Keystone CARBON 357 reviews

This trailer has been a dream and a nightmare! The floor plan is great, the large garage is awesome, and the tow ability is supreme. However, the workmanship from the factory has been straight garbage from day one!! Flimsy installation of siding, bunks , wallpaper, and cabinetry have been never ending and now I have to deal with tears on the roof!! This is my fourth rv and most expensive and inferior one of all! No wonder I rarely see Carbons on the road…. Show less

We have been RV camping since 1989 and this 2019 Keystone Carbon 357 toy hauler is our 7th RV, Last RV was Keystone Outback 312BH - had it for 10 years and i fixed everything that broke, water heater, refridgerator and the list goes on and on. This 2019 Key Carbon 357 has some of the worst assembly ive ever seen. When we bought the unit NEW, they had to raise the black waste pipe becuase they slapped it together so fast and it was just 5” off the ground. Really ? No one seen this at Keystone ?? RV dealer agreed to raise it and they did, buy another 3” i would guess. Its still not right, and if i were to keep it, i remove the underbelly, fix both original gate valves that are JUNK, and at the same time correclty raise the draine pipe to the right height. Waste gate valves dont hold anything since day one ( had to install a quick connect gate valve to keep the STUFF from getting on me and the ground. Fuel pump leaked day 1, screws loose everywhere. master bedroom plywood under the mattress needed the both corners rounded so you dont blow your kneww out. Really ? It took me all of about 7 minutes. Refridgerator had a crack in the base ( inside the unit ) we did not see this until we cleaned the refridgerator prior to camping this year and we only first seen this at that point, now out of warranty- ( But no worries we purchased the 7 year additional warranty ) -- HA HA drove the 50 minute drive to the dealer for them to take pictures to only get told, Norcold said they wont replace it. If the unit is working they wont replace it. I wonder what the insurance i paid thousands for actually covers? The toyhauler rear door / ramp springs were all rusty and i asked if they can replace and they said no. I should have left the RV dealer at that moment, woulve save me so much aggravation. These are all at different times with issues. Went to the RV dealer and asked them to replace the thermostats becuase they stopped working - i mean they would blink on and off, and not do anything. They said they replaced them, i went home and when i parked the unit and plugged it in, the units did not work. I pulled them both off and they were used. The service manager thought he could give me someone elses junk. I called the factory and asked if they could send me new units after what happened, and they said you will need to go tot he dealer to pick them up. Just take in the bad ones. I went in the day they were received ( text message from the delivery service ) and the Service manager said we dont have any of those thermostats. I said yes you do, they were just received. They open the box in the parts room, and it said for my name- Service manager said how did you get these ? I called the factory, he said they are back ordered. Um no they are not. Your ordering from another channel and they are back ordered. You cant make this stuff up. Bad products, bad RV service group. Next trip in, i said the AC units are not cold. Left the unit there and the service manager said they met factory specifications. I call 100% BS. The camper could not get below 80 in the sun of August. I went to work on line and discovered the enginner who developed dometic brisk 2 air device. I ordered 1 for each AC unit, and when i opend this area for install, i could not belive how badley they assembled the ac units to the duct work. Some of the worst work i have ever seen in my life. I removed all the items accordingly, taped all areas to not let any cold air bleed back to the return, then added the styrfoam device and taped everything as instructed. After doing this to the 2 ac units, i was able to achieve 62 degrees F in the etire 5th wheel. My 26 year daughter said it was too cold in the toy hauler bedroom :-). Great design Brisk 2. Found moulding not connected, found moulding falling down. Fixed multiple water leaks where all the piping is behind the water heater area that you access from the storage area once you remove the carpeted wood, and plastic white piece. Re-ran some lines and wires that was a disaster in that area. Do it right or dont do it at all. Replaced the master bathroom faucet bc the cheap plastic one squeaked like mad. Added additional electrical outlets at the sink area and found poorly connected wires so replaced the cheap plastic junk outlets with better units. Saw dust still comming out of the vents in the ceiling. Both main slides are damaged under side and the black plastic material is shredding and now plywood is exposed and the dealer says that its not covered under warranty. I paid a lot of money for the 7 year additional warranty. Dealer said it 3 to 4 k to repair, and they only put the same material back which means it will happen again. Its a bad design. The slide should be on rollers, not slide plastic material over a hard PVC 1.5” thick strip. Note unit is stored inside my barn away from the elements. The storage stays above 40 degrees. I take care of my equipment, and sure wish keystone would build better units. Show less

