Severe Rust on new Jayco

[ClassCrunner]

Rock, This unit didn't sit. It is a 2023 chassis built by Ford in 10/22 and Jayco finished the coach in 12/22. It was delivered to the dealer on 12/19/2022. The mileage when I purchased it was consistent with the distance to the factory. I do not believe it ever left the dealers lot once it was delivered. There is still some white substance on the underside which I believe is road salt. I didn't do a chemical analysis but I am familiar enough with road salt to make an educated guess. When I drove it home from Texarkana to Colorado it was dry all the way. However, I checked with the NWS and it was snowing at the factory and along the northern part of the route the day it was delivered and for 2 days prior. It would seem to me that it picked up the salt contamination along the way. This is not ordinary rust cause by rain or high humidity. This was the condition that it was sold to me as a new vehicle.

 

[ClassCrunner]

Grumpy, thanks again for your comments and info. I will check out the arbitration but the Texas DMV (lemon law) has told me that the warranty does not cover rust so the lemon law is not applicable. They recommended that I sue the dealer.

 

[CHERV]

rust problem

we have a 2019 Jayco class c 22j no rust but I did spray the chassis with FLUID FILM, love the stuff never hardens, lanolin based. I would find someone and sand etch the whole chassis then replace those bolts and connectors that are corroded. spray the chassis with FLUID FILM. our coach is rust free 5 yrs later, I have on occasion did a chassis inspection and did minor touchup. product is avail at Home Depot in spray cans. wear a resppirator and eye protection. good luck....

 

[Ozzie D Odyssey]

For what it's worth, I live in New Hampshire where the roads are white all winter...not from the snow but from the salt. I have all my vehicles treated with New Hampshire Oil Undercoating (they're all over the eastern part of the US, they just started in NH). Their headquarters is about 2 miles up the road from my RV dealer. I take my regular vehicles there yearly and have them update the spray protection. Yes, it's expensive, about $300 a year per vehicle but we tend to keep our vehicles for 12 to 15 years so it's worth it in the long run, particularly when we sell or trade them in. They don't have the facilities available to do a motorhome, they recommended finding one of their dealers who does heavy equipment for my new motorhome when I bought it in April. With little luck finding a heavy equipment dealer that could do it I bought a gallon of the rustproofing spray with mouse repellent mixed in, a $14 spray gun at Harbor Freight and did it myself. I had about 1/2 a gallon left over on my 29V so I'll touch it up next year. They even have a rust restoration product available. I have no affiliation with NHOU, just a satisfied customer. https://nhoilundercoating.com/

 

[kimmied]

WOW!!! Time to contact the attorney general for your state. May even be time to go to an attorney. I hope your have kept a detailed record of how these people have been screwing you over! I feel for you. The dealer you bought this from obviously was aware of all these problems before selling the RV.

 

[Skip1776]

Been There, Done That

We bought a Jayco Greyhawk from Camping World in Savannah. Flew in, inspected it and took delivery after the orientation. Soon thereafter we found heavy rust underneath the unit. Mea culpa for not finding it. Spent a lifetime on a crawler underneath applying rust sealer used by the US Navy. It worked in sealing and stopping the rust, however, any repairs requiring any removal of bolts, etc, under the RV would have been impossible. We live in Atlanta and when we took it to Camping World in Woodstock Georgia to see if they could/would help seal or address the rust issue we were told they didn’t do that, admitted it was the most rust they had ever seen on a unit, and speculated that the unit was delivered in the winter on salt covered roads and had been at the dealership for some time before we bought it. We pondered our stupidity, options, and sold the unit and bought a new Thor Chateau. The dealership got a hoot when I crawled underneath prior to agreeing to buy. We have since moved out of class Cs due to lack of reasonable locations, costs, and delays on service by Ford on F450s even under warranty but…we’ve been fanatical about inspections ever since on “new” RVs.

 

[Rock-JAY]

Rock, This unit didn't sit. It is a 2023 chassis built by Ford in 10/22 and Jayco finished the coach in 12/22. It was delivered to the dealer on 12/19/2022. The mileage when I purchased it was consistent with the distance to the factory. I do not believe it ever left the dealers lot once it was delivered. There is still some white substance on the underside which I believe is road salt. I didn't do a chemical analysis but I am familiar enough with road salt to make an educated guess. When I drove it home from Texarkana to Colorado it was dry all the way. However, I checked with the NWS and it was snowing at the factory and along the northern part of the route the day it was delivered and for 2 days prior. It would seem to me that it picked up the salt contamination along the way. This is not ordinary rust cause by rain or high humidity. This was the condition that it was sold to me as a new vehicle.

I ordered mine in Sept and received it mid Nov. I was concerned about the weather at delivery but there was no snow. And even if they salted I would have pressure washed the bottom. It amazes me how many never look underneath. I spent an hour on a creeper and blanket under mine. I kept the tech busy tie wrapping wires up in place. Once home another day doing more wire moving and tie wrapping. I needed to ensure nothing hung down before my Alaska trip. My MH and toad survived the ALCAN. Toad had a road master defender between it and MH. So now I have a US and Canada Map on my MH. Gonna add I survived the AlCAN under it.

 

[ClassCrunner]

Captain Skip, Thanks for the info but I am not trying to prevent rust; I am trying to figure out what to do about the brand new RV that I purchased with the rust already on it. I have lived in CO for the past 35 years and have owned motorhomes for most of that time. I use them year round. I used to take them up in the mountains for skiing. I have never had anyone of my units with rust damage like this from road salt or any other reason. I will keep your info in mind should I need it. Thanks.

