New seneca purchase

[RVermont]

With some great advice from Mark S and Javamon, we have just reached a deal to purchase a new 2017/2018 Seneca 37TS. Purchased as a 2017 but it appears that all Senecas going into production in may/june ( not sure when specifically) are going to be 2018 units. Ordered Antique ivory exterior with Royal Garnet interior. As others have mentioned, now I have to learn patience.

I have been reading a huge number of posts on this site and am going into this purchase with a significantly greater knowledge base. I appreciate everyones willingness to share the issues and solutions to a wide variety of topics.

Thank you all.

Paul

[javamon]

Awesome! I just talked with RVOne yesterday and it looks like we are still on target for mid-April pickup in Tampa. Certainly is a big step ... can't wait for delivery

[Mark S]

Congratulations Paul. It sounds like you got a very fair deal with the options you ordered. If you think making the decision was tough, now you get to enjoy the waiting game Tomorrow is a month from my ordering and still more than 2 months out from projected delivery of May 10-14.

Let's keep in touch on the financing and status updates. Again, congratulations on your order.

Mark

[Fishman417]

Congratulations!!

[Mnwelsh]

Your going to love it, we have had our 2015 Seneca 37TS for 18 months now and this is our second winter touring the southwest in it. We love it more every day. It's so much nicer than our previous RV's and travel days are a joy. Set up and departure days are so easy. The Freightliner is flawless, it's the perfect rv. You have made a purchase decision you will be happy with for years upon years. And it will last you decades if you keep it..

[Mark S]

Any word on any of the changes for the 2018? My salesperson didn't know.

[jschulz1720]

Congratulations!!! We ordered ours 2 weeks ago and they are saying we should see it middle to end of May. The waiting is the hardest part.

[jschulz1720]

Originally Posted by Mark S

Any word on any of the changes for the 2018? My salesperson didn't know.

The one thing I heard was they were changing the navigation system to Garmin. Will have to see if that's true.

[RVermont]

No word on changes for the 2018s, The salesman was not fully up todate on the unit, I think I know more just based on the information I have gotten from this site.

I did write the jayco plant service rep and she said that the information would be going out to the dealers later this month but marketing has not told them much. Once it is released they will be able to discuss it. I can not believe it would be very major changes as they have already taken orders, probably just a chassis change and maybe gps system.

Thanks for the encouragement and best wishes to everyone on a safe travel season.

[Robbbyr]

Last Wednesday I was at Jayco to pick up my repaired Seneca from Motorized Service, prior to going to Indiana I also scheduled a tour of the Seneca factory for the wife and I. There were questions here on the forum about 2018 changes and I figured since I would be there I would ask! Unfortunately the units we saw on line were still what they considered 2017 models. And our tour guides (we had 2) were also tight-lipped about any model year changes, I did try! Same story as others have said, no details until late this month.

Both the wife and I found the tour to be very interesting, in that particular plant they build the Seneca, Melbourne, and Precept. The cutaway Ford-based units are in a different plant as is their motorcoach (Entegra). They were very happy to give us a tour, as a matter of fact the wife and I were the only guests that day. We got very individualized attention and were able to go into a number of units that were very nearly finished. They only had about 5 or 6 Senecas under construction on the line but we were able to see "the guts" in a way impossible after they are all closed up.

I was so engrossed with my eyes I never even thought about pictures, at least not until we were all done. Sorry!

[Mark S]

What was your impression of the "guts"? Did it look they had some quality control going on? Were you impressed or disappointed? You got me thinking. I wonder if I could see mine being built.

[javamon]

Originally Posted by Robbbyr

Last Wednesday I was at Jayco to pick up my repaired Seneca from Motorized Service, prior to going to Indiana I also scheduled a tour of the Seneca factory for the wife and I. There were questions here on the forum about 2018 changes and I figured since I would be there I would ask! Unfortunately the units we saw on line were still what they considered 2017 models. And our tour guides (we had 2) were also tight-lipped about any model year changes, I did try! Same story as others have said, no details until late this month.

Both the wife and I found the tour to be very interesting, in that particular plant they build the Seneca, Melbourne, and Precept. The cutaway Ford-based units are in a different plant as is their motorcoach (Entegra). They were very happy to give us a tour, as a matter of fact the wife and I were the only guests that day. We got very individualized attention and were able to go into a number of units that were very nearly finished. They only had about 5 or 6 Senecas under construction on the line but we were able to see "the guts" in a way impossible after they are all closed up.

I was so engrossed with my eyes I never even thought about pictures, at least not until we were all done. Sorry!

Did they tell you how long it takes to build a Seneca, start to finish. Mine is supposed to come the line 7 April. Wonder if one of those 5 or 6 was mine

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by Mark S

What was your impression of the "guts"? Did it look they had some quality control going on? Were you impressed or disappointed? You got me thinking. I wonder if I could see mine being built.

