Fading cap long term

[cariboocreek]

My cap is fading but getting repaired under warranty. Our neighbor has the same problem but no warranty. Are there any long term issues, other than cosmetics, to not repainting these faded caps? I'm not a fibreglass guy so just curious.

[JaycoAl]

Originally Posted by cariboocreek

My cap is fading but getting repaired under warranty. Our neighbor has the same problem but no warranty. Are there any long term issues, other than cosmetics, to not repainting these faded caps? I'm not a fibreglass guy so just curious.

I don't think any long term fiberglass issues arise just because you don't have it repainted. Long term issues do arise when the fiberglass is not laid up or sprayed properly. The more air that can be removed from the fiberglass mat when it is wet, the stronger it will be.

I noticed mine starting to fade last November. Dealer said Jayco would FIX it under warranty so I dropped it off December 15th. Dealer called February 15th and said that as they were sanding it, the cap was so brittle that it began to spider web. Jayco decided to REPLACE the cap under warranty. It was ordered on February 16th and arrived at the dealer with fractures already present March 15th. Dealer installed cap and repaired fractures. They called March 27th to tell me it was ready.

When the dealer looked at the cap and reported it to Jayco, the warranty repair included sanding the old cap, painting it and applying new decals. I asked him when it would begin to fade again and he said that Jayco had changed the paint process and it would never fade. He claimed to have repainted over 200 faded Jayco caps and not one had been back for additional repair work.

So 14 weeks in their possession and the dealer waits 2 months before starting the repair process. I found this to be unacceptable and Jayco did also. But I could not say much since it was warranty work and the Jayco dealer doing the work was not where I made the purchase. He is four hours away. And as I told Jayco, the dealer has not made it very enticing to purchase my next rig from them. We really like our coach and Jayco has been helpful every step of the way but their dealer has left a such strong sour taste in our mouths that Jayco will probably not be considered again.

[jloco]

Originally Posted by JaycoAl

So 14 weeks in their possession and the dealer waits 2 months before starting the repair process. I found this to be unacceptable and Jayco did also. But I could not say much since it was warranty work and the Jayco dealer doing the work was not where I made the purchase. He is four hours away. And as I told Jayco, the dealer has not made it very enticing to purchase my next rig from them. We really like our coach and Jayco has been helpful every step of the way but their dealer has left a such strong sour taste in our mouths that Jayco will probably not be considered again.

We see this quite often here. Some dealers will tend to put rigs that were not purchased from them at the bottom of the repair schedule list.

[TWP723]

I heard through the grapevine that Jayco wasn't repainting caps the brown color anymore and that they'd paint them the newer white version. Does anyone know if there is any validity to this? I need mine painted (not warranty..cash) but my dealership will do it. I was just curious.

[JaycoAl]

Originally Posted by TWP723

I heard through the grapevine that Jayco wasn't repainting caps the brown color anymore and that they'd paint them the newer white version. Does anyone know if there is any validity to this? I need mine painted (not warranty..cash) but my dealership will do it. I was just curious.

The replacement cap for mine came from Jayco already painted brown. I tried for the lighter color but Jayco said no...it would have to be the original color.

[JaycoAl]

Originally Posted by jloco

We see this quite often here. Some dealers will tend to put rigs that were not purchased from them at the bottom of the repair schedule list.

True. The dealer reminded me that he had 67 other units to work on.

[Mustang65]

There is no issue with painting the cap dark brown. It was the GEL Coat that was causing all the fading issues. Done properly, by removing all the GEL Coat, and painting the cap will be fine. If they just sand the GEL Coat, eventually there will be issues as the oxidation in the existing GEL Coat will bleed through the newly applied paint. When JAYCO paid for my cap, all the GEL Coat was required to be removed down to the fiberglass. The fiberglass was then prepped and painted. The color I chose was the exact same color as the side of the TT. The dealers paint shop used a color computer to match and mix the colors. It came out perfect.

ORIGINALLY, JAYCO would not warranty anything but the dark brown original color. That was no problem as the dealer has a 5 year warranty on their paint job.

The guy that painted our TT has done hundreds of them already (all mfr's)and has 30+ years of automotive/custom paint/RV/Boats paint jobs. He said if you do not remove the GEL you will be back to have it repainted in the future.

Don

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