Quote:
Originally Posted by Buppa
Reviews on: drivability, fuel mileage, load limit issues, air conditioning, tank capacities, shower size and leaks, cab curtains.
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Buppa,
I'm surprised at the lack of response. We bought a 2016 Synergy TT24 in Jan. 2016. It is our first motorhome but our second RV. The first year appeared to be dedicated to factory warranty issues - primarily window leaks, slide seal leaks, and typical quality issues. My dealer has been awesome about working out the bugs and has been our advocate with Thor which wasa real blessing. That being said I think the rig (a. k. a. Ming) is ready for another trip.
We loaded our stuff and three cats and headed West. Yes it was an adventure but the motorhome handled quite well and my wife helped with the driving. Fuel economy was in the 12-15 mpg due mostly to headwinds, mountains, and the wife's lead foot. Typical driving (58-62 mph) had the mpg at 14.5 - 17 which is OK in my book. Unless you are young and resiliant try to plan on frequent stops to stretch and keep your blood moving as the seats are decent but not great. Front visibility is good, side mirrors are good and the convex mirrors are a big plus. The rear camera is adequate for daytime driving but down right pitiful at night. The Axerra radio isn't that great either but we don't listen to that much broadcast radio. The cab A/C is decent for all but the hottest environments and then you need to run the generator to keep the rig at a decent temperature. Beware of the cab over A/C vents as they are a joke... My dealer installed two more vents in the galley area to tap into ceiling ductwork which only provided a modest improvement in the cab over area but the rest of the motorhome stayed comfortable. Also, do whatever you can to block the sun from all the windows and skylights and that will help too. No one could figure out how to use the privacy curtains until we realized that the factory hadn't installed enough hook-and-loop fasteners around the windshield and cab door windows. Once that was done the curtains could be used but I went ahead and bought a roll of Reflectix to cut out for the windshield and door windows.
We have the theater seating and prefer it over the dinette or sofa setups. We would like more counter space but that is a victim of the overall design. The frig works great on electric or propane but we haven't used the propane cooktop since we prefer a Nuwave induction cooktop. Thor did miss the boat on a galley exhaust fan as I have had to pull the battery from the smoke alarm a couple of times. The cabinets in the galley and bedroom are very nice and spacious and appear to be a quality product. Our version has the twin beds with Denver mattresses which hold up very well. The beds are somewhat short if you are taller than 5'-10" as the headboards take up an inch or so of valuable length.
The bathroom is small but that is to be expected. The shower is dinky and you need to be careful that while showering the curtain doesn't allow water out onto the floor. The fresh water tank is sufficient for our needs but the black and gray tanks are small so you have to plan accordingly if you boondock. The furnace and water heater are standard industry offering so there's no surprises there... and I don't mind that at all.
The exterior has a boatload of storage but I have to be careful not to get too ambitious as the available cargo weight has to be watched carefully. We have set up the wife's 2014 Honda CR-V to tow and my first experience towing from Charlotte, NC to Beckley, WV and the rig handled the load and the steep grades quite well.
I like the easy access to the gray/black tank, and the access to the propane tank, but the fresh water bay is a bit hard to access and Thor did not have the foresight to put an access hatch for the water hose and TV cable so I got the dealer to put a makeshift port in the rotocast bottom. I may redo it later but it certainly beats keeping the bay door open while camping. Also be aware that the water pump is under the curb-side bed so that, and the associated valves are are only accessible via a small opening. The same can be said of the water heater valves being under the road-side bed and again only accessible from a small opening. Also important is to make the technician actually show you where the whole-house water filter is located. Mine was not where it was supposed to be (totally inaccessible) so I had them remove it and I will use a Camco inline filter until I can modify this one to mount on a stand.
I am sure I have other things to mention but I am running out of battery. I do not regret the purchase and hope that the wife and I get to use it before we get too old. 😉 We put 15k mile on it in 2016 and look forward to many more miles with Ming, and the cats.
I do wish it had an option for solar panels but I might be able to work on that part later.
Good luck in your selection.
Ed L.
2016 Thor Synergy TT24 3.0L
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