Jayco quality issues —Thor?

[koko]

Have you noticed how many Jayco's are on the road and in the campgrounds? A phenomenal amount! I think if a survey were taken of every Jayco owner, there would be far more positive than negative comments from the thousands. However, I agree, quality control should be improved significantly, as a matter of pride if nothing else. As far as Thor is concerned, you'd have to add in all of the other products they own other than Jayco, like Airstream (which has had a huge resurgence since taken over by Thor), as well as their own Thor brand. I think the comment about Thor is basicallly what started this whole thread.

[vcbice]

I would hope Grand Design has less problems. At least when you pay that much money you should get better quality.

I know that I got what I paid for with my Jayco. It was inexpensive for what the product is, and the fit and finish is what I would expect at the price range.

Small things do irritate me. Jayco advertises that they use 75lb drawer rails. So, you think you should be able to put 25lb of stuff in them. Nope. They mount those rails with a couple of staples to a cheap 3" wide piece of 1/8" plywood. And the drawer bottoms are 1/8" masonite held in place by a bunch of 1/4" staples. If Jayco just simply said the drawers are on ball bearing slides it would be better.

I will say, if I was not capable of working on the RV I would probably not bother to buy one. Kinda like a house. There will be something that goes wrong. But, it's easier to get a plumber to your house on a holiday than it is to get an RV fixed.


PS yes, I was happy with my Jayco. It was everything I expected it to be and I had nothing major fail on it.

[GraftonGuns]

We took possession of our Eagle HT 2017 RLTS in July of 2016 from CW of Kingston, NY. The only issue that I had was a piece of trim in the bedroom cam loose and started to sag. Minor issue. I guess that I am one of the truly fortunate buyers. I read the same horror stories and I feel for my fellow RVer's
Paul

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

My 2017 was built October of 2016. It has been a Zero issue unit so far in the now 50 nights that we have used it since we purchased it in May. Probably just jinxed myself for saying that, but I literally mean zero issues.

[Girth]

It's not a new issue apparently. Take a gander at my thread. Ours is a 2013 model, that had a fatal flaw from the day it left the factory. https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...let-60711.html


Discovered the source of my water intrusion today. Whoever cut the hole for the vent stack, the plywood biscuit from the hole saw fell on top of the pipe coupler. The roof vent pipe is just sitting on top of it! In essence, the vent for the black tank ends 4in above the floor. Any moisture from the tank, or the outside, goes right into the floor.

[homer1959]

GD 260 QC inspection is BS, go spend a few days on GD's facebook page .... Its horrible, they are building junk, But their PR and marketing are the greatest of the industry... go see for yourself I wouldnt touch GD with a 25 feet pole

Originally Posted by Dropyerjaws

From what I understand there has been. Bontrager RV is my go to now, since the dealerships seem to all only care about the sale, and I am speaking on a 500 mile radius from Middleburry. His involvement was: an employee at Jayco for about 10 years until he saw an opportunity to make money on Warranty Repairs vs working for the companies.

The questions I asked were:
Who do you do the most warranty work with? Jayco
Who do you do the least? Grand D.

Of course I had to ask... why? The answer was interesting and in my world a big no no. Keep in mind Lippert is in the same complex his shop is in, which puts us right dab in the middle of the RV Capital of the world, was hearing a low pitched high energy voice that obviously didn't type.. lol.. But seriously we are within 20 miles of Jayco, Grand Design, Forest River, Coachmen etc.


Jayco:
To increase throughput the supervisors were trained to, and given, quality authority instead of having dedicated quality inspectors with that authority. DOH!

GD:
Through the process there are quality inspectors for the QA checks which sign off along the way. At the end, each unit is placed into a room with only QA inspectors with release authority, in which each unit is in their control until the 280 point inspection is complete.

And I know there is good, I see it everywhere. There are die hard Jayco's that have never had a problem. 10 years ago, when I was a wee lad and listening to stories from the family, all I heard was how Jayco was the greatest... but...

Anyhow, I am just a new guy here... for what it's worth...

[Merrick]

Regarding GD, see review below. Sound familiar.

