Premature Failure of Fabric: Anyone Else Have This Problem?

Question

I have a 2010 Jayco Melbourne where in 2015 the bucket seat covers and couch cover began rapidly deteriorating and just flaking away to expose the foam rubber underneath. It cost me $2140 to reupholster the fabric. Indeed, this is a very premature failure of these fabrics and one would hope for a much higher quality and more durable material from Jayco.

I’m wondering if other RV owners have also experienced premature failure of the upholstery fabric in their RV’s?

All the upholstery professionals I talked to commented on the low quality of the upholstery material used by Jayco. I discussed the problem with Mr. Robbie Dotson at Ocean Grove RV (a Jayco dealer in St. Augustine, FL). Robbie told me that he had seen many instances of the problem of flaking off of seat/couch covers, as I have experienced, in Jayco RVs, sometimes occurring in fairly new RVs. He stated that he understood that Jayco, Inc. was changing manufacturers of the chairs, couches, etc. in their RVs to address the problem.

However, Jayco customer service has denied that there is a problem with their fabric, as follows:
“We are very sorry this has occurred but if the material had a “severe quality issue” as you have indicated, we would be hearing from other customers and we just simply are not. I’m not sure where Robbie is getting his information but what he is saying is not indicated by phone calls or customer complaints to our customer service team.”

This problem with the extremely low quality fabric is just the latest issue in an extremely long list of low quality issues I have encountered with my Jayco Melbourne.

mvpmich · Answer

A few years ago a brand called Ultra Leather had serious problems. It was basically a vinyl laminated to a fabric backing. It's the same material most manufacturers use but it comes in different thicknesses. I had both front seats and one coach delaminate at various times within the first three years of ownership. It was actually cheaper to purchase new couches and chairs versus recovering but they wouldn't match the original items. I think the problem is a function of the glue that's used and the thickness of the vinyl as well as the amount of wear that is experienced. It's not an uncommon problem but seems to occur sporadically.

gat75 · Answer

Must have been what some of the manufactures were using in 2010. We bought a 2010 Blueridge 5W, (made by FR). Both couches did the exact same thing as OP described. Makes us both sick.

We have not used this trailer near to the extent that the covering flakes off.

Yes, we likewise are faced with what to do about something so unnecessary.

Piled on top of this issue, they put these sure-to-leak air mattresses in couches for extra sleeping space. It is beyond reasoning that OEM cannot put something that only lasts several years before leaking or coming apart.

We don't have animals, nor do we allow the grandkids to tear up our stuff, just shoddy material from factory.

We never had these issues in our previous Prowler 5V.

scbwr · Answer

When we went to Brad &amp; Hall (Elkart, IN) to get a couch installed in our trailer, I was in a conversation that was about fabric problems in some motorhomes made by Thor.  Evidently at the Tampa, FL RV show, a very unhappy Thor customer was walking the show with a vest or some sort of garment made out of the deteriorating fabric taken from his relatively new Thor motorhome. We went to this year's RV show in Cleveand, and as we've seen in previous years, you see some rv furniture that looks pretty cheap and you wonder how long the fabric would hold up. And with most warranties only a year, if the fabric fails, the owner is stuck with the repair or replacement.But, manufacturers cater to folks that want cheap rvs. Before buying too cheap of an rv, I think folks would be better off buying a better quality used RV.  But, you really have to look at a lot of RVs and study them to see where cheaper products have been used to keep the cost down.

scottiemom · Answer

After 10 years of fulltiming in our Phaeton which we bought new, the fake leather on the captain's chairs up front had deteriorated. We went to Mastercraft in Shipshewana. A woman who works for them does reupholstery on the side. We bought the fabric, a better quality, from Mastercraft, and the "Lady Hawk" did the work. The two chairs re-done cost us about half the price of new chairs. She did a great job. Mastercraft did tell us that the manufacturers all cut corners and put in cheaper fabrics where they can. Hopefully we bought better, but we didn't really think that 10 years of constant use was that bad.

Dale

imgoin4it · Answer

I've read and heard of other rv's with the same problem.In one case the rv owners were upset with the furniture manufacturer only to learn that the RV manufacturer specified the materials and the furniture guy just did what they were contracted to do. Moral of the story; check on who specified the cheap stuff.

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Premature Failure of Fabric: Anyone Else Have This Problem?

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