How Is the Seneca

[Ricbec]

So far 9,600 miles on 2019 Seneca HJ and really love the ride with no issues. I guess you have lemons sometimes like our last MH. The driving and handling of Seneca a lot better in my opinion

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by schultzmna

I have a 2019 Jayco Seneca and I am having a lot of problems with it, walls falling apart, digital antenna fell off, fridge latch/ fridge door has to be replaced, window having to be replaced/now looks terrible, rear cap cracked, stress cracks in panels among many other things. worst part about it...take it in to get fixed and they screw up more things then they actually fix. I have also had several problems with the freightliner/chassis part, power steering pump cut my first vacation short and completely rune the one to follow because dealer could not fix pump in a week. next was the DEF header witch puts the truck into limp mode...then try to find someone to help you is almost impossible. Freightliner has 24hr service places but they are NOT FOR RV's. I researched mine before I purchased but I am definitely not living the dream like I researched.
Completely disappointed with my purchase from Dixie RV and there service department, as I reply to this thread my RV is in the shop again. I wish I could just give it back. This purchase has ruined my retirement, will be paying for a POS for many years to come.

The last thing I wish to do - is to lessen the poor experience you are having... as we had a similar experience with the "dealer we bought our Seneca from" and they did nothing to show us that they really intended to resolve the items that should be fixed by a selling dealership.

Our experience went from "this sucks" to "THEY SUCK" when we realized that the dealership that we thought would give us the same treatment as a Chevy,Ford,Toyota dealer would - does not really exist in the Motorhome Industry. You won't find any any true brand specific RV dealerships - they are all more like a "USED CAR DEALERSHIP" and we all know how they are once you drive the thing off their lot - new units included.

Originally Posted by Micah

Very disappointed owner of a 2018 Seneca 37ts. Soooo many things have “gone south” & the repairs (under warranty) have kept the unit in the shop off & on for10 months due to “we are waiting on parts!!” they say to me. The leveling system has stopped working 2 different times with different causes.
Can not recommend a Seneca purchase.

While we have had our share of different things needing repair... and the CW we bought it from would likely have had our Seneca for three consecutive years now waiting for parts... We had to walk away from CW in entireity... so we could really be able to enjoy our Motorhome (of which we are in right now - enjoying it)

Originally Posted by ready2retire&drive

We are in a 2015 37RB my DW loves the fact that company can use the front washroom without having to go through our bedroom. As for the coach issues, Jacob and Jayco stepped up pretty good. When moving something like this down the back roads we take to go trail riding something always seems to shake loose so being handy and fixing things your self will be an asset. But keeping up with all the great mods others have done NOW ! that's a different story. But all in all very satisfied with our unit.

AMEN... we take the dirt roads seriously!!! Something is going to 'Jump-Out' of a cabinet and crash of the floor... hoping it does not break or hit the dogs... all part of the adventure!!! (kinda like wheeling a hard trail offroad in a Jeep - something will break!

[gymracer]

I have an older Seneca Super C. It is the 4th motorhone we have owned. The layout and quality is the best of the 4. I like the body paint, even though it's older (06) it still looks modern. All kinds of room with 3 slideouts. It's sure a step up from all the Cs we've owned.

[RanWal]

I have a new 2019. Purchased in October 2019. Like others, have owned/driven class A & B. Love the drivability of the Seneca. Wife will also drive which is a plus. Unlike others, I tow a 2017 Ford F350!!! No problems so far. The fit and finish as others have stated needs some work in some areas. I have found that the storage bays are not heated and most Seneca's do not have an "Artic" Package. Protection of exposed water distribution pipes and holding tanks underneath can require some work if you plan to have extended stays in cold temps. Lot of ideas on this forum for getting this done. We spend a lot of our time boon docking and the rig performs very well. This is a great forum to find out about the little fixes others have done.

