Jayco or Heartland

No pony in this race but I did purchase a new Big Country in 2011. My experience included excellent customer service from Heartland and a great Owners Club. We had the usual issues with new rigs but after the gray gel-coat faded making our year old rig look like it was ten years old, we moved on. Don't think I would ever buy new again preferring to purchase a good quality used rig instead.

Best Wishes in your Quest!

Jayco!!!!!!!! We bought ours in May and vary happy with it. Just as any brand we had a few minor issues and all were taken care of. Some of the issues were dealership caused When it came down to it Jayco C/S made them take care of it under warranty. I have had nothing but a good experience with Jayco, My dealer that's another story we wont go into.

Yes, very well said mudmaker. Same with the warranty. Length is peace of mind, but not indicative of value. Good example is the outrageous warranties on Kia's or Hyundai's compared to Ford's or Toyota's. Dealership relationship and quality is everything. A good friend had a Montana and traded it for a brand new Arctic Fox fifth wheel. He said he has been very disappointed with the quality. A lot of problems, but the dealership has been great in taking care of all the issues. This dealership has carried the Northwood product line forever it seems, so based on quality issues, I expect that will change with them.

lawnspecialties wrote:

B.O. Plenty wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:
What is warranty on the Heartland 5er? I know Jayco has a 2 yr. warranty on their 5er's. That would make some difference to me, unless Heartland also gives a 2 yr. warranty.

One year. Heartland has been good at fixing things that are out of warranty on some occasions. Depends on what it is and how much you complain.

B.O.

Not in my case. I won't rehash the old story. But our one month Cyclone had major problems and Heartland wanted nothing to do with us.

In all fairness, I truly believe you'll have a better chance of success with a Jayco. I'd buy one in a minute if it were up to me.

Cyclone - the toy hauler, right? So, my local dealership that sold us our Heartland Bighorn, said they quit selling Cyclones because of quality issues, but the Bighorn was a great seller and a quality unit. This was told to me by their service department. We've been to the service at the dealership several times to add components (solar system, satellite, cord reel, 2nd AC) because we're keeping this unit till we don't want to or feel we can't handle a fiver anymore.

mudmaker wrote:
There's good and bad in everything. No different here. All you'll really get is personal experiences of people and the reactions from factory can very well be based on how owners presented their problems to the factory. So it's really not a good scale of what's good and bad.


Good luck.

Well said Mudmaker! The voice of reason! Making decisions and choices based only on the random opinions from the RV.net forum is questionable? If %90 to %100 of all owners of Jacyo & Heartland products presented their opinions, then you might be able to draw some reasonable conclusions on which to make decisions:)

OP
As it turns out he went with the Jayco. The warranty won him over - 2 years bumper to bumper - 12 on the roof, 10 on the floor, lifetime on the cabinets where Heartland could not come close with a 1 year bumper to bumper 12 on roof and nothing else.

There's good and bad in everything. No different here. All you'll really get is personal experiences of people and the reactions from factory can very well be based on how owners presented their problems to the factory. So it's really not a good scale of what's good and bad.

I do own a Big Country. Purchased from a dealer who sells both Jayco and Heartland. I just liked the feel better in this one. Four season approved although I'll never use it in all four seasons. I do however pull it out practically every weekend from mid April til late October. A couple week long trips get mixed in there too. Hardly ever is this on a campground hard surface but usually on a grass field here or there. I use it and it holds up.
The same type of people build many of the same types of campers in the same communities. Most work piecemeal so the faster they get to quota, the sooner they go home. I would guess behind the walls most are the same. Outside the walls, well most use exactly the same or very similar products so essentially they are the same there too. It'll come down to price, the dealer interaction, and what feels right for you.
Good luck.

B.O. Plenty wrote:

lawnspecialties wrote:

B.O. Plenty wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:
What is warranty on the Heartland 5er? I know Jayco has a 2 yr. warranty on their 5er's. That would make some difference to me, unless Heartland also gives a 2 yr. warranty.

One year. Heartland has been good at fixing things that are out of warranty on some occasions. Depends on what it is and how much you complain.

B.O.

Not in my case. I won't rehash the old story. But our one month Cyclone had major problems and Heartland wanted nothing to do with us.

In all fairness, I truly believe you'll have a better chance of success with a Jayco. I'd buy one in a minute if it were up to me.

Like I said 'On some occasions" I've as many positives as negatives.

B.O.

My Heartland Landmark came with a 2 year warranty. I looked and the new ones still come with a 2 year and are also covered for full timing. Jayco doesn't state if they will cover full time.

As far as getting help from Heartland, never had a problem. Would call them and speak to a rep who would okay a mobile tech to come out and work on. Had a faucet give me a problem one time, sent them a picture, had one Fed-Ex to campground in 2 days.

The biggest thing missing is the op didn't state what models his son was looking at. Not knowing what level of trailer, entry or high end, it is hard to make any comparisons of the brands.

lawnspecialties wrote:

B.O. Plenty wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:
What is warranty on the Heartland 5er? I know Jayco has a 2 yr. warranty on their 5er's. That would make some difference to me, unless Heartland also gives a 2 yr. warranty.

One year. Heartland has been good at fixing things that are out of warranty on some occasions. Depends on what it is and how much you complain.

B.O.

Not in my case. I won't rehash the old story. But our one month Cyclone had major problems and Heartland wanted nothing to do with us.

In all fairness, I truly believe you'll have a better chance of success with a Jayco. I'd buy one in a minute if it were up to me.

Like I said 'On some occasions" I've as many positives as negatives.

B.O.

B.O. Plenty wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:
What is warranty on the Heartland 5er? I know Jayco has a 2 yr. warranty on their 5er's. That would make some difference to me, unless Heartland also gives a 2 yr. warranty.

One year. Heartland has been good at fixing things that are out of warranty on some occasions. Depends on what it is and how much you complain.

B.O.

Not in my case. I won't rehash the old story. But our one month Cyclone had major problems and Heartland wanted nothing to do with us.

In all fairness, I truly believe you'll have a better chance of success with a Jayco. I'd buy one in a minute if it were up to me.