2013 197 Minor Issues (Quality Checks)

[Camping Couple]

We just purchased our 2013 197 this past Wednesday, this camper is outstanding. We went to a local campground this weekend to shake things up. I crawled under the camper to inspect things. I found a couple of issues there. 1st, the sheet metal strap under my black holding tank was twisted in such a way that if left unchecked, it would have cut into the tank. 2nd, the clamp holding the propane hose to frame for the exterior grill accesory was twisted to the point it was kinking the hose. It was stretched out as well.

On the interior the TV would not get a signal. After confirming all the connections, I removed the wall plate where the coax cable plugs in and found the coax was not connected at the factory on the backside of the wall plate. Lastly, one of the exterior speakers would not work. After further investigating this, I also found the speaker wires were not connected. Fortunately, I was able to correct all these issues at the campground.

This is my second Jayco RV purchase since 2007. We upgraded from a 2007 17 Ex-Port. My concern is shouldn't these issues have been caught at the factory? I will be calling the factory tomorrow to let them know what I found. Am I wasting my time doing this?

Overall this camper is awesome. We also purchased all the available options except the electric tongue jack and everything works great. Any comments or further things to keep an eye out for would be appreciated.


2003 Chevrolet Silverado 1/2 ton 4.2L 6cyl
2013 Jayco 197

[tnchuck100]

You are right. The factory should have caught all of those items. Missing that the dealer should have caught them as well.
But in today's world production speed trumps quality control.

[LBL 1206]

Calling the factory will probably be an exercise in frustration for you. You found issues and you fixed them to your liking. Nothing the factory can do.
TV hook up, seriously doubt if any PDI will pull off wall plates and I have never seen them hook up a TV set to see if ant is working.
Sounds to me you did a good job correcting the issues yourself. Speakers could/should have been caught at the dealership, but it's just what it is, they didn't, you didn't.
Enjoy your new camper and hopefully there will be no large issues or problems. Ya dun good..

[sgscomps]

I hate to say but calling Jayco will probably get you no where as they will tell you to contact the dealer. If left unfixed the dealer would have fixed it under warranty. If the camper doesn't have a tv from the factory no dealer is going to hook a tv to test it out, they assume this was tested at the factory. the speakers may or may not have been checked at the dealer, maybe the inside speakers during the demo but not going outside to check them. I wouldn't think any dealer would take the time to actually go under the camper to check anything, again they assume the factory did everything right. I have owned three Jayco's two popups and a travel trailer and only had one problem with the first popup we owned with the sink not draining right, the drain hose was too long from what I remember. I would continue to buy a Jayco over any other camper.

[Forgvn77]

Jayco makes the assumption that any issues will be found by and/or fixed by the dealer. If you run into issues with your dealer refusing to fix things, Jayco will refer you to another dealer (Jayco or not) and cover the repair. Jayco quality is currently such that an acceptable number of defects are allowed to pass through. The dealer and the owner are responsible for fixing them. Jayco foots the bill. You'd think it would be less expensive to catch stuff at the factory. It's not. That's why they do things the way they do. I've purchased two travel trailers from them and had numbers of issues with both soon after purchase. Dealers fixed them (sometimes at gunpoint from Jayco) and things have been good ever since. It's just getting through that initial wave of problems that can really throw you for a loop.

[exjay1]

Even though i purchased out TT used, durring the walkthrough prior to signing the papers I went on the roof, under the TT and made sure EVERYTHING is functioning correctly (after all, they put the verbage in their ad and I wanted to besure it was) if not, they would likely correct any problems (within reason) to make the sale.

[pt1655]

Hi,
We are pleased as punch with our 2011 Jay Feather 197 as well and have luckily not found any quality issues in almost 2 years of using it. You really should view some of the utube videos out on building our trailers at the Jayco factory. Those guys really move fast and it wouldn't be surprising if they miss a connection or two (not acceptable but not surprising).[ATTACH][/ATTACH]