First Season Complete - Eagle

[mwebber78]

Completed the first season in our Eagle which we took delivery of in April. The unit is winterized, covered, and ready for winter.

First year issues: slide adjustment for kitchen slide, two pieces missing trim, 6" tear in the linoleum, awning recall, and several odds and ends. Overall, outside of the linoleum tear, all typical and minor adjustments for a rig.

Dealer: great sales and price from RVDirect - miserable follow up on warranty claims and payment. However, local repair guy has been great and issues were fixed promptly. The repayment is an issue from Jayco/RVDirect but repairs have been top notch. I'd buy again from a wholesaler but use Terrytown or Whiehorse RV who have a better after sale reputation.

Critiques: Jayco cut huge holes for plumbing and wire runs - Forest River had plastic grommets or made "just right" sized holes for these runs and sealed them on my previous Class C. Disappointed that Jayco made 6x6" holes to run a wire bundle or to clear a P-trap. Obviously a threat to keeping the unit mouse and critter free. I have sealed these canyons with stainless steel wool and expanding foam. The unit is comfortable and performs well in cold and hot weather. The AC is top notch, the heater is too loud and I used a ceramic heater as I've done in other units.

Towing: the unit is tongue heaven but tows very nicely. Be prepared to have a 3/4 ton diesel, a gasser just doesn't cut it with a 10k unit with 1400 lbs of tongue weight. Brakes are good, tires are looking ok for china bombs.

Suggested Changes: mattress was junk and framing of the bed is barely adequate. Be ready to correct both for a decent nights sleep and not hearing the framing (match stick framing) moan and creak under the load of two adults. Also, carpet is low-quality at best and gets flattened easily. Luckily I opted for an unlisted option for minimal carpet which eliminated carpeting except on slides and the landing in front of the slide. Fixtures in bathroom and outdoor kitchen are straight from a Jayco pop up or Jayfeather - I changed them out to match the brushed Stainless steel kitchen faucet.

Summary: rock solid structure and floor, wonderfully arched roof and residential cabinetry. So-so trim and finish, marginal dealer, and decent reliability. For the price, Jayco hah some work to do in the details compared to Forest River and Keystone models.

[cekkk]

Excellent recap of your first year experience. We ordered ours for 2011 April delivery and have had no problems worth mentioning. But we share most of your complaints. My primary complaint deals with TW. The 8' wide bedroom closet sits right at the back of the A-frame and I hate to think how much weight is in it. Our Eagle has virtually no underbelly storage as a practical matter. If we were to load it up as we'd like to, our TW could easily exceed 1600#.

[clutch]

Summary: rock solid structure and floor, wonderfully arched roof and residential cabinetry. So-so trim and finish, marginal dealer, and decent reliability. For the price, Jayco hah some work to do in the details compared to Forest River and Keystone models.

I totally agree with your summary. We dealt with details for two years on our trailer and feel that we finally have an acceptable finished product. It spent a total of 6 weeks at dealers waiting for parts and work. There is no way that the company made any money on our trailer because of all the details that were overlooked at the factory. We are considering storing our trailer each summer in Az and buying a smaller, lighter, trailer for summer travels. We are looking at Heartland products because our son has a trouble free bunkhouse from them. As I have said before, the two year warranty is really a good thing.

[cekkk]

"We are considering storing our trailer each summer in Az and buying a smaller, lighter, trailer for summer travels."

X2

[Parcany]

Originally Posted by clutch

Summary: rock solid structure and floor, wonderfully arched roof and residential cabinetry. So-so trim and finish, marginal dealer, and decent reliability. For the price, Jayco hah some work to do in the details compared to Forest River and Keystone models.

I totally agree with your summary. We dealt with details for two years on our trailer and feel that we finally have an acceptable finished product. It spent a total of 6 weeks at dealers waiting for parts and work. There is no way that the company made any money on our trailer because of all the details that were overlooked at the factory. We are considering storing our trailer each summer in Az and buying a smaller, lighter, trailer for summer travels. We are looking at Heartland products because our son has a trouble free bunkhouse from them. As I have said before, the two year warranty is really a good thing.

We went from a Heartland to our Jayco. Our Heartland was a piece of c--p. After the year warrenty the slide walls were coming apart. Screws were coming out of the floor holding the walls up, not a good thing. Talked to Heartland and got told that warrenty was up and it is on us.

[cekkk]

Heartland is the only manufacturer that I keep hearing about their terrible response to big problems. I'm sure there are others, but I keep reading about Heartland time and again. Obviously, Jayco puts out some crud from time to time, but their response to their buyers seems pretty positive.

[mwebber78]

For sure the warranty on the Jayco is nice - but the best warranty is the one you never use. I forgot to add the keyless entry pad, it's died twice but the manufacturer sent a replacement quickly. Jayco wanted me to return the unit to a dealer, get authorization, get the part, and have dealer install. One phone call part was shipped by the sub-tier with a pre-paid return label.

Jayco has a great structure and warranty but they seem wrapped upon red-tape with a dealer network. The other big boys out there send parts directly in cases such as a door keypad or piece of trim.