2014 or 2015 THOR MOTOR COACH A.C.E. 27.1 opinions

[owinsmom]

Have been looking at RV's for a few months now. Thor's come up all the time (class C's) and I have not read good things about them. Recently the above 2 Class A's have come available at a dealer that is about 1 and 1/2 hrs away, so I wanted to get any opinions on either of these from those that have experienced them. This is our first motorhome but have had a few trailers.

2014 $51,900
2015 $56,995

I need to find out mileage yet

Thank you for any help or advice

[16ACE27]

We have the 2016 27.1 and the layout works great for us. We bought ours used in March of this year with 2300 miles on it for a little over $60K which we thought was a good deal. No major problems.

Feel free to ask anything specific you have a question about on this model.

[owinsmom]

Originally Posted by Tfryman

We have the 2016 27.1 and the layout works great for us. We bought ours used in March of this year with 2300 miles on it for a little over $60K which we thought was a good deal. No major problems.

Feel free to ask anything specific you have a question about on this model.

Looking back at the photos...just want to make sure that the front seats swivel to make additional seating.

Do you feel the workmanship is good? How noisy is it on the road? We have only driven one motorhome so far..(the only one that has been worth it) and were amazed at how loud it was. I appreciate your help and opinions. TU

[Bob Denman]

Welcome to our Playhouse!
More than half of the fun is in the shopping...
so enjoy the ride!

[owinsmom]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

Welcome to our Playhouse!
More than half of the fun is in the shopping...
so enjoy the ride!

Thank you! Ha, so far it has not been very fun..but having something worthwhile to look at makes it much more fun.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by owinsmom

Looking back at the photos...just want to make sure that the front seats swivel to make additional seating.

Do you feel the workmanship is good? How noisy is it on the road? We have only driven one motorhome so far..(the only one that has been worth it) and were amazed at how loud it was. I appreciate your help and opinions. TU

Both front seats do swivel to face the living area.

Those are general ACE/Thor/MH questions.

A little searching will find multiple complaints about workmanship regardless of the manufacturer, brand, or specific model. I would suspect most, if not all, fit/finish issues have been resolved in the 2014/2015 coaches you referenced; ours certainly were.

Also a little searching on this forum will result in lots of information on better sound dampening of the coaches' doghouse and surrounding areas to make them quieter.

No matter which coach you decide to buy it will not be perfect so be prepared to make little fixes yourself as well as modifications (mods) to make it closer to your ideal coach.

[owinsmom]

Originally Posted by Tfryman

Both front seats do swivel to face the living area.

Those are general ACE/Thor/MH questions.

A little searching will find multiple complaints about workmanship regardless of the manufacturer, brand, or specific model. I would suspect most, if not all, fit/finish issues have been resolved in the 2014/2015 coaches you referenced; ours certainly were.

Also a little searching on this forum will result in lots of information on better sound dampening of the coaches' doghouse and surrounding areas to make them quieter.

No matter which coach you decide to buy it will not be perfect so be prepared to make little fixes yourself as well as modifications (mods) to make it closer to your ideal coach.

Thank you!

[dcbenny]

Purchased Windsport 27K which is a sister to the ACE with some upgrades included have NO regrets in purchasing this motor home is just the 2 of us and dog and it fits our needs with no issues. Did do some modifications to make it a little better for us only had a few minor issues that i easily fixed myself Enjoy

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by owinsmom

Thank you! Ha, so far it has not been very fun..but having something worthwhile to look at makes it much more fun.

If you gather up a little bit more information every day: no time is wasted!
When the right rig shows up: you'll know it for sure!

[Hardtime01]

We have a 2015 and really like it. Bathroom could be bigger but that's the way it comes. In short no problems,,,

[owinsmom]

Originally Posted by Hardtime01

We have a 2015 and really like it. Bathroom could be bigger but that's the way it comes. In short no problems,,,

Someone told me that the shorter coaches don't handle as well on the road. Does that seem to be and issue??

Thank you.

[dcbenny]

the 27K is 29' long no handling issues after some normal corrections were made, front wheel alignment and proper tire PSI

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by owinsmom

Someone told me that the shorter coaches don't handle as well on the road. Does that seem to be and issue??

Thank you.

