What would you do/New Trailer Repairs already/ Is this normal Keystone owners?

Nomad2009 · 05-22-2012, 09:00 PM

So my new trailer seems to be falling apart already and I am trying not to get p****d or even think about what workmanship lies under what I cannot see underneath.

Is this normal these type things with keystone or Rv's.

*Some cabinet hinges loosened up and were hanging.
*Tie down for chairs ripped right out with no real hard pull tightening
*Locks on the pass through are horrible busted a key first use.
*Window shade slide out string popped with barely using.
*Pantry cabinet busted off meaning hinges and a 2 inch piece of cabinet remained attach rest of door cracked off with no rough usage at all.
*On delivery my sensor was malfunctioning and on order for 3 week ETA
*Bedroom door broke right off. After trying to repair it was one of the locking plastic tabs that broke.
* Little table in between chairs pulled right out of the wall.
*Wood laminate sheet crap they use behind wood doors. If you hit a pot or something on the wood of open cabinet it scrapes the laminate thin (crap) sheet right off. It looks used up immediately.

This has hurt my experience. I did as much due diligence as possible and even really inspected it. But once you stay in and use it its much different. I am starting to regret a Keystone purchase so far....

Any words of advice to make me feel better.. this is all warranty right?

Tx

Scottinvt · 05-23-2012, 12:54 AM

We all feel your pain. Yes it will all fall in your 1 year warranty. Make a list and they will make it right. It does not matter if you spend 10000 or 60000 they are all built in a hurry.

SAD · 05-23-2012, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottinvt

...It does not matter if you spend 10000 or 60000 they are all built in a hurry.

So true...

And inconsistency is the most consistent thing with build quality. You may find all kinds of bugs in yours... While your camping neighbor may have the same exact year and model and have zero problems.

azlee56 · 05-23-2012, 04:35 AM

Go through and find every thing and know that it will stay for awhile getting fixed. I am wondering if they can fix it with better stuff. My poor service person had to deal with that I wanted their email and would email a list and would keep updated that way. I do love email.

I have read here and there at most times keystone stands behind the product so take a breath and start the communication cycle. Do it with a positive attitude (but make sure they know you aren't happy), and hopefully all well be fixed the correct way.

mhs4771 · 05-23-2012, 05:51 AM

Sounds like yours must have been the last unit on an up coming Holiday weekend. Sorry to hear of all your problems, but as mentioned it seems to be the way it goes with all the Mfrs, one unit will be a Lemon while the next same exact model won't have a single problem. We never had any problems with our Montana, yet others on the MOC have had a list very similar to yours. Go figure, no rhyme or reason. Make them fix it and fix it right!

SAABDOCTOR · 05-23-2012, 05:54 AM

OUCH! Wow sorry to here what has happened to you. is this common i don't think so. iwe have owend 3 ketstons all were very nice all had some issues but not what your going through. i am not an rv repair shop i am in the auto service industry ( independent) when you go to the dealer resist the urge to rip his/her head off. if they are a good dealer they will do their best to help you. be nice and give them time this is not quick fix issues. hope it all works out for you and you get to enjoy it. we will say a prayer for you

azlee56 · 05-23-2012, 06:04 AM

question on warranty. Since I bought mine used and only had 15 days to find stuff, that is the only warranty unless you get an extended warranty right?

(I love the edit function!)

f6bits · 05-23-2012, 06:46 AM

There’s the one year on the trailer itself, but appliances usually have two to three years.

Philip Saran · 05-25-2012, 07:39 PM

I feel your pain, we recently bought a used 2011 Springdale 266SL, sold
new in 2010 and so far the only items I've found that needed my attention are:

(1) when the slide is brought in one of the cabinet doors under the
banket pops open. It will need a new latch.

(2) I replaced the outside storage door locks to get away from the
#750 key locks. CW sells a couple choices in the $8-12 range.

