Keystone warranty experience?

[West1134-KEY]

Hey all, so we picked up our 2024 Cougar 29RLI in late September last year. We got a couple super short trips in it before winterizing and just got it out a couple weeks ago for this seasons first trip. That trip we found a number of minor cosmetic issues with it, and two that are slightly more concerning. I unfortunately bought the trailer from Camping World (they were the only dealer on the West Coast at the time that had this make/model) so I had to take it there for the warranty service as the two dealers near me who sell Cougar said they won't take a warranty claim on a unit they didn't sell. With our 1yr anniversary approaching I wanted to get it in soon to address these items.

Anyways.... here's some pics of the issues we've found. Curious if others have had these happen on their trailers and if Keystone will stand behind fixing or if I'm going to get stuck with the bill? Camping World had me sign a $700+ agreement that if the warranty work is denied I'm on the hook to pay for the technicians work...mind you this is $700+ for them just to look at everything not actually inclusive of parts etc. to repair it, which made me nervous but I feel like what I'm asking to be fixed is 100% within the warranty coverage, except perhaps the hitch.

Here's what we have found issues with:

Interior trim pieces around the slides, and where the walls and ceiling meet is bowing out or has become detached, we have a seal issue on the bathroom shower door that leaks onto the floor, there is a crack in the housing around the bedroom vent, and I found the "Road Armor" hitch already rusting and pitting quite badly for a unit not even a full year old.

 

[sourdough]

I would wonder if the unit had a full inspection done by the dealer then the owner prior to purchase? How was it stored? Was the roof inspected and sealed after purchase?
Far too many purchasers think buying an RV is like buying a car - it's a night and day different experience.
Without knowing what was done before purchase, what was done after purchase (roof needs to be inspected every 90 days), it appears that a lot was overlooked upon purchase and expectations relayed to the dealer - was the hitch even inspected by purchaser prior to taking possession?
Buying from CW, or any dealer, and not taking care of what has to be done to take ownership of an RV prior to taking possession always spells unhappiness and, sometimes, disaster. Your comments also underscore what we always say - the DEALER is THE most important aspect of your purchase - know who and what they are or pay the price.
Most of the items you list should be covered by warranty on the unit - rust won't. Most would be covered by a good dealer, but then we go back to having a good dealer. The dealer is THE interface to Keystone to have warranty authorized.
Long post but as an owner there are lots of obligations and lots of "things" one has to do to make sure their purchase is taken care of. Where you stand will depend on your actions. Let us know the specifics.

 

[West1134-KEY]

CW did a full inspection with me before taking delivery. I'll be honest I didn't look that close at the hitch, but none of the other items were present. I suspect the trim pieces all were cut exactly to size and did not allow any room for expansion/contraction for when the trailer gets cold during the winter months. The shower seal and wetbay issue I flagged wouldn't have been caught until use either.

This is my first trailer bought new, second trailer owned and I'll own the fact that I probably overlooked some things upon taking delivery. To be clear, this post wasn't trying to bash CW or Keystone, more of a curiosity of how the process for warranty claims work for new trailers (again never done it before) and how likely they are to fix these minor issues (the hitch being the one that is most likely denied, which I get).

 

[JRTJH]

CW did a full inspection with me before taking delivery. I'll be honest I didn't look that close at the hitch, but none of the other items were present. I suspect the trim pieces all were cut exactly to size and did not allow any room for expansion/contraction for when the trailer gets cold during the winter months. The shower seal and wetbay issue I flagged wouldn't have been caught until use either.

This is my first trailer bought new, second trailer owned and I'll own the fact that I probably overlooked some things upon taking delivery. To be clear, this post wasn't trying to bash CW or Keystone, more of a curiosity of how the process for warranty claims work for new trailers (again never done it before) and how likely they are to fix these minor issues (the hitch being the one that is most likely denied, which I get).

It's been my experience that the way the service department warranty system "describes what they see" is far more important to "cosmetic issues" than you'd suspect. If, for example, they describe it as a scratch or a superficial crack, Keystone will likely deny the warranty as a "cosmetic defect, not covered by warranty"... On the other hand, if the warranty report describes it as a manufacturing defect or an assembly error resulting in a broken component, then Keystone will probably approve the warranty as a "component failure/assembly line issue" ....

That said, what I see on your hitch is not, at this time, a warranty issue, but a cosmetic issue. Pin boxes get banged up during transport to the factory, they "should be repainted on the line" but fact is, in all my visits to the factory (for customer orientation visits and NEVER in any official capacity) I've never seen a can of spray paint on the line. So they haven't, in my experience, ever done any corrosion control on the line.

Here's a photo of how the frames arrive at Keystone from the Lippert facility. Note how they're stacked in the background, not how they're lined up at the assembly line entrance (in the front). As you can see, "scratches ain't a concern and repairing scratches ain't a priority".... YMMV

 

[West1134-KEY]

It's been my experience that the way the service department warranty system "describes what they see" is far more important to "cosmetic issues" than you'd suspect. If, for example, they describe it as a scratch or a superficial crack, Keystone will likely deny the warranty as a "cosmetic defect, not covered by warranty"... On the other hand, if the warranty report describes it as a manufacturing defect or an assembly error resulting in a broken component, then Keystone will probably approve the warranty as a "component failure/assembly line issue" ....

