Cougar Half Ton Slide Out Warranty

[Wiredit]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and I have a 2018 Cougar half-ton which was purchased brand new in August of 2018. We had an extremely spur of the moment trip back then come up and were already in the market for a travel trailer so we went to our local dealer and asked what the possibility of purchasing and delivering the same day was since we needed to leave for our trip that evening. They assured us that it wouldn't be a problem and we settled on this trailer at 3:30 pm and were on the road by 7:00 pm.

On that trip, the slide went out once and back in once with no problem. We used the trailer one other time in July of 2019 and again the slide went out once and back in once with no problem. Then, October, 2019 we used it again and upon getting to our destination, the slide would only go out about 4 to 6 inches and then stop. I checked everything thinking that maybe something had fallen somewhere and was blocking the slide but that is not the case. I noticed that the pulleys mounted up on the wall were tweaked and bent downwards slightly causing the cable to come off the pulley and bind up. So frustratingly dealing with it through that trip, when I got home I called the dealer for a warranty appointment.

So this past Friday was my warranty appointment and I had the pleasure of arguing with the service tech at the dealer because he was certain it was a motor problem before he even looked at it. I argued that it was not a motor problem and he finally agreed with me after finally taking a look at it. So we then go back inside the service department office to finish the paperwork and he tells me that my trailer is out of warranty and that the repairs would not be covered. I further inquire that I thought the slide being part of the structure was under a 3 year warranty to which he agrees that it is but not the mechanism that moves it in and out. I told him that the pulley system is mounted to the structure of the slide and obviously for some unknown reason the structure was unable to support the pulley system so therefore in my eyes the structure had failed.

I reiterated to him that the slide had previously only been opened once each time on two prior trips and that for it to fail on its third cycle was ridiculous and should be covered under the 3 year warranty. He told me that I could contact Keystone myself and try to get them to cover it as a courtesy but that they would not write it up as a warranty issue. After reading forums and seeing how dishonest some dealers can be not wanting to get paid the manufacturer's hourly rate when they can bilk the owner for the full shop rate, I am skeptical, especially with his attitude of not even wanting to try to contact Keystone himself.

Sorry for the long winded story but I hope the more detail would make for the more informed responses. The trailer is currently at the dealer with an estimated diagnosis time of one week. I will wait for them to tell me what caused the failure before contacting Keystone, but in the meantime, what are your opinions? Should the slide out mechanism be covered under the 3 year warranty or is it simply a bad product that they will wash their hands of and force me to spend a lot of money to fix?

[ctbruce]

I'd look at the language in the warranty to see what it actually does or doesn't cover. That will be the deciding document and determine everything.

Not sure when the 3 year program started. That could be affected by the manufacture date of your trailer.

[sourdough]

I'm afraid structural means structural and not everything attached to it. Here is the Keystone warranty in part that would pertain to your situation;

THREE-YEAR LIMITED STRUCTURAL WARRANTY:
The Keystone Limited Structural Warranty covers this RV for a period of three (3) years from the date of purchase by the first retail owner. This Limited Structural Warranty covers defects in materials and workmanship supplied by and attributable to Keystone’s manufacturing and assembly of the “structural” (as defined below) portions of the RV, when the RV is used solely for its intended purposes of recreational camping. This Limited Structural Warranty does not cover the items excluded under the section “What is Not Covered”.

“Structural” means the RV’s (i) main steel frame and steel support members (outriggers and cross members) (ii) exterior sidewalls, laminated or non-laminated, including fiberglass, aluminum siding and wall studs (iii) floors, laminated or non-laminated, including decking and floor joists (iv) roofs, laminated or non-laminated, including decking, roof rafters and roof material installation (v) fiberglass cap(s) including paint application, and windshield installation, if applicable (this structural warranty item does not cover damages to the cap(s) such as impact, rock chips, dents, scratches or failure to maintain all as addressed in the disclaimers below and elsewhere in this Owner’s Manual), and (vi) slide out box exterior sidewalls/end walls/roofs/floors, skeletal framing, decking and roof material installation.


Note that it specifically applies to the "structure".

[sourdough]

One thing I forgot to add;

You might do a search on the forum. I believe we have had other members with issues that are similar to what you describe and they came up with their own solutions that didn't cost them $125-160hr for a tech to try to figure something out.

[Customer1]

If the frame of the trailer was twisted causing slide issues it would be covered.

How many times it was moved is not relevant and has no bearing on warranty coverage.

Sorry but you will be paying.