 

[ClassCrunner]

Kimmied, It is looking more and more like my only choice is to take them to court. I just sent off another text this morning to the Jayco rep. No reply as yet. Of course he hasn't replied to my last one either. The dealer personnel had to know of the condition because they worked on it for several days to get the power converter to charge the batteries. They even replaced it with a new unit and it did not work either. They finally found that the ground for the converter was not working because it was severely rusted. They took care of the ground while I was there but did not mention anything about rust being the cause. BTW, I do have everything documented including videos, pictures and all correspondence.

 

[ClassCrunner]

Skip1776, Sorry that you had that experience. Was this a new unit? Seems like Jayco and the rest of the industry would be aware of the damage caused by road salt when an RV sits outdoors for months and months prior to being sold. I wonder how many other people are driving around with rusted RVs like ours. I wonder if any lawyers out there would consider a class action suit. Seems like once a problem like this is known that the factories would require under carriage washing before the unit is delivered.

BTW, I purchased a new Winnebago from Camping World that had hail damage. Camping World told me that it would cost me $10,000.00 to replace the roof even though they sold it to me in that condition. One call to Winnebago resulted in Camping World replacing the roof at no charge. I expected Jayco to stand behind me in a similar manner but I have been greatly disappointed.

 

[ClassCrunner]

Rock, sounds like you had a great adventure. Maybe some day I can get up there.

One thing for sure; the next vehicle I buy; either car, truck or RV, I will be getting underneath it.

 

[Rock-JAY]

Captain Skip, Thanks for the info but I am not trying to prevent rust; I am trying to figure out what to do about the brand new RV that I purchased with the rust already on it. I have lived in CO for the past 35 years and have owned motorhomes for most of that time. I use them year round. I used to take them up in the mountains for skiing. I have never had anyone of my units with rust damage like this from road salt or any other reason. I will keep your info in mind should I need it. Thanks.

Really all u can do is treat the rust to stop it. Do it yourself or pay a reputable place to do that. It would cost big money and many years to do a law suite. I would push hard for Jayco to do repairs. Bring it to them on your dime and let them work on it.

 

[kimmied]

I would also report to your state's attorney general. I am sorry for all of your hardship with this RV. These are not small investments.

 

[435-fht]

ClassCrunner,

I use a spray-on undercoating process similar to Captain Skip. Instead of NHOU products, I use Fluid Film. You need to have an air compressor, and a $20 undercoating spray gun. I bought a gallon, but it's available in spray cans. The gallon I bought at my local auto parts store was about $40.

I'm not saying one product is better than another, but Fluid Film was easier to get in my area than NHOU products. Every Spring and Fall, I spray the undercarriage of my Jeep and truck. I've done my MH once, so far.

My Jeep and truck sit high enough, I can move around underneath without having to put them on jack stands. It take me about 10 minutes per vehicle to spray. The MH takes a little longer.

After three years, I have about 1/4 of a gallon left.

 

[Lobo1655]

I had the same problem in 2015. Bought a brand new Jayco Grayhawk at Camping World and I failed to inspect the undercarriage. Two weeks later I found severe rust all over the undercarriage. Long story short, Camping World would not replace my unit but offered to clean it. They were trying but I was not satisfied that they were using a wire brush, so I took the unit home. I bought a sand blaster at harbor freight, bags of regular sand at lowes, and sand blasted it myself. Camping world did spray paint the sand blasted areas and offered me a job but I kindly declined.

 

[ClassCrunner]

Lobo1655, I am beginning to believe that this problem is common. The RV's are delivered in the winter and pick up road salt or mag-chloride along the way and then they sit in the dealers lot for months and months; some in high humidity. The salt is never washed off until the new owner either goes through a RV wash or drives in the rain. By then it is too late.

Some good news: I received a call today from Jayco; the dealer and Jayco have gotten together and I am to bring my unit to the factory where they will remove the rust and recoat the surfaces. They said that they would give it a good check. I am happy that they are going to do this. I am just waiting now for an email to detail the dates, locations and such.

 

[Rock-JAY]

Lobo1655, I am beginning to believe that this problem is common. The RV's are delivered in the winter and pick up road salt or mag-chloride along the way and then they sit in the dealers lot for months and months; some in high humidity. The salt is never washed off until the new owner either goes through a RV wash or drives in the rain. By then it is too late.

Some good news: I received a call today from Jayco; the dealer and Jayco have gotten together and I am to bring my unit to the factory where they will remove the rust and recoat the surfaces. They said that they would give it a good check. I am happy that they are going to do this. I am just waiting now for an email to detail the dates, locations and such.

Like I said before, Jayco is your best choice to solve this problem. It is just a hassle making two trips and they did not pay a dime for my expenses.

 

[ClassCrunner]

Like I said before, Jayco is your best choice to solve this problem. It is just a hassle making two trips and they did not pay a dime for my expenses.

Rock, Amen! They said they would only need it for a few days so I will spend time in a motel and not have to make two trips.

 

[Rock-JAY]

My week at the factory turned into 2 months. Left truck at the airport and flew home and then back up again. But I had a laundry list for them to fix. Originally they said a week.
They can build them quickly but repairs were slow.

 

[Grumpy]

Rock, Amen! They said they would only need it for a few days so I will spend time in a motel and not have to make two trips.

Hampton Inn is right across the street from the factory & service center.