked at a couple of friend's fifth wheels (2010 Delali) & (2007 Cougar) before importing our 299 Cougar HCs to Australia in 2011. Seemed well built re size of chassis, hydraulic & worm gear slide mechanisms. Unfortunately so much cheapening in the construction of our later fifth wheel is evident to the point of something failing with every trip. I tried to do the homework such as overcoming the front pin box support failures but still got caught. How can a manufacture get away with structural/chassis failures for 10 years+ without severe penalty is mind boggling and a total failure of consumer safety protection. All because of poor quality control (welding) and design (cross beams too thin with no gussets). It costs towards $A10,000 to repair here too.
Unfortunately can't agree with FlyingAroundRV as many of my friend's travel trailers ('caravans' here) here in Australia are poorly constructed & experiencing the same issues. Zip quality control for expensive rv's. We are also starting to see Chinese manufactured ones coming on to the market as well.
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Old 04-11-2019, 02:03 PM   #6
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Well, I agree with almost all that's been said. All that is except the extended warranty part. That warranty paid for itself in just 3 repairs. Air conditioner, hot water heater, and now the motor for the slide.
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Old 04-11-2019, 02:29 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mskeyspirate View Post
Well, I agree with almost all that's been said. All that is except the extended warranty part. That warranty paid for itself in just 3 repairs. Air conditioner, hot water heater, and now the motor for the slide.
You had the AC, water heater, and slide motor fail since 2015? All of these failed after the initial warranty was up? That seems like a lot of bad luck and I hope your trailer is less trouble in the future.

I think the appliances may also be covered by the manufacturer of the appliance.
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Old 04-11-2019, 05:37 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Sulphur1 View Post
Unfortunately can't agree with FlyingAroundRV as many of my friend's travel trailers ('caravans' here) here in Australia are poorly constructed & experiencing the same issues. Zip quality control for expensive rv's. We are also starting to see Chinese manufactured ones coming on to the market as well.
I can't comment on the Chinese imports and I suspect they would suffer from the same quality issues as the American cheapies, but even more so. But as for Aussie made caravans falling apart, I think that says as much or more about the (lack of) quality of the road network here, as it does about the caravan quality. The caravans I've seen here in shows, and those owned by friends are certainly constructed to a higher standard than the ones I looked at in the states. That is until you get up into the more expensive brands in the US, including the $100K class A's.
I would love to bring my Outback and F250 back here to Oz, but a) I couldn't afford to feed the 250 with the fuel prices here and b) the roads here would pound the trailer to pieces on the first trip.
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Old 04-11-2019, 07:09 PM   #9
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I think your dealer has scammed keystone at your expensive. I had a similar experience where my dealer said they reported work when they didn't do.
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Old 04-12-2019, 03:55 AM   #10
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Yeah sounds like the dealer is taking everybody involved for a ride.
I have said this many times, but will again. Find a well established repair shop, one that does not sell RV's. They survive on their reputation. Many are authorized warranty centers for most RV components. They will also honor many extended warranties.
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Old 04-12-2019, 06:30 AM   #11
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The winter delivery thing is always in the back of my mind. The underbelly of my trailer is pretty rusted. Built in December 2017, Purchased September 2018 (I am the original owner). I have purchased several wire brush wheels and cans of black rustoleum to clean it up but need to make the time.

In my opinion, it was a pathetic joke how rusted a "new" trailer was underneath. Their response, EVEYRYTHING ON THE LOT is that bad. Picture is from my PDI.
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Old 04-12-2019, 08:43 AM   #12
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I guess living in sunny southern Arizona does help against corrosion but we have to watch for high heat and UV damage.
I've had my 'box on wheels' since new in 2016 and perform my own routine maintenance pre and post season.
I've been to Alaska and back and all over the western states with very few issues that I couldn't fix or adjust myself. I don't let the small things turn inti bigger things.
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Old 04-12-2019, 09:44 AM   #13
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I guess living in sunny southern Arizona does help against corrosion but we have to watch for high heat and UV damage.I've had my 'box on wheels' since new in 2016 and perform my own routine maintenance pre and post season.
I've been to Alaska and back and all over the western states with very few issues that I couldn't fix or adjust myself. I don't let the small things turn inti bigger things.
Depending on when during the year any RV is delivered from the factory in Indiana or Oregon, there's a good possibility that it was dragged over salted roads long before the original purchaser ever looked at it on the lot. You're right, Arizona brings another issue with UV/heat damage, but don't let living in Arizona (where the roads are never salted) lull you into believing your trailer chassis was never exposed to salt..... Something to consider, even if your unit was delivered from the factory to the dealer in May (after the roads are clear of salt), with the lead time for component delivery to the factory, when was that load of "stacked frames" delivered to Keystone? They are typically delivered with one frame on mounted axles with 4 or 5 frames (without axles) stacked on that one. How long that "stack" sat in the holding yard before being unloaded and pushed into the assembly line where it was washed and axles installed, is anybody's guess. Corrosion and salt damage isn't just a "delivered in January" or "only up there" issue.

