Jayco caravans. I am looking for a new caravan has anyone heard anything bad about the jayco range

tree51, Mar 26, 3:40am
I am looking for a new caravan. Has anyone heard anything bad about the jayco range!
wombletomble, Mar 26, 4:08am
only the white ones with tow ball couplings attached to them.
cuda.340, Mar 26, 4:10am
jayco's are pretty cool. i've looked at their yard in Takanini. out of my price range tho
tree51, Mar 26, 4:12am
Gee that helped.
gimmeyourshit1, Mar 26, 4:15am
this guy is a douche,dont play his lame game
motorboy2011, Mar 26, 5:12am
Think thats what the in-laws have, single axle, not sure on the exact size, no shower/toilet. Dont think they have had any probs, they lived in it for a few months after the quakes here. selling it now though as they got a camper van
matarautrader, Mar 26, 5:31am
Jayco caravans usually have a good name. Just check caravan weight and what your vehicle is allowed to tow. I think that a Starcraft would be in the vicinity of 1650kg empty. Fill the tanks, put in food, clothing, gas in gas tank etc and it isn't hard to add another 400kg. Apart from the imported used English caravans other brands like Bailey, Swift, Jurgens to name a few are available new in NZ. We have a English caravan that we are very happy with. Weighs 1050kg empty so easy to tow.
tree51, Mar 26, 5:49am
Cheers for that. I like the fact that they look like I could tow it 20km over a gravel road. (the reality is that I would only do that once a year). The european ones look like they should be kept on a highway.Newerkiwi vans look very 70s. My main concern is water proofness
Tow weight is the least of my concerns.
matarautrader, Mar 26, 6:04am
Have a look at this thread. Its a bit scary with what we would think would be good caravans with water problems.
http://www.caravanersforum.com/viewtopic.php!f=2&t=12286
tree51, Mar 26, 6:42am
I have owned caravans for years. That makes me never want to own another one.
bigfatmat1, Mar 26, 6:57am
English ones have a poor chassis for nz roads several cases of the sides fallen off ect. if you look underneath you will see there is little support compared to a ausie one.
matarautrader, Mar 26, 7:04am
We have had an English caravan for the last year. Its given us no problems at all. It is very lightweight with staples being used more than screws but it has held together well. The Alko chassis is much lighter than the Australian type chassis but seems adequete for the job but its a tarseal caravan rather than a 4 x 4 track caravan. It has every feature we could wish for and has been great for us. We only get away on weekends and some holidays but have managed 25 nights over the past year.
gedo1, Mar 26, 7:16am
The Jaycos are an excellent caravan and you will find one to suit you among their range.By the way, we have had 2 English caravans and know of many who also have them and have heard on no problems when they are used on normal NZ roads. They are designed to be used in the UK and the rest of Europe and as the conditions are so similar to NZ they are ideal.As for the claim that they fall apart I rang a friend in England to ask if he had heard of that happening and he was emphatic that he had not.He actually inspects caravans of all makes for a professional motoring organisation over there so I trust his knowledge.So then I rang a local caravan broker in NZ and asked the same question and he simply laughed and said he'd love to hear of any 'vans which have suffered that fate because in 7 years of dealing with caravans he had never heard of them suffering that fate.He asked if I had seen a Motorway Police episode recently where one was shown after it was hit on the Auckland motorway by another vehicle and tipped over.He then asked if that had fallen apart - I have to say it definitely had not!So, bigfatmat, any actual factual evidence of their fragility you can give (as you claim) when they are normally used would be of benefit in making a decision because we are considering buying a one model in the next six months.
gedo1, Mar 26, 7:22am
Incidentally the Alko chassis is used on a number of Australian built caravans - admittedly not their off road type ones so the idea can't be too bad, huh!We have caravanned in Australia each year for the last 4 years and have inspected plenty caravans etc by attending their trade shows.All types of constructions including English and European brand caravans as well as the Aussie bush basher types.Caravanning is big time over there and the Jayco is very well regarded.
gmphil, Mar 26, 7:30am
I get my gas fulled their nice caravans i always hav anosey when their guys a polite in helpfull
bigfatmat1, Mar 26, 7:49am
word of mouth I deal with alot of caravansin my job as a auto electrician I do work for several large companies so common complaints is what I have stated. My father who works for the AA as a roadside officer attended a english caravan in dunsandal for a flat tyre the inside of the caravan and side had dropped off theframe and rubbed through tyre it also demolished the sink. I am sceptical about claims but after lying under a few different types have vans I can clearly see why this could happen in the design of the chassis. Also something I have noticed in english vans is very untidy and uneccessary wiring as well as lack of water pumps and tanks in brand new english ones. Battery chargers are also underated if you want to fit a batt larger than 80ah. These are also normally combined into fuse panel and control units.
bigfatmat1, Mar 26, 7:53am
I would reccommend researching these claims more and factor in where you are towing it. Apart from that. I also notice that english vans are very well insulated compared to australian vans. A couple of the top of the line english vans I have been installing water tanks pumps and chargers into lately also have central heating units I would imagine these would be nice vans in cold weather. The generally have a better cosmetic finish imo than ausie ones and are not as bland and boring.
motorboy2011, Mar 26, 7:56am
australian ones are less insulated dute to the ozzy heat, they also tend to have smaller windows for the same reason
matarautrader, Mar 26, 7:56am
I was unaware until last week that English caravans fitted with a Alko hitch should be using the correct towball. The Alko stabilising hitch ( the ones with the red handle) operate by clamping the towball. This means that they can effectively undo the ball. An extended 50mm towball is available that locks onto the drawbar to stop rotary movement of the ball. This iste explains ithttp://www.alko.com.au/uploads/2009/09/TechnicalBulletin-AKSCouplingTowball0805.pdf
bigfatmat1, Mar 26, 8:03am
All very well in saying the alko chassis is on aussie vans Its how the van is attached to that chasis is where problems could begin jump under one next time have a noisey you will notice that bassically its a a square of 50x50rhs that supports the body no bracing.