Will be doing our PDI next week. What do you wish

[Deal Breaker]

Perform a fill and release test on all the plumbing fixtures including sinks, bath tubs, etc.. then start looking for leaks. Remove the plumbers access covers at tub and look for leaks. Run the water heater on a full cycle where it reaches operating temperature 140F and cycles off, again look for fresh water supply line leaks everywhere and also the TPR valve at the water heater. If your unit has a sealed underbelly/insulated, pay attention to bowing at same and small drips below the coach at multiple locations. Run test every appliance, including the oven...

I like the prior comment about using your RV close to the dealer. I should have camped at the dealership for a couple of days.... If I had, the RV would no doubt still be there getting repaired....

[TriumphRider]

Yep, we have an appt. at ~2pm on Thursday, so that will give us about 3hrs or so with someone from the dealer, then they can go home and the real fun begins.

We will take it for a short drive into town and get some supplies and check the handling ect., then back to the dealer and set up camp. Check everything out that evening and the next day if needed. Then present them with the (hopefully short!) list of gripes.

It will be a busy couple of days!

TriumphRider

[koko]

It'll be much easier for both you and the dealer to find all the flaws before you leave that lot. As we get into camping season, it's really hard to get appointments for warranty work. Spending the night checking it all out is a great advantage that a lot of us never have, and the suggestions given above are excellent.

One of our big questions was about the radio/TV/phone pairing, back up camera, etc. This is complicated stuff. Ask lots of questions after you've tried operating these things and reading the very lengthy manual. It can be frustrating when that Pioneer or whatever brand you'll have, doesn't work for you. For us, it was mostly operator error. The dealer was kind of in the dark about it, too; and if we'd had the time to play with the system before we asked the questions, it might have been better. Have fun!

[RAurand]

Please, Let us know how it went for you.

[bedrck46]

A very good PDI check list attached

[RayPayne]

Originally Posted by TriumphRider

dgantz, found it. Wow! Between yours and some other posters issues in that thread I'm starting to question the whole decision to buy a Jayco! It seemed to us that Jayco was a little higher quality than the other commonly available (and affordable) RV's.



TriumphRider

Don't freak out. Every manufacturer of pretty much anything will turn out the occasional lemon. Odds of getting that are slim though, and being thorough on your PDI helps ensure it doesn't happen to you.

[koko]

We've owned rvs from several different manufacturers. They all have their ups and downs, but mostly ups. We feel that Jayco is a really good product. Just look around at all of the Jaycos on the road in every possible form from pop-up to motor home to trailer of every size.

[bdreinv]

Get up on top and look at the roof! For 1 1/2 years waiting for JAYCO to repair ripple in my roof. We did not get up on the roof and check it out. If we would have seen that would have never drove camper off the lot!

[RaceChaser0]

I second what BD said..get up on the roof and inspect it thoroughly. We had an issue with ours where it looked like the fiberglass had been repaired. Turns out jayco said it must have been a defect in the panel that was repaired before being put on the coach. I got that in writing from jayco while at the dealer just in case some warranty arose (& had the dealer knock off some $ for the hassle).

As we walked through the coach during the PDI, I took a small post it note tablet with me and wrote the issue on the post it, then stuck it to the area that I wanted the dealer to fix before we left (or signed any papers!). Most of it was not good sealer application, debris in the HVAC system that caused some rattle, moisture in the exterior lights, etc. I know it seemed a bit excessive to put notes on everything, but for the amount of money we are all spending on these coaches, they should be as close to what we feel is perfect as possible before we roll out.

In summary, operate EVERYTHING (electronics, water, HVAC, anything mechanical including drawers, latches, etc) and take good notes.

It is a bit stressful (we were there from the time the dealer opened to when they closed!), but in the end, we felt satisfied when we left the next morning after camping in their onsite lot (which is a great that your doing that!!). We spent 51 nights in ours last year and put 4,500 miles on it and love every minute of it!

Good luck, congrats and have fun!

