Any other new Vantage owners out there?

[Snowball]

We are new owners of the Vantage 32FLS. We love the layout, storage, ease of towing. We did have a few issues out of the box but most have been fixed and just need to get the others taken care of next time we take her in for maintenance. I am curious if there are any other new owners out there and what you think of your new babies.

2012 Keystone Vantage 32FLS
Toyota Tundra w/tow package

[neilnj]

My wife and i just purchased a 2012 Vantage 32FLS. We haven't taken delivery yet do to a few minor issues with window screens not fitting properly, no spare tire, and a bent door jam near the dead bolt on the front door.
We felt it was a higher quality construction inside and out.
The only things we wished were different is a larger storage compartment outside, a hitch on the rear for hauling bikes, etc, and place for a generator (which we will probably mount on the front hitch).
I was impressed with the dry weight of 6800Lbs, yet taken back by the tongue weight of over 1,000 pounds whereas the 32QBS is at 700Lbs.

We will be towing it with our 2005 Ford Excursion 6.0 powerstroke diesel. We went with the Equalizer weight distribution tow hitch with dual cam anti-sway bars. http://www.equalizerhitch.com/index.php
I'm looking forward to seeing how it handles on the highway.


Question to you is... How do you like it so far? Any issues we should be aware of?

Thanks,
Neil .

[pjhauk]

I am considering a Vantage. Like the 16" tires and 15,000 Air; worried about lack of exterior storage. Any comments from owners or others considering would be appreciated.

[Gyrene4Life]

Looking forward to my road trip out to Indiana next week to pick up our new 32FLS. Scored an AMAZING deal (if you want specifics shoot me a PM) that is well worth a 11 hour drive.

Will be towing it back to NJ with a F150 Ecoboost Screw and Pro-Pride hitch system. I will let you all know how I do with fuel and towing upon my return.

Semper Fi

[antiqfreq]

I believe the administrator of this forum, Courtland, just bought a Vantage toyhauler 3950 - seems it is about 42 feet .....

Enjoy your new camper!

Jo:)

[jdbridge71]

just picked up my vantage 29rls

[Gyrene4Life]

Congrats and enjoy.

[rschad]

I bought a 29rls this last summer and am very happy with it. Had a couple warranty issues but they have been resolved.

The outside storage is enough for the trailer stuff, I just put things like lawn chairs in the back of the ford expedition.

It tows very well and I am looking forward to using it more this summer.

I purchased from Pleasureland RV in St. Cloud, Minnesota, they have provided excellent service.

Since I am from Canada have had a bit more hassle on warranty issues, the local dealer does them but I have to pay and then get Pleasureland to submit for reimbursement. But not a big issue.

Great trailer.

[floatflyer]

I bought mine in September and have had no problems. Knock on wood - or simulated wood. Plan on retiring and going FT next year.

[rheltzel]

My wife and I purchased our new Vantage 32FLS in July. It's been on two outings so far. Overall, we love it...tows like a dream and gets lots of comments on the road. We've had the typical small problems mentioned in other posts, including the roof issue (peeling tape at front and rear caps); all issues fixed cheerfully by our local dealer. So far, Keystone has absolutely stood behind their product.

We're looking forward to our next trip sometime shortly after the holidays are over.

[Snowball]

Sorry to take so long posting again. We still love our 32FLS. We have not found the outside storage to be an issue. It is plenty big enough for our outside stuff. We still love the abundance of indoor storage and have yet to fill it up even on extended trips. We have used our Vantage quite a bit. We did have problems with the tape on the roof peeling up but we took it in and it was covered under the warranty. Also, the trailer is easy to tow. We have a Tundra with an Equalizer hitch. We are hoping Keystone eventually comes out with a Vantage 5th wheel for when we "graduate" to our next trailer in a few years.

[frano]

Today we traded our Heartland Edge M21 (21 ft) for a 2012 Vantage 32FLS. We were worried about the length of the trailer so the dealer hooked up the trailer on our 2012 Tundra DC 4X4 5.7 and we pulled it about 15 miles, both secondary roads and major highway at 65 MPH. I was impressed at how well it tracked and towed. We're impressed with the quality of the Vantage and are looking forward to using it as soon as the snow melts here in the Northeast. We're new to Keystone and hope that Keystone continues this impressive line.

