Warranty dance by Jayco!

[bdreinv]

It seems some Jayco dealers are trying to keep expensive claims from Jayco. We made contact with Jayco 3-9-17 only to find out, are last visit to Little Dealer Little Prices Phoenix Az, in the fall of 2016.With almost no warranty repairs made, the dealer didn't even contact Jayco about are request.Attached is Jayco response..It seems now they don't warrant items not made by Jayco. If that's so that wouldn't that be about 75% of the camper! Had to take picture of Jayco response. Wanted to attach 3 emails, not possible do to character size. Any thoughts?

[troutslayer]

I read your post twice and don't understand

[Kim Gass]

So.. what is the problem? You should have been handed a slew of booklets at signing. Of course Jayco doesn't warranty everything in the trailer.

We just are having issues with our wheel bearings. We called Jayco and they said this was a "pass through " warranty issue and we had to contact Lippert.

I am sorry I see no collusion here. Jayco gave you the info you needed.

[bdreinv]

Originally Posted by troutslayer

I read your post twice and don't understand

Sorry it seemed when we take are camper in for warranty work, dealer does not contact Jayco on are repairs request. Virtually no warranty repairs were made. And ultimately would avoid high item warranty repair work for the manufacturer. And we the customer never know. But we caught Little Little Dealer Little Prices in Phoenix Az. doing just that in the fall of 2016! They never made a contact to Jayco on are warranted items. That information came direct from Jayco 03-10-17.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

It's true that Jayco (and other manufacturers) do not honor the warranties of components they do not make themselves. Those warranties are honored only by the manufacturer of the component. However, when you take in an RV to the dealer for warranty work of any failed or malfunctioning component, it's up to the dealer to make arrangements with the components' manufacturers to get the components repaired or replace.


If Little Dealer, Little Prices is where you bought the RV and they are stalling on doing warranty work on a non-Jayco component, you might ask Jayco if they could wake up the dealer. If LDLP is not the dealer you purchased your RV from, you may be up a creek and will have to deal with the manufacturer yourself. Unlike the auto industry, the RV industry does not require a dealer to do warranty work on RVs they didn't sell (which I feel is male bovine biscuits!).


Caulking on an RV is a maintenance item (something I don't agree with; I feel it should last at least the length of the RV's warranty but, again, it is what it is) so the onus is on you to keep it maintained, especially since warranty damage due to failed caulking is also not covered by warranty. The only exception might be if you could prove that the caulking was improperly but that's probably something you would have to catch during the PDI and insist on getting fixed before you take possession of the RV.


All that said, Jayco's response to you seemed rather cold and harsh and not representative of good customer service.

[bdreinv]

If the dealer does not contact Jayco on warranty request! The customer never knows, just figures his items were denied. Manufacturer saves big dollars on expensive repairs. And we caught a dealer doing just that!

[bdreinv]

Thank You!

[Isaacs]

I guess you'd have to read the fine print but it would seem to me that if Jayco installed it they should stand behind it and contact the OEM, not make you do it.

When my trailer was under warranty my refrigerator needed a new circuit board. The dealer installed it; they didn't refer me to Norcold.

Caulking on the roof is maintenance on a new trailer? Are you kidding me? If you're having problems with the caulking, it must have been applied incorrectly--why would that be maintenance?

[tnchuck100]

My position would be that Jayco bought from the third party manufacturers. I did not. Since I purchased from Jayco then Jayco should honor the warranty. Let Jayco deal with the manufacturers. That is the only way Jayco will be responsive to poor products being used in their units.

Jayco should not be able to "wash their hands of it" once you purchase their RV.

[wags999]

We purchased from a dealer in Middlebury, Indiana. We live in the Phoenix area. We have had Little Dealer Little Prices do warranty work and were very happy with their handling of the situation. And it was on items not produced by Jayco, ie the couch. Took pictures and sent them in with the report and had a new one within 3 or 4 weeks.

Does a car manufacturer warrantee the tires? Course not.. We don't know when the unit was purchased and hence, no clue about when warrantee expired.

As far as caulk, it's something your suppose to check twice a year. Just as a car manufacturer will not cover issues if not maintained according to listed instructions, Jayco won't either...seems reasonable to me.

Batteries are not warranted by an auto mfg either.. the battery company covers it. Plus, jayco does not sell batteries so of course they would not warranty them. Your dealer sold the battery to you. It was not said what the problem was with the battery, but many things could effect your warranty on a battery. No disconnect, in storage it runs down to nothing and won't hold a charge.


Overall this, while perhaps not said in the nicest tones, I see nothing wrong with what Jayco said. And, perhaps Little Dealer did contact the correct people about the other issues and they were turned down. We don't know the whole story.



By inference it may be that the warrantee expired early this year or at least sometime after it was taken to little dealer. We don't know.

