1997 Jayco Designer: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 1997 Jayco Designer
On the 1997 Jayco Designer, the failure owners report most often is other body or interior problem, with 4 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 35,000 miles.
The failures owners actually file about
Owners have reported 6 named failure modes on the 1997 Jayco Designer, and the three most-reported carry 71% of everything filed, so the trouble here is concentrated rather than scattered.
Other body or interior problem leads with 4 reports and about 1.0 per 1,000 vehicles.
Tire blowout or tread separation follows with 3 reports.
Other electrical problem follows with 3 reports, median 35,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into wheels (5), body (4) and electrical (3).
The mileage the reports cluster at
Too few of the reports on this year carry an odometer reading to describe the timing: 3 of them do. The mileages quoted elsewhere on this page come from the modes that have enough of them.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
Severity, and what it costs
Nothing in the reports on the 1997 Jayco Designer mentions a crash, a fire or an injury. That is the ordinary case and it is worth stating: most defect complaints are about a car that stopped working, not one that hurt somebody.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 3.64, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: other body or interior problem at $200–$2,000, tire blowout or tread separation at $200–$1,500, other electrical problem at $250–$2,000 and other wheel or tire problem at $200–$1,500. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other body or interior problem | body | 4 | 1 | — | 40k | — | 1.0 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Tire blowout or tread separation | wheels | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.8 | $200–$1,500 | Critical |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 3 | 1 | — | 36k | — | 0.8 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 2 | 1 | — | 17k | — | 0.5 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin | emissions | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $250–$2,000 | High |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $300–$1,800 | High |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 1997 Jayco Designer draws about 3.7 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 81st percentile of complaint rates among 1997 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 3,830 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 1997 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Other body or interior problem
The 6" channel welded across the front of the fifth wheel pin box broke in half causing the trailer to drop.this is the point of attachment of the fifth wheel to the tow vehicle. The channel supports the front part of the king pin box. On removal of the sheet metal under the gooseneck part of the trailer it exposed the channel broke into on the right side of the pin box, the metal on the left side ripped open, the back of the pin box attachment broke loose and metal ripped out. One weld was broken. I have been intouch with jayco but they say it is not their problem. They say that this unit is 13 years old and I will have to repair. The problem is that the metal used for this major stress point is to thin and inferior. The continued flexing of these components cause them to break after time and the result can cause serious injuries to the occupants of the tow vehicle as well as other unsuspecting motorist. Repair of this will only move the flex point to the side of the weld and again after continuous flexing break again. This is a major safety issue and should be handled asap. There is no way of knowing how many units are traveling…
Other electrical problem
Returned to motorhome from dinner with A/C on and found a coach full of smoke. Disconnected all power, traveled 2 days without air in over 100' temps. Brought coach in for repair and found online with goodsams club, 2 recalls for this unit. Nhtsa-- 98v122001. Our VIN # is [xxx]. Notified jayco (29ft. Jayco, class c designer series motorhome) and they said our unit did not fall into that recall. The description of the recall is exactly what happened. The whole coach could have caught on fire. Also, there is another recall--NHTSA camp. Id-97v062000. Please check into this one also. *jb updated 07/19/2012 *js
Recalls on the 1997 model year
NHTSA has issued 5 recall campaigns covering the 1997 Jayco Designer, affecting an estimated 7,142 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover vehicle speed control, structure and electrical system:wiring:fuses and circuit breakers. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
6,285 vehicles 2006-08-30- Defect
- On certain motor homes built on ford chassis, the speed control deactivation switch may overheat.
- Consequence
- Overheating could result in smoke or burning, and in an underhood fire.
- Remedy
- Ford is conducting this recall (please see 06v286) and will install a fused wiring harness into the speed control system free of charge. Owners may contact ford at 1-866-436-7332 or jayco at 1-800-283-8267.
STRUCTURE
12,281 vehicles 2001-08-01- Defect
- Vehicle description: travel and fifth wheel trailers. The fasteners used on the underfloor can either come loose or pull through the underfloor causing portions or all of a section of underfloor to detach from the vehicle.
- Consequence
- If this occurred, the section could fall to the pavement, potentially causing a crash for following vehicles.
- Remedy
- Dealers will add or replace fasteners. Owner notification began september 28, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact jayco at 1-219-825-5861.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS
7,660 vehicles 1998-02-10- Defect
- Vehicle description: mini-motor homes, travel trailers, and fifth wheels equipped with a printed circuit (pc) board housed in the electrical control box assembly equipped with the vehicle's air conditioning unit. An electrical relay on the pc board will fail to activate. When the relay fails to activate, other electrical components, and the pc board itself, are required to carry excess electrical current.
- Consequence
- The electrical components and the pc board can overheat, char and produce smoke, possibly resulting in a fire.
- Remedy
- Rv products is conducting the owner notification and remedy campaign for this recall. Owners will receive a replacement electrical control box and installation instructions. If an owner so desires, they can have their dealer install this control box.
STRUCTURE
485 vehicles 1997-07-09- Defect
- Vehicle description: fifth wheel and travel trailers. Rivets used to secure the step risers on these vehicles are the wrong size. The rivets are too short in length and under stress can allow the step treads to become unattached from the mounting bracket.
- Consequence
- If the step riser falls from the mounting bracket while a person is stepping on it, personal injury could occur.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the step riser assembly.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS
445 vehicles 1997-04-16- Defect
- An in-line fuse to the auxiliary battery was omitted.
- Consequence
- If a short occurred in the power line from the battery without the presence of over-current protection, the 12 volt line can overheat, increasing the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install an in-line fuse to the auxiliary battery.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
Every year of the Jayco Designer
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Where these figures stop being useful
14 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 14 reports, 3 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 21% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 1997 Jayco Designer?
The most-reported failures are other body or interior problem (4 reports, median 40,000 miles), tire blowout or tread separation (3 reports) and other electrical problem (3 reports, median 35,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed