Looking at a 2016 Hideout 308bhds. Advice on purchase?

[5thwheel]

The wife & I are looking at finally parting ways with good old faithful Vanguard 5er! She's been great to us but she's seen her day and time to upgrade.

Really like the layout of the Hideout 308bhds as we need a bunk model 5er and it is one of our favourite floor plans out there (other than lack of an island)

Anyone else have one and also any feedback on quality of Hideouts as we have heard Keystone in general are lower to the bottom compared to most mfrs out there in terms of customer service, quality and warranty coverage.

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

[Agram1]

We have a 2015 Hideout trailer 31RBDS, the next purchase will likely be a 5er. The quality is a little less than my mother in laws Laredo but we liked certain options so went for it. For example her cabinets are a higher quality than ours but we have other options that she does not have. So it's give and take. If it has what you like go for it, it is not a bad model.


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[jsmith948]

Originally Posted by 5thwheel

Anyone else have one and also any feedback on quality of Hideouts as we have heard Keystone in general are lower to the bottom compared to most mfrs out there in terms of customer service, quality and warranty coverage.

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

If you search these forums, you will find many threads/posts in which people are unhappy with their Keystone RV. However, you will find many, many more (something like 90+% if I remember the poll correctly) that like their Keystone RVs and would happily buy one again.
If you are really of the opinion that Keystone products are inferior to the other manufacturers, I would advise against purchasing a Keystone product. You will just never be happy. When I make a purchase, I do some research and read some reviews keeping in mind that people are more likely to complain than praise. But, ultimately, we go with our gut and what we like and the heck with what everyone else thinks/says. Good luck. JMHO, FWIW

[theeyres]

Jack and Marty's advice above is very good. If you have decided their quality is poor, don't buy. According to Keystone's own listing (go to their website) Hideout is "standard" quality along with a bunch of other trailers. Don't expect it to be a Montana or even a Cougar. We have a Hideout and have been very happy and have had no major problems. It doesn't have the seals or quality our Arctic Fox had...but then we didn't expect that or pay for that. As for customer service I believe it all has to do with the dealer. Get a good dealer.

We are currently thinking about a little bigger trailer and Hideout and Springdale are both at the top of the list. So that pretty well sums up our feelings.

[mtofell]

Funny timing.... I just signed on here to give a review of my newly purchased 308BHDS. I guess this is a good place to give my opinion.

I was hesitant because, as another poster points out, the Hideout is in the "Standard" category. Of course, I read all the Keystone internet horror stories which made me even more skeptical. Well, my wife and family absolutely LOVED the floor plan and I liked the price/value so I went for it.

It's been just over 2 weeks since I took her home and so far I'm loving it. I'm currently sitting at the dinette while my wife is up in the bedroom watching TV and the kids are in their HUGE bunkroom. This is the 5th RV I've owned and is by far the best floorplan. The 1/2 bathroom up in the bedroom is amazing. I also love the outside kitchen.

As for the quality I've been pleasantly surprised so far. Everything works great and this has been much more trouble free than my last RV (Forest River also purchased new). Being the low end but new kind of reminds me of buying a new low end car. Even the cheapest new car in 2016 has power windows, power steering, A/C, tilt wheel and a bunch of other things that were considered as luxury options 20 years ago.

Here are a few things I am pleased with:

Foot flush porcelain toilets
Pleated fabric shades in the living area
A real fold out sofa as opposed to a crummy jackknife (I even slept on it last night since supposedly I snore)
The furnace is very quiet and well placed with respect to the bedroom (yes, my wife is sensitive to noise)
Lots of lights everywhere - in ever outside storage cubby, etc.
Ladder to get on the roof
Central vacuum
Outside speakers, Bluetooth DVD/CD/Radio
Tons of storage inside - on top of cabinets, etc.
Came with one nice sized TV - hookups for 2 more inside a hook for one outside
2nd door into the bathroom from outside is GREAT for kids coming/going
Bunk room is HUGE - the bunk above the outside kitchen is super wide, the cub couch is awesome and very versatile
The power awning and LED light strip is really nice
I'm sure there is more I'll discover since I'm only 2 weeks in.

Things I'm not so excited about (a much smaller list):

Not many outlets on the slide side of the living room - actually only one and it's in the ceiling above the pantry cabinet. I'm not sure why it's there?
The front bedroom is small and has low overhead clearance. My wife had originally ruled out anything that didn't at least have a wardrobe slide (she wanted a full bed slide) but the 1/2 bath sold her. In the end there is enough room to get dressed so it's manageable.
The flow of heat to the bedroom is almost undetectable - but it's a tough one because it's so small you could easily get cooked out if there were much flow. A small space heater fixes that one. I may also ask the dealer next time I'm in.

Overall, I'm super happy but know I'm just getting started so things could change.

[stuey12345]

my only complaint on this rv is no heat in the master bedroom, There are vents but no air flow coming out of them

[dcg9381]

Originally Posted by stuey12345

my only complaint on this rv is no heat in the master bedroom, There are vents but no air flow coming out of them

Stuey, that's probably a pretty easy fix that involves dropping the chloroplast under the RV and fixing the likely-kinked venting... (FYI)

[chuckster57]

Hope that's it. If the furnace is in the rear, look at the diameter of the ducting. We have a brand that uses two 3" ducts for about 5 feet to heat the main room and bath. Then run an 1 1/2" line to the front bedroom. In addition there is a 3" duct to a floor register in the main room.

Hopefully yours is not this way, I have fought with the factory twice, including pics of temps..."working as designed" was the answer.