[Wiredit]

Thanks for the response and unfortunately I think you're probably right in that Keystone will wash their hands of it. It's kind of sad really that we pay so much for these things only to have them break so easily. I get that little things break here and there and I'm totally fine with that but something major like the slide mechanism should be engineered to not break on the 3rd trip.

I know that there are others on this forum that are completely happy with their Keystone product and I wanted to be happy as well but as a consumer I have no choice but to recommend that others in the market do not buy a Keystone if they won't even back their own product. Maybe the outcome will be different and Keystone will fix it. If they do, I will be the first to applaud them and totally recommend them to people, both that I personally know and via internet reviews. We shall see... Come on Keystone, do the right thing!!

[sourdough]

Thanks for the response and unfortunately I think you're probably right in that Keystone will wash their hands of it. It's kind of sad really that we pay so much for these things only to have them break so easily. I get that little things break here and there and I'm totally fine with that but something major like the slide mechanism should be engineered to not break on the 3rd trip.

I know that there are others on this forum that are completely happy with their Keystone product and I wanted to be happy as well but as a consumer I have no choice but to recommend that others in the market do not buy a Keystone if they won't even back their own product. Maybe the outcome will be different and Keystone will fix it. If they do, I will be the first to applaud them and totally recommend them to people, both that I personally know and via internet reviews. We shall see... Come on Keystone, do the right thing!!


Realize that many manufacturers other than Keystone use these types of slides and they also have problems....they also have similar warranties and deny just like Keystone. Little brother gave up on a FR Rockwood because of the same kinds of issues and completely got out of RVing.

[Wiredit]

Yeah, I realize that many other RV brands use these same slides but that still doesn't let Keystone off the hook IMO because Keystone could actually care about putting out a quality product like they advertise. It does not matter that other brands use the same slide mechanisms. I bought a Keystone thinking it would provide good family fun for a few years and I certainly wasn't delusional about having to repair things but really the slide doesn't work on the 3rd trip?

It's funny how proud they are of them with the purchase price but after the sale it's like they run as far away from their own product as possible. Like I said previously, I think the mechanism is fine but the "structure" didn't hold the pulleys in place so I look at it as a "structural" failure but we will see in the next few days what happens.

If you look at it like your house, and you have a sliding glass door which would function just fine except that the wood that holds that sliding glass door in place is not strong enough to hold the sliding glass door in place. Do you call your window and door guy or do you call the framer to fix the problem? It's the framer's responsibility to provide a structure that is capable of supporting the things that are designed to be mounted to it. In this case it's like Keystone and my dealer are the framers pointing fingers at the window/door guy for inferior framing. It's BS.

[German Shepherd Guy]

Wiredit: You are right of course but that will not alter the reality.
I bought my 2018 26RBPR in November of last year. I brought it home, and parked it in the barn for the winter. On perhaps the third time I put out the slide on the Starboard side (there are two on my TT) I noticed the wires hanging oddly. Further investigation showed the motor was pulling out of the wall where it was supposedly mounted. They missed the frame with several screws and it was mounted onto the interior fascia. I had to remount the motor and it has worked ever since. The dealer said to bring it in but that is a long stretch from the ranch, and I had seen how stacked up they were when buying the TT so decided to do it myself. Sounds like your pulleys may have been mounted wrong just as my motor was. You might find it easier and less stressful to just fix it yourself. I know that isn't what you were hoping to hear but that is the sad reality of RV TT ownership in the current day. If you are not mechanically inclined there are lots of great people on this forum who can offer advice on the repair if you post pictures. Don't loose sleep over Keystone, try to get them to do it but be aware they probably will not. Let us know what the dealer quotes to fix the problem as I am curious, and wish you the best of luck.

[Customer1]

To my knowledge Keystone does honor their warranty. Using it twice while the warranty clock ticked away is your fault. Keystone doesn't know if you used it twice or 365 times, the warranty is for a time period of one year.

[flybouy]

As others have pointed out the dealer can make or break your warranty experience. When we purchased out current unit we had a few what I considered "minor issues. The dealer was family owned and very honest. I actually was in Boy Scouts as a child with the owner but that did not garner any "favors". His father had a used car business and a furniture store and both were highly regarded by the community.

Got it home and propane fitting into regulator was leaking. I fixed that with some plumbers pipe dope in 5 min.

First trip out and the microwave was being controlled by a ghost. It would come on by itself. Called dealer and they said to bring it in on the way home and they would replace it "while we wait". They did and it's worked every since.

Fast forward a few years. The family sold out (retired) and a conglomerate out of California bought it. That company was in place when I took the camper in for repairs due to a break in. This obviously was not a warranty issue. What a horror show. I can't imagine how bad it would have been if it had been a warranty repair.

Now, I wouldn't trust that dealership to fix a flat on a kid's bike.

[ulmboys]

I was interested in buying a Keystone Passport next month, but now that I have been reading these kind of forums and problems, I have become reluctant to even buy a travel trailer. Perhaps I'll look further into trailers without slides.

[Logan X]

I was interested in buying a Keystone Passport next month, but now that I have been reading these kind of forums and problems, I have become reluctant to even buy a travel trailer. Perhaps I'll look further into trailers without slides.

A trailer without a slide will definitely have less that can go wrong. Trailers and RVs in general have problems from time to time so it is good to be aware of that and be prepared to make repairs as needed if you buy one.

I wouldn’t be discouraged by people posting their negative experience. It seems like RVs are always having major issues because that is when people post on here, when they have issues. It’s rare for someone to start a thread about how happy they are with their trailer, and I am happy with mine.

If you buy a trailer you will have problems to deal with but I think the majority of RV owners are happy with their RV. JMHO.

[JRTJH]

I was interested in buying a Keystone Passport next month, but now that I have been reading these kind of forums and problems, I have become reluctant to even buy a travel trailer. Perhaps I'll look further into trailers without slides.

When you consider the hundreds of thousands of trailers with slides and the 10's or 20's of people who have slide problems, the reality becomes that there's a failure rate, but it's extremely rare when compared to the "non-failure rate"...

If we all planned our lives based on "something might happen" we'd all be home, not watching TV (because something might break and cause a fire) and not eating because we "might get heartburn" (or constipation... or diarrhea... or .....)

[sourdough]

When you consider the hundreds of thousands of trailers with slides and the 10's or 20's of people who have slide problems, the reality becomes that there's a failure rate, but it's extremely rare when compared to the "non-failure rate"...

If we all planned our lives based on "something might happen" we'd all be home, not watching TV (because something might break and cause a fire) and not eating because we "might get heartburn" (or constipation... or diarrhea... or .....)

I don't know that we would be "home"; the roof might fail, foundation crack, appliances fail etc. etc. etc. :D

For Ulmboys, do your homework up front before purchase to get what it is that fits your needs, do a thorough PDI to make sure everything works before taking off with it, familiarize yourself with the systems and how they operate and be prepared to make some repairs because whether large or small something will need it. As far as no slides; having spent lots of time in one I can tell you now that they cannot compare to one with opposing slides and the overall, drastic, improvement in quality of RV life. My wife stopped going with me in a no slide trailer due to the confinement; not an issue now.

[flybouy]

Would agree with LoganX. As with anything you can read about a dozen "major issues" on here and Keystone (or whatever brand) has sold tens of thousands of those models. You also have to consider the source that's reporting the issue. You may have someone that's never maintained a thing on the camper, someone who's 3 teenage boys wrestle on the slide out couch and do jumps onto the slide, and the issues that start right after it's been brought home.

In my mind the thing to look for are the reports of the same or similar issues that occur among a large number of owners at about the same age of the unit. In other words if if 20 people report that the cable slide pulley came out before the camper was 1 year old then there's an obvious issue with the manufacturer or assembly. Are there industry wide issues? You bet there are. Like any manufacturer the RV industry is attempting to sell units made lighter, cheaper, and quicker. This tends to create a "learning curve" of issues that don't necessarily appear until thousands are sold and used and field reports come back. The tire industry went thru this when the first "steel belted radial" tires hit the market. Those tires were failing at an incredible rate and Ford and Firestone ended a 80 year partnership over it. When Chevrolet first built the Corvair they were extremely unstable at highway speeds. They made a simple correction to the rear suspension and it was a great car. Unfortunately the targeting by Ralph Nader ruined the reputation and consequently the sales of the car.

I wouldn't let the reports here discourage a purchase of ANY camper. Gather the information and digest what you can to formulate a "list" of which models/brands to stay clear from and which ones you might want to consider. That's what being an "informed consumer" is all about.
JMHO

[ulmboys]

Well I want to thank Mike, John, Danny & Susan, and Marshall for the words of encouragement and experience. I'm new to the idea of buying my first RV and want to make an informed decision. Thanks so much for this real life perspective. I appreciate all of you for your time and insight.

[RET.LEO]

Communication........... call Keystone and tell them your situation. You were just two months out of warranty as such when you called for a warranty service.
Be polite and most of all ASK FOR HELP.........don't demand it...........yet. If that doesn't work call again and try to get a different rep. Attitude good or bad goes a long way.
If all else fail depending where you live you could possibly get relief legally. Illinois is actually doing something right (hard to believe)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQUJsbRV8qM&t=49s