Jayco TT problems

[DJMark]

We've had several minor issues pop up: loose plumbing connections, trim needing to be glued inside, etc. but overall very pleased with our unit! The quality is night and day compared to others we checked out prior to buying..

[Say]

We’ve been virtually trouble free with our 2016 26rlsw and love it. Had a couple minor issues with electrical on water heater and A/C on our first outing, but dealer fixed those within a day. Considering a few cross country trips and the abuse these things go through, I have no complaints

[aqua]

We have a 07 26bh and bought it used spent some money -new foam mattress, power jack, led lights and new tires (changing blowouts on a busy hwy with trucks roaring by is no fun)etc
And no problems. Though I feel for others that spend large on a new unit that has problems

[2edgesword]

The little problems you sort of expect given everything that goes into building an RV. You just don't want to have the trip cancelling kind of issues that sideline the trailer for extended periods of time during which you'd rather be camping.

[haweinberger]

I too have been concerned about the quality of RVs today.
I bought a new Jayco 2017 FW 37 rsts in October 17. Have 3 trips, 1500 miles and 16 nights.. Has been a real joy. Some minor trim coming loose, but that's the worst of it. Everything has worked great and we are truly enjoying it.
Its our first FW, but we have had almost everything else over the years.
Going extended stay in 2weeks. DW retired ( finally ) 6 weeks ago and now we are free.

The quality has been good, everything is functional and we have not been back to the dealer. Off into the sunset we go.

2017 GMC Denali, LB,CC, DRW, Duramax.
2017 Jayco 37 rsts FW.

[Poppy]

When considering the problems with a travel trailer, remember they are built with inexpensive, light weight material to withstand earthquake conditions and be easily pulled with your tow vehicle.
Yes, they are prone to wear and tear and falling apart, but that’s the nature of the beast. My Jayco Featherlight 24fb is almost 3 years old, and so far I’ve had to replace the outdoor shower and a strap on the grey tank. I’ve been very pleased with my TT, though. It’s been down some rough roads. Oklahoma is full of bad roads with construction going on at nearly every turn.

[CAlley]

We've had our new 33RLBS White Hawk for almost 3 years, have spent 73 nights in it and pulled it 12,720 miles and setup/taken down 27 times in those 3 years. A few minor trim and other minor issues have been easily resolved. Biggest issue was to have the axles straightened last year after noticing some odd tire wear. I don't recall climbing any curbs or holes, but the axles did need attention. Was told that the factory axles are just strong enough to carry the load of the trailer and that any large jolt can damage them. So I'd say we've had good results with our White Hawk.

[Peter Soares]

Originally Posted by WeRJuliian

Like most mass-manufactured products, there will be "lemons" - it's almost unavoidable. The only way to prevent any defects at all, would be to make the manufacturing, inspection and quality control processes so costly that nobody could afford to buy the finished, very expensive, product.

So the RV industry has adopted the same model as the auto industry, consumer electronics, domestic appliances and many more.

That model says that you turn them out as quickly as you can, within a pre-determined manufacturing cost. Then you sell them at a "what the market will bear" price, to secure your revenue stream. Then you budget for an "acceptable" level of warranty claims, post-delivery reworks and repairs, to fix the problems that got through the process. It's regarded as part of the cost of doing business.

A GOOD manufacturer will have a process of continuous improvement, looking for ways to reduce defects in production.

A BAD manufacturer will concentrate on ways to cut corners and spend less in production.


The problem with this model is that it's all concerned with the Big Picture... How many thousand units did we ship? Of those thousand units, how many did we have to fix? Ok, that's an acceptable number of errors.

However.. to the consumer who bought the unit that needed fixing, it's not an "acceptable percentage".. It's the only one you've got, and it doesn't work, or the wheels fell off., so it's a 100% failure rate. This is where the manufacture can score, or lose, on followup and customer service.

I've always felt that the best measure of a company is how they respond when you call them up to complain. In my experience, Jayco fall down badly on this.... but others may disagree.

Nailed it!!!
Couldn't agree with you more. Jayco fails miserably in my experience, but I still prefer their product over others. Dealer has been good.

[jpurvis]

Originally Posted by reneegavin

We've had ours for 7 years now and take around six trips a year, each trip anywhere from two to five nights. We really haven't had any issues inside of the tires which are to be expected. Our mattress stinks too, but we knew that when we bought it!

If you realize that your trailer is taking a pounding going down some roads equivalent to an earthquake of 4 on the Richter Scale, and hard rain and wind equal to a catagory 1 hurricane it is no wonder there is often something to fix. Just part of the adventure!

[Drcox]

Love it, minor problems but it’s like a house your handy it’s no problem, put a mor-ryde suspension right of the bat. I think that minimized problemsxfrom jarring! Jayco is the best! Only one concern Window crank broke fixed under warranty . But anyone can open the window when that happens. Any security fixes if it happens again?

