Miramar PDI Fail

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Sun and Sand

Thanks,

How is Thor’s customer service?

When we had the Challenger they were excellent. We also had a good dealer before they were purchased by Camping World. We quit using them after the acquisition.

[lwmcguire]

Thor repaired or replaced every single item i presented to them.

I wrote a Word document and used it as the requested repairs list.

Work was performed at a dealership 30 miles away.

QA would save them money, it seems.

I had work on the Aquahot performed at a local Bus repair facility and was the only Thor unit in the shop or lot.

SOB break down or have QA issues as well.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Same experience recently when we went to trade the Super C for a Tiburon. Dealer had 4 of them. 3 had slides stuck half way open. Rear fold down bed on 1 had ripped from wall and smashed TV. One had serious electrical problems and the saleschcik said..."don't worry...we'll get it fixed...they're all that way". We walked, went to another dealer and bought a JAYCO. Thor has serious issues and dealers are accepting what they push their way. I'm done with them. What you drive off the lot with is what you own. Service doesn't exist anymore. When the manufacturer doesn't give a crap about the quality of their own products, why should the dealer?

[Sun and Sand]

How was your Jayco? Has it been reliable?

[The Gritz Carlton]

Loving it with zero issues. Purchased the Melbourne Prestige 24NP with rear lounger option. Well thought out design and solid as a rock. We loved the Thor also but things aren't as good with Thor today as they were 4 years ago. Had a plan to downsize for a while now to the Sprinter platform, thus, the Tiburon. Seems they are getting more and more popular. Getting 15.8 on the fuel. Fuel savings alone pays for camping. And, I don't miss the slides at all.

[MLP]

Originally Posted by Judge

Thor Motorcoach certainly seems to have some of the lowest quality and workmanship. I base that not only on my own experience and reports on this forum but just talking to people at campgrounds, etc. in my travels.

I think almost all RV Manufacturers suffer from a lack for uniform quality standards.... and even more so after COVID. The manufacturers also don't hold dealers to a uniform standard of quality and service and make them accountable.... but that works both ways.

I know people with Jayco and Entegra units who have had issues too but I'm not saying they are a poor rating in terms of quality and workmanship.

I have put a lot of time and money fixing the poor quality and workmanship in my coach to get it where it should have been when it was driven out of Indiana. After two Thor coaches..... I won't buy a third.

If I were going to buy another Super C, I would be looking at manufacturers with better reputations like Renegade and Dynamax who seem to have fewer reported issues and better assembly practices.

That being said... my '20 Magnitude SV34 will likely be my last coach once we finish our last couple big trips like Alaska this year and another long trip next year.

I thought about perhaps downsizing to an AirStream Atlas but it is hard to swallow the $300K price tag for a Class. B+. The quality and workmanship seem top notch but I just can't pay a price that is approaching some of the better Super C's out there. If we decided to keep an RV and downsize, I might look at an AirStream Travel Trailer instead.

A friend and his wife purchased an Air Stream three years ago. They sold it one year ago. Let's just say past reputation is not valid anymore. Thor purchased them a few years ago. So look further or get a good old used one prior to Thor.

[Sun and Sand]

I looked at another Miramar today and gave it a really thorough inspection. Everything was working except one closet light. However, one thing I'm not sure about is the roof. I got up there and looked at it. The TPO membrane appears to be lifted on both side of the roof. It's very even at about 4-5 inches wide all the way from front to back on both sides right at the edge of the roof. Is this supposed to be that way, or is this a massive defect?

[16ACE27]

Define "lifted".

[Sun and Sand]

By lifted I mean that if you look at the edge of the roof where it meets the wall the TPO is separated from the roof surface. The roof is slightly curved. The TPO membrane appears to stop following the curve of the roof surface when it gets close to the edge. At about 4-6 inches from the edge is just continues straight into the rounded molding that is sticking up at the edge of the roof. This runs along the entire side of the roof on both sides of the coach. I'm used to seeing a TPO style membrane stay completely glued to the roof all the way to the left and right edge of the roof. This one seems to stop being stuck to the roof at about 5 inches from the edge and continue to some kind of large rounded corner at the edge of the roof. I can push down on the fabric in this area and see that it's not in contact with the roof surface. It's very even and consistent all the way along the top of the roof at the edge. So I can't tell if this is intentional.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Sun and Sand

By lifted I mean that if you look at the edge of the roof where it meets the wall the TPO is separated from the roof surface. The roof is slightly curved. The TPO membrane appears to stop following the curve of the roof surface when it gets close to the edge. At about 4-6 inches from the edge is just continues straight into the rounded molding that is sticking up at the edge of the roof. This runs along the entire side of the roof on both sides of the coach. I'm used to seeing a TPO style membrane stay completely glued to the roof all the way to the left and right edge of the roof. This one seems to stop being stuck to the roof at about 5 inches from the edge and continue to some kind of large rounded corner at the edge of the roof. I can push down on the fabric in this area and see that it's not in contact with the roof surface. It's very even and consistent all the way along the top of the roof at the edge. So I can't tell if this is intentional.

