What are the Best 5th Wheels/Brand to buy?

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daisybreeze

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Joined
Feb 16, 2017
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13
I was convinced that I wanted a 2016 Keystone Cougar 327RES, but after reading SO many different comments/discussions on how unreliable Keystone brand is, its scared me away from buying one completely. I LOVE the 2016 Keystone Cougar layouts though, especially since most of them all have a w/d hookup inside.

Can someone let me know a good brand of 5th Wheel to buy from... I would really appreciate it!!!

I am looking to buy something 30ft - 38ft, 2012 or newer, with ***w/d hookups***, and open floorplan. Not wanting to spend over 30k.

Thank you so much for your input, I greatly appreciate it**
 
The general consensus is that floorplan and condition of the unit is more important than year/make/model.

Where did you hear bad things about that brand? Of course, every company in every industry will have negative reviews, so it doesnt really matter. Now if it had to deal with the company and getting warranty work done, that may be something to steer from.
 
OutdoorFT said:
The general consensus is that floorplan and condition of the unit is more important than year/make/model.

Where did you hear bad things about that brand? Of course, every company in every industry will have negative reviews, so it doesnt really matter. Now if it had to deal with the company and getting warranty work done, that may be something to steer from.
Click to expand...

There is an entire facebook just for warning people not to get a Keystone (also Thor and Jayco). It jut so happens I love the Keystone and Jayco brands the best out of all the 5th wheels i have found. Beside the FB page, I am finding complaints, EVERYWHERE, on forums, on yelp, blogs, etc. I was so delighted when i found the layout i wanted, but so bummed now to find out the brand sucks so bad (sounds like from many people the 5th wheel just slowly falls apart, the outside and inside, electrical issues, warranty issues, general issues, etc.) and people are paying fortunes to fix it or giving up entirely and losing thousands of dollars.

Of course I want to live in a place that i LOVE the layout, but I would rather buy something thats reliable and not going to fall apart of be hassle to deal with the company. After all ive read, ive been officially scared away from buying anything from Keystone.
 
Thats sounds like every RV.

Not to discredit your source, but Facebook is not something I rely on for information. Im not defending the brand, as Ive never owned one. But, based on your post, they put heavy use on an RV, which they werent meant for. Of course, it will take work tp upkeep them.

Keep looking around, there will be another brand with a layout thatll suit your needs.
 
OutdoorFT said:
Thats sounds like every RV.

Not to discredit your source, but Facebook is not something I rely on for information. Im not defending the brand, as Ive never owned one. But, based on your post, they put heavy use on an RV, which they werent meant for. Of course, it will take work tp upkeep them.

Keep looking around, there will be another brand with a layout thatll suit your needs.
Click to expand...

Haha, its all good you're only discrediting one source I have of the 30 i've found so far, there are multiple sites, forums, posts and discussion (not on facebook) about keystones sucking... so it doesn't change my mind. I'll find something, just asking here in this post if anyone knows of reliable brands they love, thats all.

 
Wolffox said:
I disagree with the statements that "it sounds like every other brand". Check out Grand Design RV. They have 5 different lines. They are a quality, solid built RV with one of the best customer service reputations in the industry. Check out the Grand Design Owners Forum, to see what owners have to say about them.
https://www.granddesignrv.com/
http://www.granddesignowners.com/forum/forum.php
Click to expand...

Thank you so much Fox :) I really appreciate this information****
 
You really have to be skeptical of the huge number of negative things you've read. The Keystone Montana is the most popular single brand many years running. If there are more people buying them then there will be more people with issues. There are also many thousands of people who love their rigs. I was, at one point, planning on buying one so joined their Montana Owners website. No more complaints than any other I've been on. I only changed my mind because my wife liked a floorplan of the Forest River Cedar Creek better and, honestly, I've read more negative things about Forest River than about Keystone. Grand Designs are not without their detractors either. There might be one company, or division of a company, that's marginally better than another (I would choose  Northwoods, Arctic Fox as an example of one with a good reputation) but it's only to a degree. You can get a lemon with any and you can get a gem with any. Frankly you may increase your likelihood, a tiny bit, of getting a less problematic rig with one company or another but it's only marginal. I've been intensively studying this for three years and that's my conclusion. I'm going to buy the floorplan that suits my wife and I, and take my chances. Having said all of that, I do believe that, to a certain extent, you get what you pay for. Less cost--less quality.
Bob
 
prfcdoc said:
You really have to be skeptical of the huge number of negative things you've read. The Keystone Montana is the most popular single brand many years running. If there are more people buying them then there will be more people with issues. There are also many thousands of people who love their rigs. I was, at one point, planning on buying one so joined their Montana Owners website. No more complaints than any other I've been on. I only changed my mind because my wife liked a floorplan of the Forest River Cedar Creek better and, honestly, I've read more negative things about Forest River than about Keystone. Grand Designs are not without their detractors either. There might be one company, or division of a company, that's marginally better than another (I would choose  Northwoods, Arctic Fox as an example of one with a good reputation) but it's only to a degree. You can get a lemon with any and you can get a gem with any. Frankly you may increase your likelihood, a tiny bit, of getting a less problematic rig with one company or another but it's only marginal. I've been intensively studying this for three years and that's my conclusion. I'm going to buy the floorplan that suits my wife and I, and take my chances. Having said all of that, I do believe that, to a certain extent, you get what you pay for. Less cost--less quality.
Bob
Click to expand...

