General complaints about quality control.. Need advise

[Forest Grump]

I think many consumers now a days are just having a hard time adjusting to the modern technical marvels of the modern motorhome.

Just one example of what I mean, engine screaming going up just a slight hill. I bet that is because of that damn right foot.

Bigger motors on the slide. What's a bigger electric motor? Did they upgrade the mechanical mechanism too for the bigger motor? Or did the operator fail to operate and balance the slide properly. I think the motors are probably the same as the old.

Everyone should do a search for the operation and maintanance for the major components of the RV they are considering purchasing. Anyone buying huge should expect to get huge so quit complaining. If you are buying an F53 learn what the chasis is, sizing, gross vehicle weights, suspension components and especially the power band of the Ford Triton V10 engine.

Know what a Harris battery is. Do not impulse buy. The things you don't see are often the most important so think simple versus complex.

Each RV manufacturer has several lines of RV's from the entry level to the top of the line. So do your homework, buy smart, operate it smarter, maintained it as though you were Einstein and have a wonderful time in your new or used RV.

[Eratosthenes]

Originally Posted by craignhouston

Hi Joy

I will tell you about our experience with the 2016 outlaw 38re...the floor plan with large bedroom that replaced garage. We had several issues with the coach and traded it in after 8 months of ownership.
Initial quality problems

...

Craig

Craig,

What dealer (or dealers) did you use? I assume you purchased you motorhomes in Houston, TX which is where I live. How was your experience with your dealer?

I understand that finding a good dealer is sometimes more important than finding a good manufacturer.

[SuperD]

Erato, I live in Dallas and bought our coach in Alvarado at MotorHome Specialists. I know it would be a bit of a drive for you but price was great and so was the delivery. Check out their website MHSRV.com. Huge selection, largest dealer in the world, if you can't find it there it probably isn't made!

[craignhouston]

Originally Posted by Eratosthenes

Craig,

What dealer (or dealers) did you use? I assume you purchased you motorhomes in Houston, TX which is where I live. How was your experience with your dealer?

I understand that finding a good dealer is sometimes more important than finding a good manufacturer.

We bought the Thor at MotorHome specialists in Alvarado Texas. They had the best selection and the best prices. If convenience is most important to you vs price, I would recommend to go to one of the Houston dealers....DeMontrond, Holliday World etc. When we had warranty issues, DeMontrond refused to work on our unit because we did not buy it there, so we had to return to Alvarado.
you can private message me if you are interested in Motor Home specialists and I can give you more info.

craig

[Eratosthenes]

Originally Posted by craignhouston

If convenience is most important to you vs price, I would recommend to go to one of the Houston dealers....DeMontrond, Holliday World etc. When we had warranty issues, DeMontrond refused to work on our unit because we did not buy it there, so we had to return to Alvarado.

Craig,

Yeah that is why I did not want to buy a new motorhome from Alvarado ... where do you get the warranty work done? I live five minutes away from DeMontrond ... but have not found anybody who has bought a new motorhome from them on this forum.

Thank you!

[bigben]

Joy - you've gotten some solid advise about Thor. In our experience, we've had good response. I'd encourage you to drive a model you're contemplating buying. If you don't like the noise of Thor's gasser then you probably won't like the noise of most other gassers. Had Georgetown and the noise was even worse. Not sure why but it seemed to be. And Forest River is MIA - relative to customer service.

The other advise to do a very thorough PDI and call Thor CSR is spot on. I worked with Tom Overton with each one of my issues and he was invaluable.

With your experience and IMO, you will be fine with Thor.

[martinek.steve]

In addition to BigBen's advice, I might add. Don't pay, finalize the deal, for the coach until you complete both the PDI (walk through) and a test drive. Somewhere, I also read someone suggesting that you actually stay in the coach a weekend, either at the dealership or at a nearby campground. Try to make use of everything in the coach during that time. You might want to mention this to the dealership during your negotiating process. If the dealership resists this, then I suggest you find another dealership.

Keep notes on anything that does not seem right. Then review with the dealership. Inform the dealer that you will be back to pay for the coach, as soon as all your items are taken care of and you are satisfied with their completion.

Good Luck !

[SuperD]

I too agree with spending a night or two, but even then some problems don't crop up until doing some road time. Be sure and check the roof too, when I purchased my Tuscany I climbed on the roof and found no screws in one of th AC covers, and a missing vent cap for the black tank. Through inspection and testing of all the systems is a must.