[tellanfun]

We own a 2018.5 Seneca 37RB. Bought it new from a dealer in Michigan. On the way home to Florida, the mud flaps broke loose and rubbed against the top of the tire. Subsequent trips out we found numerous items that needed to be fixed: things like the shower head holder falling off the wall (they missed the top screw), the outside TV cutout did not have sealant on the top so water leaked in and ruined the floor, inverter went bad on a trip and lost most electrical access, the seals on the compartments were installed upside down so water came in (over an inch of standing water in one), the DEF header went out in Southern AZ and had us stranded for a few days, and on and on. Jayco and Freightliner has stepped up and taken care of the problems - My Seneca is currently once again in the shop; but finding a local dealer to work on the warranty items was a real challenge. If I knew then what I know now about the quality control and getting the warranty work done, I would have bought local (or at least within a few hundred miles). The dealer I purchased from is always responsive to my requests, so I have no complaints here. Overall, we love how the Seneca handles, the layout, and having the spare 1/2 bath. I think now that we have worked out the kinks, it will be perfect for our family! Hopefully.....

[Florida Ranger]

When did Dixie RV get a service department, I thought thier service building was only for Long term storage. Because if you buy a 2020 model and take it to them for Warranty work it will be 2021 before you get it back, and that is if you are lucky. I ask them if you can put solar panels on my unit 2019 model. They said they do not know and would have to call the Jayco factory...

[ready2retire&drive]

AMEN... we take the dirt roads seriously!!! Something is going to 'Jump-Out' of a cabinet and crash of the floor... hoping it does not break or hit the dogs... all part of the adventure!!! (kinda like wheeling a hard trail offroad in a Jeep - something will break![/QUOTE]

Yup know what you mean , this was one of those moments where the pulse quickens and things start to pucker but later back at camp its a topic of humor after a few wobbly pops no harm no foul

[Jimdeb80]

Any pics please

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by RanWal

I have found that the storage bays are not heated and most Seneca's do not have an "Artic" Package. Protection of exposed water distribution pipes and holding tanks underneath can require some work if you plan to have extended stays in cold temps. Lot of ideas on this forum for getting this done. We spend a lot of our time boon docking and the rig performs very well. This is a great forum to find out about the little fixes others have done.

Welcome to JOF and the Seneca family. This site is a great source for ideas and solutions to many of the shortcomings that came with our Motorhomes. You have captured the Storage bay challenge already... Some models are more suceptable than others with this issue too... our FK model first encountered issues on a night at 28F where the pipes at the water heater froze (but did not burst). We assumed that others who said the ducted heating would keep them from freezing would work on ours too - nope.

We have a thread posted here on JOF that shows what we did in the wet bays and where plumbing is vulnerable. v

[2manywheels]

Our family of 4 has been traveling in our 2015 37FS for the past year, and have unfortunately hit the point where we are ready to resettle into a house for our childrens' education and a myriad of other factors. We have towed our Ford CMax on a dolly for part of the time, but spent most of the time towing our 2015 Wrangler Unlimited. We have had very few, and quite minor issues over this past year. One was a cracked power steering hose and one was a cracked toilet valve (likely from improper winterization from previous owner). Our average mileage towing the Jeep was just under 10mpg. As far as driveabliity , you'll find that the sight line is very similar to the Wrangler in regards to position on road based on hood angle and the sort, which I really appreciated. I know this forum is not a for sale or wanted, but if you are interested in a well kept used Seneca, I can share more info.

[ready2retire&drive]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

Welcome to JOF and the Seneca family. This site is a great source for ideas and solutions to many of the shortcomings that came with our Motorhomes. You have captured the Storage bay challenge already... Some models are more suceptable than others with this issue too... our FK model first encountered issues on a night at 28F where the pipes at the water heater froze (but did not burst). We assumed that others who said the ducted heating would keep them from freezing would work on ours too - nope.

We have a thread posted here on JOF that shows what we did in the wet bays and where plumbing is vulnerable. v

Due to our winter shortened seasons up here this is definitely one I will be looking into to get us deeper into the camping season , something about freezing stuff up doesn't excite me too much and no use reinventing the wheel as there are a lot of Seneca owners on here who have found the solutions.

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by ready2retire&drive

Due to our winter shortened seasons up here this is definitely one I will be looking into to get us deeper into the camping season , something about freezing stuff up doesn't excite me too much and no use reinventing the wheel as there are a lot of Seneca owners on here who have found the solutions.

For us living where our State Slogan "The Greatest Snow on Earth" seems to come from - we had to do something - or give up a lot of our enjoyable outings. Our solution/approach is one of many available - and heavily dependent on 120v electric heat - instead of 12v/Propane heat. It wasnt until we discovered how quickly our propane tank is depleted with the RV furnace. I estimated that if we were boondocking for 8-days in the cold, we could run out of propane. And if we switched to Electric heat - we 'could run on generator' in a pinch.