That said, what I see on your hitch is not, at this time, a warranty issue, but a cosmetic issue. Pin boxes get banged up during transport to the factory, they "should be repainted on the line" but fact is, in all my visits to the factory (for customer orientation visits and NEVER in any official capacity) I've never seen a can of spray paint on the line. So they haven't, in my experience, ever done any corrosion control on the line.

Here's a photo of how the frames arrive at Keystone from the Lippert facility. Note how they're stacked in the background, not how they're lined up at the assembly line entrance (in the front). As you can see, "scratches ain't a concern and repairing scratches ain't a priority".... YMMV

Makes sense. Appreciate your response.

 

[sourdough]

CW did a full inspection with me before taking delivery. I'll be honest I didn't look that close at the hitch, but none of the other items were present. I suspect the trim pieces all were cut exactly to size and did not allow any room for expansion/contraction for when the trailer gets cold during the winter months. The shower seal and wetbay issue I flagged wouldn't have been caught until use either.

This is my first trailer bought new, second trailer owned and I'll own the fact that I probably overlooked some things upon taking delivery. To be clear, this post wasn't trying to bash CW or Keystone, more of a curiosity of how the process for warranty claims work for new trailers (again never done it before) and how likely they are to fix these minor issues (the hitch being the one that is most likely denied, which I get).

Things get overlooked on pre delivery inspections, by the dealer and by the new owner. When that happens it will then fall to warranty. As John has explained what the dealer does to document the situation, and their desire to make sure it is approved, makes all the difference. Some dealers don't want warranty repairs because their bays stay full at full priced work - warranty work is reimbursed at less than their full hourly rate.

Work with the dealer. They are your easiest access to Keystone and more timely repairs. Make sure you have a good service advisor (I know that's hard to know if you don't know the dealership). Make sure you define what exactly you see wrong and exactly what you want/expect in the repair. It won't be "better than new" (but I HAVE had that success) normally but should be decent. Loose trim, staples etc. is probably best taken care of by you. At least you will take care and pay attention to removal and replacement of the trim vs ripping it off, pulling the staples through it then restapling. Those things I always do myself but I have all the equipment to do it and enjoy that kind of work.

CWs are busy. It's easy to get pushed to the back because they always have someone "squeaking", the sales manager trying to squeeze a unit he wants sell through etc. - work with them, get real time reasonable time assessments (give your thoughts on them when they tell you), express your expectations the FOLLOW UP as they perform the work. Some folks don't like to do it but I always visit the shop to look at the work being performed. I didn't do that for the first couple of times I had warranty work done and I returned the rig both times - a waste of my time.

I could write a book as I'm sure most other long term owners could but your question about expectations will depend mostly on the dealer, your interactions with them and their understanding of those expectations. The good thing about CW is that there is an escalation chain that many dealerships don't have and CW's escalation chain ends with a guy that takes his job seriously.

 

[West1134-KEY]

Just wanted to follow up to say CW called me and said Keystone approved all repairs except the rusting on the hitch (which didn't surprise me) and they're ordering parts and will get to fixing the issues. Was happy to hear.

 

[Tejka2]

We purchased our 2023 Keystone Cougar 368MBI fifth wheel at the end of June of last year from CW (new). We had previously owned a Keystone travel trailer and only had one issue (interior paint related) which was addressed through warranty with no issues (we owned the unit for 6 years). Our new 5th wheel did not make it through any of the 3 outings we had last year without issues (many minor, 4 major). Suffice to say the CW in Davenport Iowa, through Keystone warranty addressed all issues, although the camper was in the shop from the beginning of September through mid-November. I did not have any issues with Keystone warranty until the last issue (schwintek slide failure). Keystone indicated that they would not cover the failure as CW had already fixed it (prior to my purchasing it). That did not make any sense as I had exercised it several times (30 plus) after taking delivery. However, CW did cover it, so it ended up at no cost to me. So, I learned several things in the process. Most importantly, get the RV inspected by a qualified RV inspector prior to delivery AND get the dealer to disclose any and all repairs performed as a part of the their PDI process. Also, stay away from dealers with too many bad reviews. I have a CW 10 minutes from my home and would still travel 2 plus hours to Davenport to have issues addressed. For anyone recently purchasing a new RV, expect stuff to not work, be broken, fail, etc. Having any other expectation is not realistic in today's RV market. So far this year we have had it out 2 times with no issues. Fingers crossed. Good luck!

 

[sourdough]

^^^^I would stress the point of getting the repair list that the dealer does under warranty prior to the new owner taking possession. I had not done that before until the last 2 trailers. The previous was bought off the lot and they had to do their own pre delivery inspection/repairs before I received it. I asked for their punch list to show what was found and done - those same items were sent to Keystone as warranty repairs. The current trailer was purchased in TX while I was in FL. They did the same pre delivery inspection/repairs and provided me with their lists. Of course in both instances I then did my own PDI with them and came up with additional items to be taken care of. Their list is handy for a new owner just to know what was done - case in point; on the previous trailer they said the shower head leaked and it was repaired. When I went through the shower head leaked so the "repair" obviously wasn't done or didn't work - they replaced the shower head...and I replaced it with an Oxygenics LOL.