4th day with my new ACE 30.3

[tnedator]

I took delivery of my '18 ACE 30.3 from MHSRV on Wednesday. I planned and did spend two nights at MHSRV, then moved up to Arlington, where I just completed the first day of a two day driving class with RV Schools. I'll post a review of the driving lessons separately once I've finished (probably after I get home)

I will admit that we arrived too late in the day to do a thorough PDI of my own and really only had time for the roughly 2 hour walk through with their tech. Based on the walk through, my conversations with the salesman up to that point (excellent) and general reviews of MHSRV that I decided to sign the papers and spend my two nights on site to do the thorough PDI.

That said, a great many of the things that needed to be checked, the tech showed us, but still not as thorough a PDI as I needed to do.

So, over my time from Wed afternoon until I left at 2:00 on Friday, this is what I found and was fixed or not fixed before I left.

1. Driver seat a bit wobbly. Everything tight, nothing they could do about it.

2. Front air not as cold as back (temp readings indicated that was my perception due to back our with fewer vents blowing much harder).

3. Toilet seat had a cracked support fin under it (replaced, but with white instead of bone)

4. Pocket door would come off bottom pin support/guide. Adjusted and working fine.

5. Rear air low fan not working (more to follow on this)

6. Back center drawer very wobbly when open, and even right draw would move (the frame that the two draws under the wardrobe were mounted to was not screwed into the coach wall on the left side -- fixed and fine now).

7. Inverter not working in dash desk (more to follow on this)

8. Fridge didn't switch to gas when pulled power to test inverter (air in line, before they came to check it, I turned off unit for a minute or so, tried later and it worked fine).

9. Entrance door hard to open (Jr. tech working on it initially adjusted it poorly and didn't make it any better, senior guy that did the walk through the next day and it opens/closes easily now).

10. Front outside speaker wasn't working (factory didn't plug the wire into it - fixed)

11. One of the passenger side doors was hitting and not closing easily. Fixed, but first tech (Jr again) scratched up the decal when trying to fix it. Normally, they have their body/paint guys, who later came and fixed door, but they are having to order a decal and send to me.

12. I think it was seven of the storage locks were installed wrong so when you locked them, they swang in the wrong direction and didn't lock the door (fixed)

13. Large hole (2" or more) in back of dump station compartment wasn't foamed by factory (fixed/foamed)

14. Passenger seat, seat back adjuster was not snapping back down when you pulled it up to adjust seat back. They said the tension could not be adjusted, lubricated a bit and said they felt it would work in with a little use, but also noted it so if it doesn't, it could be dealt with later.

15. Replaced toilet seat was loose (tightened)

16. Rear AC dead second night -- blowing, but no compressor on (more on this later).

17. Missing one storage compartment plug (provided with replacement)

18. Missing light cover on LED lights in dump compartment (installed replacement)

19. One of the living room shades wouldn't stay up (I fixed, because during walk through tech showed me how to tighten them, which he said would be needed over time).

That's what I found and was fixed or not there. The four outstanding items are:

Issues with both seats, dash desk AC plug not on inverter and scratched decal.

Since I left MHSRV, I've found a couple other small things.

1. There is a bump in the vinyl flooring, which I don't think was there originally. Either a bolt has backed out, or I remember reading a post of someone who had something similar and it was a washer left on the floor when flooring was put down. He discovered by cutting around it and regluing.

2. Auto level doesn't seem to level. Not sure if it's the gravel on the current camp ground giving a bit of if it needs to have level reset. I will wait until I'm home on relatively level spot (at MHSRV it was steep grade, so while he showed me auto level, we then manually did it because auto picked two tires up which he didn't recommend.)

3. There is either wind noise coming from one of the side windows, or it's the radiator grill I've heard others complain about. sometimes she hears it, sometimes I do, which makes me think it might be the grill.

4. Screen door rattles pretty badly against the door going over bumps (can't believe they don't install some type of silicon or other bumpers -- I had some of that no mar picture hanging silly putting type stuff and put some between the doors at top and bottom corners and above the deadbolt and seems to be gone).

I think that's it, other than assorted rattles, kitchen blind clanking against frame and such.