One of our original considerations was to buy a second small used RV furnace and install it behind the water heater and duct it into the wet bays. After understanding the consumption we already were at - Electric was the alternative.

We first - put a separate 20A circuit in our main-breaker panel on the Seneca and wired an outdoor outlet in the propane tank bay. In the summer this works awesomely to power anything and everything - including our camping friends trailer. In the winter, the wet bay electric heaters plug into this separate circuit. These heaters are mounted to a sheet metal base that also serves as a heat shield - and the metal base is mounted to the side-wall of the wet-bay wall so that it blows heated air across the entire bay towards the drivers side bay door. these heaters have 3-way settings (L-M-H about 500W - 800W-1500W)and we run them at low with the thermostat on the heater set at about 50F so when the bay drops below that, they warm it. When we are travelling in real cold weather, we run the generator and power these heaters to keep our tanks and plumbing from freezing.

An interesting side benefit... our bedroom is right above these bays -- the floor does not get freezing cold, due to the bay below it being kept warm - even the dogs are all laying on the bedroom floor all night - instead of sleeping on the couch in the big-room. We barely heat the bedroom - even when it is +10F outside at night.

Our biggest downside to this approach... when we are boondocking in weather below +20F. We did run the generator all night while parked in the Walmart parking lot for a night when it was +20F and when we were in the casino parking lot for NewYears when it was +5F that night. The bay electric heaters, and the 3 other ones we have set up inside the Seneca will draw a good amount of power. Each of the inside heaters need to be on separate electric circuits on the Seneca - or they end up tripping in the middle of the night if you have two on the same breaker.

If we are in a RV campground - connected to a 50A is all we need - works awesome.

[f lockhart]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

For us living where our State Slogan "The Greatest Snow on Earth" seems to come from - we had to do something - or give up a lot of our enjoyable outings. Our solution/approach is one of many available - and heavily dependent on 120v electric heat - instead of 12v/Propane heat. It wasnt until we discovered how quickly our propane tank is depleted with the RV furnace. I estimated that if we were boondocking for 8-days in the cold, we could run out of propane. And if we switched to Electric heat - we 'could run on generator' in a pinch.

One of our original considerations was to buy a second small used RV furnace and install it behind the water heater and duct it into the wet bays. After understanding the consumption we already were at - Electric was the alternative.

We first - put a separate 20A circuit in our main-breaker panel on the Seneca and wired an outdoor outlet in the propane tank bay. In the summer this works awesomely to power anything and everything - including our camping friends trailer. In the winter, the wet bay electric heaters plug into this separate circuit. These heaters are mounted to a sheet metal base that also serves as a heat shield - and the metal base is mounted to the side-wall of the wet-bay wall so that it blows heated air across the entire bay towards the drivers side bay door. these heaters have 3-way settings (L-M-H about 500W - 800W-1500W)and we run them at low with the thermostat on the heater set at about 50F so when the bay drops below that, they warm it. When we are travelling in real cold weather, we run the generator and power these heaters to keep our tanks and plumbing from freezing.

An interesting side benefit... our bedroom is right above these bays -- the floor does not get freezing cold, due to the bay below it being kept warm - even the dogs are all laying on the bedroom floor all night - instead of sleeping on the couch in the big-room. We barely heat the bedroom - even when it is +10F outside at night.

Our biggest downside to this approach... when we are boondocking in weather below +20F. We did run the generator all night while parked in the Walmart parking lot for a night when it was +20F and when we were in the casino parking lot for NewYears when it was +5F that night. The bay electric heaters, and the 3 other ones we have set up inside the Seneca will draw a good amount of power. Each of the inside heaters need to be on separate electric circuits on the Seneca - or they end up tripping in the middle of the night if you have two on the same breaker.

If we are in a RV campground - connected to a 50A is all we need - works awesome.

Where did you buy the heaters at ? and where did you locate then in what bays, i have a 2015 FK alao and like what you have done .

[SloPoke]

Honestly... Walmart had this heater on sale for $9.50 in either black or white. It think we bought 6 of them.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pelonis-P...eater/53017085

I was focused on that they were fan driven, and had three settings of wattage that we could adjust so that they could be set on low heat and spend as much time circulating the heat as creating the heat.