[Snowball]

We also tow our Vantage with a Tundra. My husband was really surprised with how easy it was to tow. We have an equalizer hitch. Not sure which Tundra we have but I do know it is the bigger engine with the tow package. We love our Vantage. Do keep an eye on tape on the ends of the roof and the slide for wear and tear. Ours need to be repaired but we caught it before the initial warranty was up. Congrats and I hope you enjoy yours as much as we have ours!

[Gyrene4Life]

Congrats frano and welcome to the club. We have been full-time in ours for about 6 months now and things are just fine. Our only issue has been the roof and sure we could nit pick a few things but overall the trailer has been great.

I am sure you'll love it. Enjoy

[frano]

We just completed the transaction today. Our 2012 32FLS sits at the dealer for Winter storage until late April after the weather warms and we can do the PDI and take it home. It's going to be a long wait until Spring.

[rheltzel]

Dear Gyrene4Life,

That spot you found looks awesome! Hope you had a great time. My wife and I have a short trip planned for the end of the month and are looking forward to using our new tow vehicle -- a 2010 F-350 6.7 -- for the first time!!

Richard Heltzel

[rheltzel]

Make that a 2012 F-350...man, I hate it when the fingers don't do what the brain demands.

[Gyrene4Life]

That spot you found looks awesome!

Yeah this place is some what of a gem for us retired military guys. Its part of the Naval Air Station Key West and could probably hold about 400 RVs. Right now there is approx 250 rigs down here enjoying the sun and fun.

Good luck with your truck, we love ours.

[neilnj]

Can retired Coast Guard Reserve get access to the RV area there?

[Gyrene4Life]

Can retired Coast Guard Reserve get access to the RV area there?

They should be able to answer any questions you may have.
(305) 293-4432/3

I hope it works out.

[Snowball]

All, another great place to go if you have access to military campgrounds and are on the west coast is Point Mugu. The rv park is right next to the beach. The photo I have from the inside of our 32FLS at the beginning of this thread was taken there. :-)

BTW, we are looking forward to picking up our "baby" from the service department tomorrow. Had the roof issue fixed (including the slide), the black wheel covers replaced (slight cracking of the covers by one of the screws), and the "recall" taken care of. All were covered under the warranty. :-)

[Snowball]

Gyrene4life,
We are on the west coast so we don't have to deal with too much rain or humidity. How has the Vantage done with that on the east coast?

[Gyrene4Life]

We haven't had any issues with moisture of any kind yet. We keep a lot of air moving in the trailer so moisture never has a chance to build up.

Outside, I keep a good coat of wax on the fiberglass to help protect it.

Nothing crazy, but time will tell.

[Lumberwagon]

Again, like many of you, perhaps salivating for an Airstream, made the plunge and got the next best thing. I refer to it as our "Faux Airstream", our 2013 Vantage 29RLS has everything two people could want, easy towing, plenty of storage, high ceilings, 2 foot slide-out, tasteful interior (Azure). Just still can't believe what I smokin deal we got, so much trailer for the money. We went to the RV show in KC after purchasing and couldn't find any other trailer, except for Airstream that even came close to the specs. Although the Airstream cost 4x what we paid... It's even towable with my 96 Buick Roadmaster Wagon. Looking forward to many more years of fun with this rig!!

[rschad]

I am amazed that you can pull it with your roadmaster. I pull mine with a 2010 ford expedition with towing capacity of 9,200 which gives me lots of room for loading the trailer full of stuff.

I agree the 29rls tows very well. I really have enjoyed ours and even in cross winds it does very well.

We love our 29rls too.

Enjoy.

[floatflyer]

There is a new Vantage owners social group under the "community" button. I encourage Vantage owners to join. With this new model sharing info and experiences is helpful.

[cars7070]

We just picked up our 2013 32res one week ago at camping World in Chicago.....with a little research I found out that this camper is only 1 of 1 ever built.....Three slides and high off the ground it was a 2014 prototype this thing is unreal, no specs found nothing found... to view it look at the camping world site in Chicago they still have the listing posted with pictures....best of all I bought it almost 50% off msrp !

[wincrasher]

Just looked at the Camping World site you referenced.

That is an interesting trailer - looks to me like they were trying to change the Vantage into something a bit more "mainstream" yet retain some of the flavor of it.

Looks like the suspension and frame is all different. Note how it sits much higher than the other Vantage models. Not sure if this will tow as nicely.

