Jayco and travel trailer quality

[DallasSteve]

I posted a comment in another thread about a Jayco travel trailer model and the OP replied that he had not heard good things about the quality of Jayco trailers. I don't know which trailers have a good reputation for quality or not so I did a quick search on the Internet for rankings of travel trailers by quality. Jayco appears in several of those lists as being good quality. That makes me wonder.

Below is a list of the largest counts by manufacturers of a large search that I just did on RV Trader. I find it interesting that my dear friend Warren Buffet (I wish) owns the number 1 brand, Forest River. I don't hear much about Keystone, but I like a number of their plans, too. Jayco moves a lot of units, too. So who thinks Jayco is good, and who thinks they are bad, in terms of quality? My guess is if you're selling a bad product you're not going to get up or stay up in the rankings.

Forest River 10471
Keystone 8135
Jayco 3761
Heartland 2896
Coachmen 2280

[rbpru]

It is rare for any TT brand posted on this board not to have both cheers and jeers. They all make good ones, they all make a few lemons and they all build to specific price points.

In general Jayco's get good reviews. The family did however sell the business for 550 million dollars, so it is no longer family owned.

[fritz_monroe]

When we bought out Rockwood Roo in 2013, we went to the dealers and went in all the campers with the floor plan we were looking for. Rockwood and Jayco had what we liked. We then went to the RV show and spent about an hour in each of them imagining how we camp. It came down to a couple of small things. We preferred the way the sink was laid out in the Roo. Even though we rarely use the electronics in the camper, we preferred the way they were integrated into the Roo over the Jayco. And although I doubt I ever go to the service center in the dealer that we purchased it from, that service department had a better reputation than the service department of the Jayco dealer in my area.

I feel that all the brands in the same general price range are of roughly the same build quality.

I don't think you will be unhappy with a Jayco.

[hsk1977]

My husband and I bought our first TT a few months ago. We looked at a Jayco but ended up with a Starcraft that was almost identical, including the 2-year warranty. From what we could tell and from what we read, their construction is very similar. (I believe they are both owned by Thor.) We liked them both but the particular Starcraft we were looking at had a few more options (that I'm sure were available on the Jayco, just not on the one in stock) and the Starcraft dealer was closer to our home, so Starcraft won out for us. I know that you didn't list Starcraft, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case you hadn't considered them. The prices of the two we were comparing were about the same.

I'm glad to read that everyone seems to be happy with their Jaycos since I feel like we got such a similar product. I could be wrong...again, I'm new! 🙂 We have used ours four times so far and are thrilled with our purchase. We should've switched from a tent to an RV years ago!

[GrandpaKip]

Went to an RV show this past winter. All the brands mentioned here were present, except Airstream. As far as interior construction, I couldn't tell one from another. They were all put together the same way. Some just had a little more glitz. As far as chassis and box construction, I believe you get what you pay for. Especially in materials used.

[drsteve]

I bought a 2003 Jayco new, owned it for 13 years, and never had an issue with the build quality. The CO/propane detector failed within the first month, but that was it.

[2012Coleman]

kerrlakeroo wrote:

ScottG wrote:

We want a better made TT (and are willing to pay for it this time) and have been looking at Grand design, Northwood, etc. They're the same; they're better quality than those listed above but still not great. Each one has it's drawbacks.
There is no Lexus or Mercedes's of trailers.

Well said Scott, and to take your analogy a step further, Its like comparing a chevy to a Pontiac or Buick, they still have the same guts inside, they usually just dress them a little nicer.

Where do you put Airstream in your list? Just wondering if you have considered them. I have been inside several models and they are impressive - and expensive. For me, I just can't get past the absence of slide-outs.

[Iraqvet05]

We bought our Jayco new in 2013. There were a few quality (assembly) issues that I took care of myself the first year. Other than those issues, we have never returned to the dealer for a repair. I'm happy with our purchase and I'd buy another Jayco again.

[Mikesr]

Jayco has a full 2 year warranty that speaks volumes in the industry.

