Thinking about changing from a Starcraft to a Silverline want the extra space & similar size 21.65 . Are there any problems that could/might change my mind. appreciate your comments. Thankyou.

We have met 3 who have had Silverlines who said the finishing off was atrocious. One fellow ended up in hospital with the stress he had trying to get the rig repaired/fixed under warranty. Photos attached showing his bad experience.

My first van was a Jayco although not a Silverline I thought it was a pretty good van. Jayco are very popular and so they have to be doing something right.

I think no matter what you buy there is always the chance of a dud. I would suggest that when you find the van you like then contact one of the motoring groups like NRMA or RACQ and pay someone to do a proper inspection. They know what to look for, have all the gadgets to find leaks or wood rot and you will then know whether it is a worthwhile purchase or not. I had an inspection done on my van before purchase and it was really thorough. I was there during the inspection and the bloke gave me a running commentary on what he was doing, finding and not finding.

Worth the money I reckon.

Maybe he got the last one off the line on a Friday?? When you are the largest manufacturer stands to reason that there will always be the odd lemon. Law of averages.

My Jayco was purchased new in 1999

I have traveled >150,000km in it, all bitumen, with no major issues except normal wear & tear & the multiple dings that I have inflicted.

Of course it is not a Silverline or manufactured in today's conditions.

As has been previously stated, with the volume manufactured by this long established manufacturer, there has got to be the occasional dud.

Jayco have maintained their dominant market position over a very long time mainly because of the reasonable quality & price of their product.  Sure they are not the best on the market but neither are they the dearest .. a long way from it the last time I looked.

It is important that you have it thoroughly inspected by an appropriately qualified person.

It'll be a sad day, that is fast approaching, when we have to sell it.

Although I have had my problems with my 21 footer slide-out Outback. I have only had one major problem -
and I blame myself for buying the first run in 2014.

The ridge capping right around the top had insufficient sealant and water intrusion was an immediate
problem. Seems the unsupervised monkeys only put enough sealant in the coveing to stick it in place
rather than create a full seal - it would take in my estimation 20-24 tubes of silastic. I reckon they did
it with a dozen.

They offered to re-do it but I preferred to do it myself - I would know that it was right.

A couple of rolls of Eterna tape (now available from Bunnings) carefully applied to the inner perimeter
of the coving on to pof the van and a liberal squirt of Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Seal applied upside down
to the under seal of the coving has been an interesting exercise and 100% efficient - thats about 8
years ago.

Always something to fix-fiddle with-improve, but that's my hobby.

By-the-way, Captain Tolleys is a UK product that is like milk - when applied to a small gap, split or crack
uses capilliary action to run uphill and into crevices, cracks, & splits, poor seals to effect a permanent
seal. It dries to a silastic-like rubber band that so far is unaffected by time. Water soluble but bloody difficult
to remove if you let it dribble and dry.

I used to be (amongst other things) in partnership in the marine boats business - and we went thru gallons
of the stuff. Every window of every boat and every bolt-hole in a boat would leak after a short time
due I reckon to salt water sneaking into the tiniest orifice, drying and the crystals slowly accumulated
and forced the crack larger.

BUY HERE - BRODY!

It's an interesting video demonstration how it works. Half the price From Amazon if you want some rather
than direct from Tolley. (Or used to be).

No i don't sell the stuff but getting in before the pundits!!

B

Hang on - forgot the reason for my prattle!

I have had 3 Jayco trailers, Poptop, a 19 footer, now 21 slide-out Outback.

The most recent van was some $30,000 less than the same size and configuration in
another brand - the alternative was definitely better constructed in some ways - and
would have been a nicer flashier set-up.

But I took the attitude that I could fix a lot of things with that amount of money, and
build options into the Jayco to personalise the van to the standards and conveniences
that the Bride demanded.

I pot a German diesel heater, custom made lockable toolbox on drawbar, 5 more boxes
underslung in positions that does not interfere with either ground or entry-exit clearances,
a 38" 4K tv on wall opposite foot of bed and slung it so that there's little or no transmittal
of shock to it, and removable in 20 seconds if i want to see between my feet outside.

Had to do this - love it now, but the Bride watches **** and I want to see the footy and etc!!

Upgraded to Lithium and 4 solar on roof, Best hitch ever made, underbed freezer with
remote temp control, and when the fridge started to give trouble a nice new upgraded
model - and phone booster and etc, etc.

