Used Melbourne Tips & Hints?

Susan Cnett · 11-14-2018, 01:45 PM

Hi!

We are considering the purchase of a 2017 Melbourne 24L with 4,000 miles on it.

Are there any know problems with these units?

Since the Jayco warranty is not transferrable, what should we look for, in terms of hidden issues that these models might have?

campaholix · 11-14-2018, 01:53 PM

If you search this website for the make and model you'll find lots of info and conversations about the Melbourne

Pfflyer · 11-14-2018, 04:56 PM

Welcome to the forum. As a general rule make sure all systems work before buying. Everything from water pump, generator and slides. Seems like I remember there being issues with the larger side slide of the 24L. Make sure the bed is long enough for you and if it is the folding style see if sinks in the middle. There are several here that have had issues with the bed but I think most of them were on the 24K model. There are several different solutions to the bed as well so don't let that hold you back. Also remember on most forums you just hear about problems and not many post about everything going well.

Good luck

Pfflyer · 11-14-2018, 05:12 PM

The chassis warranty I believe transfers and regular service can be more expensive on diesels so you might want to budget for that. You can save some if you do it yourself. Make sure you use or whoever you take it for service uses approved MB fluids to avoid emission issues. There are suspension upgrades for better handling when being passed by trucks and in windy conditions. If you test drive it and you notice this it could be a negotiating item. If this is your first RV make sure it is big enough for your family and it fits your style of camping. We would like to go a little larger especially when I get in a position of being able to take longer trips. If a 24K floor plan is more your style let me know because I could be persuaded to sell and get something larger lol.

Imazman · 11-19-2018, 09:36 PM

I have the 2018 Melbourne 24K. We love the small size (three of us). The Sprinter chassis is a love hate situation. It is a very smooth ride but pulling out into a turn requires slow pull outs especially if there is a bump in the turn as the suspension is soft so it will bobble left an right quite a bit. It doesn't have leveling Jack's but it does have stabilizers. These are better than nothing but it still does rock too easily, but if you don't have kids you don't really need to be concerned ;-). A nice aspect of the diesel is that it only needs oil changes every 15k to 17k miles. Albeit it is more expensive per oil change but I like the "less hassle" of fewer oil changes. We camped about 15 times with it this year and wouldn't trade it for anything else.
We bought brand new and have several things wrong with it but we are working on getting them repaired. Definitely try out each system on BOTH electric AND propane. As a 2017 I'm guessing you are approaching the end of the Jayco 2 year warrantee so you might want to see if you can purchase an extended warrantee from Good Sam. I know with vehicle's you can buy an extended warrantee years after the vehicle's in sevice date but I'm not sure if the RV Coaches work the same way. However, the repairs associated with the coach probably won't run too much, these things are quite simple and most parts are interchangable with other brands. It might take several repairs to add up to an extended warrantee. The real expensive repairs would come from the Mercedes chassis but they give a 5 year warrantee. Plus these Mercedes V-6 turbos are a real work horse. They can take a beating and keep on going...I have complete confidence in it.
Anyway, good luck if you go forward with the purchase and again...we love our little "short bus".

jkaras7 · 11-20-2018, 07:40 PM

We have a 2017 Melbourne 24L. Took it from Las Vegas to Alaska this past summer. We had no real issues with the motor home other than some cosmetic things. Someone wrote that maintaining diesel vehicles is a bit pricier, that is true. However, the mileage we got with the vehicle was about 14.5 miles per gallon as opposed to the 6-8 I have read other have with the regular gas class "C" vehicles.

Make sure a thorough inspection is completed. Pressure test all water lines for leaks which can be easily fixed but costly if they blow a line.

Last the bed with the Melbourne 24 MH are not all that comfortable. We added a 3 inch topper to the short queen mattress and that made a significant difference.

Hope this helps.

Spud56 · 11-24-2018, 11:30 PM

We love the Melbourne, a bit rocky, side to side on back roads, hwy. driving awesome. First trip we went on, we were doing 65 just to keep up with traffic and getting 16.5 mpg. Like what others are saying, have it checked, psi water lines, check hours on generator; Good Luck and Have Fun. Happy Travels 🚐

Pfflyer · 11-25-2018, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spud56

We love the Melbourne, a bit rocky, side to side on back roads, hwy. driving awesome. First trip we went on, we were doing 65 just to keep up with traffic and getting 16.5 mpg. Like what others are saying, have it checked, psi water lines, check hours on generator; Good Luck and Have Fun. Happy Travels 🚐

Good point on the hours of the generator. Low hours are not necessary a good thing. The owners manual for diesel generators says to run at least 2 hours at 1/2 load for maintenance every month.

dsh · 05-10-2019, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Susan Cnett

Hi!

We are considering the purchase of a 2017 Melbourne 24L with 4,000 miles on it.

Are there any know problems with these units?

Since the Jayco warranty is not transferrable, what should we look for, in terms of hidden issues that these models might have?

We've got a 2018 24L. Make 4 trips and had problems on 3 of them. 1st issue was step going in and out on its own (while driving and parked). Next the stabilizers wouldn't come down and the step still had issues. 3rd trip was A-OK, no problems. Just got back from 4th trip and the refrigerator went out on the 4th day of a 2 week trip and it's been in the shop for the last 2 weeks. Plus we've had a recall on the furnace. Good luck with your purchase.

thirdktm · 05-11-2019, 08:43 PM

We love our Melbourne. It's a 2016. Just turned 12k miles.
It has been in the shop, Camping World, more times than I wish, but the dealer here in Albuquerque has taken care of us well.
We love the smooth motor, the smooth transmission, the mpg, the quiet ride (except for rough-road rattles).
Our model is the 24M, which has the Murphy bed.
There are two of us. Any more than than two, it's too small...........

You may also like: