Thor Forums

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by fairfieldwizard

As I read the posts here, I find it fascinating to me what RV owners put up with. We all want to love the concept of owning a motorhome and they are beautiful. Why is it that we tolerate wiring hacks, poor construction and just plain junky quality. While I was dealing with a blown up 12 vdc controller board that was installed in the engine compartment in s place behind the cowl making it impossible to work on, I learned from the board manufacturer that they alerted Thor of a potential catastrophic wiring error. When I say catastrophic I mean that failure would result in the engine stopping while the coach is in motion. He sent me the service bulletin, which, to date doesn't appear in public.
It reminds me (as it should remind many of you) of the 1970's when after taking delivery of a new car, you drove it home for a week and then brought it back in a week so the dealer could fix everything that's not working. Then, Toyota and others decided to do things differently. "Why not just test everything to make sure it all works before it leaves the factory?" And along with quality improvement processes, that's what they did. Today, they dominate the car business. But we all get cars that work properly in all regards when we take delivery of them, they require virtually no maintenance for thousands of trouble-free miles.

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With respect, we put up with it, in part, because we choose to purchase entry to mid-level products. Thor makes no apologies about serving the bottom end of the market and that’s where we are. It’s hard to believe maybe that a $60-100,000 vehicle can be entry level but it is. My Freedom Elite cost substantially less than a nice pickup truck and that doesn’t happen without a cost in quality. You can buy a road bicycle at Walmart for $200 or you can buy a nice (though still only mid-level!) Cannondale at a bike shop for $2,000. If you choose to buy from Walmart you forfeit the right to expect Cannondale performance. I do understand that all manufacturers have quality issues but entry level is entry level. That said, I am greatly saddened by many of the troubles reported here even though my own coach has been mostly trouble free.