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My story this time

Yahoo Message Number: 1465
Before I get started let me say that I can't believe the hoops you're
jumping thru JD, I don't know what I'd do in that situation, but the
term "crazed vet" jumps to mind. This is just unbelievable. Between you
and Denny along with some others, if I was reading this list I'd swear
off RV's forever. My problems don't even compare with yours.....at least
yet.

Okay so on to my saga. I've been sort of lurking, but mostly doing some
health related things lately so haven't been active.

After returning from our trip out west I took my Jayco 32SS into the
dealer to have a list of issues taken care of. All warranty issues and
I'll lay them out here:

1. The exhaust hanger problem. They looked at my stainless steel bolt
replacing the missing rivet in the hanger and deemed it more than
adequate so they left that alone. They did take it to a shop someplace
else to have the exhaust bulletin done and I have to say the shop did an
incredible job installing the new support members and hanger. The system
is solid as a rock and they even took the time to paint the pieces they
welded to the frame. This is nice work. I'll get photos when I have it
over here out of storage the next time. The storage area is sandy and
prone to chiggers so I don't crawl around over there. It's also in the
mid 90's here.

2. The front A/C not working. They removed the thermostat and found a
wire off the back of the panel. The thermostat was loose on the wall,
another case of stripping screws into thin paneling. They repaired the
connection and reattached the unit to the wall so it's very sturdy this
time.

3. Loose carpet. They brought in a carpet company to re-stretch the
carpet and it looks great now. Big difference in how it feels and the
slide doesn't move it as it retracts, etc.

4. Water heater door latch. They replaced it with a new latch.

5. Thermostat digital readout. These seem to be out of calibration, but
according to the dealer they check out fine. It's going to be a matter
of finding what settings are actually the comfort settings opposed to
being able to completely believe the readout.

6. Vinyl floor loose. When we were in the high altitudes of the Rockies
on a cold morning we noticed the vinyl floor had a big air bubble under
it in the kitchen area. It was really weird and as the coach and outside
temps warmed up it went down. It's the only time we've noticed it and
normally it feels tight. My dealer called Jayco while I was there and
was told it is a "free floating vinyl installation" that allows for the
expansion and contraction that RV's experience due to changing
conditions. David (dealership owner) told me he thought it was that
before he called, but said he'd check to see. Okay so no problem apparently.

7. Broken and bent conduit going into living room slide underneath.
There is conduit that slides in and out with the slide and brings the
wires up under the couch. One day on the trip the slide didn't go all
the way in and when I investigated I found the conduit had bound up and
the elbow was broken. This is not fixed to the floor where it goes up
thru and apparently depends on gravity to keep it down and aligned with
the hole in the side of the coach. If this rides up and the slide is
closing it can bind. I make sure I don't keep anything in the top of
that storage compartment because it could potentially stop the conduit
from sliding in freely. This was the first thing they asked me and who
knows if they believed me or not, but they fixed it. The workmanship was
good although they did leave all the wire splice scrap under the
sofa....must be a sign they've been thru Jayco maintenance school. This
conduit is something I'll be watching. I don't know of a good fix yet
though either.

8. Black water drain valve seeping. They fixed this.

9. Generator exhaust pipe rattles. No fix, it's installed properly.

10. Loud clunking sound upon acceleration or braking under rear end.
Official response on the work sheet was "drove 30 miles, no unusual
noises heard". I suspect it's actually just the suspension, but would
like that confirmed. I can find no loose bolts or brackets anyplace. The
other explanation may be the splined end of the driveshaft needs lube
and that's a GM thing. Of course there isn't a GM dealer here who will
take it in the shop.

11. Night shade over dinette has always been crooked and they've tried
in the past to get it aligned. This time they ordered a new shade and
called this morning to say it's in and set up an appointment to replace
it next week.

I did the transmission filter change during the trip since we would be
going over the 5000 mile mark. That was no big deal to do myself.

Since getting it serviced is a nightmare because nobody will do it, I
have done the oil changes myself. I did the first one when I got it home
from the dealer in GA because although it only had 1400 miles on it, it
had been in the pan for several months since production. I did the next
one right before we left on our trip and changed over to Mobil 1
synthetic. I have changed it since we got back. I know you can go more
than 5000 miles on it, but it just felt better to do it since it had
been over the Rockies, etc.

