New RV Orientation

[depshrink]

I am scheduled to pick up my new 2011 Keystone Laredo 293RK this coming Wednesday. I was told that the orientation is an hour long. So, I was wondering what kind of orientation other members received when they picked up their new RV? Thanks in advance!

[Bob Landry]

I am scheduled to pick up my new 2011 Keystone Laredo 293RK this coming Wednesday. I was told that the orientation is an hour long. So, I was wondering what kind of orientation other members received when they picked up their new RV? Thanks in advance!

The orientation, AKA walk-through is as long as it takes to get all of your questions answered.

[SJMcKee]

It's as long as you want. Make sure they show you how to operate everything, I made the mistake of glossing over some key areas cause I thought I knew. Like lighting the oven. Burners were easy, oven little more of a challenge. Also make sure they show you where the water heater bypass, water pump are. Key items for me that were behind panels I had to remove.
Otherwise just ask away till you comfortable. Enjoy the experience:)

[Bob Landry]

I just picked up my new trailer yesterday and spent the night at a park about two blocks from the dealer. I knew I would go into information overload and I wanted to be close in casr there was a question or an issue. As it was, I did have a couple of questions and I stopped in as I was leaving for my 150 mile drive home.

[depshrink]

My concern was that the dealer seemed to have these orientations in time slots. Being really new at this I figured that it might take me all day to feel comfortable with all the aspects of the RV. But, I plan to take a son along and video some of the key functions. Also, I plan to use a PDI and a list of questions including some of the ones mentioned in some of the replies. Now if we can have some good weather Wednesday, I will be all set.

[Outbackmel]

Listen very closely to Bob Landry's written words !! We bought our 2011 Outback 5er from the largest dealer in Lexington, KY during the Lousiville RV show late last year. Had a TT trade and no truck as a tow vehicle. Had the new 5er delivered to the N GA mountains swapped out our TT for the return trip back to the selling dealer. MISTAKE: relied on my TT knowledge...not good. Missed many items to check. On top of it all, the delivery driver showed up during the worst rain storm in 5 years in the mountains. Got shortchanged on info there.....he wanted to drop the rig and move on...which he did "quickly"... TAKE YOUR TIME.....UNDERSTAND ALL WORKING COMPONENTS and check for heat flow from vents, AC, water, etc...know all drain points and by passes. Mine has 3 types of TV input; antenna; cable port and separate Sattelite port. I have DISH Network. They wired us. During the maiden voyage we tried the cable port...because DISH had changed some wires that changed the signal flow; I was forced to spend $350 out of pocket for a completed TV systems rewire at a reputable Keystone dealer. No warranty coverage...likely never worked properly from the factory, however,
no pre delivery check; issue and BINGO, I paid..... do take your time.

[Devildogmom]

I am scheduled to pick up my new 2011 Keystone Laredo 293RK this coming Wednesday. I was told that the orientation is an hour long. So, I was wondering what kind of orientation other members received when they picked up their new RV? Thanks in advance!

We just ordered our Cougar yesterday. I told the salesman that we planned to have a walkthrough that may take all day. He was completely agreeable to that. We had a very short walkthrough with out first TT, which was a big mistake!

[GMcKenzie]

Mine was about 3/4 of an hour and only one thing was missed.

I should have turned the furnace on even though it was 35C outside. Did need it the first week out only to fill the trailer up with smoke. In the end there was nothing wrong and it will smoke the first time it is used, but it freaked me out and I wish that had happened at the lot, not the campground.

[cdevill]

We picked up out 2011 Springdale 296BHSSR last sept at CW in Greenwood, IN. (3 Hour drive) I went over everything with in the walkthrough. Our rig was set up just like at a campsite. Water in the tank and plugged in. Checked all plumbing lines/valves and flushed the toilet, gas tanks were full so used stove/oven and furnace. Ran the AC. Vent in the bathroom, TV antenna. All drawers/Doors. Operated the power awning, power tounge jack, stabilizers, and slide. Fridge was cold and used micro. All entertainment components for TV, CD,DVD stereo, all speakers, all lights, all storage doors. first TT big enough I needed the sway and WD bars and they installed and went through the hook up with me as well. I went over every piece of it while it was on site.

[gkainz]

Mine was about 3/4 of an hour and only one thing was missed.

I should have turned the furnace on even though it was 35C outside. Did need it the first week out only to fill the trailer up with smoke. In the end there was nothing wrong and it will smoke the first time it is used, but it freaked me out and I wish that had happened at the lot, not the campground.

Ditto here on the furnace. First new rig we've had in 30 years and the smell, and smoke alarms freaked my wife out to the point that she really didn't want to use it. Fortunately we had a small electric cube heater for the first night, talked to the dealer the next day. They recommended opening all the windows and running it for an hour or so ... all good after that.

[GMcKenzie]

Be glad you had electric. We were camped without power.

[Devildogmom]

We picked up out 2011 Springdale 296BHSSR last sept at CW in Greenwood, IN. (3 Hour drive) I went over everything with in the walkthrough. Our rig was set up just like at a campsite. Water in the tank and plugged in. Checked all plumbing lines/valves and flushed the toilet, gas tanks were full so used stove/oven and furnace. Ran the AC. Vent in the bathroom, TV antenna. All drawers/Doors. Operated the power awning, power tounge jack, stabilizers, and slide. Fridge was cold and used micro. All entertainment components for TV, CD,DVD stereo, all speakers, all lights, all storage doors. first TT big enough I needed the sway and WD bars and they installed and went through the hook up with me as well. I went over every piece of it while it was on site.

