Jayco Quality

jasonsele · 08-15-2019, 10:53 PM

Purchased a 2018 Jayco Northpoint 381FLWS. We love the RV, layout and most items but I've got some examples of very poor manufacturing to share. In the past 3 months (it is only 9 months old) I have had it in for warranty repair twice and have to return a third time due to parts on order for installation. The furnace control board died and had to be replaced, the water heater control board died and has to be replaced, the awning had to be realigned, 3 of the 6 slides were sticking and needed adjustment, a tire valve stem blew open while we were parked for a week, underlayment had to be re-taped, structural issues with welds, stupid wiring and a host of other issues have plagued us so far.

I don't mind the slides and awning and general items but some of these are just poor manufacturing decisions by Jayco and I am shocked with what we discovered. First, when I fixed the furnace the repair shop told me lots of people are having the same issues. Jayco, if you are still putting the Atwood-Dometic furnace in your RV's you should stop and fix the problems with the boards before torturing any more customers. This is clearly a defect in that particular model. It probably has the same control board with the new one so I expect it to break at any moment. I'm probably going to buy a new one just so I don't get stuck somewhere without a working furnace.

Second, When my tire blew out I changed it and noticed cracks in the welds on the cross beams connected to the suspension. I immediately scheduled an appointment back in my home town for repair as I travelled the 500 miles home. On the drive one beam fell off and dragged on the road. I stopped and tied it back on with some rope and then called a welding shop nearby since I couldn't risk the long drive home. 5 minutes later the second beam fell off. I tied it on and reached the welding shop. The welder said all four weld locations were done wrong and looked like someone didn't know basic welding.

Third, after returning home I had trouble with our bathroom slide and just took it to the shop. They discovered the wiring for the motor to that slide was installed wrong. The wire ran through the wheel well only 1" above the tire instead of the interior of the slide. The cable was chewed up from rubbing on our tire. So now it is a 10 hour job for them to remove the slide and rewire where it should have been in the first place. Who does this stuff? They didn't even bother to attach the cable so it was left to hang down on the tire. Anyone with a brain would know that was doomed to fail eventually. I now have to wait 2-3 weeks for the replacement parts and return to the repair shop again.

We are currently living full-time in our RV so you can visualize the hassle and expense with each trip in for repairs, removing our stuff out of the way, and finding temporary living with very little information about how long it will take in the shop. I don't have a problem with that for typical RV things but some of this stuff should never have passed any kind of inspection.

I had a new travel trainer from Coachmen previously, used it four years and never experienced issues like this. Clearly this is multiple examples of poor workmanship and quality control from Jayco. Jayco, you should be ashamed with this on a brand new fifth wheel.

kayakterp · 08-16-2019, 12:10 AM

wow, that just sucks big time, especially while you're full-timing!
Sorry you got a rig with so many problems - it seems after Thor took over their quality has down-graded.
It was a good thing you noticed the weld cracks first so at least you had an idea what to expect and not guessing what happened.
It's a shame that customers put out so much money on a new product and then have their dreams crushed from all the poor workmanship! I feel fortunate that my 2016 doesn't have near as many problems as what I've read on this forum.
I believe if the assemblers at the factory were paid hourly instead of piece work, there would be a much better finished product.
Hope you get all your issues fixed within a reasonable time frame so you're not having to figure out new lodging due to the poor workmanship

cycler · 08-16-2019, 05:39 AM

Wow, gonna keep an eye on this thread as we are thinking about a Jayco 5th wheeler.

Jopopsy · 08-16-2019, 06:11 AM

When I switched out my my Greyhawk I was at my local Jayco dealer looking for something to downsize into. I went into two x23b units, and one x213.

After the third unit we just walked out and left the dealership. Misaligned trim, trim pieces litterally falling off from the ceiling, cheap countertops with banded ends, etc. And the kicker - the 'backsplash' laminate squares were peeling off all 3 of the units. They were litterally sitting on the counter having peeled off the wall b/c of the heat. Just sitting there, sticky side up. Plus they ditched Coleman ACs in those units at some point and went w/ the Dometic units.

My wife and I looked at each other and said 'no way, not again'.

Having been on my 2nd Greyhawk, my first pre-Thor, I can say from experience that the rigs are being cheapened a bit. Simple things we assumed from having owned a Greyhawk prior such as the solid surface countertops (gone unless I think you go to Prestige?), motorized swing arm for the TV (again Prestige?), etc. And don't get my started on the levelers - the Quadra Big Foot systems were superior in every way to the cheap Lippert system that is in the units now. And of course my system failed and needed a full replacement. My seemless front cap (one of the big selling points on Jayco C's in my opinion) developed stress cracks and also needed to be replaced. I had crud under my lino that was pushing through, so a section of my floor needed to be replaced (who knows if the repair will hold up over multiple winters).

Its a shame really. We went up to our dealer ready to go - just show us a floorplan at a length/weight we were looking for and we were a done deal.