Good information Bob, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question and give me things to think about. I am a penny pincher so its been hard for me to go for the layout I like vs best price/best brand.. this post is making me realize i am rushing my search.. thanks for the advice, I am going to slow down my search**
 
After owning two Keystones and one Forest River I will say that Grand Design has the best support.  I was getting ready to leave on month long trip and my level up panel went bad and I couldn't raise or lower my jacks.  Called the dealer and his was going to try to work me the following week.  I called Grand Design and talk to tech support, 5 minutes on the phone trouble shooting Grand Design shipped me a new panel UPS red next day air.  Replaced the panel and and left the that day. 

Like I said above I owned two Cougar and Montana and the for the most part they were trouble free.  With them you have to deal with the dealer for any repairs no matter how small.  You call the help line and the record message states they don't ship parts to owners.  You can order parts direct from Grand Design and they have their part manual on line.  Grand Design uses many of the parts that the other use it is the after sale support that is heads above.

The Forest River (PrimeTime) lets just say I wouldn't owner another one.
 
Having owened both a Northwood (Arctic Fox) and a Keystone (Montana) I would say that the Northwood is built better.  Also heavier.  Not as fancy.

We had a single electrical issue when the Fox was new, and a couple of plumbing problems with the Montana.
 
IMO.
the quality of any RV begins with, and remains with... the quality of the roof.

when you see a 5th wheel with a fiberglass roof....it's a good one.

I.E.    Peterson-Excel,  Monaco Lakota  and some others..

 
Glad to hear you are slowing down!!

THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION ON ANY CAMPER IS FLOOR PLAN!!  If you"settle" for less than your favorite, for any reason, you will always compare it to your preferred floor plan, and wish you had gotten it.

Since you like to pinch pennies, like me, look used.  There are MANY almost new, gently used campers out there for a significant discount over new.  If the floor plan does not meet your needs, you lose much less on a trade.  Almost all new campers have a variety of issues requiring trips back to the dealer for warranty repair.  Some dealers are great, others take a month to change a light bulb.  You can not enjoy your new camper when it is on the dealer's lot for repair!  A gently used unit should have all of these issues fixed by the previous owner, and you can go camping.

It may take a little longer to find the perfect used camper, and you may have to drive a fair distance to get it, but the hunt is half of the fun!
 
Every time I read a complaint about a particular 5th wheel, I take it for what it's worth. I see many complaints with the manufactures after warranty is up (try to get your ford fixed with an expired warranty) and also blaming component issues on the manufacturer. I remember a guy complaining on a different board and posting extremely negative posts about his keystone. He complained that only 1 air conditioner would run at a time (30 amp service!) And his camper was too hot in the 90 degree weather. Other posts are beating up Keystone when I believe it's the dealers fault, always easier for dealer to blame mfg. My experience with my keystone Alpine has not been without issues but all have been resolved with no complaints, replacement parts have been shipped in a timely manner and my dealer made repairs the same. The fit and finish and quality of components is very good. I really don't see what I could have gotten that would have had superior components for the price I paid.
 
Bezt is always in the eye of the beholder.  But Arctic Fox is one brand you would be hard pressed to beat for quality and durability.
 
Hello DaisyBreeze,

daisybreeze said:
I was convinced that I wanted a 2016 Keystone Cougar 327RES, but after reading SO many different comments/discussions on how unreliable Keystone brand is, its scared me away from buying one completely. I LOVE the 2016 Keystone Cougar layouts though, especially since most of them all have a w/d hookup inside.
Click to expand...

It seems we are in the same boat: Me and DW are also looking for a 5er for full-time living, in the 30-35ft range. We started looking at Keystone, then saw a lot (and I mean a lot) of folks crucifying them, and changed my mind. Alas, another brand you might want to avoid, in the same vein, is Forest River.

Can someone let me know a good brand of 5th Wheel to buy from... I would really appreciate it!!!
Click to expand...

As other folks here have recommended, we have found Arctic Fox (aka Northwood Mfg, they also have other brands like Fox Mountain, Desert Fox and Nash) and Grand Design are both very reputable.

Another manufacturer you might consider is Heartland. We have heard very good things about them from some folks, but in our own research, the few units we saw in person did not impress us so favorably.

Cheers,
--
  Vall.
 
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