"this is our first rv. We purchased a 2017 grand design 5th wheel because we heard great things about the quality of the product. I have NEVER been so disappointed. In a year and a half I have had
1. tread separate from a tire on the freeway tore up the side of the unit and I had to call the transportation company that grand design used because they lost the part for ovet a 10 days. when I called customer service they mad me feel that ir wasn't their fault while I incurred hotel bills that frand design did not even offer to help cover, just stated it was tire company fault for bad tires. IWe were told that the tires were mot right because of the weight of the trailer.
2. faulty leaf spring brole while on freeway. again grand design just referred to leaf spring co.
3. screws in fenders keef coming out. We have to continue to tighten.
4. replace water pump within 1st year.
5. rain damage in middle storage unit had to replace intire subflooring.
6. water in all storage units had to replace all gaskets.
7. all drawers are poorly put together that bottom pulls away from back side.
8. for front tv and vcr comes in and out so most of the time you cant use surround sound or radio.
9. screws for fuse panel came out and panel fell on the floor when we opened the door. found hole for panel made to big so screw will not hold.
10. the wood around the slides was coming off in places, we had to wood glue it back on.
Now because the unit is over a year old when you call customer service they say sorry, out of warranty. so they make you feel again that it is not their problem."

[Crabman]

The quality issues for the most part are industry wide. A few select companies may be making a quality product but in percentage terms the number of units would be small.

[Rgrinker]

I bought my first Jayco in July of this year. This is my 4th camper in 10 years, I love it and hope to get 10 years out of my 28.5 RSTS Eagle HT. First off, this is the age of information, years ago, you had a problem if the dealer didn't help you went to the manufacturer, these days people rant and rave on forums, I bet only 5% make comment on quality when they are happy with a product, but, when they have a slight issue they are all over the forums! I have a list of minor problems that I ran into camping, we have been out around 40 nights since delivery. I recommend tightening all fresh water connections behind hot water heater, under sinks and near pump, one of ours came loose and the pump would cycle periodically overnight. I turned out I had drops of water below the pump, all other connections were not snug enough for my comfort so I hand tightened them. The drain traps were also not as snug as I like so I hand snugged every one of them, better to be safe then sorry. I had a few minor things, nothing more then using a screwdriver to tighten or realign a bracket or hinge, and could have addressed all the items on my list but didn't want to buy parts when the minor problems are covered. I have a couple things that could have been done better and if the manufacturer went out and lived in these they would know what I am talking about, it comes down to they have too many models due to market demand. The first thing I noticed is that when I fold out our Tri-fold sofa to a bed, the right leg of the sofa lands on the plastic heating register, we did use the sofa as a bed a couple nights, the plastic held up, with age I may need to replace the register. The second problem is a large gap from the outdoor kitchen to inside of the living area near the fireplace. This is the first year for the outside kitchen in the 28.5 RSTS so I went back to the dealer to see if they are still coming in with that opening and the unit we looked at had the same flaw. We noticed it the first time I cooked on the outdoor grill, my wife was inside prepping when the smoke alarm went off inside! Later that night I shut the lights off in the outdoor grill area, shut the huge door to the outside kitchen. All the bugs that were hoovering around the lighting in the outside kitchen came into the camper once we turned off the light and shut the door. I have some Ideas on correcting that problem but I will loose the junk drawer under the fireplace, so, I am waiting to see what Jayco's production solution to this is. All in all, I could not be happier with my new fifth wheel, and as far as traveling this method is the best. I have had TT, class C, class A. My F-250 actually rides better with the unit attached other than the gas mileage drop, it has the 6.2 V-8 Gas. Happy Camping All!

[rodpod]

I have a 2018 Greyhawk that was built in Oct 2017. I havehad a few problems that required dealer service. Most other issue I fix myself. Overall i am satisfied with the unit. It's too early to tell if the Jayco quailty will be affected by the Thor culture. It has already resulted in cost being stripped out of the coaches. Many of the features that were standard on Jayco but upgrades on other manufactures are gone. For me when I researched and putchased a Jayco, they were the differentiators in my purchase decision. Cost reduction will continue and eventually affect overall quality. If and when i buy a new coach, it probably won't be a Jayco, unfortunately. They were among the best value point in the industry, that is changing fast.