Siamese · 08-16-2019, 07:55 AM

Disgusting. What's going to fail next?

namusmc65 · 08-16-2019, 08:14 AM

That is terrible. If no one at Thor is watching these threads, they certainly should be. If I had those problems on a new rig, I would probably have an attorney lined up. That is not just a simple mistake, that is down right dangerous workmanship. Thank goodness I bought my last Jayco when it was still Jayco in 2014. I swore by Jayco up until Thor took over. This is definitely my last Jayco.

Jopopsy · 08-16-2019, 08:32 AM

Oh, my hydraulics also fell out the bottom of my coach. The weld securing the resevoir and pump failed.

I came to discover that there was a recall on this, but it only covered up to 2016 or 2017 units. I suppose they'll expand the date range as my dealer said my failure was exactly the same failure that the recall covered - and they repaired it exactly the same way.

Butt welding an 'L' bracket to the chassis frame and leaving the far end unsupported so that my resevoir and pump sorta bounced on the arm wasn't a particularly smart design. However, my wife and I now know what the loud 'clunk' was we heard on the highway.

AKRUEBBE · 08-16-2019, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jopopsy

Oh, my hydraulics also fell out the bottom of my coach. The weld securing the resevoir and pump failed. I came to discover that there was a recall on this, but it only covered up to 2016 or 2017 units. I suppose they'll expand the date range as my dealer said my failure was exactly the same failure that the recall covered - and they repaired it exactly the same way. Butt welding an 'L' bracket to the chassis frame and leaving the far end unsupported so that my resevoir and pump sorta bounced on the arm wasn't a particularly smart design. However, my wife and I now know what the loud 'clunk' was we heard on the highway.

Exact same thing happened to my son's 2017 Greyhawk. He traded it in a few months later on a Vanleigh Beacon...........extremely well made fifth wheel.

Camping Couple · 08-16-2019, 11:34 AM

You do know Thor owns not only Jayco but a host of other RV Manufacturers. We currently have a 2015 Jayco 24FBS. When we first got it we had our host of problems and Jayco was still the Owner. Fortunately I am mechanically capable and was able to resolve the issues. The dealer paid me and those were the last of the problems. It’s a pain to tow the trailer to get repaired every time, so that’s why I elected to make the repairs myself. They still got to make a warranty claim. We just purchased a New Jayco fifth wheel from the same dealer. We pick it up in 2 weeks. I have told them to go through this unit with a fine tooth comb. I also have stated I am not signing any papers until after I inspect it. This is our 4th trailer through them and probably our last for a very long time. I expect minor issues with a new RV, just not like the OP. We will find out what happens.

jasonsele · 08-16-2019, 11:56 AM

Yes, I like to do most repairs myself and have done several things that I would expect to happen in a new RV. It's just the structural things or major equipment that concern me. I just got my RV back from the initial repair and tried it out the first night. The furnace runs for an hour and then cuts out so they didn't fix that. Since it is the third time I'd prefer to just replace it. I'll never have confidence it will work. Were you able to get reimbursed from Jayco for any work you did yourself? I probably have a decent argument to just replace the furnace with some other brand and would do that if they will reimburse for it. I'm tempted to trade out the water heater as well.

Camping Couple · 08-16-2019, 02:20 PM

I didn’t get reimbursed directly from Jayco. The dealer I purchased from reimbursed me. They didn’t have but they did. I took before and after pictures. They then submitted a claim to Jayco to get the money back they paid me. It all worked out.

DonaandDon · 08-18-2019, 08:55 AM

As full timers we too have fought thru the craftmanship of our unit. We got such a good price on the unit on the spur of the moment we bought it. Traveling from Chicago Illinois to Davenport Iowa is about 130 miles. The amount of fuel over the 2 year warranty period is close to $1500 dollars.

From sliding doors that fall off track to tankless water that fluctuates. We only have one structural issue. Getting our dealer to listen and not having to return the units 4 or 5 times for the same reason is exhausting. When disconnecting the units from the truck I never now, lower and pin the landing feet. Rather just lower the landing gear. Have you ever noticed the wheels coming off the ground when leveling? The unit need to be able to lower the front as much as possible. Positive frame camber is the term, this causes issues major with the Slim-Track appliance slide.

I only hope Jayco reps still view this web site and provided some type of training to their dealer technicians.

snerdwack · 08-18-2019, 10:21 AM

Hi all!
We have a Jayco 27RLS and are 90% pleased. We've had shower door issues but solved that with a curtain. Recently we had a brake/tail light stop working. Then our brake controller started flashing "SH" (short in brake electric line.)
I had to drop most of the under shroud and found Jayco had not shielded or tied down the wires running the length of the trailer. The wires were rubbing on frame cross members and finally shorted out the brake/taillight. Other wires were on the way to a short also. I repaired the wires and taped and tied down the wiring harnesses.
I also found the brake wires to the brake magnets coming out of the axles were also rubbing and one had shorted out.
You may want to check your brake magnet wires and I hope you never have to drop the under shroud. It's a !%$#^ to get back on. I probably would have cut it if Jayco supplied any accurate wiring diagrams....
Safe and hopefully carefree travels to all.