(3) The PO must have used real toilet paper so the black tank sensers
always showed full. I bought one of those wands and flushed out the
black tank and emptied it and now the sensors read empty...... :-)

(A) not a Keystone problem, but a CW problem, I bought a RINO brand
dumping hose and while empting the black tank it came apart and
caused a mess. It will be going back to CW!!

newemptynester · 06-04-2012, 07:53 AM

I think some of these problems should have been caught by your dealer on delivery or pick up. Our dealer picked up our Laredo due to the delivery being right on top of a trip we had planned. When we went to pick it up from the dealer on our walk through the guys doing our walk through said "the boss picked up your trailer - everything should be good" and so far so good. We have a minor problem that Keystone let us know about "hinges on our pull out sofa" are bent and need to be replaced. On the maiden voyage we found a couple little things but nothing to get bent out of shape on.

Johnnyfry · 06-04-2012, 10:59 AM

Well, I bought a Cougar Knowing that it was not a top of the line unit. We love it, but yes, the cabinets are covered with a thin contact paper like material and it has minor problems (like screws and hinges coming loose) which crop up on a regular basis. There would probably be fewer of these if we had popped for a $70K trailer instead of the $28K model, but we just did not want to put that kind of money into it.

That said, if you keep after loose screws, broken door latches, shade anchors that pull out you will be a lot happier and less stressed than if you keep going back to the dealer with a bunch of small warranty claims. Of course, go back for big ones like AC or the fridge..

I have done a few mods to make life easier: I put shelves in place of that sleazy lazy susan, moved the power point from the back of the trailer to the side,added a AC socket on a seperate circuit to run a heater without blowing the breaker when the coffee maker comes on. I suppose I carry every tool invented and enjoy fixing things.

Enjoy the moment and don't sweat the small things, save your ire for the big ones.

Happy camping!

John

scronin1 · 06-11-2012, 04:52 PM

I wish you luck my friend - Check out my post on Raptor 30fs lemon. I was told by a dealer that they could not do any more and I would have better luck contacting the dealer myself!

Ruffus · 07-07-2012, 11:19 AM

I travel with the following:
Utter Balm (for lubricant)
Water Pump Plyers
Duck Tape
And under water epoxy
That's all you need!

max08 · 07-19-2012, 07:04 AM

I just purchased a 2011 Raptor 400 RGB and I believe it's a lemon. It has had nothing but electrical problems since it was purchased and now customer service is telling me there is nothing wrong with the unit so they will not warranty the converter or the microwave. The converter has been replaced once because of recall issues and even the dealer doing the work says there is a problem with the converter............ But I guess Keystone knows better and thus if they do warranty it again it'll be considered a lemon if it happens again so they have to find reasons to get out of the warranty. So I will be picking my unit up today and looking to trade it in on anything but a keystone manufactured unit. Next step I guess is the lawyer...............

antiqfreq · 07-19-2012, 07:50 AM

I am so sorry for the frustration that anyone who buys an RV and then has problems with it goes through.

Most RV owners don't have major issues.

If you have a few bad lemons you don't throw out the whole bushel.

I am sure a few truck owners have sworn off buying a particular make or brand but that didn't put the car dealers out of business........

Good luck with your next purchase whatever it is as it is painful financially and otherwise to have to go through that dealer hassle allover again!

Jo

usabelgium · 07-25-2012, 05:51 PM

I signed up for this forum just so I could see if others had the same problems I had. Just purchased a "Vantage" the first one sold by our dealership. On the first night home the slide caught on the floor causing the whole kitchen to buckle. I have to lift up on the counter while my wife runs the slide to get it to retract. On our first trip the awning brace came off the side of the camper swinging into freeway traffic almost causing a major accident. On our second trip (to Yellowstone) we found cracks in the roof cap. A crack in the skylight over our bed made for a wet night when it rained. The pantry drawers do not stay closed, which means all our food had to be picked up off the floor each time we set up. My battery wouldn't hold a charge (out of water), and the kitchen silverware drawer keeps falling off the tracks. I think I have a "lemon" as others described. While the dealer always fixes it, it has been in the shop for 9 of the 12 weeks I have owned it. Very worried about what will happen when the "warranty" runs out. Have written a letter to Keystone, waiting for a response.