Compared to my last two Class Cs (1992 Gulfstream, 2006 Chateau) my Seneca is far better put together IMHO. Things like the cabinet door and cabinet "box" construction far better than the last two. My Seneca has far less squeaks and rattles going down the road than my prior units, Jayco credits the vacuum pressed solid floor and wall construction and their cabinet quality. I would have to say those facts greatly contribute.

Another thing I was able to see in the under-construction units was the piece of plywood Jayco puts under the shower pan. Covers the entire shower base. My Chateau had a very "spongy" shower floor which eventually led to the P-trap cracking and leaking due to years of flexing during use. When I got under the shower to repair the trap there was only a couple blocks of rigid Styrofoam to provide support. My Seneca's shower floor is rock solid, and now I know why.

I also was impressed by the welded aluminum structure they use in the cabover construction. Very beefy and provides the 750lb. overhead bunk capacity they advertise. The outer fiberglass front cap is merely a cover, not a load-bearing part of the assembly. They slide the cap into place after everything is in completed and then secure it to the wall assemblies. My last unit's cabover flexed significantly when someone was up there and needed to have the external seams resealed every year.

One thing I mentioned to our guides was the issue of fastener corrosion. On my Seneca (as well as my past units) I go through over time and replace as many of the screws and bolts exposed to the elements with stainless. Not stressed items or frame parts, just ones holding on trim and such. Even though some are painted, they just don't hold up. I asked them why they don't use non-corroding and one reason is power driving. Cost is another. Stainless screws aren't as "hard" and are easier to shear off. Taking the time to hand drive all those screws would increase the assembly time significantly. They use coated fasteners in some cases, but from experience I know they don't hold up long-term. So I remove their screws and replace them as I can.

One place I spent considerable time and some $$ upgrading was my exterior compartment hinges and hardware. All but one of my door hinges and the screws in them were quite corroded after just one year. I took off every hinge and removed every screw, many of which just snapped off in the doors. I had my hinges acid-dipped then double cadmium plated. Reinstalled with all-stainless hardware. I pointed out my experience to the factory folks, and it does appear the hinges they use today are better coated to slow corrosion. But they still use the same screws.

I have spent hundreds of hours and lots of money upgrading things on my Seneca. Some of the other forum members "significant others" probably are not happy with me for the ideas I plant in their partner's heads! Some of what I have done is to address things I think Jayco could do better, other projects replaced original components that I didn't like (all 3 televisions, on-demand water heater, bunk ladder, toilet, etc.), others were to add features I wanted like fog lights, air horns, auto-retract awning, central vacuum, washer/dryer combo, etc. Elsewhere on the forum I have posted my list of modifications to date, but I still have many other projects to do. I love working on our Seneca and I feel the main unit is worth of my time and dollars. I could not say that about my last unit. It served us well, but I knew I wanted something better. Our Seneca is certainly that.

I have no idea whether they could or would coordinate a factory visit when your unit was on the line. It certainly couldn't hurt to ask, but I suspect your travel plans would need to be very "fluid". There is a Hampton Inn very near the factory complex and an Amish inn not far away for overnight lodging.

I forgot to congratulate those here who are waiting for new units, I hope you enjoy your rig as much as we do! And if my experiences can help in the future I am very happy to help. Just post or send me a private message.

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by javamon

Did they tell you how long it takes to build a Seneca, start to finish. Mine is supposed to come the line 7 April. Wonder if one of those 5 or 6 was mine

I am sorry, I did not ask how long it takes! My guess would be they move them along fairly quickly, so my opinion is that yours has not been started.

One thing different on the new units compared to mine that I immediately noticed, you get complete paint jobs - cab to back cap. All of the Freightliner chassis now come in gray. Not primer, but finish coated in gray. My cab was painted gold by Freightliner according to my Freightliner paint code, with Jayco painting the stripes on the cab. Then they matched the rest of the body to the cab's gold paint. Not better or worse, just a difference I saw in the chassis on the line and parked outside waiting to be finished.

[javamon]

Originally Posted by Robbbyr

I am sorry, I did not ask how long it takes! My guess would be they move them along fairly quickly, so my opinion is that yours has not been started.

One thing different on the new units compared to mine that I immediately noticed, you get complete paint jobs - cab to back cap. All of the Freightliner chassis now come in gray. Not primer, but finish coated in gray. My cab was painted gold by Freightliner according to my Freightliner paint code, with Jayco painting the stripes on the cab. Then they matched the rest of the body to the cab's gold paint. Not better or worse, just a difference I saw in the chassis on the line and parked outside waiting to be finished.

Thanks for taking the time to share your factory visit.

[Mark S]

Thanks for the replies Rob. I really enjoy getting your thorough feedback and opinions. You have put my mind to ease on many issues during this waiting period. I swear my two sons got here quicker than my new Seneca

Thank you Chief.

