Greyhawk value over brands

[Sacuna]

I'm very seriously looking at a Greyhawk purchase in the coming months, particularly the 31DS. I very, very much like this particular floor plan and it so happens that Jayco is the only brand offering it... so I'm stuck in a monopoly situation of sorts.

I was hoping you owners could offer some feedback as it relates to the value I'd be getting vs other brands. For example: Forest River Forester, which looks and feels just slightly lesser in quality, but seems to offer a lot more in features. To name a few, the Forester comes standard with slide toppers, enclosed and ducted dump valves, outside TV, and dual batteries vs Grayhawks single battery.

Everything else at eye level seems at par with one another from chassis, to construction materials, to components. So my question is, if the Greyhawk costs several thousands more and comes with less features, is the extra money really going towards better quality? It seems both brands build in the same manner.

All insight would be appreciated. This would be my family's first MH and I'd like to waste my family's money thoughtfully.

Thanks all!

[jimp]

IMO, you'll need to decide which is more important, the FP you prefer/like the best, or the other extras you mentioned. The sticker price is what the dealer wants, but they usually discount all models to some extent. Every dealer is different, but check out their service departments, as a good service department at an RV dealer is as rare as hens teeth based on numerous comments posted here and other RV boards.

[Ljnasa]

We have owned our 2017 31DS for 7months and haven’t had any problems to speak of. We have may 10 trips so the longest being 5 days. We live in South Louisiana and camped in 99 deg. Weather , we have two ac units and performed well. We love the layout and it’s mostly my wife , granddaughter and myself.

We looked at FR coaches as well but but found Jayco a better quality unit.

Hoped this helped

[t18skyguy]

I researched for many months, and faced the exact same decision as you. Yes the Forest River product has some nice features, but it is not built as well as the Greyhawk. When the salesman went to adjust the thermostat in the Forest River, the wall sank beneath his finger one inch. I was not impressed. The J ride suspension is much better, and I think the overall build quality better on the Jayco( that being said their all built very fast). I think Jayco went with one battery to save weight, probably same as no spare tire, but I find with the type of camping we do the extra battery not that important, we just fire up the Genny if needed. I'm glad I stuck with Jayco. The other thing is the hitch capacity is a real 7500 pounds, not so on the Forest River though they'll tell you it is.

[n2bowling]

I was hoping you owners could offer some feedback as it relates to the value I'd be getting vs other brands. For example: Forest River Forester, which looks and feels just slightly lesser in quality, but seems to offer a lot more in features. To name a few, the Forester comes standard with slide toppers, enclosed and ducted dump valves, outside TV, and dual batteries vs Grayhawks single battery.

Thats a great question as I was thinking the same thing and I have been looking at the Foresters and the Thor Quantum's...

The Quantum's are Thor's premier line and they are very sharp looking inside and out and they also offer a lot of extras too although I am not that knowledgeable about their craftsmanship.
Jake

[submariner]

I own a 17 greyhawk mv.Not exactly the same model you like,but they are all similiar ,same componants,just different floorplans.Before purchasing the greyhawk,we traveled a couple of hours to view the thor line.I my opinion,the greyhawks were better in quality,also the full wall slides that the thor's used were problamatic,using the schwintec in wall slide system.A lot of weight and footage.I think they might have made an improvement on this issue.The roof on the grey is fiberglass,i liked that.Most of our camping is at campgrounds that have electric,so the one battery hasn't been an issue.The generator is always in the picture if you need it.The greyhawks also have a skylight in the living room area,a real nice touch allowing extra natural light .
As far as the chassis, there both ford e450's.The J Ride works just fine for me,with no modifications at all to the suspension. At 65 mph tracts straight,easy to drive. No excessive body roll if driven respectfully.
Cross winds gets a little uncomfortable.Dont know how the thor's handle,although in the crosswinds ,probably the same.
The engines in these are the same,plenty of power,really.I tow a jeep wrangler,no problem at all.About 8 mpg when towing.
The difference in quality was really minimal,but we chose the hawk ,our dealer was very close and they have always provided me with good service.5000 miles with no issues so far knock wood.
Hope I helped you,tough call on your part....good luck
Marty

[n2bowling]

Thanks Sub. Still in the undecided phase

[foglght]

Originally Posted by submariner

I own a 17 greyhawk mv.Not exactly the same model you like,but they are all similiar ,same componants,just different floorplans.Before purchasing the greyhawk,we traveled a couple of hours to view the thor line.I my opinion,the greyhawks were better in quality,also the full wall slides that the thor's used were problamatic,using the schwintec in wall slide system.A lot of weight and footage.I think they might have made an improvement on this issue.The roof on the grey is fiberglass,i liked that.Most of our camping is at campgrounds that have electric,so the one battery hasn't been an issue.The generator is always in the picture if you need it.The greyhawks also have a skylight in the living room area,a real nice touch allowing extra natural light .
As far as the chassis, there both ford e450's.The J Ride works just fine for me,with no modifications at all to the suspension. At 65 mph tracts straight,easy to drive. No excessive body roll if driven respectfully.
Cross winds gets a little uncomfortable.Dont know how the thor's handle,although in the crosswinds ,probably the same.
The engines in these are the same,plenty of power,really.I tow a jeep wrangler,no problem at all.About 8 mpg when towing.
The difference in quality was really minimal,but we chose the hawk ,our dealer was very close and they have always provided me with good service.5000 miles with no issues so far knock wood.
Hope I helped you,tough call on your part....good luck
Marty

One point to add.......the roof

If you damage the fiberglass roof, you are looking at an entire new roof. Right around $14,000. Some people may argue with me on this, but call a few jayco dealers and see if they are equipped to replace the entire roof. There are a lot of dealers that won't do it. It also takes 3+ weeks.