The dealer told me when I took it in he couldn't even look at it for 7 -
10 days because he was scheduled so heavily with recalls. He called two
weeks later to say it was ready to pick up. Since he told me up front it
would sit for so long if I brought it in, I can't complain about it
being there for two weeks. Their service department has always been my
problem with them, but it seems David has made some changes there and
things have improved.

So, there you have it. My experience is FAR better than most it seems. I
still have some things to work out, but nothing serious....I think. I've
been out for a week once since the trip out west and everything went
fine so that was nice. I need to check out the bolt/motor situation that
Don mentioned so I can avert any problems there.

All that being said, I am giving serious consideration to selling the
unit. Not because of maintenance problems since they've been handled
okay, but because for whatever reason, I don't seem to relax and enjoy
this as much as I have my trailers. This leads to what I would do
next.......I don't know. I can't just go out and buy a new truck and
fifth wheel or trailer and I don't know that I'm ready to quit doing the
RV thing after all these years, but economics are a harsh reality too.

Take care,
Greg

Re: My story this time

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 1473
Greg, This may be one of those "small world" moments. You said in your
post that you got your rig in GA and then you mentioned speaking
to "David". Well I'm in North GA and the owner of my local dealership
is David. I don't know if there is any forum convention against naming
specific dealers but do you recon we've got the same dealer? If that's
the case I'm sorry I missed you when you came down from way up there in
NC to pick up your rig.

Bill

Re: My story this time

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 1476
Hi Bill

Quote
This may be one of those "small world" moments. You said in your
post that you got your rig in GA and then you mentioned speaking
to "David". Well I'm in North GA and the owner of my local dealership
is David.

I don't know of any rule that says we can't name names, etc. It's up to
the list owner as far as I know. Since we're not trashing anyone I don't
see a problem.

Actually the David I spoke of is my local dealer in Clayton, NC just
outside of Raleigh. He owns Camptown RV and I've bought a couple of
trailers from him in the past. When I was looking for a new 32SS he was
going to order it for me until he was told they were all allocated and
wouldn't be making any more. I asked him if he could do what car dealers
did and go find me one from another dealer. He said they really didn't
do things like that but he'd see what he could find out and if I found
one to let him know where it was. I got online and searched and found
exactly what I was looking for at Crown RV in Conyers, GA. I don't know
the dealers name, but David Ross (my dealer) knew him and said they had
recently been at a conference together so he'd give him a call. They
negotiated something between them and met my price with the agreement
that I'd go pick it up in GA so he didn't have to pay a man to go down
to get it.

I actually found a couple around the country I was willing to go check
on so I was glad the one in GA worked out okay. We did the PDI there
which turned into a bit of a nightmare, but in the end it all got worked
out.

Quote
the case I'm sorry I missed you when you came down from way up there in
NC to pick up your rig.

Maybe next time :-) We want to get back down to Elijah Clark State Park.
We stayed there on the way home and loved it.

Take care,
Greg

Re: My story this time

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 1479
Don wrote:

Quote
can't help get the feeling that you'd like to line up the senior
management of these companies in front of a firing squad.

Or at least make them own their product for a year....pretty much the
same thing.

Quote
The key point is that this problem runs throughout the entire industry.

A sad commentary :-(

Quote
with the Jayco are fewer and generally less serious - but then there is
much less MH with the Jayco and far fewer things to go wrong.

That's true and one of the things that makes me temper by desire for a
class A. Of course at this point my desire to have a motorhome is in
question anyway. I do enjoy the ease of using it, setting up, etc, but
the service side of it is worrisome.

Quote
I'm not nuts about the price I told him we'd want (but it is probably
very fair frankly) and the question is what would we do next, if
anything.

That is our question if we decide to sell ours.

Quote
Our dealer has a Winnie View and with the increased CCC for
2008 it would meet our needs.

