Jayco Seneca discontinued

[Nedra]

I was surprised to see that Jayco has discontinued the Seneda HD with the 2011 models.

Some of the other manufacturers have switched to International but I guess Jayco opted to discontinue it and just stick with the higher end 39 ft Embark. It makes no sense to me to discontinue a great smaller sized Super C and just stick with the large coach.

The Seneca has been a great coach and how many people want to buy a 39 ft Class C starting at $239,000????

Nedra

[The Shadow]

Originally Posted by Nedra

I was surprised to see that Jayco has discontinued the Seneda HD with the 2011 models.

Some of the other manufacturers have switched to International but I guess Jayco opted to discontinue it and just stick with the higher end 39 ft Embark. It makes no sense to me to discontinue a great smaller sized Super C and just stick with the large coach.

The Seneca has been a great coach and how many people want to buy a 39 ft Class C starting at $239,000????

Nedra

Not the case. The next Seneca will have a Freightliner chassis and Cummins ISB. The Kodiak Rally in July included a session with Jayco and they had the chassis for us to examine.

Don't forget - Jayco next to owned the Kodiak market selling 800 to 900 units per year.

As per the other thread - yes, it would be nice if all manufacturers would use their products - and I don't mean an overnighter - I mean for several weeks at a time. Sure might influence their design and quality of their construction.

[Nedra]

Originally Posted by The Shadow

Not the case. The next Seneca will have a Freightliner chassis and Cummins ISB. The Kodiak Rally in July included a session with Jayco and they had the chassis for us to examine.

Don't forget - Jayco next to owned the Kodiak market selling 800 to 900 units per year.

As per the other thread - yes, it would be nice if all manufacturers would use their products - and I don't mean an overnighter - I mean for several weeks at a time. Sure might influence their design and quality of their construction.

Hi Don, yes I found out after I posted that. I was told it would be out in Nov or Dec. I will be interested to see what it's like on the Freighliner and the pricing.

I totally agree that they should use them. Gosh, I Monaco had ever driven their coaches perhaps they would have been a better quality without so many problems.

Nedra

[Poindexture]

When we visited the factory in late June, one of the lead engineers told us that Jayco was also changing the look of the Seneca to be more streamlined, like a big brother to the Melbourne.

[The Shadow]

Nedra, from memory of the slides show in the presentation - GVWR about 24,000, GCWR 36,000 lbs.

Question for you. How well does your Flex tow?

Don

[Nedra]

Poindexture it will be very interesting to see what they do with it and how it compares price wise to the old Seneca and to the Embark which starts at $235,000.

Don, the Flext is great. We hardly know it's back there. Easy to hoolup and get ready....basically just put it in neutral and turn it off. We've had a CRV and a Suzuki XL-7 and we like this better. Plus the car rides like a limo.

Nedra

[The Shadow]

Originally Posted by Nedra

Poindexture it will be very interesting to see what they do with it and how it compares price wise to the old Seneca and to the Embark which starts at $235,000.

Don, the Flext is great. We hardly know it's back there. Easy to hoolup and get ready....basically just put it in neutral and turn it off. We've had a CRV and a Suzuki XL-7 and we like this better. Plus the car rides like a limo.

Nedra

Look for a price increase of about $15,000 for the Seneca.

Just neutral and turn off? Does it record mileage? Do you have to pull a fuse?

My Tahoe tows well - put transfer case in N and then transmission in P and take the key out and lock the door.

Don

[Nedra]

Originally Posted by The Shadow

Look for a price increase of about $15,000 for the Seneca.

Just neutral and turn off? Does it record mileage? Do you have to pull a fuse?

My Tahoe tows well - put transfer case in N and then transmission in P and take the key out and lock the door.

Don

THAT'S IT, just put in neutral and turn off nothing else. If it's in neutral it's not going to record mileage.

[The Shadow]

Can you remove the key from the ignition?

I noticed on one site (either FMCA or Escapees) they were reporting a lot of burned out transmissions in Ford products. Hopefully Ford has that corrected.

How easy was it to install the baseplates?

Don

[Nedra]

Originally Posted by The Shadow

Can you remove the key from the ignition?

I noticed on one site (either FMCA or Escapees) they were reporting a lot of burned out transmissions in Ford products. Hopefully Ford has that corrected.

How easy was it to install the baseplates?

Don

I think the key only comes out if you turn it off. Only the Suzuki we had the key came out. We always have a spare key so we can lock the door anyway. At night when we park we take the key out and lock the door so there's no problem since we have to start the car anyway before we travel for the day.