[koko]

Rgrinker - I agree with you. We've owned 8 RVs of various types over the 45 years we've been camping. The unit we have now had a few issues but not anything bad enough to rant about. We love our latest, a Jayco Melbourne motorhome, and there are actually people on this forum who have made disparaging remarks about us when we say nice things about it...no kidding...they resent our good comments!!! People can have such ridiculously unrealistic expectations.

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by koko

Rgrinker - I agree with you. We've owned 8 RVs of various types over the 45 years we've been camping. The unit we have now had a few issues but not anything bad enough to rant about. We love our latest, a Jayco Melbourne motorhome, and there are actually people on this forum who have made disparaging remarks about us when we say nice things about it...no kidding...they resent our good comments!!! People can have such ridiculously unrealistic expectations.

Very good post.

[ETCrockett]

I have owned 2 RVs in my adult life. A 2004 Layton TT manufactured by Skyline and our 2016 Jayco Pinnacle FW. At the risk of aging myself, we didn't really use the internet much back in 2004. Word of mouth and going to camper show and dealers was how you made your choice. In fact, this is the first RV forum I have ever joined and/or participated on. I noticed right away that most people who are experienced RVers ask advice and are grateful for the knowledge passed on from fellow RVers. I think some of the negative comments come from folks who are new to the RV world and have never really been campers or they moving from a tent which doesn't involve electrical circuits, LP appliances, water heaters, winterizing and all the conveniences found in an RV. Some have had long waits for their units and then when the first item doesn't work, "it's the last straw" and time to bash the manufacturer. My dad was an accounting professor but he could also fix anything from a toaster to anything with a motor. He once took apart an entire piano and reassembled it after restoring it and he can't even play a musical instrument. Today's generation is the "throw away" generation. If it is broke, throw it away and buy another. People don't grab a screw driver or wrench and fix things anymore. Some people like to complain. Me; I just want to enjoy the sunrises and sunsets with the wife and make good friends where ever I park my FW.

With that; Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[waterwalkers]

Originally Posted by blujay40

I couldn't agree more with this statement. Two of my more major issues were with our Girard Tankless WH and our Furrion LR TV and a lesser cosmetic one with our Attwood stove.

A call to the manufacturer, not only cut out the middle men, but I had resolutions to all issues in a matter of days from first contact, not weeks.

Girard shipped a new unit directly to us on our site, and authorized us to use a local remote repair service to do the swap. We then used the same packaging and the provided return shipping label to ship the old one back.

As for Furrion, they quickly agreed there was an issue and authorized a replacement but had to notify Jayco due to their contract. Jayco quickly authorized a 400.00 reimbursement for me to go down the road and buy any new one I wanted and just return the old set to the dealer when we got home months later.

Attwood shipped a replacement stove top drip tray within 3 days for us to swap out and never asked for the old one back.

So as far as I am concerned, should I have an issue in the future with any of our "3rd party" components, I will be continuing to contact the component manufacturer first vs. Jayco or our dealer.

Exactly. I contacted Thetford last week about the hose for the Sanicon bursting. It was out of warranty by 10 months, they just shipped me out a new one. No charge. If I had called Jayco, I'm sure it would have been a lot different. sometimes it's better to deal with the component manufacture. The same goes for the slides. The manufacture will know more about them, and will send someone out if they won't retract so you can tow it to have it serviced.
If Jayco won't help, I recomend calling the component manufacture to see if they will help. You might be surprised.

[Doubleheader]