We looked at one of these a month ago and really loved it, but it's not
feasible for us. It really had everything we wanted though....except I
didn't realize what price range I was looking at....oops. I will say
that the dealer is VERY anxious to make a deal though :-)

Quote
We'd have to switch DW's Equinox for something like an HHR that is
much lighter (and much more efficient).

How much does the Equinox weigh? My little Vue is 4000 lbs.

Quote
On the other hand the floorplan of the 32SS is to our liking

That's what we keep bumping up against every time I claim I'm going to
get rid of it. We love the floorplan and there are only two of us so it
works great. When I do have it at the house it also fits on the pad next
to the house where I have the hookups. Of course we can only have it
here for 48 hours on each side of a trip, but anything bigger won't fit.

Quote
(7.4 MPG), handles reasonably well, seems to behave well in heavy winds,
and so on.

Our trip out west really tested the drivability and I have to say I was
happy with it. We bucked winds up to 55 mph and I still don't see the
need to add thousands of dollars in chassis upgrades.

Quote
On the other leg (I've run out of hands), I keep wondering what is under
the skin and what else could go wrong given everything I'm seeing and
reading about these days.

Yup, I know the feeling. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't read anything
online and just go on ignorance is bliss. I met a guy in Utah during our
trip with a 32SS and he knew nothing of any of the things I mentioned
from the forums. He just didn't care and said he'd use it and fix it
when it needed it. I will also add his rig looked like hell.

Quote
I also realized I should be very PO'd with Jayco's Help Desk.

I can't believe they haven't called back all week. What if the slides
hadn't come in and you were stuck somewhere? Geez :-(

Quote
Of course we are straddling two closing dates and I now have two homes
to look after (two pools, two lawns, yada yada) and a move to arrange.

Boy oh boy, I'll bet you will be glad when this summer is over. What a
plate full of stuff to deal with.

Take care,
Greg

Re: My story this time

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 1480
Greg, I have to say that I probably feel more comfortable driving this one than the previous 3 - maybe because it is smaller and more like a truck/SUV. I will say though, the Ambassador and the Journey were very nice on the Interstates and when parked they sure had a lot of room - particularly the 40 ft 10 inch Ambassador with den. On the other hand, stopping for gas was something that we found had to be planned very carefully and with the Ambassador in 21 months we never fueled at other than a Flying J.

The View IS very expensive for its size and MUCH more so in Canada (list is $125K but dealer will sell this one for $89k - which is a bit more realistic). It does not get "made in the US" tax treatment as the Sprinter is made in Germany, knocked down, and then reassembled at Gaffney. Our Equinox is not towable - AWD so won't even go on a dolly. The View tow limit is 3500 lbs so your Vue won't work either. When the view first came out I monitored the Yahoo View/Navion forum.

The drag fellow wants to come out and see it but frankly I"m inclined to tell him to forget it - but then when working on the slide problem and checking the wiring behind the dresser drawers I see all kind of daylight and then start to wonder.

Yes, I'll be happy when this summer is over. If we had to move this week and I hadn't been able to get the slides in, I'd have been in a real pickle.

Don


On 25-Jul-08, at 9:11 PM, Greg Gimlick wrote:

Re: My story this time

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 1482
Don

Quote
I have to say that I probably feel more comfortable driving this
one than the previous 3 - maybe because it is smaller and more like a
truck/SUV.

It does drive good although I was so comfortable hauling trailers behind
the crewcab that I still don't relax as much driving this as I did with
the trailers....weird.

Quote
stopping for gas was something that we found had to be planned very
carefully and with the Ambassador in 21 months we never fueled at other
than a Flying J.

I've never traveled in a 40 footer so I don't know what that's like in a
gas station, but I can see just from the Greyhawk and toad that it would
take planning. At least my truck and trailer bend in the middle and I
could back them up :-)

Quote
The View IS very expensive for its size and MUCH more so in Canada (list
is $125K but dealer will sell this one for $89k -

I'm an idiot....I misspoke when I said the View, I was looking at a Tour
which is way over these prices :-) Don't know how I got the names mixed
up. My wife and I still fantasize about taking a year and going full
time before we get past the point of feeling it's a reasonable feat. The
class A gives us the laundry, etc we would want. The other choice is go
back to a trailer, but this time do a 5th wheel so we'd have the living
room we want.