Another thing I should add is that I had never driving an RV and had actually arranged for the RV School instructor to come down and help me get up to Arlington on Friday (more on that when I review RV School). I had mentioned this a couple times to the salesman as we were trying to schedule my pickup and me the lesson. He never mentioned giving me a check ride. '

Anyway, when I arrive on Wednesday, he tells me that once everything checks out and before I leave on Friday, he'll take me on a circuit he has around the lot and once we're done, I'll be comfortable driving it. I think this must be a saleman by saleman thing, because the instructor said he taught a woman last weekend who didn't get any check ride/mini instruction from MHSRV.

Anyway, Mitch, first drove the RV around a route he has that has you do a couple right turns, a simulated four way stop, some left turns. He showed that as long as you are carrying reasonable speed, if you let your hips clear and turn hard, your rear wheel will clear.

After I took over and did his circuit, he then took me out for a drive up the interstate and back, which included left and right turns, and then brought me back to the back entrance, where it's a narrow county road.

In the end, I called the RV School instructor and told him I was comfortable making the 30 minute drive up to Arlington, and he didn't need to come down and help me get up there.

All in all, very pleased with the MHSRV experience. Yes, there were problems with the coach. Multiple times the senior tech said, don't worry, we'll get it all fixed unfortunately new coaches all have issues, but that's why they were there to get them taken care of (I wasn't worried, because thanks to this forum and others, I went in with my eyes open and prepared).

I think there were some things they should have caught in PDI, like the locks not working on 7 or so storage bays. The one storage bay that was nearly impossible to open/close, the entrance door being too hard to open (the salesman got on the techs about that, both before and after the first adjustment).

For those that show up and drive away immediately, or even just spend one night, they are going to be more likely to have problems. The tech and salesman both encouraged us to use everything, test everything like we would when really using it.

They also had loaner cars you could check out and use. We drove down in a one way rental loaded with stuff, but then used their loaner car to drop off the rental about 20 minutes away.

I would definitely buy from MHSRV again.

Ok, since I figured I would ramble and have a long post, I saved this for last. So to the two big items.

First, the inverter. So, I had come with wiring, heating, fresh and sewer plans I got from Thor (based on my VIN, after it was assigned in manufacturing process). One of the things I wanted to check was all plugs that were supposed to be on the inverter, were. The front dash wasn't. Tech looked at other ACE's on the lot (non were 30.3) and all had front dash outlet on inverter (which he previously said he thought they always were, but wanted to check some others).

It was too late to call Thor, so he worked his way through the wiring to see if maybe it was wired incorrectly through a junction box. He traced wire back to plug the kitchen TV plugs into (which according to diagram shouldn't be on inverter). After tracing some more wires, including where the wires were coming from the inverter to the other TVs, he concluded he needed to call Thor in the morning.

Thor was no help. The rep said, the front outlet should be on inverter, but also that they normally put all TVs on the inverter. Anyway, there were a few other details, but bottom line, Thor tech wasn't helpful.

So, one of two things happened. Either they've made a last minute change and no longer putting that on inverter (which I don't think is the case) or more likely they inadvertently tied it into the outlet under the sink that the kitchen TV plugs into, rather than the one the outside TV plugs into (this is what I think the factory did wrong).

I think the reason the kitchen TV isn't on an inverter, is because it's plugged into on outlet under the kitchen sink and close to water lines, and is a GFCI plug.

As we had a much more pressing rear AC problem, I told him I could live without the front plug on inverter, since my wife typically is only on Ipad/phone and that can charge from USB/12v and we will likely run generator going down the road for AC anyway. I want it fixed on princible, but not sure it's practical problem.

So, the biggie, rear air. I pointed out that the rear air low fan setting wasn't working. The Jr. tech tried to explain to me that it doesn't need a low fan, for some baffling explanation I don't remember (very nice kid, but only been doing it for a year or so, so the senior guy wound rechecking multiple things he did). I showed him how the front AC worked when switching to low speed and that I had confirmed on Coleman site that all the mach AC units had high/low. He wound up going and checking another unit to confirm that the low speed was working, but also to check the wiring and commented that it was wired different (point to remember).

So, once confirming it should have low fan, he went and replaced a thermostat, blew a breaker in the process, got that installed. Said low speed was now working, and I'm thinking only big thing left is inverter. About 30 minutes later I realize it's blowing room temperature air (clearly no compressor).