[Overogal]

We bought Jayco because of their previous reputation for quality. However after we bought a 2013 Pinnacle we couldn't go anywhere in it because the auto leveling (at that time Jayco was using Atwood) would not work 9 times out of 10. During the two year warranty period we had 2 legs replaced and 2 control boards but it still would not work. Atwood company got so they wouldn't even answer my phone calls! So, we gave up and traded for a 2015 Eagle Premier (lost 20 grand on the deal) because Jayco had begun to use a Lippert Leveling system. Well this leveling system has worked really well with only minor repairs. However, the kitchen slide out, manufactured by Schwintek, has been a different story. The first time it malfunctioned with a minor problem while still under warranty. As soon as Jayco warranty ran out, we had a major failure of this slide, it stuck in. Took it to the shop and they fixed it to the tune of $1800 last June. The middle of July this year we were in Michigan's UP (home is Texas) and the same slide stuck out, wouldn't come in. Cost to shove it in after dismantling the slide mechanism was $665. Took it to a dealer in Mt Pleasant MI and after a weekend wait, he said he couldn't fix it. We called Jayco and they wanted nothing to do with us because our unit was a 2015 and out of factory warranty. We found out Lippert Components bought Schwintek, so we called Lippert. They said they could fix it in 2 or 3 days if we could get it there. We took it to Lippert in Goshen on a Friday and on Tuesday it was fixed. Lippert said the slide out had not been installed per their specifications so Rhey added extra support to the walls and shimmer the space on both sides of slide because the opening in the trailer wall was too wide. They also added bracing to the frame because Jayco had not installed the slided over the I beams which Lippert recommends. The bill was $2300 as all the mechanism had to be replaced plus the wiring. We had to pay it up front but our extended warranty covered $1900 Of it
So you can see I am over Jayco but we may keep this another year before selling it. When we buy again it will be an older, used unit with no Schwintek slides axnd no auto leveling system, and it probably won't be a Jayco. The total bill for this latest failure including hotel bill and bill to put slide in was about $3200!

So, I still believe RVing is the best way to travel, just recommend aganst the mechanized slides and auto leveling systems! Also, price does not indicate quality in the RV business!

[bdreinv]

2016 Eagle 321 RSTS it took two years and 11 months to get all the warranty completed!And now we are in the breach of warranty stage.Goes on and on and on! Thanks

[jpurvis]

Sorry to hear of all you problems. Guess we have been fortunate. Usually have bought used units. We did buy a Kiwi new in 2002 and took all over for 12 years. After that one just bought used ‘09 bunkhouse and latest one is ‘11 26RLS

[bdreinv]

I think you have a good plan! Are camper is three years old now,everything works. Used not new better idea. Thanks

[wducat]

I have a 2016 Seneca (37HJ), and it took 2 years of very painful dealer visits until we actually had a rig where there were no outstanding issues. Some of the items were individual component failures (not really Jayco's fault), but many things were due to poor QC (Forgot to install rollers under the slide, installed flooring over large hole, did not screw in brackets, etc.).

I did note that Jayco hired a new director of quality in the past year, so perhaps you are benefiting from that. I really do hope so, because I love the Seneca product. That said, I was at my dealer working through issues, with the same slide completely removed from the rig for the second or third time, and saw a 2018 unit. I walked through it, and the thought I had was "I am not sure I have the energy to go through this process again". Not exactly what Jayco would want to hear, but again, perhaps they are addressing the quality issues. I do hope so.

Bill

[bdreinv]

Originally Posted by wducat

I have a 2016 Seneca (37HJ), and it took 2 years of very painful dealer visits until we actually had a rig where there were no outstanding issues. Some of the items were individual component failures (not really Jayco's fault), but many things were due to poor QC (Forgot to install rollers under the slide, installed flooring over large hole, did not screw in brackets, etc.).

I did note that Jayco hired a new director of quality in the past year, so perhaps you are benefiting from that. I really do hope so, because I love the Seneca product. That said, I was at my dealer working through issues, with the same slide completely removed from the rig for the second or third time, and saw a 2018 unit. I walked through it, and the thought I had was "I am not sure I have the energy to go through this process again". Not exactly what Jayco would want to hear, but again, perhaps they are addressing the quality issues. I do hope so.

Bill

Me neither almost 3 years of warranty hell enough for me! Happy Trails

[jpurvis]

I was really bummed when I discovered that Jayco had been bought in ‘16. Based on what I keep seeing in forums, that seems to be when so much dissatisfaction started.

[wducat]

Dealers can make or break a relationship, that is for sure, and that is another story completely. I have a good working relationship with my dealer now, but it took a lot of work to get there.

Some of the stuff that Jayco did in my 2016 I would not normally expect to be caught in a dealer prep. As noted, the missing rollers under a slide, outside panels that were never attached, etc., but if I were running a service department, I think I would maintain my own pre-delivery inspection list that would grow dynamically based on items we found during service. The techs would not like me, but I think over time, less and less stuff would make it off the dealer lot.

If I were running quality for Jayco, I would use a similar process, and perhaps setup an incentive program that provided a generous bonus pool, but reduced the bonus pool for re-occurences of quality items. For example, if a warranty claim came in for screws that were never installed (versus screws that came out), I would expect that item to be added to the factory QC, and bonus amounts would be reduced for each occurrence of that same issue that was shipped after the initial notification.

There is no rocket science here, and I don't think it would add to the cost of the rig since everyone would have a vested interest in making sure it was done right the first time. I guess I am a dreamer.

Jayco, if you are listening, make me an offer

Bill

[wabirch]

Zero real concerns so far, would take a lot to keep from from buying Jayco again.

[199LIB]

I had a 2017 Jay Flight 264BH and now a 2019 model. Thankfully, everything else but the water heater has worked well with little or no issues. I have had, however, nothing but problems with the Dometic/Atwood Circuit Boards for the water heater. I replaced three on my 2017 and took my 2019 out for the first time and had the same issue! I called Jayco customer service and they did confirm that there evidently was a large batch of bad circuit boards to have gone out. Thank goodness for the 2 yr. warranty...