I'm not sure what a lot is. I think there have been a couple from what the dealer told us but I don't consider a couple a lot. We had some concerns over a burning smell but they never could find anything. No codes showed up and their tech support at Ford said there has only been 2 problems and neither were related to towing so I am not sure where this information came from you mentioned. Sometimes you hear about transmissions burning out but it's not related to towing. I know some people who were towing a car we ran into in July had a problem with the transmission and it was a brand new car but I don't think it was a Ford.

Our RV service center installed the base plate but they had to pull the front grill off to do it.

Nedra

[The Shadow]

Originally Posted by Nedra

I think the key only comes out if you turn it off. Only the Suzuki we had the key came out. We always have a spare key so we can lock the door anyway. At night when we park we take the key out and lock the door so there's no problem since we have to start the car anyway before we travel for the day.

I'm not sure what a lot is. I think there have been a couple from what the dealer told us but I don't consider a couple a lot. We had some concerns over a burning smell but they never could find anything. No codes showed up and their tech support at Ford said there has only been 2 problems and neither were related to towing so I am not sure where this information came from you mentioned. Sometimes you hear about transmissions burning out but it's not related to towing. I know some people who were towing a car we ran into in July had a problem with the transmission and it was a brand new car but I don't think it was a Ford.

Our RV service center installed the base plate but they had to pull the front grill off to do it.

Nedra

First, I see you joined our Kodiak group today. Welcome.

By a lot I was not referring just to the Flex. The transmissions used in many Fords (particularly the 6 speed found in the Flex) was designed in a joint project with GM (I still have trouble believing the $1.4 billion cost). Other Ford products with that 6 speed have had problems and isolated sure is not the word to describe them. I've seen a couple of cases of two replacements for the same vehicle.

When I first saw the Flex I scratched my head and wondered how they could let it out the door of the factory. Well, over time it grows on you and now I like it. Interior makes a lot of sense. DW won't go for one though - too long and too wide in her view (not that much off of my Tahoe).

Don

[Nedra]

I guess I've not heard of any problems but I'm not an expert and our dealer said he's checked for problems from Ford and there was nothing so I'm not sure where the information is coming from regarding the Flex problems.

I'd sure like to know where to find that information if you have it. I've checked the FMCA and Escapees forum and found nothing.

Nedra

[The Shadow]

There has been a lot of discussion on the FMCA forums. One fellow with an Escape mentioned that he is on his fourth transmission now. The comment was also made there that the same transmission is in the Edge and MKX. I gather same transmission in the Flex since it is the same power train as the Edge and MkX. There is a service bulletin out on this in case for the Escape - #20836. Part of the problem was calibration of the transmission fluid level and that apparently has been corrected.

I don't think there are many Flex's being towed as I've never seen one and yours is the only one I've heard of. Given its weight is not too bad I'd like to consider it when I replace the Tahoe. We got the gas version of the Kodiak because the diesel with the 22000 GVWR could not handle the Tahoe without exceeding the GCWR if one has a habit of carrying a lot of stuff.

On the Kodiak forum we've had some MS owners report being over the 26,000 GCWR by several hundred pounds and they weren't towing anything close to a Tahoe.

Don

[Nedra]

Originally Posted by The Shadow

There has been a lot of discussion on the FMCA forums. One fellow with an Escape mentioned that he is on his fourth transmission now. The comment was also made there that the same transmission is in the Edge and MKX. I gather same transmission in the Flex since it is the same power train as the Edge and MkX. There is a service bulletin out on this in case for the Escape - #20836. Part of the problem was calibration of the transmission fluid level and that apparently has been corrected.

I don't think there are many Flex's being towed as I've never seen one and yours is the only one I've heard of. Given its weight is not too bad I'd like to consider it when I replace the Tahoe. We got the gas version of the Kodiak because the diesel with the 22000 GVWR could not handle the Tahoe without exceeding the GCWR if one has a habit of carrying a lot of stuff.

On the Kodiak forum we've had some MS owners report being over the 26,000 GCWR by several hundred pounds and they weren't towing anything close to a Tahoe.

Don

We have the Diesel Kodiak and even totally filled with all our stuff for woodcarving and gourd shows and full holding tanks we're still ok with the weight. They all have the same 22000 GVWR but I guess the Tahoe weighs more than the Flex. Part of the problem with the Flex is it has more....big full length slide, extra bath. I have a feeling that once we load our car (the main reason we bought the Flex) with our supplies we are probably very close to the max maybe a little over as well. I didn't realize the Tahoe was about 1100 lbs more than the Flex. That certainly does add on a bit of weight.

Nedra