Newby asks: Is Starcraft a Jayco? What is Difference?

[RUSSELL5000]

I saw mention of StarCraft in another post - looked them up online. It appears they are Jayco from their website - just rebranded. Is this correct, or are they actually different?

Any advantages/disadvantages?

Thanks!

[Rob_Fla]

StarCraft was bought by Jayco some time back, they are built by Jayco, similar floor plans, different interior trim, fabrics and exterior graphics.

[Redhorse 823]

Still has a 2 year warrantee!

I looked real hard at the Autumn Ridge 309 BHL

[djalbrec]

When comparing the two, I would bet that Starcrafts are a little bit less expensive than Jaycos. I would think you would get the same quality of workmanship in either brand. Choosing a brand and/or model depends on each individual's needs and how much they want to spend.

[Flyrotor]

My trailer is a StarCraft, it's identical to Ladywendolyn's Jayco trailer, the quality in my opinion is equal to the Jayco line.

The advantage for Jayco is they can increase their market share against Forrest River and Keystone by having separate brands at two local dealers without infringing upon the first dealer's franchising rights.

It all started with economical survival and soon became marketing advantage for the larger parent companies.

Most the parent companies have several brands that compete in local markets

[Threebutchers]

Haven't looked lately....but at one time they (StarCraft) offered at least one small hardside TT with same floorplan and more headroom than the Jayflight SWIFT series

Here's the StarCraft Hardside sister to the 184BH...... http://www.starcraftrv.com/light-wei...floorplan-main

[nettech]

Quality you'll be happy with either one as they are on par with eachother

[usmc616]

When TT shopping the only difference I noticed was the available options- Jayco had more standard options.

[exjay1]

Same thing basically except trim options between the brands, some layouts differences, and sticker price (generally Jayco is a bit more).

[Grumpy]

Jayco and Starcraft have a long history somewhat together. Wilbur "Jay" Bontrager was an engineer at Starcraft where he invented and patened the lifter system used by both Starcraft and Jayco. While there he decided to start his own company "JAYCO" which as we all know became a very big family owned success. Starcraft was originally owned by the Shrock family and eventually were bought out by Bangor Punta who also owned Piper Cherokee and Smith and Wesson. During that time it also included Starcraft Boats which is one of the items that the Shrock family started producing before they entered the RV market. Over the years many things transitioned/changed and eventually the RV division was spun off and run by a holding company which, eventually due to poor management filed for bankruptcy in 1992 which is when the Bontrager Family bought the assests and kept Starcraft running as a seperate company. When the last big downturn happened in the economy operations were merged. Some of the old Starcraft plants have since been re-opened, but I think there continues to be joint production on numerous models. The Bontragers (JAYCO) also bought the assets of Travel Supreme when they went bankrupt several years ago and that was the start of the JAYCO PINNACLE FW and STARCRAFT LEXION FW(which only lasted 1 or 2 years) well as ENTEGRA Coach.

So there you have a brief history of JAYCO/STARCRAFT connection.