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  1. #1
    Seasoned Camper mtpocket's Avatar
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    Anybody come here from a Keystone Montana?

    Hello everyone.
    Anybody come here from a Montana? We are coming from a 2007 3400RL to the 369RL. Looking forward to the change. The Montana has been a pretty good camper but the issues with Keystone customer service on warranty issues could not be overlooked. There will never be another one in my stable. Besides issues with other things we have the shedding graphics issue which they refused to address. I always enjoy the opportunity to share my feelings about Keystone with fellow campers. I was a little concerned that the owners came from there, still am a little, but their participation in this forum and things I have read are encouraging so we went ahead and purchased. We were comparing them to a Jayco which when equipped the same as the Grand Design were within 1000.00 of each other. Quality appeared very close. This forum and the dealer were what swayed us to the Grand Design.

    So back to my question. If you came from a Montana how do you feel the quality compares? Happy with your choice?
    Chris and Debbie
    St. Charles County, MO
    2007 Dodge Ram Cummins DRW
    2015 369RL Solitude

  2. #2
    Site Sponsor Long Island Happy Camper's Avatar
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    mtpocket. Welcome to the Grand Design family. I came from a Keystone Alpine which is the clone of Montana. I hated that Keystone cloned there RV's into many different sub companies. The Montana and the Alpine had the exact same floor plans and both made by the same overhead company. You would have a dealer selling Montana and 1 mile away have another dealer selling Alpine competing against each other. I had some major structural issues with my first Alpine that Keystone did address by replacing my unit. You can search my screen name on RV.net for a more detailed description. I had great response from Keystone for my issues so I can't speak negatively about my experience.

    But I can speak and praise about Grand Design. As you may or may not know ALL 3 owners of Grand Design came from Thor/Keystone and held high ranking positions within Thor/Keystone. Thor of course is the parent company to Keystone. I have read articles that they wanted to get back to their roots and build better quality units and take pride in their customer relations. I have NEVER seen a more involved company than Grand Design from the CEO and high executives to customer service personnel. They all take pride in their product and the most important issues to them are quality construction and customer service. Most of the other major RV manufacturers are just about how many RV's can we pump out in the fastest amount of time and then let the dealers deal with the many warranty issues and there is NO quality control being done at the factory.

    Grand Design is the exact opposite. From what I have read they hired all the best workers they could lure away from other major manufacturers and gave them above market salaries which in turn makes the workers take extreme pride in what they are building for the RV community. I had the pleasure of meeting or speaking directly to owners Don Clark, Bill and Ron Fenich, Vice Presidents Marc Hauser and Micah Staley. Every single one of them returned calls promptly or sat with me and my wife for as long as we wanted. When I met Marc Hauser at the Hershey RV show I felt like I had known him forever. We purchased one of the first Momentum 385th's. We spent over 2 hours with him going over every inch of the Momentum. He was even asking me to talk to other people at the show interested in purchasing a Grand Design RV about my thoughts about Grand Design.

    After my purchase I spoke with Bill Fenich on numerous occasions. We were able to discuss on length many things including the infamous "Chinese tire issue". Now Grand Design offers a Goodyear tire upgrade. The owners of Grand Design listen to every suggestion from consumers. I have seen numerous changes to the entire Grand Design product line that have come from customer suggestions. Sometimes I wish I would have waited a little longer to get some of the new changes and upgrades.

    mtpocket. I am sure you will be completely satisfied and very happy you chose to purchase a Grand Design product and will have many years of happy camping!!!!!
    Jeff - Long Island - New York
    2014 Grand Design Momentum 385TH #5
    2011 Ford F-350 6.7 Duallie Golden Bronze Metallic
    Reese 20K Select Hitch
    TST flow through tire pressure monitor
    Firestone Ride Rite Air-Bags


  3. #3
    Left The Driveway
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    We had a 2012 Montana 3455SA. We had a couple of minor issues with the unit but nothing big. We had gone to an RV show and I fell in love with the Solitude. It is such a beauty. To make a long story kinda short, we ended up getting the show model - which we were told they had gotten specifically for this show. Turns out they had it on the lot for 8 months. Of course, we didn't find that particular bit of info until we were on a road trip and the last straw for us was when my hubby opened the cabinet above the microwave and it came off in his hand. I called GD and was transferred to the Service Dept and spoke to JD. He asked us to write a letter which we did - we had 36 separate issues. We told him we did not want to go back to the company we purchased this from, so he asked us to find a repair shop to get the work done. We luckily found a local company and GD was good to work with them. It has however, taken a month to get the parts to the repair shop - they are still waiting for some of the parts. We never got a call from any of the senior people at Grand Design - and I find that really disappointing. Hubby feels the Solitude tracks better than the Montana and I love the design. Problem now however, is will we ever feel the same level of comfort that we had with the Montana - I don't know! I had kind of hoped we would get a new unit, but no such luck. The sad thing is you pay so much money for these rigs and to not have a level of comfort is so very disappointing.

