Jayco is building a new factory.

[RichR]

I saw last night on Facebook the Jayco in building a new 237,000 square foot plant to build their Jay Flight series. That should speed up delivery time.

[che57vy]

hope improves quality also.

[mmwhit]

Yes, and from what people are reporting now, I agree with che57vy. I’ve been fortunate that every Jayco I’ve owned has been top qualtiy. I’m hearing Jayco may be sliding in that area lately? I certainly hope that is incorrect. However, if that is correct then maybe Jayco is rethinking their strategy and taking steps to improve? Certainly with the new facility Jayco will be able to deliver more timely - another issue I’ve read about.

[che57vy]

I agree with MMWhIT Jayco has been the best unit I ever owned, I have a friend who has another brand Class C has had quite a few issues. Shame they do not take owners suggestions and improve on the coach. Thor bought Jayco and that has me wondering about build quality now.

[Atlee]

There is going to be a huge amount of excess capacity when the economy back tracks the next time.

Seems every builder is adding more capacity.

[WinnieView]

Speed and quality don't seem to fit together, just like many things in the RVs built today.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by mmwhit

Yes, and from what people are reporting now, I agree with che57vy. I’ve been fortunate that every Jayco I’ve owned has been top qualtiy. I’m hearing Jayco may be sliding in that area lately? I certainly hope that is incorrect. However, if that is correct then maybe Jayco is rethinking their strategy and taking steps to improve? Certainly with the new facility Jayco will be able to deliver more timely - another issue I’ve read about.

When you produce 100,000 units with a 2% issue rate, you have 2,000 units. Produce 500,000 units with a 2% rate you have 10,000 units. I think this is what were seeing. The vast majority of units have few issues. A few of the units have more issues...and a few of the people that own them have unrealistic expectations. Were seeing more of all of this, due to the explosion of units being produced.

I believe this is the 6th factory on the Middlebury campus. Since Jayco (and now Thor) typically pays for these plants in cash, and they can expense much of this in the year it is built, it's not costly to shutter a factory if volume falls.

I would think the bigger issue is finding employees, even bodies. Perhaps they will start to add robots to some of the area's where it's feasible. Or at least more automation, making employees and their human faults less of an issue. Much like the automotive industry has done.

I too have been happy with my unit and I had a Thor built before this and was very happy with that unit also.

[NH_camper]

Originally Posted by 2008Seneca

Speed and quality don't seem to fit together, just like many things in the RVs built today.

True, but from my experience with other brands, Jayco builds a better RV than most others.

Quality vs speed seems to be an RV industry issue. I used to live near Elkhart, IN. RV assembly workers make about 1/2 as much per hour base pay as auto workers. But they make up some of the difference with piecework rates.

You have to feel a little sorry for them. They look like they've been running a never ending marathon. Piece work isn't a solo thing. The peer pressure not to slow the line down is brutal.

From what I understand the automakers have eliminated a lot of piece work, in favor of better quality. Of course, robots don't complain much.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by wags999

When you produce 100,000 units with a 2% issue rate, you have 2,000 units. Produce 500,000 units with a 2% rate you have 10,000 units. I think this is what were seeing. The vast majority of units have few issues. A few of the units have more issues...and a few of the people that own them have unrealistic expectations. Were seeing more of all of this, due to the explosion of units being produced.

X-2 And the majority never post about the good ones.

[Tunce the traveler]

Just think 100,000 new units camping only 10 days a year or season leaves 1,000,000 less spaces to camp in. This is just the tip of the iceberg if there's little or no new parks soon. As it is I'm making reservations now in parks that 3 years ago I could just pop in and stay awhile.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by Tunce the traveler

Just think 100,000 new units camping only 10 days a year or season leaves 1,000,000 less spaces to camp in. This is just the tip of the iceberg if there's little or no new parks soon. As it is I'm making reservations now in parks that 3 years ago I could just pop in and stay awhile.