I believe FR uses TPO roof material. I "believe" those are patchable rather than requiring a new roof.

[hussieskunk]

We love our Greyhawk 31FS. The Jride is so smooth. Well worth the additional cost.

Never had an issue with quality, other than the service at our dealership. Make sure you find the right dealership with good service...cannot be stressed enough. If you go cheap, cheap is what you will get.

As others have indicated dealers want to sell to you, the price is negotiable -- everything is negotiable. In our case, I had two dealers "fighting" over our business; at least that's what I told the dealership we purchased from... Was able to peal an additional $5k off the sell price because of that ploy.

[foglght]

In the midwest and east, rule of thumb is they can sell it to you for up to 40% off MSRP. You are likely to get 35% without much hassle.

[hussieskunk]

We also bought a model year older, so that probably helped.

[The Logans]

Our thoughts were:

The Greyhawk had bells and whistles that we neither needed or wanted, so we saved about 14,000.00 and got a Redhawk instead. All that we added to it were slide toppers and dual thermostatically controlled roof vent fans. Another big factor was we sometimes dry camp, and the tank-less water heater was worthless for that.

As part of the deal, we had the dealer throw in a spare tire and carrier, bunk ladder, and dual batteries.

As far as the Jayco Brand, we liked what we saw at the factory tour, and Jayco was the only brand with a 2 year warranty. Given that all manufacturers work fast, and make mistakes, the extra year of warranty was a really big deal.

Now we're on our 4th Jayco, and so far, so good. We left the E450 chassis models as some of the joints are getting creaky, and I didn't want to clamber in and out of the van cab any more.

[TLC]

Have had a '17 GH 31DS for 6 months or so.
10+ weekend/week trips.
Any issues have been minor and I've repaired.
No complaints. Full body paint will keep you busy..
2 AC's are a must from what I heard.

Good luck with whatever you get!

[submariner]

Originally Posted by foglght

One point to add.......the roof

If you damage the fiberglass roof, you are looking at an entire new roof. Right around $14,000. Some people may argue with me on this, but call a few jayco dealers and see if they are equipped to replace the entire roof. There are a lot of dealers that won't do it. It also takes 3+ weeks.

I believe FR uses TPO roof material. I "believe" those are patchable rather than requiring a new roof.

Foglight why does the whole roof have to be replaced ? I would hope that being its fiberglass,it could be repaired by a competant body and fender man.
15 k sounds outrageous,I would'nt pay it.

[t18skyguy]

As mentioned above, do get two air conditioners. A lot of people that don't really regret it.

[foglght]

Originally Posted by submariner

Foglight why does the whole roof have to be replaced ? I would hope that being its fiberglass,it could be repaired by a competant body and fender man.
15 k sounds outrageous,I would'nt pay it.

the roof is one piece. You can't buy sections of it. You could get it repaired, but it would be obvious.

No RV dealer within 200 miles would repair the roof and no body shops would touch it.

Mine is temporarily repaired, but it is really visible and ugly. It is water tight though. It is a huge pain just searching for someone and spending hours upon hours on the phone to understand that Jayco will only sell the entire roof assembly. I'm going to have to drive it about 150 miles to the first dealer that actually has experience doing it, so there are likely to be less mistakes.

If you find someone that tells you something else, I'd actually really like to talk to them. Would rather not spend it if I don't have to. It would still make the coach worth less money anyway.

[The Logans]

Our roof was damaged (on our 25RKS) by hail and ice). The dealer wanted between 8,000.00 and 10,000.00 to repair it. Was more that we could afford, so they called the Jayco Factory for us, and Jayco agreed to fix whatever they found for 2,800.00.

We took it up to Middlebury, and in 4 days they had replaced the roof, insulation, wiring, lights, ceiling, and ceiling fans. They found other damage, and had to replace the siding a foot down from the roof on the sides and front, and they replaced the entire back wall of the camper.

All for the promised 2,800.00. State Farm paid 2,300.00 of it.

They mad a bad thing into a good experience, and we spent 4 days playing tourist around Middlebury.

[MFalcon]

My wife and I bought our Greyhawk 31 DS in 2015 and love it. We love the 31DS layout with the pantry and linen closets. Any minor repairs I have done myself, with help from the internet and great forums like this. The tankless water heater was garbage and we asked Jayco to replace for inconsistent temp changes that kept scalding us. They did with no questions or cost as it was covered under the 2 year warranty. This is our second Jyco product and we are happy with the quality of the construction. Like any other "home on wheels" there will always be things that come loose and need attention. A good maintenance plan and following the manufacturer recommended maintenance schedules will keep thing running smooth. Cheers and good luck with your purchase, whatever you decide.

[goldenbetty]

LjNasa, How much fuel does your generator use with both AC's running and you are dry camping?

[Ljnasa]

We haven’t dry camped yet so I can’t say.