I just learned that Thor Enterprises purchased Jayco in July.   This move of Jayco to Thor shocked and saddened me.  Jayco was family owned up to this point.  I hate to see what the change may mean for the Jayco brand.  Usually when a brand is taken over, all that remains of substance is the name.  The Quality and Service of the purchasing company, in this case Thor, will set the standard for how the old company will now operate.  This probably means nothing good for the Jayco brand.

Jayco currently has a two year warranty on their travel trailers.  In addition,  I have read stories where they have stood behind their product when the unit has been out of warranty for years.  Now that’s great customer service.

After visiting their factory and viewing their film at the beginning of the tour (Generations of Family Fun), I am mystified on why they chose to go this route.  The main theme of the film was that the ownership of the company was moving to the next generation of Bontragers.  Their legacy now will be just like every other travel trailer manufacturer; just part of a conglomerate.

Perhaps it will be able to remain independent with its current management team in place.  However, history teaches us that this is usually not the case.  My experience is that when the motivating factor is stock price then quality goes down.

As I mentioned on our home page,  many private RV manufacturers were bought out during the economic down turn of 2007/2008.  So this is nothing new but it’s still sad to see.

Only time will tell what the change means for Jayco and its customers.  I will make a prediction that the change will not be positive.  I hope they prove me wrong.