Saying Goodbye

[Lady Fitzgerald]

It's been nice here so leaving has nothing to do with Jayco specifically or with JOF. I'm just too old to be dealing with RVs and the RV industry in general has been plummeting in quality with issues such as too many defects due to too fast assembly, too many RV dealers who will repair RVs only if you bought their RV from them, repairs taking weeks or even months, too few places to park RVs, substandard RV parks, etc. So, there is really no need for me to come here anymore.

Everyone have a happy holiday season!

[wags999]

I have heard the same complaints about stick and brick houses for 50 years.. They don't build them like they use too..that is in part true.. today we have much higher standards and the homes not only offer more but do much more than years ago..I remodeled homes where the electric lines were run through old gas lines, installed when they had gas lights. Windows that were drafty, walls that had no insulation, plumbing that was not vented and on and on. Todays RV's are similar. They offer so much more than the first trailer sales company I worked for back in the late 50's early 60's as a kid. TT were small, offered little in the way of amenities we expect today. No slide outs, no "home style" toilets, heaters were not in most units, furnishings were bare bones as was the whole trailer.



Almost everything today is much higher tech than it was just a few short years ago. We expect more and expect it to always work flawlessly. Huge slideouts with refrigerators on them work great, but when the RV is not set up perfectly you get twist...after a while that takes it's toll as do 100 other things. We can look back and say my first car was so easy to repair I could do it myself and complain vehicles today are complicated... but radios and even heaters in Chicago were "optional". Auto matic transmissions? Naw, never. Power windows, never, power locks or doors, not even a thought.



I remember my dad as a coucilman would get complaints that the roads were too busy...or parking was difficult, not like it "use to be". In the 60's we had 150 million people...today we have 330 million.. those people all have to be somewhere and a certain percentage are in RV's... We have government putting almost impossible road blocks to building a new RV park today. Costs are incredible much due to government regulations and red tape.



We also have people with much more money today.. and many are buying RV's.. I dare say from all I have heard the warranty issues have not increased any more than sales have increased... your always going to get a small percentage of flaws and failures of components... but I don't think (from those inside the industry I have spoken to) they are any higher than ever percentage wise. One thing that has changed is people have expectations which are above what they are spending. I spent more on my last little TT than I did on my first house...but I don't expect it to be any better than that house was.. which had issues. Parks have not changed as much as our expectations have. The dirt park that was great back in the 60's would be a dump no one would go to twice today, expectations.



I'm sorry to see you leave Jeannie, we have not always agreed but I respect your perspective. I hope you have a great holiday season and 2019 brings you everything you want.

[Parcany]

Sorry to see you go Jeannie. Have a good holiday

[Crabman]

Stick around, this gang is still good for a few laughs now and then, crappy RVs and dealers aside. Even nambarc is still on here now and again.

[Tunce the traveler]

Jeannie you have been an inspiration to me starting 5 years ago when I joined this fourm. Back then my Trailer was just a trailer and then I saw all your mods and decorating ideas and I must say you've done a great job in making mine feel and look a home on wheels.

I'm not going to get on a soap box because this is your post but many of us agree with you and the posts speak for themselves as well.

PS: my next trailer will be a Bigfoot ( Made in Canada ).

Tunce

Stop back because we need to see that smile.

[TCNashville]

You can't go Jeannie, your jokes are too funny!

[namusmc65]

Hope you have a Blessed Thanksgiving Jeannie, where ever your travels may take you, or not. Your posts have been an inspiration to others over the years, and we will miss you.

Joe

[Mustang65]

Jeannie,

As time goes on we all acquire different perspectives as to what we like, don't like, what has an affect on us or does not affect us anymore. Next month I turn 70 and officially become an "Old Fart", but wait if you would have asked me what an "Old Fart" was when I was 15, it would have been someone in their 30's... maybe 40. I owned a motorcycle when I was in my teens, would not even give it a thought today. Not that I do not enjoy them, but the traffic, volume of cars and current attitude of drivers (car type) added to the couple of motorcycle driver/passenger deaths each weekend down here in the Clearwater area.

I used to park my '65 Old's 442, 69.. 442 at the back of mall parking lots so that the "Old Farts" would not swing their doors into the side of mine. Today, I still park at the back of the mall parking lots, but those are the only spots open now around here, wait the extra 2' on the length of the truck and the wide "Mickey Mouse" side mirrors also limits my parking locations. I hate going to the malls now.

I live on the "Pinellas Trail" (39 Miles long), at one time it was the north/south RR tracks here in Pinellas county. Before my open heart surgery in 2009, I would come home from work, jump on my bike and do a 12 mile round trip ride every day. Now I sit in my office with a wall mounted big screen TV that I have YouTube riding videos on while I ride my exercycle for about 8 minutes (100 calories) each odd hour of the day (7Am-7PM)... about the same miles. It is a brief time away from my PC.

We purchased our first TT in the 80's, while I was climbing the corporate ladder and did not have much time for camping. When we purchased our 2013 Eagle we traveled all around, but I woke up one morning and looked at towing the Eagle as a task, I no longer enjoyed towing it. We then took a seasonal spot on a creek up in the Blue Ridge mountains (right Norty1!) where it now sits. DW wants to spend all of the 6 months in the TT, where as I now would like to spend time there on and off. It is a good thing that we never went with our "Full Timing" plans, as I still love my base of operations here in Florida.

I traveled for business and inched my way through traffic in NYC, LA, SF, and Chicago, multiply the number of cars out there now... not going to happen.

So now I am talking to my neighbor about taking his 20'+ sail boat and crossing the Gulf of Mexico to Corpus Christi TX and back for a trip. As a kid, I did not like any kind of boats, go figure.

Times change and so do we! Best of luck in what every you and your family decide to do in the future.... I always enjoyed reading your posts and following your projects... please stop by every now and then and let us know what you have been up to... we will all be wondering what you are up to

Don

[Peachlander]

You’re right on the money. They build them like junk, and leave it to the owners to complete what they started. Shameful. Our brand new 2016 Seneca has been a nightmare for nearly 3 years.

[nambarc]

Bye.

[Timber]

I hope you are saying goodbye to Jeannie 10 months late and that you are not leaving to. Because if you were leaving to, this would be a really sad day.

[norty1]

Originally Posted by Timber

I hope you are saying goodbye to Jeannie 10 months late and that you are not leaving to. Because if you were leaving to, this would be a really sad day.

Not for everyone!