KZ vs Keytone

[tobiasCG]

This is my first post and I would like to say that I have enjoyed reading all the info on the site, it has helped in my (soon to be) first 5'er purchase.  After several RV shows and trips to dealers I have narrowed down my choices to either a Keystone Cougar 245 or KZ Durango 255 - yes, they are on the small side but with being in the military and moving so much, a smaller 5th wheel will be easier to manage - especially for the spouse!  I am looking for opinions on quality, reputation and overall satisfaction on both products.  Thanks for your time.
I am leaning towards the Durango but...

 

[steelerfan]

I own a 2003 KZ Frontier 2802P-F TT, and have been very happy with it. No workmanship issues to report, and only failure of note was the slide out motor base came loose from the floor (this caused a racket when the slide room was in motion - but it still worked - a few new screws fixed this problem).

I have never owned another TT, but in my 2+ years in this one, I'd say we did OK. Any major manufacturing or component flaws would have shown up by now.

I've never needed it, but KZ has a good rep on service and warranty work. The dollar to quality ratio for KZ seems to be one of the highest in the entry to mid grade model RV.

 

[2006F350]

Have a Keystone Everest 364Q. I am impressed by the craftsmanship of the 5W. The only problems I've had is the bullet light covers on the ceiling pop off, but I attribute that to the tech's not putting them on right to begin with. They are a bear to line up, but once on, they are on. I'm definatly bigger (37') than Cougar 245 your looking at, but I have no reason to think that their quality would be any less.

Best of luck

Larry

 

[Thrumpskin]

I am in the military as well and just purchased a cougar 289 EFS. Very light and tows nice. We looked at several manufactures of the same floor plan and felt the the cougar had the nicer interior and craftsmanship. we are TDY at nellis afb right now and are one week into our 2 week tdy.....this is our first trip with this rig, or any rig for that matter. My only complaint....HOT. I think i have the 13K A/C and when it got up to 110 the other day it would only cool us down to 85 or so. I think it is just a combo of smaller A/C and R value of the ride. I would recommend getting dual or bigger A/C units if you are doing extended time in it.

 

[Karl]

Thrumpskin,

My only complaint....HOT. I think i have the 13K A/C and when it got up to 110 the other day it would only cool us down to 85 or so.

For a 32' unit, 25 degrees cooling from a single 13kbtu a/c doesn't sound too bad at all!

 

[RPARKER]

I don't think you could go wrong either way. I looked around at everything before I upsized and did a lot of research. I looked hard at both the KZ and Keystone trailers and wound up going with a Trail Sport 27QBSS by R-Vision, but felt both the KZ and Keystone lines were good too. Good luck.