    You mention something about the Chinese tires - what is that all about?? Should we also buy new tires for the unit?? Any help you can provide would be so much appreciated

  4. #4
    Site Sponsor dchrist1733's Avatar
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    I had a 2010 Montana 3455SA. I bought this unit used when it was a year old and it spent more time in the shop than camping. That is why when I went to the RV show and saw the Solitude, I decided to buy it even though it was a new company. I fell in love with the Solitude and do not regret my decision at all. I liked my Montana as far as the design of the unit, but it was a headache. Maybe the previous owners did not take care of it or maybe it was just a bad unit. My Solitude has had a few minor issues but nothing that could not be remedied easily. Their warranty service is great. I have traveled over 8000 miles with my Solitude since I bought it last February and am going to the Grand Canyon in a few weeks.

    Debby - Stafford, Virginia
    2017 Grand Design Solitude ST374TH
    2012 GMC Denali 3500HD DRW

  5. #5
    King Pin
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    Hi Debbie, we traded in our Keystone product too. We had a 2007 Keystone Cougar. It was very rare for us to take a trip where something didn't break. We always figured it would take about $500 per trip in repairs every time we hitched it up. So far, our Reflection has demonstrated much better quality, but we haven't put more than a couple hundred miles on it yet. That will change in June when we hit the road for several months.

  6. #6
    Tl1000r
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    We had a 2000 cougar , and then a 2003 Everest , loved them both , the Everest quality back then was very good , when we decided to get a new camper we looked at everything , at several dealers and shows , and the grand design it the only one we both agreed on .

  7. #7
    Seasoned Camper mtpocket's Avatar
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    The first thing I would do is replace the tires. Thats just my opinion. Your going to have to look long and hard to find a tire but you will find one made in America. It probably wont say "for trailer service". It will most likely be a truck tire. If you read around the other forums you will see all the stories of exploding tires and the damage they can do. It's expensive and only you can decide if the peace of mind is worth the cost.

    Sorry to hear about all the GD issues. With one on order thats not what I want to hear.
    Chris and Debbie
    St. Charles County, MO
    2007 Dodge Ram Cummins DRW
    2015 369RL Solitude

  8. #8
    Site Sponsor 2hams's Avatar
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    We are in the shorter and lighter group. We moved up from a Keystone 2008 Laredo to a Reflection 303. Our Laredo was pretty much trouble free until 2013 when it started having electrical and leak problems; of course the decals all peeled.

    We have about 3000 miles on our Reflection, running on B/F Goodrich Commercial T/A LT tires.

    Kay

  9. #9
    Site Sponsor Navigator's Avatar
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    We bought our 2005 Montana 3400RL new during the summer of 2004 after falling in love with the floor plan. It served us well over the years with few problems.

    Of course, the worst problem was the graphics. Even though we were beyond our warranty Keystone referred us to the company that made the graphics and they sent us an entire set of new graphics without charge. After having the faded & peeling graphics removed we were reluctant to replace them and instead saved them for the future owner who has since had them installed.

    The other problem was a holding tank issue which I understand continues to this day since Keystone doesn't fasten them securely. Our galley tank cracked near the top. Fortunately, we only had a failure with that tank while other owners had failures of the black tank. Yuck!!

    Over the years we would check out other 5th wheel makes and models but nothing persuaded us to buy until we toured a Solitude 369RL while in Quartzsite, Az. Our shake-down trip convinced us that we had made the right choice of switching from Montana to Grand Design. "Tudee" had a few minor problems that we discovered and are being addressed. The folks at the factory have been very helpful unlike some of the complaints that I read about from members on the Montana Owner's Forum.

    We couldn't be more pleased with our choice. I can't wait until I get the OK that it's safe for me to travel after my spinal fusion surgery.

    Kathy
    Jim and Kathy Marker - Ramona, Ca.
    2014 Solitude 369RL #1277 (AKA - "Tudee")
    2014 3500 Ram Laramie HD Dually Crew Cab 4x4 -6.7 Cummins with Aisin Tranny (AKA - "Big Foot")
    50 gal Transfer Flow Auxiliary Tank
    Curt Q24 Hitch
    2002 2500 Chevy LB HD Duramax Crew Cab- Retired
    EEZRV TPMS- Tire Pressure Monitoring System




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  10. #10
    Seasoned Camper mtpocket's Avatar
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    Thats great to hear. I expect a few issues and I am OK with that as long as they are handled promptly and to my satisfaction. Nothings perfect so I am not expecting it to be. We too were referred to the company and they said they wouldn't replace them. I told the wife if I have to replace them we probably wouldn't be let in campgrounds with what was on the front cap. I would not be favorable brand advertising for sure but at least I would consider it money well spent.
    Chris and Debbie
    St. Charles County, MO
    2007 Dodge Ram Cummins DRW
    2015 369RL Solitude

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