Why purchase a Keystone rig over another company?

[bsmith0404]

Not much more to add on which brand to buy, as most have stated, I'm not brand loyal, I'm floor plan/finish loyal. This time it happened to be a Keystone. As for finding a good dealer, spend some time with them, visit the service and parts department, you'll start to get a feel for what future visits will be like. When we bought ours we were dealing with 3 different dealers and looking at 3 different brands. The Keystone dealers salesmen were all VERY knowledgeable about there products, knew them inside and out. I found out the dealer hires their salesmen from their service department. The other dealer's salesmen couldn't tell me the differences between brands they sold, couldn't demonstrate how particular equipment worked. It was almost like it was the first time they had seen the RV and were exploring it with me. One dealer even asked if they could keep the unit a bit longer because it was the only one they had in that floor plan and the sales manager wanted to take it to a few upcoming shows....It was pretty obvious to us which dealer was concerned about customer service and which ones were just selling campers. So far our gut was right, they have been great with all follow up concerns.

[Barbell]

We spent two years looking before we finally settled on a Montana. We liked the Cardinal (Forest River) a lot but they were all just too heavy for our tow vehicle. When we finally settled on a brand and model, we looked at every dealer within 500 miles and did not find one we could deal with. Finally did find a good dealer but he is in Indiana, so there is no going back for warranty work. We haven't had but very little warranty work done and it all was taken care of by CW dealers in South Carolina, Tucson and Flagstaff. Hear a lot of complaints about CW but our experience has been fine. We just could not deal with them on the purchase. Obviously, Indiana is a lot closer to where they are built, so that may be part of it but we could not see well over $5000 difference only for freight. Since we have kids in the Chicago area, it was no big deal to buy the trailer there.

[bsmith0404]

For larger 5th wheels you can expect the dealer to be charged $1.50-1.60 per mile for shipping cost to the dealership. You will get lower prices in Indiana, but then the expense is on you. Of course you can travel for less than $1.50 per mile, but a transporter can't make a living if he/she does.

[vmyoung61]

We started with a Montana 3900FB and loved it. We bragged to everybody about what an awesome fiver it was. Decided after 10 months to "upgrade" to the new line Big Sky. Boy! Are we sorry. No problems with the Montana, but the "top of the line" Big Sky has had issues from the beginning. We have been fighting with Keystone the whole 6 months we have owned it. Two dealers tried to fix our problem and both said it was a "wiring issue" and they couldn't get it fixed. (Despite being in touch with Keystone and Lippert and doing everything they said to do.) We have tried for 4 months to get it into the service center in Goshen. They insisted we give one more dealer a chance as it was an "easy fix." They chose the dealer and made the appointment. Estimated it would only take a couple of days to fix it. So far, it's been a week and there has been no progress. We full-time, have been "homeless" for the week and are imposing on a neighbor. I've heard that Keystone Customer Service has really gone downhill in the last couple of years and I believe it. Can't get anyone to return our calls, either from Keystone, nor the Camping World in Bartow, FL, that they insisted we take it to.:bang head: We are at our wits end with Keystone. 6 months ago, you couldn't have talked me out of the Montana line. Wanna guess how hard it would be, now?

Update: The Big Sky ended up being at Bartow Camping World for 15 days. We got it back with more problems than when we took it in. On an up-note: Keystone picked up our camper this morning. It's on the way to the Service Center in Goshen! We are doing a happy dance - knowing we will finally be getting it fixed.

[cabinfever]

Just a thought about cost. As stated with just about everything, you get what you pay for. However, sometimes you don't get what you thought you paid for. Just because something cost more does not make it better or have less problems.

[mark1228]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

We service units not purchased here. Limited to 5 items.

Interesting. Why the 5 item limit?

[mark1228]

Originally Posted by buzzcop63

Curtis trailer is rated as one of the top 50 dealers in the US; they have been in business since 1948. I spent 6 years going to all the local dealers and reading my subscription of Trailer Life, checking out books from the Library on all aspects of trailering. Also attended a couple RV shows each year. You ask questions, you really take your time and look through and around trailers. I found dealerships that I would not even go back to just because the sales people were nothing more then hustlers. At good dealerships the salesmen took time and explained their products, after years of listening and reading everything I could find you began to pick the truth from the bull. Anyway, to make a long story shorter the wife finally said lets get one and as I was finally retired, we did, from Curtis and after three years we are very happy with our purchase.

My only regret is that we did not pay more money! I would have preferred to pay more for high quality tires and suspension or at least had the option!

My response here is not directed toward Curtis as I have heard they are a good dealer. However I would encourage anyone looking at buying from one of the "top 50" dealers to ask your self a couple of questions. 1.) Who says they are a top 50 dealer? Do you know that answer? The "top 50" dealers are picked by manufacturers and vendors, not consumers or even other dealers. 2.) What do you suppose is the basis by which they are picked? What makes a dealer a top 50 dealer to you as a consumer is very different than what makes a dealer a top 50 to people trying to sell the dealer product. If the "top 50" where picked by the owners that have done business with the dealers, it would have some value to other potential buyers but in my opinion, the way it is run it has 0 value to a potential buyer. JMHO

[cospilot]

the premiere is the very first RV of any kind i have owned.
i picked the keystone brand because a stop at my local camping world i asked the sales guy to educate me on what kinds of things to look for in a quality unit. i literally knew nothing about RV's except for the fact they are used to go camping in!
i still don't know a lot about them but i know they are among the lightest in the industry, they have a lot of upgrades other companies charge extra for.
and i got a 41,000 retail unit 32BHPR brand new last years model for 23,000+ tax!
frankly, my biggest concern was the depreciation hit any unit will take after you buy it.
since we are new to camping i did not want to be in a negative equity position should we decide camping is not for us.
unfortunately with all the snow in colorado we have only camped 1 night at a wal mart on our way home from WI so i cannot speak for the function much and i do not have anything to compare it to. but it seems well built, and it seems to be regarded as one of the higher end campers which is what i was looking for.
now hopefully in the next few months as things around here melt i can give a more honest review.
i do think that this camper may be a little bigger than we need and depending on how many trips our 14 year old wants to attend it may be a temporary solution until we find ourselves with something a little smaller.
who knows we may keep it, time will tell.

[koko]

We've owned 7 different campers in our time, each by different manufacturers. They were all really good trailers that never gave us a problem. Just happen to own a Keystone right now, and we're very, very pleased. Floor plan is everything, and a good service relationship is important.