Keystone Hornet 27BHS Review - one major design flaw

We bought a Keystone Hornet 27BHS a few months ago so I thought I'd pass along our thoughts for others' benefit.  We've taken it out twice so far, once on a 3-day weekend, and once on a 2-week trip through Texas, Colorado, and NM.  Overall it has been very solid, but there is one MAJOR design flaw that to us is a showstopper for potential buyers.  The kitchen table is completely unstable and has a faulty design - it has a round base with one tube coming up through the middle, and thus is very wobbly when sitting down for a meal.  Not only is it wobbly, but the base is mounted with two very small screws, so to our dismay we found it had flown across the RV into the fridge while we were moving from one campsite to another.  From that time on, we now have to lay the table down prior to moving so it doesn't do any damage.  We contacted Keystone and they said they are "looking at the table to see about a possible solution", but they did not commit to resolving it.  So until they do, we remain dissatisfied with the purchase.  As I said, other than the flawed table design, the unit seems well-designed and solid.  Everything else has worked like a champ, though it is early on.  We love the rotating LCD TV design, the rounded front end, aluminum wheels, spacious slideout, good storage space, and it seemed to be priced well.  One other thing we are not thrilled with is the "fold out" couch inflatable air mattress.  In hindsight we'd have much preferred the old jackknife sofa that is so much simpler and faster to set up.  The air mattress is really only good for one person (if two, then one moving disturbs the other), and is a royal pain to set up.  Making the kitchen table into a bed is also a royal pain, but I'll lump this into the faulty table design.  You have to unscrew the base at the top and bottom of the connection in order to put the table flat to make the bed, and the pillows don't fit perfectly to make a uniform-looking bed. It is functional, just not ideal.    When and if Keystone corrects the problem on this unit, I'll be happy to update my review, but for now unless you don't plan on ever eating at the kitchen table, I'd avoid this unit. 

Update - Keystone is not being responsive on this issue at all so far so I am very disappointed with the "service". When you spend $20K on something you don't expect this kind of poor quality.  As I said the rest of the unit has done just fine so far, but this issue is really irritating.  The Keystone customer service would not work with me and insisted I work through my dealer on it - I find this to be very poor customer relations personally, and I deal with customers all the time in my high-tech field.  I'm still hopeful Keystone will "man up" on this issue, but I'm losing hope by the day.  I guess worst case I'lll have to "rig" something up on this $20K piece of equipment.  If anyone has any ideas please let me know. Thx!

We reallllllly seriously considered buying a Keystone Passport, but after hours of online research, we learned that the reviews were not that great for the support one needed from the manufacturer upon purchasing a new Keystone (plus we were really ocncerned about the number of "leaks" we read about).  We wound up getting a similar floor plan with Jayco.  The reviews seemed to suggest that Jayco were great at backing up their warranties for the full two years.  With the few things we have had go wrong, we have been happy with the Jayco service    sorry you are having problems with Keystone; we are feeling better about our choice to go with Jayco as a result.

austintx01 said:

The Keystone customer service would not work with me and insisted I work through my dealer on it -

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Isn't this what you would do with Ford, Honda, Matag, Harley Davidson....  Sure beats going all the way to Detroit, Tokyo, Michigan, Milwaukee..for minor repairs.  In my experience, if a manufacture designs something really Micky Mouse their cure won't be much better.  I suck up, fix it myself, and feel good about the results.  When I have my head on straight (not always) I direct my energy to solving the problem not punishing the guilty.

I know this is an old subject but I had to reply to this post, as I just purchased this trailer and found the same problem mentioned in this thread. I'ts amazing to me that Keystone continues to sell the same trailer with the same problem, I guess all their interested in is the first sell. The table truly is ridiculous and a better design would take little effort.

GKman, I agree it's easier to just fix it you self and move on, as that's what I'll be forced to do. I just want people to be aware of this problem and think twice about investing in a new product requiring work before it can be fully enjoyed.

I have to put my two cents worth in.  We have a Keystone Passport, and the few times we have needed service or support, we have had no problems at all.  But maybe we have been lucky.  The one advantage is we have a great dealer to work with.

Isn't this what you would do with Ford, Honda, Matag, Harley Davidson....

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Sure, but  they all have competent dealers with strong service organizations. RV dealers are hit and miss. There are some good ones, but that's not the norm.

But I like your style, GKMan.  8) Solve the problem rather than waste energy flogging the guilty, who probably don't care and are beyond any pain you can inflict anyway.  :'(

We picked up our 2011 Hornet 27 BHS last Monday and it appears that Keystone has changed the table.  The table in my unit has 2 large feet on legs that collapse to make the bed.  It is still not a stable as the table in Grandfathers old Sandpiper but it seems to be much better that what you describe.

Here's the tip we were given by a very seasoned salesman who'd been an RV'er himself for many years. When towing, leave your table in the 'down' position, as if someone were going to sleep there. When you get where you're going, set it up. When towing with it up, the table will sway, slightly bending the ends of the metal support tubes or legs. This makes them even more wobbly than they already are. We've done this with both TT's, and have few issues, other than the inconvenience of having to put the table up/down. In the long run, it's worth the inconvenience to avoid the problems. If we have to stop on the road and make sandwiches or something, we can still use the table top-it's just much lower!