[TurnerFam]

Originally Posted by SuperD

I too agree with spending a night or two, but even then some problems don't crop up until doing some road time. Be sure and check the roof too, when I purchased my Tuscany I climbed on the roof and found no screws in one of th AC covers, and a missing vent cap for the black tank. Through inspection and testing of all the systems is a must.

yes,yes,yes... make it a PRIORITY to stay at your dealers lot/rv site for at least several days as you put the coach through it's paces. Try ALL of the systems, multiple times. Take it for long road rides as this also shakes up the coach and could present some issues not seen when it is just sitting.

Park it in a large open parking lot and run the generator and other 'drycamping' systems so that you have a good grasp on what works properly, and what questions to pose to the dealer crew, such as how to make use of the AGS(automatic generator start) system.

Let the dealer see that you are not trying to fault THEM with these problem, just that you are wanting to get everything solved before you find out later and have to wait for an 'appointment' to be seen. When you are a new purchasing customer sitting on the lot, they tend to be much more proactive in helping get you satisfied and out the door. Once you are gone, not so much.

[martinek.steve]

No, it's not about fault. But it always helps to have some negotiating clout. The dealer will definitely be more interested if the sale is not completed till you are satisfied, or that you have been explained things to your satisfaction.

Yes, problems may happen after you leave the dealership and even if you were diligent with your check out procedures. Not much that can be done about those items. But you do have a full year to deal with that, even if it might become aggravating.

Just don't be complacent and assume responsibility for things that you had nothing to do with.

[craignhouston]

Originally Posted by Hudsoner

If you would have done your homework prior to purchasing this motorhome, you would have saved yourself the 25k loss.
The technical data for the Ford chassis can be found very easily, and the weight of this motorhome is also a known fact. A little math would have shown you that the chassis was at it's limit. The "screaming" of the engine is part of it's design, it is designed to be a high reving engine. It is very powerful, but it makes it's power by means of higher RPM.


Your new DP may be as noisy (it is a fact that diesel engines are way noisier than gas engines), but you don't hear it that well because it sits way in the back underneath your bed. The DP's have their own problems, which are cooling problems, and extremely high maintenance and repair costs (I can tell you something about these costs, I own a truck with a 7.3 liter diesel engine).

But again, if you would have done your homework......

It is a little offensive to chastise me for not doing homework . I read all of thor's info regarding their outlaw model. Our particular unit had one large slide on one side that was too heavy for the engineering of the slide.....had nothing to do with operator error as you suggest. It also had 2 other rear slides which made it much heavier than the other outlaw models. I am also very aware of the operating parameters of the Ford v10. Fact is, at 60mph we would encounter a small hill and the coach would significantly slow to the point of being a danger to other motorists
The original post asked for opinions regarding personal experiences of outlaw models, which i provided. According to your profile you do not even own an outlaw
You have obviously not ridden in a modern DP. All your comments about DP are completely false we purchased a Monaco Diplomat and it is very quiet pleasant ride with multiple airbag suspension, air brakes, 450hp engine that easily gets us thru the mountains with a 2500 ram diesel truck as a toad. So don't comment on things that you are only speculating about
Back to the initial intent of this thread..... no matter what motor home a person purchases, it is our hard earned money and we should expect to receive a product as advertised. No amount of "homework" will prepare for this.

[bigben]

Just an observation - going from a gasser to a DP ( especially as loaded up as the Monaco Diplomat) is a big step. For thread starter Joy, go test drive a DP and a gasser to avoid the buyers remorse. I stand with my original comment - Thor has been solid in their product support. As you are doing , research and make an informed decision. In any case, enjoy.

[Gordo37]

Joy,

My wife and I bought a 2016 Outlaw 38RF in August. We lived in it stationary for a few months until I retired. Our first destination after I retired was the dealership. We had a number of warranty issues and a few enhancements that we wanted done.

We are full timing in the Outlaw and since the weather has turned, our furnaces are working more often than before. We still get sawdust out of the front floor vent when the furnace turns on. We like the floor plan of the residence versions of the toy hauler line. We are towing a Ford Flex and the added 5K lbs is noticeable on the engine performance in hilly terrain.

Good luck with your purchase, whichever way it goes.

[Chance]

It's the stuff you can't see that often concerns me about quality. At RV show this last weekend I took a quick look to see how chassis had been stretched, and saw two items hanging kind of low on opposite side of motorhome. The driver's side was parked against another unit so I couldn't get a good look because of the the slide being in the way.

Lack of concern for details sends the wrong signal to me, even if the issue itself can be fixed easily. I'd guess most buyers don't even look at underside of RVs before buying. Not that they should have to.