I found the senior tech, who was still working on a travel trailer, about 5:45 and he came and took a look, but thought that the control board had finally gone. We spent the night with only the front AC (a bit toasty on a hot Texas day, but eventually cooled down pretty good).

Next day they are trouble shooting with Coleman on the phone, checking AMP readings and such (not getting any up near the compressor). Long story short, Thor had one wire mis wired, like white to grey or something, another not wired at all, maybe yellow (was listening from a distance, and don't remember, but clearly wired wrong). Now, something the Jr. tech did when he put on the new thermostat also created a problem. I'm not sure what it was, but I think since thor didn't have it wired correctly from AC to thermostat location, I think the tech failed to wire the new thermostat correctly to the incorrect wiring (that's a mouth full) and the result was fan speed high/low was working, but now no compressor.

Anyway, after talking to the Coleman rep and discovering the one wire not connected and the other swapped, they got wiring fixed and AC working.

[sonnyh99]

Wow!! thanks for the post!! sounds like a hectic PDI but over all glad your happy with your new coach!! Congrats!!

[SuperD]

Interesting experience! Sounds like everything worked out, the people at MHSRV are great! My rear air stopped blowing cold air a week after delivery, went back to MHSRV and got it fixed in about an hour, bad freeze sensor.

[Pete'sMH]

Sounds about typical! That's why we all take short, local shake-down trips before we hit the road.

[tnedator]

I think the only other issue I've discovered is a couple seals around one slide being off. The round rubber weather stripping on one corner stops about a 1/2" short of where it should on the bottom I think. Bigger issue is that on each side of the slide, there is a small plastic track that goes back towards the interior a couple inches from the end of the slide and holds a piece of weather stripping. on one side of the bedroom slide that plastic is all twisted up and weather stripping pulled out of it, so a pretty big gap under that when open.

Driving, I found nearly a pleasure. I was driving on the interstate between 70-73 MPH and while there was a little vibration that might have been road, might be a tire slightly out of balance.

I found only minimal issue with trucks passing. It was strange in that some had no effect, some pulled/pushed a bit, and one gave me a massive hit, and then when it passed and moved into the right lane I had a serious enough wobble, I thought I was losing a tire (Tireminder wasn't beeping), so I just slowed a bit and let that truck get well clear and all better. That was the ONLY truck in 7 hours, 6+ on interstates that did that.

I think I'll invest in an alignment and double check the wheel balance, as well as get it weighed after loading it up this week and double check correct pressures.

I'll then consider some of the other fixes CHF, steering stabilizer and possibly Sumos and tracbar, but after CHF and steering stabilizer.

I need to watch some videos and instructions on CHF to see if I can do that myself. Do you have to jack to do it?

[tnedator]

Oh, another thing was a very annoying rattle or squeak behind the drivers right ear. Sounds to me like the slide, but since I was driving, I didn't get to trouble shoot. In hindsight, I should have had the wife trying to track it down.

The other thing, when I was showing my sister, including the issues, like the wobbly drivers seat, she said, owe, someone opened the slight into that seat and even pointed to a little divot in the faux leather where it was pinched.

So, while the have it listed on the work order, I'm going to get on the horn with the salesman (who has been great, and highly recommend working with Mitch Bennett ad MHSRV) and point out what we saw.

[DenverTransplant]

I get a pretty good rattle and squeaking from the couch/dinette slide in my ACE 30.1. I found that using the slide lock bar that came with the rig calms it down a lot. Major challenge is to remember to remove it before opening the slide. I now tape a warning sticker across the slide switch as soon as I put the slide in.

Our slide bar came with the rig, but if you don’t have one they area easy enough to find. $32 on Amazon.

[jpmihalk]

Congrats on the new ACE! Glad you went in knowing what to look for and that MHSRV made it good. We did the Thor factory tour this summer and saw lots of opportunities for errors (and the guide didn't like me pointing them out.) But since most of the work is done by hand, human error is always a possibility. They should do better QA before they leave the factory floor.

[tnedator]

Originally Posted by jpmihalk

Congrats on the new ACE! Glad you went in knowing what to look for and that MHSRV made it good. We did the Thor factory tour this summer and saw lots of opportunities for errors (and the guide didn't like me pointing them out.) But since most of the work is done by hand, human error is always a possibility. They should do better QA before they leave the factory floor.

