Forum Discussion

sullyman's avatar
sullyman
Explorer
Feb 07, 2017

Jayco Grayhawk 29mv vs Forest River Sunseeker 3010ds

Both 2017.
Jayco is about $2,000 more. Same Ford chassis
1. Which do you all think is better built. The feeling i got was the Jayco.
2. The Sunseeker has airbag suspension which can be adjusted and the Jayco has their J-Ride. Which is better?
3. Jayco has tank-less hot water vs 6 gallon in Sunseeker. Of course grey-water tank capacity limits overall use. The norm seems to be the 6 gallon type tank. Are there issues to be aware of with tank-less? Failure/maintenance/other
3. 2 year warranty on Jayco vs 1 year on Sunseeker. Could this be a deal maker or breaker?
4. What is a realistic discount off "msrp" when buying?
5. Are "Show Specials" a real deal or is there still room for a better price?
6. Jayco has solid fiberglass front cap. Sunseeker has seams, how big of a deal is this with a new unit?

Any other thoughts or comments are appreciated. This would be my first RV and I don't want to screw it up right away. Am aware maintenance is on-going and things happen, but want issues to be minimized

Thanks, I appreciate your input
  • I just purchased a 2017 Jayco 31FS. I had hoped the tankless hot water heater would mean no more quickie showers. You guys that have experience with them let me know the real deal. I like the fiberglass full cap. My 96 Jayco had that long window across the front cap, won't miss that. The sun would shrink the rubber window seal. I looked at Sunseekers. They have some really nice features, but when the salesman went to turn on the interior thermostat, the wall behind it depressed about an inch. So I was not impressed with the build quality. I like the bunks in the Jayco FS, as much for sleeping but also a big area to throw stuff.
  • Wow! so glad you have one, I would go with the tankless on demand too if choice. Those 6 gallon water tanks can't handle everyone except in Campground when in full hookup mode. We just arrived in Fort Collins Colorado to visit family, We just beat the Northeast storm. 70's all week here. We are about 10 miles from Camping World in Longmont Co. They have a 29 W and 31 FS I will compare side by side and see how it goes. Just a side note, I have been talking to Nexus RV dealership where you can build your own. Anyone have knowledge about that direct RV buying company. They still seem to be a bit higher even when I build it next to the Jayco Greyhawk. Hmmm. Investigating now.
  • Sullyman, what did you end up choosing? I'm curious since I just went through the same process. I had a few additional items on my list to compare, but they were mostly the same.
  • I guess I'm the odd one in the 2017 models I think I would like the Sunseeker better. In our motor home shopping I originally wanted a Jayco Melborne looked at a 2007. We ended up with a 2007 Sunseeker 2860DS because a friend had one for sale at a great price, and we knew the history. Was a great purchase we used it for 2 years and traded it off for 11,000 more than what we paid. We weren't looking to buy a new one but we went to an RV show and after looking at all the new models we ended up with a 3051S Forester, just like Sunseeker only fancier. I think I would have been just as happy with a Sunseeker again but they didn't have any with full body paint in a size we liked.

    We looked at all the new models I really don't like the beige color with the white truck and I don't know if they just had lower quality Jayco models but I didn't like them at all. I did see a Four Winds I thought was nice but too small.

    Two years ago the Jayco Melborne was going to cost 25,000 more than the Sunseeker we bought, it was much fancier. However it had almost 50,000 miles and the Sunseeker had 12,000 miles same truck. I will say the Jayco was way prettier but I never regretted purchasing the Sunseeker.

    Good luck I think shopping and researching is half the fun. Course so is making an impulse purchase and figuring out just what you bought too.
  • If we all liked the same RV, it would be pretty boring, wouldn't it?

    We looked at Four Winds as well, along with Coachmen, as we got down to the final choices. There were just a few features that made the difference and it could have easily gone the other way.

    No matter what, once we have it, we just go, camp, and enjoy. Those points that seemed so critical when shopping usually don't seem so important later on.