# Outback Problems



## Patricia (Jul 4, 2004)

We own a 2003 Outback 25RSS. It was purchased in May of 2003. It seems to me that we have had an unusually high number of problems with our trailer, but since this is our first I would like some feedback on our experienses compared to others out there.

The first major problem was with the main electrical line coming from the power cord in to the trailer. This of cours ment that none of the electrical (including the Air conditioning worked) It seems that when this was run at the factory it chafed against the ductwork for the furnace and caused the wire to short out. This occured after we had only had the trailer about 3 months. We were in Florida at the time and had to drive all the way back to our dealer in South Carolina in order to get the problem fixed.

In addition to numerous minior problems (such as the radio not working and leaks around the slideout bed and "bike door" our next major problem was the axles going after only 8 months usage. The end result required replacing the axles and 3 tires. The first response was that we were overloaded. When we weighed the trailer fully loaded for an extended trip we were more than 300 lbs under the maximum weight.

During our last trip we broke a shackle on the suspension (the trailer is now out of warranty) and had to find our own source of repair and pay for the repair. Supposedly we will be reimbursed for this expense -- but not of course the expense associated with having to stay an unplanned night along the road or for missing an important meeting with a client. We have yet to see the check from Keystone (it has been over 30 days). Additionally the repair facility told us that all the shackles and bolts needed replacement less than 6 months from the axle replacement problem.

Also of lesser severity our air conditioner and hot water heater are not working.

To make a long story short we are fed up with all of the problems and have come to the conclusion that we have a real problem unit our hands. I hate to think what my go wrong in another year or two.

As stated earlier we would like to know if other out there have experienced similar problems and what Keystone has done by way of replacing a unit like this that seems to be a true lemon through an through.


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## KellerJames (Jan 19, 2004)

Patricia, 
I hate to hear of the problems with your Outback. There seems to be bad units with any mfg'r and I don't think they fully realize how much impact it has on the over all success of the products they offer. "Word of mouth" goes a long way. We have an '03 21RS and thankfully have had no 'major' issues as of yet. Hope things are resolved to your satisfaction soon.

KellerJames


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## Ontcampers (Jul 5, 2004)

Hi,
I thought i have had a few glitches with my Outback, we bought a 2004 at teh end of august last year. We used it once last year and guess what no heat! back in for service. Now after a few trips have had to repair water leaks, screen door that is way off alignment and now that its finally hot it will need to go back in to get the air working properly. I am definaltely not impressed, we traded an Areo that was a great trailer jsut not big enough for what we wanted.
it scary reading what has happened with yours, hopefully it was jsut a bad day on the manufacturing line! Goodluck with your repairs!


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

I have had my share of problems too. Some were similar to yours:
Bike door leak
Slide leak
Water heater not working in electric mode

No axle problems though. My bike door leak was finally fixed by dealer installing a 2004 style door. It was out of warranty, but dealer had a paper trail of fixes on that door, (unsuccessful) and Keystone paid to fix it out of warranty.

Good luck, and hopefully they will fix everything to your satisfaction.


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## missouricamper (Jun 28, 2004)

You guys are really scaring me! I can't believe how lucky and naive we were. We bought ours, sight unseen, from a dealer 150 miles away. Since we'd never owned a camper before, we never considered warranty work. Fortunately, we are on the third summer with no problems. (I hope I didn't just jinx us)


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

There are plenty of folks out there who are pretty much "problem free."
I don't expect EVERYTHING to be perfect...but rain leaking in 3 places on the first day of ownership was a bit much!









QUALITY CONTROL. It didn't exist the day mine was assembled! I think I've gotten most of the problems under control now. Everything was fixed under warranty...even though it was expired. At least the manufacturer is standing behind the product in my case!


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## NWcamper2 (Mar 28, 2004)

Sorry to hear of so many troubles/glitches.

We happen to be some of the "problem free" people.

We did utilize the PDI time (~6 hours inspecting/tweaking) to fix and repair anything before we left the lot! I am sure the tech guy was very glad when we drove off the lot







But hey, we have not had any problem since then.

Good luck in getting things up to par


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

I like to think they are working all the bugs out of the product as time goes on. Glad you have no problems! Hopefully, mine are solved now.


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Fortunately I haven't had any major problems with my Outback. Cars and campers are pretty much the same, they are built very fast and mostly by people. The reality is, most people have days they could care less to be working, like Fridays and Mondays. Ever been to McDonalds and always had everything correct, probably not, same poor work ethic is widespread.
I know Ford listens and studies problems and complaints to better their products, hopefully so does Keystone or Thor. 
I've got my fingers crossed that I won't have any problems. I think my camper was built on a Tuesday.

Just my $0.01

KS


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

Maybe mine was built on a Sunday during MANDATORY OVERTIME!


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## rennerbee (Jul 25, 2004)

My gosh!







I was just at our dealer today finishing up the paperwork and was hesitating about the warranty. I am now glad that we went ahead with it! sunny 
We pick ours up on Saturday and pray that everything is ok, I can't go much longer without it as we have been thinking/searching for about a year now. I don't even want to think about all of the things that are mentioned here. BUT, at least they will be covered!


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

rennerbee to clam your nerves a bit keep a couple things in mind. Keystone was at max production when Patricia's was made and still new into the Outback line, seems from what I've read the problems that plagued the Outbacks early on have been reduced a great deal. Secondly, and no offense meant, but anytime I only see one post and its a complaint I always take it with a bit of grain of salt. I've read far to many negative posts that never have any follow up posts which make me wonder about the nature of the post.

You'll enjoy your new camper, but the extended warranty sure doesn't hurt either. If you have a problem let your dealer know, even if you solve it yourself you want to try to document it in case it becomes a major problem down the road.


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## campmantobe (Jul 29, 2004)

Sorry for you Patricia.Hate to hear when people have trouble like that.
Makes me nervouse cuzz in a week we go pick up pur used 03 25rss.NO Warranty.
I will be calling the last owners.To find out what i can.Best of luck to you.


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## metognini (Aug 4, 2004)

I agree that there is always going to be little things that will happen. Of course some things are worse then others. Sorry Patricia that you had so many problems with yours. When we got ours, we had a few things that went wrong in the beginning. The main thing was that the heater didn't work and the roof leaked. We took it back to the dealer to have it fixed and they said they fixed it but it wasn't fixed. We took it in again and it wasn't fixed again. Chris said forget this and fixed it himself. (What a guy







) 
Good luck with the Outback. 
Monica


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