The walk through we had with our first TT was so short and sweet we couldn't remember anything. Nothing was hooked up. It was done out in the lot with no power, etc. On our first trip out, we were calling the dealership with questions about why the water heater wasn't working, etc.:eek:

That's why I want a walk through this time with our new Keystone that explains everything. I plan to video tape it.:)

[depshrink]

To bring closure to my initial post, I can report that my orientation took about 2 1/2 hours and a test drive of the RV hooked up to my truck. Everything was covered and every appliance turned on and checked. Can I remember everything? No, but, I brought my son along. Hopefully, between the both of us, we will be able to remember all the important details, I am going to sit down and write out all the points I can recall. I am also happy to report that my GMC Sierra 1500 pulled the trailer quite satisfactorily for the 70 mile trip home from the dealers. No "white knuckle" experiences! But, I will admit, a diesel 2500 is on my wish list. It will have to wait a couple years though, since my truck is less than 6 months old. Would you believe it started snowing minutes after I arrived home? Camping will have to wait until warmer arrives!!

[tlittle2]

We just ordered our Cougar yesterday. I told the salesman that we planned to have a walkthrough that may take all day. He was completely agreeable to that. We had a very short walkthrough with out first TT, which was a big mistake!

Of course the salesman was agreeable - he wasn't the one who was going to do the walk-through!

[ktmracer]

Our "orientation" aka PDI walkthrough was about 6 hours long. Salesman told us to plan for at least 4 hours, and was very helpful. I brought my big long PDI list, he had his list of things to check and things to tell us about.. DW went through all the cosmetic items, while salesman and I concentrationed on functional stuff. Started at 8am, by noon we had identified a few things needing fixing, DW and I walked to our favorite lunch stop while they fixed items. We went through what we had looked at, made a list of anything else we had questions about, toasted our new purchase and relaxed. came back about an hour later, checked the things that needed fixing, then spent another hour or so finishing up. Finally left for the shakedown cruise to a weigh station about 2pm.

Check to make sure EVERYTHING functions as expected, from the window blinds to furnace. We ran the AC to get the trailer cold, then turned on the furnace. Filled the water tank, hooked to city water then filled each grey/black tank to the brim to make sure they didn't leak. turned on the stove AND oven, watched TV, listened to a CD, the radio..... pumped up the air bed sofa sleeper, made sure smoke alarm worked.......you get the picture....

After 6 months, 4000+ miles, and about 40 days camping, we had found only one minor cosmetic item that we missed that needed fixing.

[azr405]

We are just going to get our new Cougar 327. This is the second one we have bought from this dealership. Very thorough in covering all concerns of the trailer. The little extra thing they do is give you a video of the whole process to review at your leasure. Also good to have on hand when you winterize your unit because it gives you a step by step procedure.

[Handysam]

^ That's very good dealer service, they should all be the same way. We are lucky to have that kind of a dealer also. All too many times we here of dealer horror stories. Happy Camping, Sam

[krazycouponchic]

It's as long as you want. Make sure they show you how to operate everything, I made the mistake of glossing over some key areas cause I thought I knew. Like lighting the oven. Burners were easy, oven little more of a challenge. Also make sure they show you where the water heater bypass, water pump are. Key items for me that were behind panels I had to remove.
Otherwise just ask away till you comfortable. Enjoy the experience:)
SJMcKee...I bought a used 2010 Keystone Laredo and am having to learn on my own the hard way. I finally found the water heater bypass valve and verified water was in the water heater. I turned on the "electric water heater" but did not connect to the city water connector on my trailer. I left the switch on for about 30 minutes then hooked up my faucet and connected it to the city water connector but no hot water. What am I doing wrong??????

[Bob Landry]

SJMcKee...I bought a used 2010 Keystone Laredo and am having to learn on my own the hard way. I finally found the water heater bypass valve and verified water was in the water heater. I turned on the "electric water heater" but did not connect to the city water connector on my trailer. I left the switch on for about 30 minutes then hooked up my faucet and connected it to the city water connector but no hot water. What am I doing wrong??????

If you operated the WH with no water in it, you may have damaged the one-way check valve. It's screwed directly into the hot water output and looks like a pipe nipple witha hex shape in the middle. The inside is a piece of plastic on a plunger and you may have melted it. Take out the check valve and make sure the plunger operates freely. After you do that,go to Home Depot and get a pipe nipple to replace it. Then go to your dealer parts dept and get a Flair-it three way valve and replace the Tee in the hot water side with it. This restores your heater bypass to old style manual operation and is fail-safe.

[Festus2]

Not sure about your model, but on my '08 Cougar, there is a black rocker switch located in the exterior HW access control. You might try looking for a latched "door" panel directly opposite your HW tank. Open the door and look in the lower left-hand corner. There might be a black rocker switch which may or may not be held in position by a small cotter pin.
This switch activates the 110v for your water heater if it only is controlled here. Some units have this switch located inside the RV. Mine does not and perhaps yours does not either.
Turn the switch to the ON position. If you have this switch and it is turned ON, then hot water should appear some time later.
If you don't have this rocker switch, perhaps your breaker on your panel needs to be reset.
Just make sure that you have water in your HW tank.... if you do not, and you eventually get the 110v HW heater to work, then you will fry your tank.