Keystone Cougar

[Riverdog]

I'm looking at Keystone Cougar's -- specifically the 294 non-bunkhouse model.  Anyone have any comments regarding the quality of the Cougar - please?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Cougars - and Keystone in general - are popular and have a pretty decent reputation. No major complaints that I am aware of and I am active on a couple RVing web sites.

 

[Sawbones25]

I borrowed a friends Cougar last August for a week.
It was the 301 BHS though.
The slide out is huge. Lots of floor space when open.
The bed wasn't very comfortable, but a real mattress would help.
His is a 2004 model and has been used frequently. So there were a couple items that needed attention. The A/C unit thermostat didn't work very well. It was basically on or off. And the battery charger didn't work.
Other than that it was fine. He's thinking of getting a toy hauler next summer, so I may end up buying this one from him.

 

[WILDinTHEwoods]

I think they make very impressive looking RV's.  Nice cabinets, the couch has the bun feet like a house couch, and attractive upholstery.

 

[Herm J]

We've got a 2004 Cougar 278 5th wheel with the rear kitchen and one large slide.  We like it very much and if we had it to do all over again, we would.  We bought the unit new and have never had it back to a dealership.  We live in the Denver area and pull it down here to Mustang Island for the winter.  Last year in April when we were getting ready to head back north we had a problem with the slide not wanting to close.  A technician came our, removed one of the belly panels and lubricated the mechanism.  He recommended that we run the slide in and out a couple of times a month when we are parked in this salt air.  Other than that, no  problems.    Shortly after we took delivery of the unit, when the decals were still fresh, we pulled all the stupid looking cougars off.  In our view it gave us a lot better looking rig.              Herm

 

[cougar3514v]

Last February, my wife and I purchased our very first camper, a 2006 Keystone Cougar 309EFS fifthwheel.  In the past year, we have spent 6 weeks in it (1 week at Myrtle Beach, 2 weeks on a New England road trip, 1 week at Disney's Fort Wilderness, and 5 weekend trips to Gatlinburg, TN).  We've put approximately 6,000 miles on it.  Okay, now that I've qualified myself, let me tell you about the camper.

We love the layout and the amenities.  It suits us very nicely.  Of course you could find much more camper for much more money, but it's perfect for me, my wife, our 5 year old, and our black lab.  We have had a few minor problems though, but not enough to make us change our minds:

- the shower leaked into the basement (fixed under warrantee)
- the toilet seal never held water (fixed under warrantee)
- the mechanism controlling the bathroom vent would let the vent open when pulling the trailer at highway speeds (fixed under warrantee)
- a nail came up under the vinyl flooring in the kitchen (fixed under warrantee)
- a decal (no blatant cougars on the 2006's) did start to peal but was fixed (warrantee)

Would we change our minds?  No.  We love the camper and have yet to find a layout that works as nicely for us.

Hope this helps!

-Dave

 

[Riverdog]

Thanks for the comments.  I also posted on a couple other RV forums & generally speaking all the comments are positive.  A lot came from 5th wheel owners, whereas I will be buying a TT as I need the back of my truck for my Honda Goldwing. 

The dealer I saw the model I want has offered me a great deal on his FIRST price offer....sticker was $30,561 and he offered it to me at $21,350 which is a 30% discount.  Granted it is a 2006, however it is a new unit still in inventory.  I haven't countered yet so don't know if I can get it any lower.  From what I've seen on various forums anything over 25% seems to be a good deal.

 

[2006F350]

Have you thought of going the toy hauler route. I've seen them in both fiver and tow behind versions. The few that I've look thru were nice. That way your Goldwing could travel in style and be protected from the weather.

Larry

 

[Riverdog]

I did look at the toy hauler 5'ers.  The ones I would be interested in are the nicer ones with the garage separate from the living area, but they are generally over $50k which I am not prepared to spend.  Plus this style seemed to be quite long - 38 ft or so, which is too long for some of the older state & federal campgrounds we like to go to.

Also, (& seriously I don't mean to sound snobbish or anything), but the other ones feel like living in a garage to me.

 

[janpaul]

I do not know how big you are looking for, but we just got a Keystone Raptor 299MP which is 33' overall and has a seperate garage for less than 30K, and that included a 5.5KW onan genset onboard. I wanted the garage section for other uses besides carrying large cargo, although it will be used like that sometimes during hunting season.The place I got mine from had another same model Raptor on their website without the generator, for $27,900. Cougar also has a 310SRX toy hauler model.

 

[cattleman537]

I do not have a cougar but another Keystone product and I like it very well.