Mine came with the Roadmaster steering stabilizer installed. I've never driven a longer coach so I have nothing to compare it to except pulling my previous 29' travel trailer with my pickup truck. I have no trouble one-hand driving down the interstate at 65 mph.

[Wilsonjones]

We have 2015 ace 30.1. Handles great after install of RM steering stabilizer

[dcbenny]

Originally Posted by Tfryman

Mine came with the Roadmaster steering stabilizer installed. I've never driven a longer coach so I have nothing to compare it to except pulling my previous 29' travel trailer with my pickup truck. I have no trouble one-hand driving down the interstate at 65 mph.

X2 on Roadmaster

[SuzeQ]

We love our 2015 ACE 27.1 - the layout works well and the compromises were minor. I didn’t like the round sink in the 14 and we have the bigger a/c. The TVs are miserable but located well and easily replaced if you use them at all. It really is only suitable for a couple but it’s got lots of storage a very workable kitchen with an oven and an adequate bath. The gas class a is noisy. It’s a given sitting atop the big engine. We’ve had some minor issues but we got ours when it had 2500 miles on it so original owners may have fixed any big problems. It was a BIG change from Class B & C to A but well worth it.

Good luck with whatever you choose

[owinsmom]

Originally Posted by SuzeQ

We love our 2015 ACE 27.1 - the layout works well and the compromises were minor. I didn’t like the round sink in the 14 and we have the bigger a/c. The TVs are miserable but located well and easily replaced if you use them at all. It really is only suitable for a couple but it’s got lots of storage a very workable kitchen with an oven and an adequate bath. The gas class a is noisy. It’s a given sitting atop the big engine. We’ve had some minor issues but we got ours when it had 2500 miles on it so original owners may have fixed any big problems. It was a BIG change from Class B & C to A but well worth it.

Good luck with whatever you choose

Thank you! The round sink in the kitchen, I was not thrilled with, because I cook a lot. The trade-off is that you actually do have a little counter space. We are going to look at them both along with a 2003 Minnie Winnebago 29b (Class C) tomorrow. Unfortunately it is a 3 hr drive one way, so that's why this information is so helpful. The other thing that I noticed was, the stairs looked so close to the dinette as in, not too much room to get through there. Is that a problem? It will be 2 of us, 2 cats and a dog, most of the time. Might have 2 adult children for a weekend here or there but few and far between.

For all of you that have this size, do you have a toad? Would it be small enough to manage for awhile without?

Thank you all again for your help.

[dcbenny]

Originally Posted by owinsmom

Thank you! The round sink in the kitchen, I was not thrilled with, because I cook a lot. The trade-off is that you actually do have a little counter space. We are going to look at them both along with a 2003 Minnie Winnebago 29b (Class C) tomorrow. Unfortunately it is a 3 hr drive one way, so that's why this information is so helpful. The other thing that I noticed was, the stairs looked so close to the dinette as in, not too much room to get through there. Is that a problem? It will be 2 of us, 2 cats and a dog, most of the time. Might have 2 adult children for a weekend here or there but few and far between.

For all of you that have this size, do you have a toad? Would it be small enough to manage for awhile without?

Thank you all again for your help.

What we did on ours as it is only 2 of us we took out the large dinette top and use the small oval one for between the 2 front seats and also had a matching Corian top made to cover the stove for more counter space we hardly use the stove as DW likes to use her induction cook plate, but had it made that we can still use front burner

[owinsmom]

Originally Posted by dcbenny

What we did on ours as it is only 2 of us we took out the large dinette top and use the small oval one for between the 2 front seats and also had a matching Corian top made to cover the stove for more counter space we hardly use the stove as DW likes to use her induction cook plate, but had it made that we can still use front burner

dcbenny - That's a great idea!! Thanks

[SuzeQ]

Love the coriander stove top. Did you have it custom made?

We did store the big table top as well. The dog likes to sleep on the dinette couch closest to the front so we needed the room. LOL

We use the cabinet adjacent to the oven to store the dogs food. It works out great

We removed the dog house tray so the dog can lay down there. We bought aftermarket cup holders that actually work better than the oem ones

We recently bought a Chevy sonic to use as a toad but have not yet set it up. Our plan is to have it ready for spring season. We’re camping this weekend in Pennsylvania then will do final winterization. Don’t yet know if we’ll go south in 2019 but probably won’t use the rig again until early spring