Small things, but should have been caught by Thor QA and MHSRV are 7 or so locks on storage compartments wrong. Frame holding the drawers not being screwed in so when you pulled the draw out it was wobbly and obvious something wrong.

I will say the first time I used the black tank flush, which was yesterday morning, I had the wife inside with the window open and looking for water inside, as I've read multiple people having issues where they left the connector loose where it goes above the coach floor. I said, if you see any water scream, "Stop! Stop! Stop!."

Fortunately, just a bunch of water came out the dump.

Based on what I've read and the conversations I had with the two local dealers, I think MHSRV does more than many in terms of their own PDI, and then encourages people to spend a night or two on site using everything and then in the morning, once you open the front curtains, they will come by to check on what you found. So, that is great, but as you said, the QA at Thor should be better, and at dealers too.

[tnedator]

Originally Posted by DenverTransplant

I get a pretty good rattle and squeaking from the couch/dinette slide in my ACE 30.1. I found that using the slide lock bar that came with the rig calms it down a lot. Major challenge is to remember to remove it before opening the slide. I now tape a warning sticker across the slide switch as soon as I put the slide in.

Our slide bar came with the rig, but if you don’t have one they area easy enough to find. $32 on Amazon.

I had my wife googling as we were driving and several recommended slide locks. Mine didn't come with any, so not sure if Thor normally provides them and they were missing, or if your dealer did.

I was reading the manual and there is also supposed to be a flexible device to attach to a drill to manually operate slides, including in the Thor new user pack (or something like that) and I don't have that. I planned to talk to Salesman about that.

[Bob Denman]

Now that's what I call a "thorough review of the situation"!
Thanks for the great write-up, and please let us know what happens next!

Congratulations on the new rig too!

[gmc]

Originally Posted by tnedator

...
I was reading the manual and there is also supposed to be a flexible device to attach to a drill to manually operate slides, including in the Thor new user pack (or something like that) and I don't have that. I planned to talk to Salesman about that.

Lippert slide units have the ability to manually crank in/out slides...
Schwintek units do not - they say to disconnect the power to motors and push. Good luck with a larger slide.

Most of our rigs have the Schwintek systems..

[tnedator]

Originally Posted by gmc

Lippert slide units have the ability to manually crank in/out slides...
Schwintek units do not - they say to disconnect the power to motors and push. Good luck with a larger slide.

Most of our rigs have the Schwintek systems..

Thanks, so just a side effect of the all in one manual they include.

Newest issue is that the hot water heater stopped working on LPG. Tested at dealership and it worked and tested at home and it worked.

Switched rig over to 15/20 amp circuit to keep it cool, but took the other loads (fridge, hot water) off electric. Worked for a couple days and then yesterday at the pilot out light.

I checked and when you turn it on, you can smell propane, so the gas valve is opening, but doesn't fire.

[sling523]

I just put a deposit on a 30.3. One of the important features I wanted was the kitchen TV on the inverter so the kids can play Xbox while driving. The salesman said it was, but from your post it sounds like that may not be the case.

[vegasruv24.1]

Originally Posted by sling523

I just put a deposit on a 30.3. One of the important features I wanted was the kitchen TV on the inverter so the kids can play Xbox while driving. The salesman said it was, but from your post it sounds like that may not be the case.

LOL, I guess cause I read sling, speed reading I read, so my kids can watch "PLAY BOY"


anyway... when you turn on the inverter all tv's should have a red light in the bottom corner...that's if they are on inverter..

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by sling523

I just put a deposit on a 30.3. One of the important features I wanted was the kitchen TV on the inverter so the kids can play Xbox while driving. The salesman said it was, but from your post it sounds like that may not be the case.

Congratulations, and welcome to the Forum!
If your kids can't get the X-Box thing to work: they can always count cars with out of State Plates...
(That's what we had to do for entertainment: 10,000 years ago! )

[Muggs]

Congratulations!

Welcome to the forum. Very knowledgeable people here that are very helpful.

We are almost 3 years into a Vegas, very happy with unit.

If we ever go bigger, the ACE 30.3 is most likely candidate, great choice.

[sling523]

Thanks all, it was a quick upgrade for us. Started last year with a travel trailer (Mallard 245) but liked the idea of being able to drive. Should pick it up in the next couple of weeks.