I'd be interested to know how much this weighs.

Looks spacious though. Hope you enjoy it.

[JRTJH]

That is a very unique floorplan. Certainly not like anything Keystone displays on the Vantage website.

For anyone unable to find the Chicago CW page with this RV, It is here:
http://www.campingworldofchicago.com/travel-trailer/2013/keystone-vantage/232241

[wincrasher]

I'd say it looks very much like the Outback 298RE floorplan wise

[cars7070]

Well we pulled it from Chicago to Princeton Illinois pulled great was using 2012 f150 HD with only sway control...It is a lot taller than the other vantage rvs's we looked at and we still don.t know how much it weighs feels like 7k or more let you know more SEE YA IN BRISTOL TN....

[contc019]

We've got a 32FLS that has been trouble free so far, but we've only had it out on a couple trips. We selected the vantage based on it's better build quality than a typical travel trailer, so we got what we expected: a couple notches up on the attention to detail, but not Airstream levels of fit & finish. Good value, considering that a comparable Airstream is more than twice as much...but not twice as nice. We'll see how it does in the long run, but in my experience the risk of the worst typical trailer complaints (leaking roofs and interior trim problems) should be addressed by the Vantage's body design.

It tows fantastic behind our 2500 Suburban with no sway--no doubt the benefit of having the axles farther back. We knew we wanted a higher tongue weight, with a low Airstream-like profile.

A couple items I would like to have seen done a little nicer:
(1) The underbelly pans--they are rather haphazardly screwed in place and are gapped here and there.
(2) The slideout perimeter trim (outside) is gapped like an inch to the exterior wall at the corners. Keystone took the "good enough" approach on that one. But these certainly aren't show stoppers.

[vantage32fls]

we got ours on 4/13/13 had the same issues on the roof fixed, the black water flush was plugged with plastic shavings from factory. We live in SW Washington and have made six trips so far from Puget Sound, Central Oregon and California with no problems towing, we have 12,000 WDH with dual sway controls love the inside space the outside storage works well for us as well. Just need to watch for any steep drives as the rear jacks may drag.

[irvirv]

I looked around for a Vantage section on this site and not seeing one. Figured I'd post a question here as I'm assuming prior posters are following this thread. I just bought a Vantage 32FLS and I've never owned a TT before. Does anyone here know what that flex hose connection just below the power hookup at port rear is for? Thank you!

[brenkco]

Irvirv,
Not sure if you are looking at the BBQ gas line. If so, it should have a quick disconnect. Perhaps you can attach a photo if it's not what I'm thinking.

BTW, there is a small group of us. Look on the Community pull down menu, choose "Social groups", search "Vantage" and you will find it.

Ken

[irvirv]

Thank you! I'll take a photo of it tonight. I don't believe it's gas. It has its own locking flap and is directly below the 30amp hookup. There's sort of a pullout plastic hose that's loose in there like it's supposed to extend or something. I'll take a photo shortly.

[irvirv]

Here are the photos. Thank you!

http://iewilson.com/photos/p1.jpg

http://iewilson.com/photos/p2.jpg

[frano]

That's your fresh water fill. If you put a garden hose in that opening, it will fill the fresh water tank with water. You can also fill the fresh water tank by hooking your water supply to the connection in the service panel to the left of your water fill and then switch the water fill valve to the on position.

[irvirv]

Thank you for the info! I was really confused since there's a valve in the main panel with a lever that appeared to go back and forth between supply and fill. It's weird that water started to come out of the connection pictured when I was trying to hookup the main water supply in the main panel. I'm thinking I was filling the tank instead and over-filled it. Thanks again!

[brenkco]

Irvirv,

Yes, that is what should happen! Just a note of caution using the power fill in the convenience center. Make sure and open the cap that you can stick your hose in while filling. The overflow that you can see next to the fill cap isn't big enough to take much pressure or flow.

I know someone who had the tank expand, damaging the floor as well as the tank. Opening the hose cap will prevent damage and give you a clear indicator when full....it will start running out!

Ken

[JRTJH]

irvirv,

It looks like there is quite a bit of dirt in and around the inside of your fresh water tank fill. The cap is missing. What that means is that your fresh water supply is open to contamination. I'd urge you to get a replacement cap for that hose to prevent critters, grime and goo from being introduced into your water system.