[RVermont]

Thanks for a detail description of your observations and I have to say I have read about many of your modification and have written some of them down for future improvements. How far ahead did you have to make the appoinment? what was your coach in the shop for? any thing major?

Thanks again,

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by RVermont

Thanks for a detail description of your observations and I have to say I have read about many of your modification and have written some of them down for future improvements. How far ahead did you have to make the appoinment? what was your coach in the shop for? any thing major?

Thanks again,

I made my appointment in August to get it into Service in February. My two-year warranty expired 3/5 but so long as the problem is documented before warranty expires even if they couldn't have gotten me into their shop by 3/5 I was "covered" anyway. Motorized Service is moving their facility, consolidating all motorized service work together. They hope to be done by end of April. Up until now they only have a few bays alongside towables, hoping to about double the bays once relocated. Should make things more efficient for customers in the future and reduce the wait time to get scheduled.

My unit was there primarily to work on two of my slideouts, one was a somewhat of a "design/construction" defect a number of the earlier TS units apparently suffered. When mine was built they would install the kitchen slide mechanism to the floor of the coach, then set the slideout room onto the "rails" of the slide mechanism. The apparent shortcoming in this method was that they could not attach the slideout mechanism to the slide assembly as well as it needed to be because some of the bolt holes were covered up. They also did not use as many fasteners into the coach floor as possible. The result is that on rough roads the slideout would "bounce" and open up at the top. That movement led to a cabinet over the sink coming loose from bouncing, the countertop also trying to separate from the wall, and the overhead trim on the slideout coming loose. To repair they had to augment the fasteners in the slide rails and repair the items loosened by the movement. We purposely took back roads home to see if it helped, my wife road in the back just to watch. Having seen it before and after, she pronounced it "repaired"!

To address the issue now during assembly on these TS units they supposedly place the slide where it goes, mark the holes, then take it back apart and bolt each part down separately. Then they mesh the parts together. That way it is secured to each part as it should be, preventing excessive movement. I wish it had been that way from the start, but at least they acknowledged our problem, fixed it for us, and adjusted their assembly to prevent it in the future.

My large driver's side slide had an aluminum rub rail that lifts the bottom of the slide when it comes in. Somehow mine had become distorted, causing it to tear the underside of my slideout on the rear edge. They now use a hard polymer rub bar, attached in more places to the coach floor. Mine now has the revised rub bar and they completely repaired the underside, I could not see any evidence of a repair. And it extends and retracts more smoothly than ever. My issue might have been going on for a time unbeknownst to me. But like above, they recognized the issue, made a production change, and fixed mine. They said most owners with the old style will never have a problem, they had only seen a few of that issue. Very much unlike the kitchen slide where more than a handful have presented.

I also had a few more minor issues; my generator compartment door started sticking when opening, I noticed the metal sheet the lower hinge attached to was pulling away from the framing. That made the top of the door shift and bind. They reattached the sheet with new hardware and discovered the pneumatic strut for the door was an 80 lb. unit, it was supposed to be 20! I knew that door would fly open and you had to really push to shut it, having the wrong strut never occurred to me. It is great now. I also had a few LEDs in the awning light go out. They changed the strip. They have seen that problem more than once too. Also my bathroom vent fan had a terrible "squeak" when running, I tried lubricating the bearings to no avail. They changed the whole fan assemble out and it is silent now.

One thing that absolutely impressed me was something minor I did not even bring to their attention, they spotted it when I dropped it off and we were inside going through my list of issues. Somewhere during my ownership the top of the dinette seatback had gotten 3 small tears in it. Not horrible, but I noticed them every time I was in the unit. I had accepted that it was us or our grandsons that had caused the holes, and I considered it "wear and tear". They spotted the holes and told me they would fix it. It appears they removed and reupholstered that section, it is perfect again!

I am very pleased with the work they performed. I know we all wish our units were perfect from Day #1, but that will never happen. What I am very thankful for is that they never tried to "pass the buck" or blame me, they just fixed it! I wish that happened more often in our world.

Sorry I am so "wordy", but wanted everyone to hear "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey so famously used to say!

[javamon]

Originally Posted by Robbbyr

I made my appointment in August to get it into Service in February. My two-year warranty expired 3/5 but so long as the problem is documented before warranty expires even if they couldn't have gotten me into their shop by 3/5 I was "covered" anyway. Motorized Service is moving their facility, consolidating all motorized service work together. They hope to be done by end of April. Up until now they only have a few bays alongside towables, hoping to about double the bays once relocated. Should make things more efficient for customers in the future and reduce the wait time to get scheduled.

So they got all the work done in a day or two? Did you stay in the area or did you have to travel back to pick it up?

[RVermont]

It really is a tribute to the benefits of a full two year warranty. Most people would not have even found some of those items prior to the end of one season of camping. Thanks for all the information, every thing i learn is helping, maybe not today but I am sure it will be useful in the future. Happy travels.