Yep, even the out of the way places are now full most of the summer months. Perhaps the new tax laws, and cutting of regulations will allow campgrounds to be built again. In many places it would take years just to get approval from all the agencies needed. All this did was add cost and kill the small guy from building one.

If your traveling from Memorial day to labor day, in many areas you need a reservation or you may be out of luck.

[Danno]

Originally Posted by wags999

and a few of the people that own them have unrealistic expectations.
.

That right there is probably the biggest problem. I have never had a unit back to the dealer. If someone doesn't know which end of a screwdriver to use, then maybe a resort should be their first choice.

[WinnieView]

Originally Posted by NH_camper

True, but from my experience with other brands, Jayco builds a better RV than most others.

Quality vs speed seems to be an RV industry issue. I used to live near Elkhart, IN. RV assembly workers make about 1/2 as much per hour base pay as auto workers. But they make up some of the difference with piecework rates.

You have to feel a little sorry for them. They look like they've been running a never ending marathon. Piece work isn't a solo thing. The peer pressure not to slow the line down is brutal.

From what I understand the automakers have eliminated a lot of piece work, in favor of better quality. Of course, robots don't complain much.

We have the opposite opinion. We have owned others and they were engineered, designed, assembled and built with more exacting standards with attention to detail.

Holiday Rambler, Winnebago, Tiffin, maybe they are just in a class of their own.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

I think it is simply a demand sort of thing. We have had 4 Jayco's since 2006 and each one has declined in quality compared to the other. We have not shopped other brands much other than walking through them at RV shows. The Jaycos seem to have better quality. Our 17 was built by Jayco, not Thor. We got it before the merger. The fit and finish was not the same as our 2012 26BH but most everything has been taken care of by me. I expect I will need to do some work as we go along.

[NC Roamer]

Originally Posted by Tunce the traveler

Just think 100,000 new units camping only 10 days a year or season leaves 1,000,000 less spaces to camp in. This is just the tip of the iceberg if there's little or no new parks soon. As it is I'm making reservations now in parks that 3 years ago I could just pop in and stay awhile.

I wonder if the current surge in RV purchases will be like the jump in motorcycle sales a few years back? It ended when a lot of the buyers found they never rode their bikes after the novelty wore off or they had a bad scare. I regularly see ten year old bikes for sale with only 1000 or so miles on them.

[WVDusty]

Originally Posted by NC Roamer

I wonder if the current surge in RV purchases will be like the jump in motorcycle sales a few years back? It ended when a lot of the buyers found they never rode their bikes after the novelty wore off or they had a bad scare. I regularly see ten year old bikes for sale with only 1000 or so miles on them.

I sure hope so. We are usually spur of the moment weekend campers with a couple of weeks each season planned well in advance. It has become almost impossible to just decide on my way home from work to take a quick camping trip now.

Sent from my SM-J327P using Tapatalk

[jaycojay]

my 2 cents on this post ..... 1st off, great news on another plant. Good for everyone, more jobs, more product, less wait time for a new trailer etc. As for the quality thing, i've owned a few Jayflights, 6 to be exact. Yes, they are not airstreams, but it's a simple thing .... you get what you pay for, except the Jayflight is ..."you get what you pay for plus". Fifteen years old, make that 16, and still the best bang for your buck! They are not perfect, but the things that we have had go wrong with ours have been minor, things i could fix. Personally, i think that the quality issues come down to the new age work force. Lets face it, not just RV's, but in most cases, the younger generation coming up has no desire to work like we did, and i'm sure, theres lots of these younger guys in these RV plants who don't have the drive, the dedication their fathers did .... thats just the way it is. I'm sure when this new facility opens, there will be robotics, it's the way of the future. But there are many jobs a robot cannot do, and the person who does this job needs to put pride in what they do.

[FeatherFam]

Originally Posted by 2008Seneca

We have the opposite opinion. We have owned others and they were engineered, designed, assembled and built with more exacting standards with attention to detail.

Holiday Rambler, Winnebago, Tiffin, maybe they are just in a class of their own.

I would add Northwoods Manufacturing and Outdoors RV to that list.