Shackrat · 08-19-2019, 06:53 AM

Jayco's quality certainly isn't anywhere close to where it should be. I've owned 3 RV's now, 2 TT's and our current 5'er. The Jayco is right in the middle in terms of quality, although surprisingly our Keystone which was our first comes out on top, and our last TT, a Forest River falls into the "complete junk" category.

We've owned our 30.5MLOK for a year and a couple days now and the experience has been anything but problem free. Leaking plumbing in both the kitchen and bathroom, glass shower door that exploded while parked, water leak in the rear trim that got into the kitchen, leaking rear window, and the most recent one, a broken weld on the propane carrier that led to one of the tanks nearly falling out.

Aside from the plumbing leaks, which could be easily attributed to vibrations from traveling, the rest are a lot of serious issues for such a short period of time. I'm especially concerned about the welds breaking. I've noticed several welds under the camper are showing rust, but only at the weld. It's something I intend to bring up to the dealer at the end of the season.

Marmot · 08-21-2019, 11:56 AM

I couldn’t help but give a big horse laugh when I read that you told the dealer to go through it “with a fine tooth comb.” They will do no such thing! If you want a competent, thorough inspection you will have to hire an independent mobile RV tech.

DadBodMarathonRunner · 08-21-2019, 12:40 PM

We have a 2016 Greyhawk TT (25BHS) that have had its fair share of issues:

Leaky water union in the bathroom
Trim falling off
Unsecured wires that eventually got severed with the movement of the main slide
Limpert slide loosing its brains
Bent access doors allowing rain to get into RV

BUT the worst one was the fact that they installed the wrong axles. There was a "recall" but according to Jayco, all of the RV's were fixed before they left the factory.... they were wrong!! Took about 7 months but eventually they replaced the axles and tires because the inside tread area was very worn compared to the outside.

I am thankful I am capable of working on it myself. If not, I would have sold it a long time ago!!

Tuckerbug · 08-21-2019, 12:52 PM

We have a 2019 Jayco North Point DLQS.
Structurally it is sound except we are getting new squeaks on the floor.
We have had some of the same problems. I have replaced the water heater control twice. The 2nd one is an updated model and is not suppose to melt like the original.
Our furnace would work intermittently, I put in a new sail switch and with fingers crossed it will continue to work.
We have the RV fridge and it frost up about every week.
Had to adjust the pantry and closet doors as they were both crooked.
We are going to have to take it back to the dealer now as the kitchen slide pops pretty loud about 6 inches from fully closed. Scares the hell out of me every time I bring it in.
I really wonder if any manufacturer is making a solid RV. (5th wheel)

EdHatheway · 08-21-2019, 12:55 PM

We have a 2017 Pinnacle 5th wheel. In the past 3 months I have had 2 broken leaf springs, ( both sides), had to have a mobile repair as there was no way to tow it ( to tall). Now I find out the shackles are completely worn out and must be replaced along with all 4 tires since they were rubbing on the frame. Not sure how to prevent this in the future.

Britt Farmer · 08-21-2019, 12:55 PM

I hate to hear about this. We bought our 377 RLBH back in January and had to have the water heater board replaced, left the water heater on while we traveled. Other than that we haven't had one issue.

Hope all goes well.

Rongbrown · 08-21-2019, 01:03 PM

I understand the frustration. I purchased a 2018 23RBM. I've had it for 2 years now & it has been in for warranty issues almost 5 months of the 2 years.
Furnace has failed three times. First it was a "loose wire". That fix lasted 1 hour on its next trip out. Took it back & was told it was the "circuit board". On its next trip out, it didn't even work. Back to the shop again & was told it was the sail switch. That finally appears to have cured the furnace.
Other than that, I've had issues with kitchen faucet, slide, shower doors, potable water inlet, cabinets & shades. Oh by the way, don't expect the stupid Norcold refrigerator to work above 5,000 ft......it won't be reliable. That's hidden in the small print of the manual. Most of the problems seem to be poor quality equipment & shoddy workmanship. Fortunately the unit had a 2 year warranty (which expires in 3 weeks) so it didn't cost anything but my time & inconvenience. I will probably cut my losses & replace it with something else when the warranrty is up.
In my opinion the root cause is not just Jayco but the industry as a whole. The industry cannot keep up with the demand (us baby boomers). They continue to produce units as fast as possible with little supplier quality control or internal quality control. The same applies to the RV service industry. They are unable to retain experienced technicians as they keep moving around for more money. On top of that the manufactures are unable to supply parts to the service industry on a timely basis.
To put it frankly......we're screwed!

You may also like: