Jayco Penguin

We love our Penguin outback – We bought ours new in 2019. We camp mainly offgrid. I added a diesel heater for winter and upgraded to a Lifepo4 battery. Perfect size for 2. Easy to tow. Had a few of the main door hinges come apart. Fixed them with some loctite on the grub screws. A check around the ceiling when theres heavy rain will show up any small water leaks before they become a problem. Page bros Jayco were great to deal with. Show details

just weeks away from purchasing a penguin – I am so glad that I read all of these reviews just weeks away from purchasing a penguin. I'm really disappointed because we went to Wynnum Road to check it out. We had been sold a lemon in Canberra privately and never want to experience that disappointment again. Oh boy. This changes everything. Thank you everyone for your thorough reviews. They truely help

What a Disappointment – Well was really looking forward to my Jayco Penguin but what a disappointment. First trip out and 2 draws fell out and I had to strap them closed. Took it to Jayco to be repaired and on next trip out one of the draws fell out again and 2 knobs fell off the Stove. Managed to repair one myself and am still waiting >3mths later for a knob, thus… Read more

making one plate unuseable. Also noticed that edge around table popping out and I am unable to put it back in. Like a previous review our radio is difficult to utilise as I have to lay on the floor to access it as it is mounted under the table. Well table fixed, drawer finally fixed and we head off on our long awaited grey nomad trip. Well it has been one fault after another. Fridge is level according to our levels but meat defrosting and portable thermometers reads 18.5 degrees. Lucky we have another fridge in back of 4WD. Ring Dealership from where we picked up the van and advised to bring in but as camped in the outback it is a bit too far. [name removed] tries very hard to find a Domestic Serviceman near where we are headed and surrounding areas but as soon as they hear Gas they will not look at them. Next problem was the lights they would not work and 12V plugged in. Plenty of sunshine on the solar panel and friend travelling with us has no concerns. Travel to casino as having trouble with car also which is sorted easily. Find a caravan repair shop who are so helpful, friendly and efficient. They could not help us enough. They checked and cleaned the fridge and it is functioning. On checking battery they found it completely useless. Solar panel was getting charge but it was not getting to the battery as wired incorrectly. There is a certificate in van saying that the wiring passed certification. Poor Qualuty Assurance. New battery and battery and Solar panel rewired and off we go again to our next campsite by the Clarence River. Well the van will not wind up it is stuck at 12 inches and cannot wind up or down. Rang Jayco roadside assist who said they do not deal with this type of problem and to take it to the nearest dealer. As we cannot drive it as unable to put roof down this is a problem. They put us through to the nearest dealer who is unable to assist until the next day due to it being 5pm and wanting to ensure that Jayco would pay them to drive out 2hrs to assist. We crawl into the van and sleep on the floor as we do not have a tent, this will be rectified. Phone call next morning stating that they will be out but have heard nothing more. Have contacted Head Office who said to lodge a claim with them via email for the battery repair and I will now be lodging another claim. How can 1 van have so many problems, I am so over it and it has totally ruined my trip I just want to go home. I have to mention the wonderful team from Watsons Jayco Coffs Harbour who drove 1 1/2 hrs out to Lilydale to tow our van back to Coffs for repair. They were unable to replace the cable system that had fallen apart as none in stock and unable to get from Melbourne until at least Monday

They repaired and reinforced the old system and it will have to be replaced at next service. Fridge is still not staying cold when on gas and the boys at Coffs once again fixed the battery as still not getting power and no display on amperage meter. Also had problems with the ignitor ststem for the stove and had to manually light stove. On further inverstigation found that safety switch had been thrown to off. It is mounted by bed with no cover over it and when getting out of bed can knock with feet. Would I buy again - the answer is probably not.

Raising the roof – Reading other reviews will share our experience with the Jayco Penguin. We bought ours 6 months ago and spent several long weekends and longer travelling, without incident. Heading for NSW southern coast we stayed in Orbost for the night. Trying to wind up the roof 3 corners rose but one wouldn't. Fortunately being tall I was able to slowly raise… Read more

it by hand ( its quite heavy) whilst my partner was the monkey grinder, and we jammed the support pole in place to prop up the corner. This meant the door wouldnt fit the space but least of our problems. We were able to reduce it to lowest level next morning again by me manually holding it up as the other 3 sides lowered. Getting to Ulladullah later in the day and repeated the same process. Rang dealer to refer our difficulties, they referred us to a local RV repairer. We visited them and they said would look at it but we would have to pay; they weren't prepared to try and claim under warranty from Jayco.

Due to other circumstances we had to leave earlier than expected so we agreed to return it to the dealer for repair and booked in accordingly - despite some suggestion it may end up being a result of operator error causing the fault we did take it back and the cable ( I think) was replaced without cost. I now understand from other blogsites JAyco did a total recall over the winder systems of the camper range (eg :Penguin) so I thank them for fixing the issue gratis. I also found the JAyco dealership to be very reasonable to deal with.

Further issue 12v roof internal lights now not working - it was prior to the last repairs.! So we have to return it again to check if somewiring is loose or pinched or something.