[Hannibal]

We're in our third Jayco in 26 years. At each purchase, we've looked at all of them including Airstream. For the money and what we use them for, Jayco seems to us to be the best bang for the buck. While browsing, look underneath as well. I like our integrated tongue to frame and our factory 2" receiver out back. A rack and pinion slide mechanism is a must. Tongue and groove plywood floor is a plus in my opinion. Plenty of ground clearance and wheel base are also favorable to me.

[spoon059]

I'd suggest going to an RV show and walking through lots of trailers. We spent about 2 years going to several RV shows every year and walked through as many, makes, models, and lines as possible. We came away feeling that Jayco Jayflights were routinely amongst the best at that price point (low to mid $20's) for a 28-30 foot bunkhouse.

I based that upon features (at the time, Jayco was one of few that put all LED interior lights... dovetail jointed drawers... higher ceilings, etc) and feel (walking into other campers you could tell the difference with makes that used lower quality flooring, Jayco used 5/8" or 3/4" plywood instead of thinner OSB or foam core flooring). There were other things that we liked about the Jayco more than other models. For us, Jayco was the best at that pricepoint.

2.5 years later we are very pleased with our purchase. There are better campers out there, but we think that ours is amongst the best at that pricepoint we paid. In fact, our in-laws liked our camper so much, they sold their Primetime Avenger and bought a Jayco as well. Your results may vary from ours. That's why I suggest walking through a bunch of them at an RV show.

Good luck! Remember, even a bottom of the line RV is better than tent camping... Either way, you are still out camping!

[TomG2]

rexlion wrote:
Quality in the minds of most of us seems to be primarily a matter of experience, perceptions, or opinions rather than hard data. I mean, no one has done a study or statistical survey.

I am not a consumer reports reporter but my Rockwood had a floor that felt like I felt like I was going to fall through. A Surveyor that would not stop leaking. A Flagstaff whose dinette flopped back and forth. And a Salem that looked like it was assembled by a bunch of kids. My Jayco is new and may develop some of these problems but I don't think so. I really hope not.

[Candie4749]

We purchased our new Jayco in April and we did find a few issues however this is our fifth travel trailer purchase and three of them were new. We had quality issues with our new Coachmen, Keystone and Jayco. Our Jayco dealer has been great to work with and is taking care of everything and is even sending a service tech on site at no charge to us. In my opinion it is all about the service from the dealership after the sale.

[rexlion]

Quality in the minds of most of us seems to be primarily a matter of experience, perceptions, or opinions rather than hard data. I mean, no one has done a study or statistical survey.

[mgirardo]

DallasSteve wrote:
Below is a list of the largest counts by manufacturers of a large search that I just did on RV Trader. I find it interesting that my dear friend Warren Buffet (I wish) owns the number 1 brand, Forest River. I don't hear much about Keystone, but I like a number of their plans, too. Jayco moves a lot of units, too. So who thinks Jayco is good, and who thinks they are bad, in terms of quality? My guess is if you're selling a bad product you're not going to get up or stay up in the rankings.

Forest River 10471
Keystone 8135
Jayco 3761
Heartland 2896
Coachmen 2280

Forest River is a much larger manufacturer than Jayco and put out more units, hence why there are more units for sale on RV Trader. When we bought our Forest River made Rockwood Roo 233, the salesman at the dealership told us that FR was putting out 17 of them a day. Ours was an Ultra-Lite Hybrid. It was of decent quality.

We have owned 3 Jaycos, a pop-up, a Class C Motorhome and now a Destination Trailer. I appreciate that Jayco thinks so highly of its quality that it provides a 2 year warranty, while most other manufacturers only provide a 1 year warranty.

In my opinion Jayco is slightly better quality than Forest River. How, no matter what trailer you buy, if you don't keep up on preventative maintenance, the trailer is going to have issues.

-Michael

[Ron3rd]

I've read good and bad about Jayco and Forest River. We have a Forest River product and I believe the build quality is very good. But, it is the higher-end Rockwood line so maybe that factors in. I've read plenty of negative about Forest River btw. In summary, to the OP, I've been on this forum for about 13 years and can't answer your question.