Now after 2 years of ownership, including two trips south, about 7,000 miles towing, and probably now 12 months of overnight use as we’ve been full timing as we build a new house, here are my observations quality issues, likes and dislikes regarding our 2018 Eagle 293RKDS 5th wheel.
First the issues:
1. Only 1 plumbing leak. Feeding shower, simple fix, supplied fittings are junk, bought a spare.
2. Awning motor, bought a refurbished one, haven’t installed yet, busy with new house.
3. Tv won’t fully retract in cabinet. No fix yet, thought it healed itself once but problem is back, it stops about 2” short.
4. Atwood Furnace needed repaired due to faulty installation. Warrantied.
5. Atwood hot water tank needed new module, also warrantied.
6. Unit has 3 vents, both gray tanks had vent clogging that wouldn’t have happened had they installed 360 vents like they did on the bw vent.
7. Sealing tape on large slide poor installation, simple repair.
8. 2 blinds have broken, may restring, may replace. Again cheap material.
9. Mattress replaced within the 1st month. Why in the world they use such crap is beyond me.
10. Flooring creaking quite a bit, has settled down some as of late.
11. A few minor repairs to shelves, trim, tp holder, Yada yada
Observations/ comments
1. Suspension holding up very well. Tire wear very even.
2, AC delivery system is excellent. Reasonably quiet. Never have needed the br ac. We have DP windows, maybe that has helped.
3. Recliners have held up very well and are more comfortable than I thought they’d be.
4. Norcold frig has been great if freezer not overloaded. I think it’s 12 cf. has a defrost cycle that freaks wife out “ it’s not working....” gives us something to debate. Small outdoor frig has been flawless.
5. Bedroom and bathroom have held up very well save noted exceptions.
6. Cap showing no signs of fading.looks like new.
7. Hinges and doors have been flawless.
8. Bathroom has s sliding door which will unhinge when traveling unless supported with a towel when traveling.
9. Door lock worked well but was replaced with keypad style with fob as I locked myself out too many times.
10. No leaks in roof, workmanship on roof was professional.
11. All cabinets still look great. Very pleased with style and durability.
12. Stove has been flawless.
13. Sanicon works well but for us with 2 gray it isn’t of as much value as it could be if we had one common discharge. We have only used it for overnights.
14. We’ve had no problems with exterior fiberglass. Decals have help up well.

Hope this helps someone. Overall considering how much we’ve used our unit, we are very pleased.

[t18skyguy]

Originally Posted by rodpod

I have a 2018 Greyhawk that was built in Oct 2017. I havehad a few problems that required dealer service. Most other issue I fix myself. Overall i am satisfied with the unit. It's too early to tell if the Jayco quailty will be affected by the Thor culture. It has already resulted in cost being stripped out of the coaches. Many of the features that were standard on Jayco but upgrades on other manufactures are gone. For me when I researched and putchased a Jayco, they were the differentiators in my purchase decision. Cost reduction will continue and eventually affect overall quality. If and when i buy a new coach, it probably won't be a Jayco, unfortunately. They were among the best value point in the industry, that is changing fast.

This post pretty much sums it up. I have a 2017 Greyhawk, which is the last of the pre-Thor Jayco's, considering it's actually built in 2016. Since then they been stripping out a lot of the good stuff; no 6 way power drivers seat, no power swivel T.V., laminated instead of solid countertops, more paper and less wood. Maybe some of the 2018's still have some of that from carryover inventory. My 2017 had 2 very minor issue's I fixed myself. I'm very happy with it, but I still have a case of class A envy, which might get me into trouble

[JimD]

What was the symptom for the clogged gray tank vents and how was it resolved?

[Doubleheader]

Slow drain and sewer like smells coming from drains just after or while running water. Trust me, when your brushing your teeth and leaning over your sink with the water running you will smell it. Gross !! The vent on your roof can either be cleaned or replaced. I have 2 gray and one back tank. I had two cheapo’s and one 360 vent on my black tank from the factory. I soon will have the two cheapo’s replaced with the 360 style.

[Grumpy]

Even the "High priced" units forget nails or screws....and this is over 3 years.

• Newmar Corp. is recalling 376 2018-2020 Mountain Aire, Essex, and King Aire motorhomes. The bedroom fascia header may fall unexpectedly onto the bed.

[JimD]

When you said slow drain are you referring to the sink draining or when you dump? My gray tank drains slow, not the rush that I see with the black tank. I would have thought that it would pulse when dumping if it was starving for air.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Doubleheader

Slow drain and sewer like smells coming from drains just after or while running water. Trust me, when your brushing your teeth and leaning over your sink with the water running you will smell it. Gross !! The vent on your roof can either be cleaned or replaced. I have 2 gray and one back tank. I had two cheapo’s and one 360 vent on my black tank from the factory. I soon will have the two cheapo’s replaced with the 360 style.

Check the air admitance valve under the sink, it may be stuck open.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Oatey-1-1-2...E&gclsrc=aw.ds