Goldstream vs Jayco / Coromal

Hi,
There are some pretty fierce opinions out there about Jayco quality.

Coromal seem to be OK especially their independent suspension. I am not happy with the low roofline and the poptop because it takes away the cupboards that other poptops place round the roofline.

You need to compare internal features when buying as well as the physical build. You have to live in the van so it should be comfy and practical.

Oh yes. The doorway in the Coromal is low due to the roofline so if you are bit taller than most your head will get some re-shaping.

Bill

Hi,

You are right the finish on the Goldstream is better (but then again its dearer so it should be better). Also you right about the internal walls, they also suffer with offroad tracks, but I guess it depends where you intend on taking it?

As Bill said the door is lower on the Coromal, and actually on last years models both the Coromal and the Glodstream had the bottom of there door or step lower than the Jayco, so that part was also ready for some re-shaping.

Personally I would go the Jayco, and if you want the prettier moulded finish, just get a cabinet maker to do some beadings to finish off the cupboard doors etc. I would also go over the Jayco as i did with mine and check for loose screws and nuts etc, but the saving was well worth the weekends work making it offroad ready..l

hi

sorry can't answer your question about the timber deteriation, but i bought a goldstream storm rl last year after spending at least 12 months looking into it.
Be careful of clauses in the other models that don't cover you for certain roads you travel on and being from the NT, this consists of a large number of those.
Been on several trips in it and love it best money i ever spent and for price dearer than jayco, but pretty much same as coromal just have to talk to the right dealers.

Sorry I could answer your question about deteriation
Duncan

Hi Bill, Snoopyone,S.A Blaze, Bruce and Duncan...

Thank you for all your valuable information I will be sharing this with my Husband and deliberating on what to do next.

The down side to living in the NT is that we cant just jump in the car and go caravan shopping and comparing..... as we only have two outlets here , one is Coromal and the other is Jayco, and they don't stock any new versons of pop tops. So any further information that can be shared is a bonus for us.

Thanks again and enjoy the outdoors !!!!

Jo

When you say 'pop-top' do you mean wind-up? Some answers are for pop-tops, not wind-ups which the Storm is. We've got a Goldstream and it's done 30,000+ kms including the GRR and it's still as tight as the day we bought it. Had a problem with the winch at Silent Grove and once we got thru to Goldstream they told us who to take to, paid for the repair and gave it the once over once we were back. Handy that we live nearby but have been impressed with their customer service.

We have a Goldstream Crown 4B since new (2 years now).
It is much the same camper as your Storm without the pop-out ends..and is Goldstreams off-road spec. 6 days after taking delivery of it , it was in Marree...and then contiued on to William Creek...where we based camped while checking out Lake Eyre. Then It was onto Arkaroola...and then Home via Yunta/Broken Hill etc. When we got home ..it was returned to the dealers for service ...and they commented on how well it stood up to the trip...and were a little surprised...as it was only then a month old.
While the roads /tracks it went on were not of canning stock route variety...they were still quite rough and corrugated in places....but then I did travel accordingly.
At the first service..I asked for the axle to be rotated...as I felt it was too low...and I suggest that you look into this. The axle stubs were welded ON TOP of the axle beam from new ....and f I felt they needed to be underneath it . This mod actually has made it easier to tow ...and has calmed down a lot of gravel damage underneath camper as well.
The interior is still like new...no warped/cracked or loose panels and cupboards etc...so I would suggest that the timber frame issue.....from my point of view ...is a furphy. Like all campers there has been a cuppla minor dust ingress issues...but a tube of sikaflex and a few screws/scrap timber has fixed these.
We also looked at jayco when Buying...but decided that the build quality just wasnt there....even tho the Goldstream was slightly dearer.

HTH.

Cheers Keith

Hope all of these replies from everyone has helped you Jo?

I thought I should add one thing, I mentioned the Jayco needed checking and some nuts and bolts replaced, but having said that ours has done the Anne Beadell, Tanami Track, Gibb River Road, Oodnadatta Track and of course places such as the High Country and Flinders Rangers all with no problems after spending that original weekend checking over the the Van.

Just don't dismiss the Jayco because of the few stories you may hear, yes there have been some problems for some owners, but if you think about the fact there are 10 times more Jayco's on the road than any other brand, there will be more stories :-)

Cheers

Hi Jo,

We have the Goldstream Storm and are currently touring OZ,we've probably done 30,000km with it,and have had numerous set ups and set downs in the 8 months we've been travelling, there are plenty of little things that I look at and think, gee they could of done that better, or gee, thats a bit dodgy, but as a whole I reckon it has performed great. We left Darwin 4 days ago, pitty I didn't see your post then, you could of had a look at ours. We have recently completed the Gibb and Mitchell Plateau, and the van stood up very well, ours has the Cruise master suspension, so far I rate it very highly, it seems to handle corrugations very well, just keep the grease up to it. We had a few "teething" issues with ours, and to be honest had ordinary dealings with Goldstream in getting them rectified, but eventually all sorted under warranty. I saw many of the big name off road vans and camper trailers on the Gibb, not many seemed to be without some sort of fault or another, it just seems that the more people pay the less inclined they are to admit to any problems. We also met a couple with a 3 or 4 year old Jayco wind up, the equivalent to our Storm, and they had taken there van "everywhere" Cape York, the Gibb, Birdsville, the Bungles etc, and although it looked a little worse for wear, it had served them fine, we spoke to them at Beagle Bay on the Cape Levique road, and they were heading on up to Cape Levique with there van, so I wont be putting any negative spin on Jaco stuff. I can't help with the deteriorating timber question either, only to say that ours still feels as solid as the day we bought it, heading across the gulf and up to Cape York from Katherine tomorrow, so in another month I'll have even more knowledge on our Storm!

Cheers....Browny