bigracenut · 07-26-2012, 11:46 AM

Got my new 2013 Sprinter 35' home and we found the AC wouldnt work.... the factory had never hooked up the ground wire inside the AC control unit..... then, my grey tank leaked when full..... found the neck of the grey tank was busted..... and they must have known it, because someone punched a hole in the under belly to let the water drain out...... and the bathroon faucet leaks like crazy...... by the time i get my issues worked out, i'll be out of warranty..........

**JRTJH** · 07-27-2012, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigracenut

Got my new 2013 Sprinter 35' home and we found the AC wouldnt work.... the factory had never hooked up the ground wire inside the AC control unit..... then, my grey tank leaked when full..... found the neck of the grey tank was busted..... and they must have known it, because someone punched a hole in the under belly to let the water drain out...... and the bathroon faucet leaks like crazy...... by the time i get my issues worked out, i'll be out of warranty..........

The air conditioner not being hooked up and the leaking bathroom faucet are directly attributable to the dealer not performing a thorough PDI. Had you printed and followed the PDI checklist found here, you'd also have found both of those items. The gray tank leaking when full may or may not have been found and probably was based on your observation that the underbelly had been opened to allow water to drain.

You might want to (in a friendly way) let the salesman, the owner and the service manager at the dealership where you bought your RV know that you aren't pleased with their lack of doing what they were paid to do.

michael · 07-28-2012, 01:40 PM

My first purchase was spring of 2012, it was a 2011, 29 ft sprinter with full new warrenty.

Before i picked it up, the dealer, Burlington Camping and Travel in Wisconsin, went thru it and found an issue and fixed it.

I believe it had to do with the fridge. After that any issue, I had no more issues that would have prevented the use of it. But the couple that were found a bit later, were taken care of.

After owning the Sprinter for 4.5 months the DW and I went to a local state fair grounds where CW of Madison Wisconsin had a big sale going on. We found a 38.2 ft Montanna Mountaneer 5th wheel that we liked. We bought the unit and confirmed the pickup date. Lets just say we arrived by 9:00 am and didn't leave until i think it was close to 5:00 pm 8 hours later.

I have learned to be calm and I was throughout the day. It was close to 100 degrees but they did have the 5ver pluged in so the ac was running.

They wern't prepared at all. We found many issues while we were there and more when we returnd to our camp site. We didn't even get a owners manual or any warrenty materials.

I guess as bad as it was, it could have been worse. We contacted the Service manager on Monday and he has apologized up and down and said he will fix everything.

We told him the repairs needed to be done at our location because the
5ver should have never been allowed to leave their lot with all those issues.

So far he has been accomodating and the parts were ordered. The repair was scheduled for Fri July 27th. It wound up that the parts were not all in so another date is scheduled.

So this is life. Nothing is perfect and welcome to the RV lifestyle and camping fun.

Once you get the bugs out its a good time until the next BUG, enjoy and roll with it.

Bob Landry · 07-28-2012, 05:53 PM

I've had minor issues with my Outback. I had to reinforce/rebuild the drawer slides as a couple of them came apart the first trip. It was a combination of poor workmanship and inadequate materials to hold up to the stress of the road. I've had a couple of cabinet door hinges pull out, but it was our fault for not insuring the doors were latched before traveling. The standard cabinet grade #6, 1/2" screws all need to be replaced with longer ones, which I did. I also had to do a lot of retaping on my AC ducts, but that's also a common issue discussed here quite often. I did have one exterior issue, but the dealer took care of that, so all in all, I've been pretty happy with my trailer. I'm not sure you would get quality any different from another manufacturer regardless of the price you pay. Most of the problems in these trailers are generated by the bean counters and production floor workers who are just there for the paycheck and you can't fix that.

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