[Chance]

This was less concerning but ugly nonetheless. The tape dangling down doesn't show well in picture but was hanging almost a foot down. Another easy fix by some owners that shouldn't be needed.

[schreinertms]

What the RV industry needs is the positive influence from an advocacy group that can work with the manufacturers to pressure them into adhering to better quality standards. The challenge today would be how to get them (RV makers) to listen when business is doing well, like it is now. Folks that are part of this advocacy group would have their work cut out in trying to equate lost revenue as a result of RV quality issues.

[movingtara]

Originally Posted by Joy

Hubby and I are in the market to buy a new motorhome .. and are seriously interested in the Thor Outlaw toyhauler .. After doing some research about other customer complaints, I have now come to an impasse and need some advise from owners.

The complaints I've read painted a picture of Thor being of very low quality, resulting in numerous failures, and broken components AND very poor service ... Which has completely deflated my excitement after FINALLY finding a coach that hubby and I can both agree on.

I would love to hear your comments about experiences in terms of overall quality of the Thor coaches.

Joy,

We have a 2016 Thor Hurricane 31S, not a toy hauler, but a Thor nevertheless. My only advise is to look at the experience other Thor owners are having and make your own assessments. We have owned our coach for four months, traveled 7,000 miles and have a long list of problems. We even went to the Thor factory for service, which was a great waste of time. They refused to address some problems and only fixed two problems out of 23.

I would also suggest looking at other manufactures on the forums and see what their customers are experiencing. It might be illuminating to see the types of problems they experience.

One final suggestion, if you have the opportunity, tour the factory where the product is made. We did tour the Thor factory, while we were waiting on repairs. If we had done so before we purchased, we would not have purchased a Thor product. There is no quality control.

Our plan is to have all the issues repaired and then sell the coach and purchase a coach from another manufacturer. We don't want to pass all our problems onto someone else. We will be touring the plants of all manufactures we consider.

[Bob Montgomery]

Originally Posted by bevedfelker

I echo Jamie's comments about finding a good dealer. Ours took a week doing "buyer prep" before we went to do the PDI when we bought our 2015 Vegas 24.1 last August. They used this time to correct all those things that Thor either did wrong or left undone. The dealer had a long list of the fit and finish adjustments they made before I got there for the PDI. The PDI result was 3 minor discrepancies they corrected on the spot.

Reading through many of the threads here you will find owners who had their RV at the dealer for months waiting on parts or scheduled maintenance. I know there is one owner who had no access to their RV for at least 9 months. The longest I have ever waited for my dealer to get the part and complete the maintenance was 8 days (7 days waiting for the part to arrive from Thor and 1 day for dealer maintenance). My dealer never has me drop off the Vegas while they wait for the parts to arrive.

Also my dealer accepts my word when I describe a problem. If they can't replicate the problem I had, they perform the maintenance on what they believe was the most probable cause. I described a problem I was having with my microwave power dropping out. They could not duplicate the problem but they replaced the microwave anyway. No more microwave problem.

And like Jamie sad, I've had great support from Thor. I asked for and received 20 separate PDF files from Thor of various construction drawings, schematics, and plumbing layouts. They usually sent the files by email to me within 3 days of my requests. I have spoken to Thor Customer Service several times just asking how something worked or how something was wired and they were more than glad to spend the time discussing it with me. I had a stress crack appear in my windshield with the Vegas just sitting parked (nothing hit the windshield). The dealer sent Thor a picture of the crack and within 15 minutes they called the dealer and said it indeed was a stress crack and they would ship a new windshield under warranty the following day. They got the windshield in 6 days and the dealer called me the day after they got the glass and scheduled the replacement for the following day.

I had compiled an Owner's Manual for the Vegas/Axis to supplement Thor's generic Owners' Manual. I sent Thor Customer Service a copy of the manual I developed and they reviewed it and provided feedback to me on a few things that I had missed. They were very appreciative of my efforts and were glad I was sharing it with other Vegas/Axis owners. I was very surprised that Thor had such a positive response. Thus far that manual has been downloaded by almost 500 owners.

So my experience with Thor has been very good. I would not hesitate to buy another Thor product. But again, having a great dealer is the key to minimizing warranty issue frustration.

I agree with everything you said, but you really should trade your unit for a new Ace and then write an owners manual for it (a 29.3 would be perfect)... actually we have not had any serious issues with our Ace and the dealer has taken care of the things that needed to be fixed. No problems at present, but we do wish we had a better owners manual. The one that came with it is a joke.

[KandT]

Joy - I have a simple solution. Don't buy a Thor. Move on. Decision fatigue will drive a person crazy. Done!