Rusty , Thanks for your consideration ...
The roof did not leak before the limb incident ... That was good ... I suspect the dealers repairs were flawed in some way , but there's no way he'd admit to that ...
The dealer explained nothing to us about the differences... We asked him many questions and told him our needs before the sale, to which he replied ..."it will be just fine for all your needs "
We told him it would be sitting outside in our driveway , and asked him what we should do to maintain it .... He smilingly pointed to all the other trailers on the lot and said they do just fine outside , and all you have to do is keep it washed and waxed. Which we have diligently done ...
The driveway is situated far away from the nearest trees , it was a windblown (storm) limb that did the damage ...just a freak event... We were told we didn't need a cover or garage ... (dealer)
The dealer is obviously the biggest culprit for his less than truthful salesmanship , but I blame Jayco for poor design ... I'd have rather the weight be saved by the exclusion of their 40 lb. folding table , than a paper thin roof ... just a thin sheet of something substantial , like aluminum , properly designed would have prevented all these problems .. Plus little things like having the water heater/ electrical system under the bed... Makes me kinda' Nervous...
Now Rusty, I'm as OLD as you are , been camping for years , mostly in my own van conversions, homemade TD ... Just thinking Of all the campers I've had , this one was the the worst design ... Sure is CUTE , with lots of eye appeal , but something that costs as much as a car , should hold up a little better IMHO ... I'd hate to think of some young couple ending up with a mess like this.. definitely a budget breaker...
Worse, now my dealer suggests since the trailer is out of warranty , I should have the roof re-sealed once a year ... for only 1200USD
... never mentioned that before... Being retired , I'm not made of money ... Gotta' get the best value for my finite time here... Planning on a Cargo conversion ... All metal, and friends who use them daily report no problems ... all live outside ... as do the many thousands of other trailers do , after Katrina...