Thor Aria 3601

[fedexflyer]

I'm planning on trading my 41ft 2011 Coachmen Pathfinder Sportscoach for the 2019 Thor 3601 tomorrow. Looking to downsize a little and upgrade to the new components. Would like to hear about consistent problems, solutions and issues that would make me take pause from making this purchase. My pluses so far; 20 more HP in the Cummins with the newer 3000 Allison transmission, 5 ft shorter for ease of maneuvering, stacked washer/dryer, king size bed, a small solar charging system, larger shower, all new tires, tankless WH, and the fact that all on board components will be 8 years newer. Any input is welcome.

[Polishilldave]

We are heading into our third year of owning a 3601. We still love the unit and the service that we have received from Thor and our dealer General RV in Canton Ohio.
On the critical side:
- There have been many posts about basement leakage. I took pre-emptive action on this issue. The main frame supports beams run through the front wall of the basement. The foam/rubber flap seal on each was not adequate. I went under the coach and put flex tape around that opening for a more positive seal.
- The basement door seals have been made bigger in the newer models and the door wall thickness has been increased to address that leakage area.
- Insulation in the front cap behind the TV was skimpy. I took out the TV and insulated the cap with Refllextec and enclosed bat insulation.
- Slide topper on the passenger side sags and collects water. I think Thor has added a center roller support to correct this. Dometic makes a roller support for this issue, but it does not fit a Carefree topper.
On the positive side:
- The unit is a pleasure to drive
- We are getting around 10 mpg. I keep it at 62 mph.
- We started to look at upgrading this winter in Florida. Nothing matched the layout, price and included features. Quit looking.
- The awning mounted on the slide is a better design. Ours is coach mounted and not too useful.
- We have had great support from the Thor 800# and at the annual rally in Goshen.

[m1noel]

I say go for it. Our 3901 had a few minor issues initially that took our dealer way too long to fix, but since has been great. We are over 10k miles now and we just get in and go. I agree with Dave. We could not find anything close to the value for the money.

[jtyphoid]

Ditto on value for the money being the best we could find and on minor issues that took the dealer way too long to not even really fix.

The only design item that we aren't completely happy with is that at least one slide has to be extended to lay the bed flat. It's a bit of an annoyance to have to mess with a slide and the bed tilt for a quick overnight stop, but we're getting used to it.