We bought the Keystone Carbon 357 from the dealer in 2017. Everything on the camper has worked and we have had not one problem with the camper. Would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a reliable camper. Show less

If I hadn’t jus paid over 60,000 for this unit I’d laugh at the quality of workmanship , batts won’t hold a charge overnight, only vent for garage is behind washer . No quality control at all , looks like it was thrown together and shipped , very poorly construction Show less

Brakes failed with about 60 miles on new unit. Completely shelled front right. 3 weeks to get parts from keystone with no update until the end. Freezer won’t freeze water even turned when turned up to max. Supposed to have the “extreme weather “ package and yet the A/Cs both running flat out can’t keep up. Glue on bathroom vanity, floor and shower. Loose trim, loose screws, cheap particle board cabinets. Raw board under bed with sharp edges just waiting to take out a shin. No way to run AV equipment cords behind tv. The clothes washer is plumbed into the black instead of grey water tank. All the exterior locks are corroded, so I don’t dare lock them. I am very disappointed with the Keystone Carbon. Show less

Stay away. I have owned a Carbon 357 for 7 months. of the 7 months in been used 3 times in the shop for 6 months. it all started with the door from the garage to the living area not opening or closing. the door frame wasn't installed correct. the rear heat duct didn't work. the factory didn't cut the duct out vent to no where. the rear happy jack bed pins don't line up properly. Its miss aligned so the bed has to be lifted up to install the pins. The bedroom slide developed a 3 inch crack under it. we were told it was a pinch point crack. it turned out the manufacturer did not put gussets on the corner welds and the aluminum structure was cracked from not being built properly. Then the last time I went to use it the front jacks bent and twisted the frame. I have tried and tried to deal with the manufacture with little to no satisfaction. These people truly don't care if you live or die from faulty equipment they put out. they refuse to buy it back or swap the unit for another. do yourself a favor run from any product Keystone makes. Show less

I wrote the above review. Finally after 3 months half of that arguing with Thor Industries/Keystone they replaced the roof with a new one, no holes or seams as advertised. Would like to thank Clara at Camping World of Akron, OH for working with me even though they were not the dealer I bought from. Show less

I ordered this fifth wheel and picked it up March 2015 (now 6 months old). Had to fix many problems from start and still going, dozens of stripped screws, shower leak, rear screen very badly installed, tanks labeled improperly, tv and vcr broken, front door frame hammered so it would close and worse at 5 months roof leak because factory cut ac unit hole in wrong place than moved over and cut another. Keystone (Thor Industries) wants to just patch my one piece rubber roof. Still fighting roof patch. So much for their great one piece rubber roof. I am sure I have forgotten some things. Why buy a new RV? Think twice before buying and completely crawl over, under and around before signing. Show less

I ordered this fifth wheel and picked it up March 2015 (now 6 months old). Had to fix many problems from start and still going, dozens of stripped screws, shower leak, rear screen very badly installed, tanks labeled improperly, tv and vcr broken, front door frame hammered so it would close and worse at 5 months roof leak because factory cut ac unit hole in wrong place than moved over and cut another. Keystone (Thor Industries) wants to just patch my one piece rubber roof. Still fighting roof patch. So much for their great one piece rubber roof. I am sure I have forgotten some things. Why buy a new RV? Think twice before buying and completely crawl over, under and around before signing. Show less