I removed the wood/carpet boards from the compartments so that I could focus on keeping the contents of the lower bays AND the tank components that are between the bays at an above freezing temperature. (also give us a lot more storage space) and put them in the small bay over the propane tank (left side wall) and the next bay back is the one with the water tank. That heater is on the right side wall. I keep these plugged in all the time - where set, they keep things between 40-60F depending on the ambient outside temperatures. They are set on Low heat setting. . I also keep a third one in the small bay at the rear of the Seneca (the one with the Girard WH on the other side) and only use this one when we get overnight lows in the low 20's or below. The Girard has it's own anti-freezing protection and does a good job in REAL COLD climate, but we have had the water line coming out of the Girard in that bay ice up, before we insulated it with pipe insulation foam.

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by f lockhart

Where did you buy the heaters at ? and where did you locate then in what bays, i have a 2015 FK alao and like what you have done .

Oh... and welcome to Jayco Owners Forum (JOF) and the family of Seneca owners. We love our FK and just finished another 5-month trip in our Seneca. - really, just pulled into the home base this afternoon.

[f lockhart]

Thanks for the heater infomation , we winter in Benson AZ and the nights get cold enough to freeze , iv'e been using a 100 watt light in the wet bay with no problems ,but i like your heater idea better and it will be a summer project.

[SloPoke]

We are back in Salt Lake City Utah... it was 21F last night and we are NOT going to winterize this year... Fresh water tank is 1/3 and Black is 1/4 at the moment.

All is well -

[LauraO]

Hello and new here! We're preparing to sell our fifth wheel and buy a Seneca. It's just the hubby, me, and our golden retriever.

We're struggling with which floorplan to choose. I like the idea of a bath and half so that leaves the 37K and the 37RB. But our hearts aren't set on the half bath. The 37TS looks more spacious and perhaps more counter space? We don't need bunk beds. Any thoughts on what floorpan you have, why you chose it and what you like and don't like? Any insight is greatly appreciated! We can't wait to get our Seneca

[RanWal]

We have a 37HJ and it was the right choice for us. We are very active in sporting dog field trials and hunt test. We had a toy hauler and found the garage/bedroom w/half bath was not really used that much. We like the layout and room. Do not have the washer/dryer and this allows us to pack of lot of clothes and items for long trips. On occasion when are with us the daughter/son in law/ grandson are with us the cab over bunk and the sofa do great. Do not miss the toy hauler. Love the easy set up and shut down of the Seneca. We pull a Ford F350 dually with no problems and sometimes wife needs her Polaris for hunting/judging. IF U expect frequent kids, then the bunk bed model may have a advantage. We have two Weimaraners that wife trains, hunts, competes in walking field trails with. Plenty of room.

Either way you will like the MH

[Micah]

Very disappointed with my 2018 Seneca 37ts. While it has a great floor plan with lots of space, I have had multiple problems with the unit.
Good stuff: 3 month trip of 8000 miles around the country with 3 adults & 2 dogs. Enjoyed the space & privacy aspects.
Bad stuff:
1) having had to have the leveling system reservoir system repaired in the 1st 3 months of owning the unit, THEN the operating motor for the feet died 2weeks into the long trip. Had to manually crawl under & raise them with a power screw driver.
2) exterior panel between the storage hatches was held in place by 1 screw which came loose & the panel detached while traveling on the interstate.
3) inside trip boards on the sliding door separating the bedroom from the living area FELL off in the middle of the night with a loud clatter just missing the person sleeping in the bed.
4) Major leak that was concealed in that the water came in around the passenger side slide running in & under the flooring resulting in the full width of the floor becoming so soft as to give when walking on it. Also screws were pushing up through the floor covering - required complete replacement of the floorin through out the unit.
5) Transmission fluid level was not at the level it was supposed to be evidenced by the error light coming on on the dashboard. Freightliner checked it out, filled it correctly & as the long trip continued, consistent checking of the level proved that there was NO leak as the level never went down.
6) side windows in the back bedroom come out of the tracks when raised or attempt to lower them
7) power step operation required 3 attempts at correction before they operated correctly.
8) there is more...but you get the drift.

Currently it has been in for service 6 (six) months & JAYCO still has not supplied the needed motor for fixing the leveling system. Needless to say, I am sorry I purchased a JAYCO.