[tnchuck100]

Just to clarify. I was not intending to target expendables such as tires, batteries, water filters, etc.
The stove, refrigerator, air conditioner, furnace, water pump, toilet, converter, etc should be handled by Jayco.

[troutslayer]

Originally Posted by Isaacs

Caulking on the roof is maintenance on a new trailer? Are you kidding me? If you're having problems with the caulking, it must have been applied incorrectly--why would that be maintenance?

Due to flexing of the unit (on the sides) but on the roof, mostly due to the harshness of the sun and other elements. I check once per year, but some guys check every 6 months.

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by Isaacs

Caulking on the roof is maintenance on a new trailer? Are you kidding me? If you're having problems with the caulking, it must have been applied incorrectly--why would that be maintenance?

YEP, it is. After you take the new trailer off the dealers lot, caulk is supposed to be inspected every 90 days.
In regards to caulking, our 2016 28BHBE was just inside 1 year of a 2 year warranty. We were getting leaks thru the TV (Television) antenna and dripping to the floor. At first Jayco said they would not cover it because we are supposed to check the caulking every 90 days. The dealer caulked around the antennae and we still had a small leak. Jayco wanted photos and the photos showed fresh caulking around the antenna. Jayco covered the antenna replacement and the dealer re-caulking around the antenna.
Looked in the books and it day say roof caulking must be checked every 90 days and re-caulked where and if needed.

[sennister]

I guess I am on the other side of the fence from some people here.

So this is how I look at it. A camper isn't a car or a truck. If anything it is like a home. After all it is a home on wheels. If someone built your house and maybe you bought the model home and it came with appliances. Would you go to the builder if the refrigerator failed? I mean they might have an electrician on staff but they sure as heck don't know anything about refrigeration so why would I want them working on my refrigerator? Appliances in a home would be warrantied by the appliance manufacturer.

Now if a dealer didn't want to do warranty work I guess that doesn't make sense to me. They are turning away business. Unless they are so busy that they can ignore warranty work because maybe the per hour rate is lower but in the long run they would be better off expanding their shop so why wouldn't they do it if they have people trying to use them for business?

Since a lot of camper manufacturers use the same appliance manufacturers look at it this way. Sure Jayco offers a 2 year warranty. What if the refrigerator is covered by a 2 year warranty from the manufacturer and lets say you went with a different brand camper that only has a 1 year warranty. So how screwed would the owner be if the camper manufacturer covered all warranty repairs.... for one year.... and the fridge died at 18 months.... Just sayin'.... Either way in the end if Norcold made my fridge, I would rather that Norcold fix it. Even if they are not physically turning the wrenches, they would see all failures from not only Jayco but Dutchmen, Heartland, Keystone and every other camper manufacturer out there that might use the same fridge. They can see trends of failures quicker than Jayco might and can fix things quicker and have access to the parts quicker as you have less fingers in the process.

The roof caulk. Well I agree it is maintenance. Lets assume it is a new camper and it was "defective" from the factory. Well I assume that the owner went through a PDI. The reason for a PDI is to inspect the camper for flaws at time of delivery. If the owner doesn't bother to go up on the roof then who's fault is it? I plan on crawling all over and under my camper when I do PDI but that is me. Also the manufacturer doesn't have much control over environmental issues which may cause early sealant issues. It isn't much different than a car not covering brake pads.

That is my thought.

[Kim Gass]

I see no reason to lambaste the dealer. Presumably you have discussed this with them?
I hope so..

Our dealer specifically told us the roof was NOT warrantied unless it was a factory defect.

You really have to be your best advocate and not depend on others.

We did not get the help from Jayco we expected when our bearings overheated ( after a licensed Jayco dealer packed and greased them a thousand miles before) but we choose a different court to play on other than a forum.

Yes there are multiple warranties on the pieces of a trailer and it depends on the date of manufacture of the piece. Even if you may have bought the particular item new a year after the date of manufacture; it could be out of warranty.

What we think is right is really not germane.. While it might be moral, it may not be binding.

Homes generally appreciate. Campers depreciate. I do recognize that some have a lifestyle where their RV is a home.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Kim Gass

Yes there are multiple warranties on the pieces of a trailer and it depends on the date of manufacture of the piece. Even if you may have bought the particular item new a year after the date of manufacture; it could be out of warranty.

They are all based on in service/retail sale date, not manufacturing date.

[sennister]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

They are all based on in service/retail sale date, not manufacturing date.

Yep, I agree. It is no different than buying a fridge from Lowes that was last year's model and being sold on clearance. The warranty starts when you buy it not when Lowe's bought it. It may have been sitting in a Lowe's warehouse for a year and have no warranty if that wasn't the case.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by sennister

I guess I am on the other side of the fence from some people here.