Still MILES in front Financially - especially when sell time comes. If you want a Mercedes,

spend the extra, but resale time will demonstrate a lesser % loss on the more mainstream

Jayco.

You get less - you pay less - if you're not a fiddle nut you can take the attitude that
the money saved will fix a lot of faults that may only exhibit as the years roll on.

And most of the stuff in the van is the same as whats in other vans from largely the
same suppliers originally. And bits and peices and service available everywhere. Nice
to know when you are on safari - we had a window left unlocked when in the outback -
blew out travelling -the dealer had a new one overnight and had it installed by noon next day.

My 2-bobs worth,

B

Let's be honest - not 2 b, maybe 2 quid.

-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Monday 6th of May 2024 01:25:54 PM

Hi,

I have had my Jayco Silverline Outback since it was new in 2016 and this is a fantastic van, I have added extra tanks & upgraded to 3.8t GVM and it tows like a dream with no Sway or weight bars required, whatever people want to call them nowadays.

Every park you pull into most times there is 2 or even 3 to 1 with Jayco standing out, the Internal finish is great also and there is so much storage you can't fill it, mine came with solar and also the Sat dish which they don't come with nowadays.

Also, I looked to upgrade and looked at many models before deciding on the Motorhome, Jayco is way cheaper than anything of this size and comfort. like 10s of thousands of dollars and the more expensive does not mean better.

By the way, this van is now for sale if you're looking and it's in SA now. Due to buying a motorhome otherwise would not sell it.

Hi Jeepnudger

Have a 2017 Silverline with single slideout - we  bought it in 2019 and still have it ( the original owner kept it in perfect condition ) and never have had any problems with all our  extensive travel - so much so that we havent given a thought to upgading

Previous to that we had a 2014 starcraft  which we kept for a short while ( again the  the original owner kept it in perfect condition ) never any problems with it -only sold it as was a bit too small for us 

Previous to that we had a 2012 25ft Sterling with slide out  (again  the original owner kept it in perfect condition ) never has any problems with it except for a diesel heater we put in ( had nothing to do with Jayco or the van)

my better and smarter half would never buy a new van ( even though we could have ) as they all have problems when they come off the showroom

The 1 constant in all our van purchasers were with  all 3  vans was they  were  at least 2 years old and we took  as much attention of the owners selling as we did the  caravan 

Our reasoning was if the owners , their car and their property was immaculate  then you would find any little problem that arose in the van they would have  fixed - maybe we were just lucky

Good Luck Sir Alvisar

Its a long time since I was on this forum for various reasons but has nothing to do with the forum or owners etc.          It is a good and decent means of communicating to like minded travellers and long may it continue!

Anyway my response to the Jayco/Silverline/complaints/issues - I am thinking of upgrading to a Silverline but currently, I own a 2012 Sterling Outback which we bought new in June of that year.            I can only offer praise to Jayco and even though there were many warranty issues, they were ultimately resolved by Watsons of Coffs Harbour (great people BTW) and everything was fixed satisfactorily - no drama no unhappiness etc.             During the past 12 years, I have managed to discover many little production faults but because of my carpentry skills, I fixed them myself.

On the day of pickup, we collected it from the factory in Dandenong (previously arranged) where we were given an impressive factory tour.     Perhaps it was luck but the stand-in host that day was the National Service Manager with whom I struck a friendly rapport.    

Irrespective, and as an ex-tradie, I noted a lot that was going on.         Jayco's factory and production line is something to see, but..............the problems as I saw them, concerned me insofar as it was the quality of the workers who raised my interest.        In the main, the assembly line workers were immigrants - nothing wrong with that either, but it was the manner under which they were working.          These people were from places like Africa, Asia, the Middle East but there was a supervisor standing by always to keep a watch out.      Given the massive quantity being shoved through the sysyem it ws obvious to me that there had to be problems later on, because the supervisor could not watch everyone at once and because of it being an assembly line, it kept moving and there was no time for a really close scrutiny.          There were issues I noted but kept my own counsel however it was the actions of these immigrant non trades people that got me wondering - they were as rough as guts with every action and treated their tools with total disregard.         There-in was the problem as I saw it - pay peanuts get...........etc?

Maurie Prior