Quote
The drag fellow wants to come out and see it but frankly I"m inclined to
tell him to forget it -

I don't know what I'd do if I had a willing buyer. I'd have to give it a
lot of thought.

Quote
checking the wiring behind the dresser drawers I see all kind of
daylight and then start to wonder.

You mean you haven't gotten the spray foam out and filled those holes? ;-)

Quote
Yes, I'll be happy when this summer is over.

Soon I hope for your sake, then you can get on with relaxing :-)

Take care,
Greg

Re: My story this time

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 1484
, Greg Gimlick
wrote:
Quote
Maybe next time :-) We want to get back down to Elijah Clark State
Park. We stayed there on the way home and loved it.

Hey Greg,

Guess it was a long shot. Our dealer is, are you ready for
this... "Wild Willy's RV's". If you need an alternative to Crown then
it might be something to consider for future reference. The
dealership is in Dahlonega and Jayco is the only brand they sell. I
don't know if it's any closer for you or not.

They have a really nice, new and quite large, facility. I've been
treated courteously in all my visits and the people seem competent.
HOWEVER... my only real complaint is that they seem to have too much
of "that industry attitude" we're all too familiar with. Alas... that
of course gets back to management. So if you educate yourself, stay
on top of them and are ready with the right questions and not willing
to accept the "standard" answers then it works out OK. They are very
close-by so for the rest of the warranty period I'll continue to deal
with them. When the warranty is up and everything is on my nickle,
I'll be dealing strictly with Camping World which is about 25 miles
away. They're certainly not perfect but are a more "known quantity"
to me.

Bill

Re: My story this time

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 1485
Hey Bill,

I Guess it was't too long of a long shot. I also bought our 2008
Greyhawk 33DS from "Wild Willy's RV's in Dahlonega. It was one of the
last ones Jayco made. I ordered it in June of 2007 & picked it up the
middle of September.I've only put about 4,000 miles on so far, but my
wife & I both love it. So far, no major problems.

I'm at Holiday Trav-L-Park in Chattanooga, for a couple more days,
before heading home to Hiawassee Ga.

Bill, what part of North Georgia do you live in?

I also want to thank all you guys, for your posts..... I've learned
so much.

David

, "berfle624"
wrote:
Quote
, Greg Gimlick
wrote:

Maybe next time :-) We want to get back down to Elijah Clark
State Park. We stayed there on the way home and loved it.

Hey Greg,

Guess it was a long shot. Our dealer is, are you ready for
this... "Wild Willy's RV's". If you need an alternative to Crown
then it might be something to consider for future reference. The
dealership is in Dahlonega and Jayco is the only brand they sell. I
don't know if it's any closer for you or not.

They have a really nice, new and quite large, facility. I've been
treated courteously in all my visits and the people seem competent.
HOWEVER... my only real complaint is that they seem to have too
much of "that industry attitude" we're all too familiar with. Alas...
that of course gets back to management. So if you educate yourself, stay
on top of them and are ready with the right questions and not
willing to accept the "standard" answers then it works out OK. They are
very close-by so for the rest of the warranty period I'll continue to
deal

Re: My story this time

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 1486
, "dflondon"  wrote:
Quote
Hey Bill,

I Guess it was't too long of a long shot. I also bought our 2008
Greyhawk 33DS from "Wild Willy's RV's in Dahlonega. It was one of the
last ones Jayco made.
Hey Neighbor,
We're just a few miles from the dealership in dahlonega. We've only had the opportunity for one trip since we picked up our 33DS last Dec. Family health issues have kept us mostly homebound so our odometer still reads pretty low (2,100 mi). We love the floorplan and like you, we've had no major problems (knock on wood)... a great many less-than-major issues however. Have you had your coach in for chassis service yet & if so did you take it to Hardy Chev in Gainesville?
Hiawassee and actually all of Towns Co. is beautiful country. We get up to Young Harris several times a year so are quite familiar with the area. Good to know there's some fellow Kodiak/Greyhawk'ers in the area.
Bill