Jayco and Coromal evaluation

He Dennis, we have a Jayco Westport and it is great, we have taken it out on rough corrugations and it held together although we got a lot of dust in it but have overcome that problem, however in saying that the later Jaycos I hear (a friend of ours bought a 23'Heritage) have a lot of problems so we would not trade ours in for a new one. The Coromal, from what we hear fair a little better than the Jaycos but they still have their problems.

All in all we would not swap our Westport for any new models. Good luck with your choice.

Just my opinion

Cheers

D

G'day Dennis,

We recently started a similar process with a view to moving from a camper trailer to a poptop off road caravan. It depends what you want to use the van for. For us, the Coromal was in the mix because of what seemmed to us to be its superior (to the Jayco) suspension, and more good stories than bad.

We are not experienced caravanners.

Good Luck

John & Vicki

HI Dennis,

My comment doesn't answer your specific question but perhaps its worth considering a few other brands.
A few years ago we were in the same position - looking for a good quality built on road van. At about that time I met a retired gentleman in a caravan park who had been caravanning for years and had owned many different vans. He said he had researched them inside out and found the top three brands were Baroma, Future Systems and Evernew. I think all three of these are low volume manufacturers but appear to build very high quality vans. I have no idea if he is correct or not but we decided to buy a second hand Evernew and have been very happy with it. They are a very solid van but with a ATM of 2,700 kg (23 ft). We are in Queensland but Evernew is built in Victoria (I think). I don't think you need to live necessarily where they are manufactured.
Anyhow, for what its worth I thought I'd post ny humble opinion,
Cheers and happy touring in whatever you get,
Glen

In 2004 we brought a Coromal Princeston 540 and are very happy with it having had no probelms at all. We looked at both vans but thought the Coromal was finished better. It's very much the Holden Vs Ford war
One tip if you can wait till March and buy from the the Caravan show the dealers seem very keen to sell as many units as possible so the price is right and if you need it built special they have slots so you get the van earlier than just ordering now. Ours was the van on display at the 2004 show .

Bought our 535 (17'8'')tandem axle Coromal pop top second hand about 18 months ago when it was just under two years old. We are not experienced caravanners but did a 16000km trip last year and we could not fault it. Have only used it for a week or so each two or three month since but we are still very happy with it. Van slipped sideways slightly travelling around a corner in Sydney. Didn't think about it again until I checked the tyres about 1500km later and found one completely flat, with a large nail through it. Seems we travelled those 1500km on three tyres and it didn't effect the handling at all, except when I reckon it first went flat.
The lower end Jayco and Coromal vans may not have all the bells and whistles of the top brands but at less than half the price they are really good value.
Just be careful with the plated tare of the Coromals, seems they are usually considerably heavier when you actually weigh them.

Ken D
Brisbane

Hi
I've had a few vans over the years but my latest Coromal Princeton 701 beats them all in suspension, fit, finish and overall style and quality of build.
Before I bought the Coromal new in 2005 I had looked at some Jaycos, but they are just so ordinary. I traded an 18ft Compass and thought I might go Roadstar but the quality is not there neither is the value for money. I reckon go for the Coromal quality (the aluminium frame is a plus as well). I'm about to take it on the big lap in April, see you on the road! Tony Jones

Thanks to all for responding to my query regarding Jayco Vans.
I also talked to a Jayco owner who has just purchased his 3rd Jayco.
He said that as an onroad van they were good value for money.
I purchased the new Fibre Glass 23’9”. Jayco Sterling.
They seem to be very tough.
Jayco had a photo of one of these, that had rolled on its side down an embankment and it seemed to have survived remarkably well.