What have we decided: to treat the winder/ roof raising/ lowering with kid gloves . We will give it several more opportunities and if no further problems will depart on our long planned round Oz trip. Low behold if it plays up again when we get to WA or similar!!.

If it causes problems next few trips away we will have to reassess if we want to persevere or look at other alternative vans.

Other than that I can only think of carrying a small 2 man tent for out and out emergency accommodation. Better than sleeping in a chair all night!

So that's our experience - would appreciate if other penguin owners have had similar problems and if or how they overcame them? Cheers

Never buy Jayco – Bought the van new and built to our specifications. Motorised roof didn't work, motorised awning didn't work, television antenna didn't work, sound system was positioned in such a way it was unusable (we are a couple in our mid 60's). Contacted Jayco customer service manager who stated "there is no problem". WHAT???? Television antenna eventually… Read more

repaired. After two years I contacted the Dept of Consumer Affairs who compelled Jayco to take the van in which they did. The boys at Jayco Newcastle were great, repaired two major faults they identified. We are now travelling the outback with a van that almost works as it should, however the awning continues to jam and the sound system remains inaccessible. NEVER buy Jayco.

Good budget option – We took our new Penguin around Oz last year. Most things performed above expectations for a budget buy. We had really no problems except for one major issue in outback WA when one night the roof wouldn't wind up on rear corner. Rang Jayco Assist but they were NO use telling us to take it to nearest dealer in the morning. Luckily the weather was… Read more

warm as we had no option but to sleep outside in our chairs. After a very uncomfortable night we took the camper to the nearest Jayco dealer. They were so busy and told us it would be weeks before they could help us. Great!?!?!? So much for Jayco customer service! They did give us the name of a caravan repair place that may be able to help us.

Fortunately this place very kindly helped us and fixed the issue at our expense and we went on our way. No thanks to Jayco. Interestingly the guy said this camper should not be sold with air conditioner on the roof which we did have. After we got home months later we found a recall notice in the mail for the roof winding system. Too late for us warranty had expired. Except for this everything worked pretty much as it should and the Penguin performed well and was very easy to tow.

Built to a price not a standard – I have had many problems with my Penguin but keep reminding myself it was purchased for a budget price. On the road three out of four vans seem to be Jayco so they must have a good formula for selling vans. The roof bolts on my camper broke, I replaced them with better s/s bolts but intend to add angle supports between the top of the raising rods… Read more

and the roof. Expecting the small "gutter bolts" to support the roof is poor engineering. The door fell apart. I am on the 3rd set of shock absorbers the pieces of metal screwed to the plywood floor lasted about 10kms on a gravel road, it was easy to fit new ones to the metal cross members, the roof winder handle support was screwed to the plywood floor, with the pressure this comes under when winding soon pulled the screws loose, so easy to have bolted the bracket through the ply, water leak ruined the mattress, the electric break wires were cut due to being incorrectly located over the leaf springs, the avr wire from the DVD player must have a screw through it somewhere as it has never worked, etc, etc. All complaints while in warranty were fixed with no argument buy the Adelaide dealer. I have no issue with their after sales service. Being an old engineer I have been able (and prefer) to fix any issues. I am happy with my Penguin and it is now a better van than when I purchased it.

My friend with his KK, at over double the price, has had many problems from failed suspension, electrical problems, failed kitchen door locks, very poor after sales service. So even at a price you do not necessarily get quality. How these reviews give the KK the reviews they do makes me question who pays for the reviews.

Would I buy another Jayco? Probably not, but at a price I might be convinced.

Pathetic service – I recently bought a Penguin, on the way to pick it up I received a phone call to say it had been recalled due to a safety issue with the roof winding mechanism. The Jayco agent have had the Penguin for two weeks and still Jayco cannot supply them with parts for the upgrade. The agents have been great keeping us updated but there is little… Read more

they can do other than wait for Jayco to get their act together. With somewhere around 1300 CTs being recalled I'm not expecting to be able to pick up the camper anytime soon, really annoying. I got a bank cheque and took out insurance on the morning I went to pick it up, still haven't paid for it and my insurance is just going to waste. Jayco can't even say how long this will take, absolutely pathetic way of doing business

made cheap and nasty – Have a penguin camper. These caravans ate made from cheap and poorly constructed material. I will never buy a Jayco camper again. Many things have broken some I have had it Latest, cheap bolt broke off main roof strut. Can't believe the garbage materials they have used.

Fly Screens for the entry door – We are finding it quite difficult to keep the insects out of the van. As those who have a Penguin know the door is probably the worst feature. Does anyone out there know of a way to fit a screen or something similar so we are not opening and closing the main door all the time? No fly screen on entry door Show 2 replies

Good – We own a Jayco Pelican - it has a large front boot for storage - great! We welded a bike rack onto the back for the kids bikes - great! We added a poly tube to the A frame at the front for annexe poles - great! We have some great family holidays - wherever we choose and the kids love it! Easy to tow - affordable family holiday unit. Gets hot in summer when there is no breeze!