So this is how I look at it. A camper isn't a car or a truck. If anything it is like a home. After all it is a home on wheels. If someone built your house and maybe you bought the model home and it came with appliances. Would you go to the builder if the refrigerator failed? I mean they might have an electrician on staff but they sure as heck don't know anything about refrigeration so why would I want them working on my refrigerator? Appliances in a home would be warrantied by the appliance manufacturer.

Now if a dealer didn't want to do warranty work I guess that doesn't make sense to me. They are turning away business. Unless they are so busy that they can ignore warranty work because maybe the per hour rate is lower but in the long run they would be better off expanding their shop so why wouldn't they do it if they have people trying to use them for business?

Since a lot of camper manufacturers use the same appliance manufacturers look at it this way. Sure Jayco offers a 2 year warranty. What if the refrigerator is covered by a 2 year warranty from the manufacturer and lets say you went with a different brand camper that only has a 1 year warranty. So how screwed would the owner be if the camper manufacturer covered all warranty repairs.... for one year.... and the fridge died at 18 months.... Just sayin'.... Either way in the end if Norcold made my fridge, I would rather that Norcold fix it. Even if they are not physically turning the wrenches, they would see all failures from not only Jayco but Dutchmen, Heartland, Keystone and every other camper manufacturer out there that might use the same fridge. They can see trends of failures quicker than Jayco might and can fix things quicker and have access to the parts quicker as you have less fingers in the process.

The roof caulk. Well I agree it is maintenance. Lets assume it is a new camper and it was "defective" from the factory. Well I assume that the owner went through a PDI. The reason for a PDI is to inspect the camper for flaws at time of delivery. If the owner doesn't bother to go up on the roof then who's fault is it? I plan on crawling all over and under my camper when I do PDI but that is me. Also the manufacturer doesn't have much control over environmental issues which may cause early sealant issues. It isn't much different than a car not covering brake pads.

That is my thought.

X2 And for the "jayco replaced my circuit board on my Norcold frig". I'm sure your case was as my case on the couch. Jayco passed the information (or the dealer did) to the couch mfg who then replaced it. I bet your dealer did the same, and Norcold actually is the party that replaced the circuit board.

It's easy to bash Jayco or a Dealer but, until we have walked in their shoes it's difficult to know the truth.

As far as a dealer expanding to service everyone, that is not an easy task. Besides the investment in space, equipment etc, it's not easy for find qualified service techs. So, they service what they sell and then service others as time allows. We as a society has made "working with your hands" a dirty term. College is it, Everyone MUST go to college ( I don't agree at all). Mike Rowe has an organization fighting this, and until we bring back dignity to ALL work, we will have this issue, and it's not going to get better any time soon, sadly.

As we travel the country and get vehicles, Rv etc serviced, lack of trained people, or just bodies, is an issue all over.

[bdreinv]

Thanks everyone for your comments, just wanted to let folks know what has happened to us. Waiting to hear back from Jayco. Little Dealer Little Price was suppose to call us! No call back yet!

[Kim Gass]

Nope. Not from the sale date. Not according to Lippert. We had to find the axle date of build.

We spent a lovely day sorting out warranty work after our unit bearings caught fire last week,

Believe me we talked to the dealer ( the one that sold us the unit: there was no Jayco dealer around for a hundred miles), Jayco and Lippert.

Because there was no Jayco dealer nearby to look at the parts we had to have an independent mechanic in rural SC look at what was needed. It turned out we needed eight pieces ( the brake burned too). It gets complicated by the fact a Jayco dealer serviced the unit four weeks prior for brakes and bearings.

We had to find the parts. Thank goodness for Truck Pro in Columbia SC.. We tried Camping World but they did not have all we needed.. They did point us in the right direction.. We would never have found Truck Pro by ourselves

Now as to the warranty. Our unit is one year old.. The axle was built one week before the unit was assembled. We are all set to go.. but just a warning. If you have no dealer access there will be hoops of fire to jump through. We now have twenty pictures and several invoices..all going to Lippert.. We may send copies to Jayco.
We were warned by the mechanic that getting warranty work and locating parts is a circus. Bryan Tire and Automotive Repair Ridgeway SC. A very good guy.

Its one thing to have a non working appliance.. that can wait for the dealer. A non working wheel will stop you dead.

Our sales dealer is upset but just how much remains to be seen. He may get a reminder that by 2017 our unit will have 40000 miles and we might want to upgrade. Its up to him to decide if we will do that with him.

We have an appointment with paperwork and filled out warranty claims to Lippert and a nice invoice or two and those 20 pictures.

They are all based on in service/retail sale date, not manufacturing date.

I am not talking from the couch in an ideal world.. Call Lippert.. We did. We had to .. Reality is different from what you would like.