General Quality Question

[FunontheRoad]

We are in the process of looking into buying a Jayco Melbourne motor home. The price seems good for what we will be getting but we do have questions on the general quality of the motor home. Any comments from anyone on that model or any other Jayco that might be applicable on the quality of the build, insulation quality, rattles that develop, or reliability or anything else that might affect our decision to buy would be appreciated. Thanks.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by FunontheRoad

r any other Jayco that might be applicable on the quality of the build, insulation quality, rattles that develop, or reliability or anything else that might affect our decision to buy would be appreciated. Thanks.

Owner of an "any other" here.
Rattles and squeaks are inevitable.

You're bouncing a small house down bad roads on a truck. Prepare to address them as the occur. Which includes turning up the radio volume.

I'm a pretty picky person - rattles in my car drive me insane. But, I have to completely change when I'm in the RV.


Quality seems to be hit or miss.
Others have reported a long list of issues that we don't seem to have. In general, I think the thought is that for Class C's, Jayco's better that the Thor Industry offerings on quality.

One thing for sure, to lower frustration, expect issues and be prepared to address them yourself.

Chat with your dealer about how they do repairs, how long you wait, how warranty issues are handled, etc.

[Mike and Rose]

We traded in our Greyhawk 31SS 2008 for a park model since we have decided to go seasonal. We loved our Jayco and had no major issues. We lived in it for 6 months from April to October for the past 3 years and even with that everyday wear and tear and 3 very hot summers with the AC cranking all ran well. Cabinets and hardware held up. We will miss our motor home and all the memories but are looking forward to our new adventure. Enjoy your Melbourn!

[NC Roamer]

You will need to expect some issues with the house part of the motor home. But with the two-year warranty and a good dealer you will be able to get those problems resolved. I think a key component of any RV owner's satisfaction with their rig is the quality of their dealer's service department.

We are fortunate that the Jayco motorized franchise in North Carolina is an excellent second generation, family owned dealership, Plemmons RV World. The service manager in their Raleigh location got our Greyhawk into excellent shape during the warranty period. I dropped it off there yesterday but it is to repair a scuff I put in the exterior sidewall when a sign got in the way of the tail swing and to make an electrical mod I was not comfortable doing myself.

Good luck with your motor home. We really do enjoy ours.

[koko]

We have owned our Melbourne since last May. We have traveled extensively in it (10,000 miles) with no major issues. We feel the quality is good as we compare it to our other campers of the past. We think the cabinetry is exceptional as we recently compared it to many other interiors at the SLC RV Expo.

As others have commented, it can be noisy, especially when the wind is strong. Slower speeds are definitely required when traveling in the wind (30+ mph gusts). There will always be little rattles here and there because of the nature of the beast, but our Melbourne doesn't seem to have anything out of the ordinary.

We've only had one issue with it...our solar panel monitor is not registering, but the solar panel itself is fine. We have an appointment with our dealer on the 14th to have the monitor fixed. As others have said, a good dealer is crucial! We have had sub-zero weather for weeks on end this winter, but even with the Melbourne sitting idle, it starts up every time we run it.

We get between 13 and 14 mpg when we're towing our Jeep Sahara unless the wind is blowing hard. That's not bad compared to our last camper (a trailer) which got 9-12 mph. We love it!!!

[Hailey]

I had many issues with creaks and squeaks. a couple were doors or things moving that I tracked down, but 99.9999 % of my creaks and etc. are from my kitchen and MY dishware, potware, etc, ware. I now travel with all plates, cups, pans, lids, - separated with foam, paper plates, anything that will keep them separate. I now marvel how quiet it is while driving down the road. I was the cause of most of my own noise

[FunontheRoad]

Many thanks for the kind people that replied to my thread on the general quality of the Jayco. It seems like I can expect some rattles but not the best quality but not bad either. That is about what we expected since we know we are not going top of the line on that size of motorhome.

You have informed us to make our purchase a bit easier since that much money requires a good deal of thought. Thanks for taking the time. We much appreciate it.

Looking forward to some RV time.