Here's the way frames are delivered to Keystone from Lippert and AlKo. It benefits every owner, regardless of where you're located to stay on top of frame corrosion. It's very likely a problem with every trailer built, one way or the other.
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Old 04-12-2019, 10:08 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by cookinwitdiesel View Post
The winter delivery thing is always in the back of my mind. The underbelly of my trailer is pretty rusted. Built in December 2017, Purchased September 2018 (I am the original owner). I have purchased several wire brush wheels and cans of black rustoleum to clean it up but need to make the time.

In my opinion, it was a pathetic joke how rusted a "new" trailer was underneath. Their response, EVEYRYTHING ON THE LOT is that bad. Picture is from my PDI.
Being up here in Western NY on the shores of Lake Ontario, I expect some of that corrosion as well. On my trailer, just the gas line had that rusty look when I purchased it. I am also hoping to clean it up a little to make it look a little better.
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Old 04-18-2019, 07:22 AM   #15
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Why do we buy these things again? A coworker bought their RV the same time I did from the same dealer. They bought the extended warranty and I didn't. They feel like they wasted more money than I did. In my observation from these forums and talking to other people, the success of the warranty depends on the dealer.

BTW, I do enjoy camping with my wife and kids, but my trailer has turned into a headache due to the dealers lack of desire/ability to follow up with their promise of service after the sale. Luckily I am handy enough to fix it myself.

Someone stated in another post (something like) they have forgiven the dealer for their (dealer) failures, moved on and found it lowered their BP. That's wisdom! I'll tell you it also helps keep your blood sugar level in the green zone!?!?
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Old 04-18-2019, 08:03 AM   #16
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My most recent RV, a "luxury 5th wheel" has somewhat better workmanship and quality than all of my previous RVs. I too noticed a lack of an quality in welding, in mechanical fastener installation, and pride in workmanship.
Years ago while in undergrad studies we students were required to evaluate the manufacturing system of a "fictional" automobile manufacturer. The manufacturer, rather than institute quality at the point of assembly utilized on-site after assembly repair shop designed to at least get the auto to the dealer then let the dealer deal with the quality issues under warranty.
At times I believe many of the RV manufacturers do the same believing all of us will purchase the extended service contracts.
But, back to my latest RV. I did what I could to look at welds, at workmanship, at fasteners, at the details and found this RV to be quite better in quality than my previous RVs.
As like on poster said, we get what we pay for, and I paid considerable more money for my latest than I have for previous RVs including a Keystone product I had nothing but problems with.
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Old 04-18-2019, 08:47 AM   #17
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I see that the general consensus here is pretty much "anti extended warranty", but as I stated mine has been good to me. I think that I paid 1700.00 for it "on sale" for the "good one". And I completely agree with the majority of the problem, for the majority is the dealer. The dealer that I purchased my new (2015) camper from, was so horrible that I had to go toe to toe with the owner regarding repairs. This dealer in NW Indiana is approx 35 miles from my home. I searched long and hard to find somewhere to take this camper that I felt good about. Well, that dealer turned out to be a little over 70 miles away and a 2 hour drive. And I do have faith in these folks. Have no reason to think that they have ever steered me wrong. I recently bought a new truck, (new to me) and you guessed it. I only looked for a certified vehicle, just so I'd have someone to fall back on if needed. So, the long and short is that I believe in the extended warranty. And I believe in it because of the pitiful dealers out there. Most of them are shameless. I even had the dealer that I purchased my camper from offer to pay me for a negative review. I do still love camping, and do it every time that we have the opportunity. I've read that the industry is concerned because the big push to buy is letting up considerably. If true, will this lead to better quality ? We can only hope.
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