New Keystone owner Cougar 359MBI

[mmilburne]

Just purchased our new 2018 Cougar 359MBI this past weekend and pick it up on Aug 3rd. This will be my first Keystone product after owning Forest River and Jayco products. Any concerns overall with Keystone products or backing from the company?

[NorskeBob]

I am not sure one brand is any better than the next. The construction and QA of our RVs leaves allot to be desired. Keystone is one of many RVs made by Thor industries. - Jayco is one of them. It is important to purchase from a RV dealer that will go to bat for you when warranty repairs are needed.

https://www.thorindustries.com/get-to-know-us/meet-the-companies/

[mmilburne]

I am not sure one brand is any better than the next. The construction and QA of our RVs leaves allot to be desired. Keystone is one of many RVs made by Thor industries. - Jayco is one of them. It is important to purchase from a RV dealer that will go to bat for you when warranty repairs are needed.

https://www.thorindustries.com/get-to-know-us/meet-the-companies/

Thanks. Can't wait to pick it up and take it on its first trip.

[Tbos]

Welcome to the forum from Southern MD. I've see issues with all makes and brands. Do a thorough inspection when you pick it up and hopefully you'll catch many of the issues that others don't catch until later.


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[Mic]

Just purchased our new 2018 Cougar 359MBI this past weekend and pick it up on Aug 3rd. This will be my first Keystone product after owning Forest River and Jayco products. Any concerns overall with Keystone products or backing from the company?


We just got ours 3 weeks ago..

Love it. No issues... Still new smell.

BTW.. What do you use to tow it?

Here 2001 2500HD and is enough

[mtofell]

I'm coming up on 2 years with my new Keystone Hideout and things are generally good. As mentioned, any RV is a roll of the dice and are pretty cheaply/quickly made. Being aware and handy are the best tools you have.

Things I've encountered that are worth a check and to learn about:

Hand tightened connections behind the city water connection - mine must have been done by a little old lady with arthritis at the factory - leaked very early on. I had to remove an access panel to get to them.

Learn your way around your landing gear - I've over run mine a couple times - once blew a fuse (carry replacements), once broke the bolts on the square tube that transmits power to the side opposite the motor (again, carry replacement bolts).

Look the trailer over VERY closely at all roof seams. You'll almost certainly need some caulking and to do some maintenance.

All the co-ax cable connections were loose, resulting in poor reception (same arthritic old lady). I removed all the plates and tightened things up.

Many cabinet screws are loose or stripped - longer screws help a lot.

My trailer sits low to the ground and I've bent/ripped jacks and the bumper spare tire off several times. To be fair I've taken my 5th off road but some damage has occurred rolling out of VERY minimally sloped parking lots. So, watch out.

I have a propane leak somewhere and one of my tanks empties out if left for long periods.

The flow of heat to the bedroom (front) is pretty much non-existent. Not a huge deal for me since I usually opt for electric space heating due to furnace noise and don't camp off-grid in the winter much.

When I write it all down it seems like a lot but I'm generally a happy owner. I pretty much expect things to come up and fix it all on my own. I never went back to my dealer for any warranty issues but would have if something major came up. My experience with past RVs has been that it takes FOREVER to get an appointment and the techs are complete butchers. I'm more than able/happy to fix things on my own.

[Dejones57]

We bought a new 30 ft. Cougar fiver last year. Pretty disappointed in the workmanship. If you're a handy guy you'll find plenty of minor issues to keep you and your toolbox busy. You'll want to put together a toolbox that includes some replacement screws and a screwdriver that works on the special screwheads in your trailer. I've had to either tighten or replace a lot of them. In some spots you may want to replace short ones with longer ones.

[mmilburne]

We just got ours 3 weeks ago..

Love it. No issues... Still new smell.

BTW.. What do you use to tow it?

Here 2001 2500HD and is enough

Out on our 1st trip and all went well. Had 6 adults, a German Shepherd and 3 kids and this unit sleep everyone comfortable. Had to move sites in the middle of the trip and it was a breeze, love the auto level system.


I tow with a 2012 F350 4x4 6.7 diesel 18K highjacker autoslide

[mmilburne]

I'm coming up on 2 years with my new Keystone Hideout and things are generally good. As mentioned, any RV is a roll of the dice and are pretty cheaply/quickly made. Being aware and handy are the best tools you have.

Things I've encountered that are worth a check and to learn about:

Hand tightened connections behind the city water connection - mine must have been done by a little old lady with arthritis at the factory - leaked very early on. I had to remove an access panel to get to them.

Learn your way around your landing gear - I've over run mine a couple times - once blew a fuse (carry replacements), once broke the bolts on the square tube that transmits power to the side opposite the motor (again, carry replacement bolts).

Look the trailer over VERY closely at all roof seams. You'll almost certainly need some caulking and to do some maintenance.

All the co-ax cable connections were loose, resulting in poor reception (same arthritic old lady). I removed all the plates and tightened things up.

Many cabinet screws are loose or stripped - longer screws help a lot.

My trailer sits low to the ground and I've bent/ripped jacks and the bumper spare tire off several times. To be fair I've taken my 5th off road but some damage has occurred rolling out of VERY minimally sloped parking lots. So, watch out.

I have a propane leak somewhere and one of my tanks empties out if left for long periods.

The flow of heat to the bedroom (front) is pretty much non-existent. Not a huge deal for me since I usually opt for electric space heating due to furnace noise and don't camp off-grid in the winter much.

When I write it all down it seems like a lot but I'm generally a happy owner. I pretty much expect things to come up and fix it all on my own. I never went back to my dealer for any warranty issues but would have if something major came up. My experience with past RVs has been that it takes FOREVER to get an appointment and the techs are complete butchers. I'm more than able/happy to fix things on my own.

I can say so far happy with our Cougar purchase. I have my tool box loaded and ready if needed. Prevent maintenance is the key when it comes to an rv. I learned my lesson in the past. Thanks for the reply

[fatcatzzz]

:USA::wlcm::USA:

[mmilburne]

Wanted to touch on some negatives of the new Cougar 359MBI

No light switches on interior wall for living room area lights. Must go to command panel to turn lights on and off.
Middle bunk room doesn't get real cold
Gray tank valve for kitchen sink location
No cabinet struts
Outside of that great 1st 5th wheel :)

[jonnyaiks]

Heh heh. I have the sister Montana HC midbunk, and I loved discovering the kitchen gray water valve. It was pointed out to me during pdi, but I didn't understand how hard it is to get to it.... blindly grasping, sometimes 1 or 2 feet away from where it actually is. :)

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[Mic]

Wanted to touch on some negatives of the new Cougar 359MBI

No light switches on interior wall for living room area lights. Must go to command panel to turn lights on and off.
Middle bunk room doesn't get real cold
Gray tank valve for kitchen sink location
No cabinet struts
Outside of that great 1st 5th wheel :)

#1 yes... We use motion light to help
#2.. Do not sleep in it yet
#3agree kind of a yoga position
#4 we have them on vertical upper doors


Enjoy

We love it