Gotcha. Although Thor claims some TPO "bubbles" are OK, this sounds like an installation error if it is consistent on both sides all along the edge of the roof. Sounds like something I'd only be comfortable with the factory repair facility handling.

[Sun and Sand]

This isn't a bubble, it's a consistent trip of roof fabric that seems to not be in contact with the roof from front to back on both sides. It looks like it's either intentional, or it's the result of someone not rolling the edge of the roof to make sure the TPO was glued down at the factory. I just could not tell. I asked the dealer to have the head of the repair department call me and explain this to me.

As long as I'm asking questions, I noticed that the floor in the coach seems to be not completely flat. It's higher in the middle than toward the sides. I had a 5th wheel that did this a little, but it seems more pronounced on the Miramar that the floor seems to curve down towards the outer walls. Is this normal?

[The Gritz Carlton]

If it doesn't feel right, it isn't right. Floors should be totally flat. It could be the cross members not properly installed before the flooring material (plywood) was ever installed. If so, this would scare me regarding slide operations as well.

[williamprunty]

That’s the way things are now, been there done that, flew into Florida to pick my unit up. Same experience, and guess what, still working on it. It’s probably a good idea you walked away.

[williamprunty]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

Same experience recently when we went to trade the Super C for a Tiburon. Dealer had 4 of them. 3 had slides stuck half way open. Rear fold down bed on 1 had ripped from wall and smashed TV. One had serious electrical problems and the saleschcik said..."don't worry...we'll get it fixed...they're all that way". We walked, went to another dealer and bought a JAYCO. Thor has serious issues and dealers are accepting what they push their way. I'm done with them. What you drive off the lot with is what you own. Service doesn't exist anymore. When the manufacturer doesn't give a crap about the quality of their own products, why should the dealer?

You know Thor owns Jayco, right.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by williamprunty

You know Thor owns Jayco, right.

Thor Industries owns Jayco. Thor Motor Coach has nothing to do with Jayco. Jayco is still run and managed by the Bontragers

[Judge]

If you don’t think a parent company has influence over its subsidiaries, then I’ve got ocean front property in Arizona to sell.

Subsidiaries may be separate and distinct legal entities but their financials are reported on the parent company’s consolidated financial statement.

If the subsidiary company does not meet revenue, expenses and margins, the parent company will persuade the management of the subsidiary to make the necessary changes to meet their financial obligations…. or they will be replaced with a management team that will.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Sun and Sand

This isn't a bubble, it's a consistent trip of roof fabric that seems to not be in contact with the roof from front to back on both sides. It looks like it's either intentional, or it's the result of someone not rolling the edge of the roof to make sure the TPO was glued down at the factory. I just could not tell. I asked the dealer to have the head of the repair department call me and explain this to me.

As long as I'm asking questions, I noticed that the floor in the coach seems to be not completely flat. It's higher in the middle than toward the sides. I had a 5th wheel that did this a little, but it seems more pronounced on the Miramar that the floor seems to curve down towards the outer walls. Is this normal?

I assume you are taking lots of pictures?

We had deposits on 2 TMC units and neither passed PDI. The dealer acknowledged the issues, but refused to fix and they were not warranty claims to TMC. The Finance Manager had attitude that if we didn't buy someone else will. I had paid deposits both times, but with the pictures I could easily prove the defects.

You can attach pictures if you have doubts. Walking away is very hard and we had to do it twice We changed dealers.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Judge

If you don’t think a parent company has influence over its subsidiaries, then I’ve got ocean front property in Arizona to sell.

Subsidiaries may be separate and distinct legal entities but their financials are reported on the parent company’s consolidated financial statement.

If the subsidiary company does not meet revenue, expenses and margins, the parent company will persuade the management of the subsidiary to make the necessary changes to meet their financial obligations…. or they will be replaced with a management team that will.

My point, to be clear, is the company that built your POS (Thor Motor Coach) has no control, repeat, no control what-so-ever over Jayco. Believing otherwise is why you bought what you think is ocean front property in Arizona. Thor Motor Coach is not the parent company. Take 30 seconds to research the facts and learn a little about Thor Industries and their family of companies.

[The Gritz Carlton]

All I know is that I recently gave both of them a shot at my next purchase. Thor totally failed...Jayco showed me a perfectly built unit with zero issues. You make the call.

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

All I know is that I recently gave both of them a shot at my next purchase. Thor totally failed...Jayco showed me a perfectly built unit with zero issues. You make the call.

Congratulations..these hobbies are expensive