[sennister]

This was mentioned before but swing by your hardware store and pick up one of these testers.

https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instru.../dp/B000RUL2UU

There are different brands but they are all about the same. It will show that the outlet works, is wired correct and there is a button on it that you press and it will trip the GFCI so you can find what circuit it is on and where to reset it. I plan on going around the camper and noting what outlets are tied to which GFCIs. Just because an outlet doesn't have a reset and test buttons doesn't mean it isn't GFCI protected and if you trip one you may be running around the camper trying to find which one is tripped. If nothing else note where the reset buttons are located.

Other stuff I am bringing

Flashlight / spare batteries
Camera or use cell phone (I am going to record my PDI with my Virb)
Pen/pencils paper and Post-it-Notes
Screwdrivers with square bits
DVD Movie
Tape Measure
License Plate and paperwork (Insurance, Sales Docs)
Cell Phone Charger
Level
WD Hitch and Accessories because I am doing a PDI on a TT
Wheel Chalks
Leveling Pads
Torque Wrench / sockets to check lug nuts
Pliers
Outlet Tester that I mentioned above
RV Antifreeze (I want to run water through the camper and then re-winterize as it is a bit early to open it up for the season for us.)
Dog bone adapter 30A-50A

I might think of a few more things between now and Thursday when we have our PDI.

[TriumphRider]

All really good advice folks, thanks! It looks like I will need to have a backpack full of equipment along with us as we will be taking public transit to the dealer. That sperry tester has more functions than mine, I'll have to see if I can pick one up locally.

At least the weather looks like there might be a break in the rain on Thursday since I will be crawling all over and under the rig!

The dealer is coming by today to pick up our TT trade-in. Kinda hate to see her go, we had a lot of good times in it. But even with just us two and two furry friends it was too small. Oh well...

TriumphRider

[koko]

We were sad to see some of ours go, too. The last two were purchased by our sons, so they're still in the family. For some silly reason that gives me comfort.

[dgantz]

Originally Posted by TriumphRider

Yep, we have an appt. at ~2pm on Thursday, so that will give us about 3hrs or so with someone from the dealer, then they can go home and the real fun begins.

We will take it for a short drive into town and get some supplies and check the handling ect., then back to the dealer and set up camp. Check everything out that evening and the next day if needed. Then present them with the (hopefully short!) list of gripes.

It will be a busy couple of days!

TriumphRider

We did that with ours and on the first night at CW it rained so hard they evacuated the campground. Never did get a couple nights at the dealer. Goodluck!


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[North of 49°]

I got the impression during our walk-through that I probably knew more than the guy giving the walk-through. He wasn't telling us anything that we didn't already know, so I focused my questions on things that were specific to the new trailer. Stuff like how to retract the slide if the motor doesn't work, how to work the power awning, where's the spare tire and how to access it. Once you know the basics, that knowledge is transferable from one trailer to the next.

[TriumphRider]

Hi all,

For an 'After Action Report', I'm happy to report that there wasn't much action!

Spent several hours with our tour guide who seemed to have answers to all of our questions. Crawled all over and under the beast (since christened "Big Jay" by my DW), but found very little to gripe about. The roof looked good and flat, there is no sign of hairline cracks on either the front or back caps.

The only things we found were cosmetic in nature: The decals on the hood of the E-450 have started to peel away from the hood and there is a scratch in the largest one. There is also a very small dent in the drivers side fender that is pretty hard to even see. Our tour guide took pictures of these and submitted them to the manager. The management seemed to agree that they should be taken care of. We shall see how that goes...

One other small item was that there was one screw missing from the main control panel. The guide tried to find a screw to match, but when he couldn't he found a full set of others and replaced them all. Very cool!

All in all the folks at Johnson RV in Oregon were fantastic and seemed authentically interested in keeping us happy during and after the sale.

It makes for a boring report, but we'll take boring over drama at this point in our lives!

TriumphRider

[JFlightRisk]

That's great to hear. Happy camping in your new rig!

[koko]

Boring is very good. Enjoy the summer in your new purchase!