Tour of the 2020 Vegas 24.1

[Oneilkeys]

Except for the residential fridge, all of the mods you mentioned have been done by one or more owners on this forum. I bet it’s a lot cheaper to pay a local RV shop to do them (and/or doing some yourself) than paying Thor lots of money to screw them up.

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by Long & Winding road

I love the idea of Thor offering a stripped down Axis / Vegas BUT i also love the Idea of Thor having a Loaded up version as well!

Big money to be made with add on's. Look at the automobile/Pickup truck world.

Example of "Must have" add on's for me would be: Hydraulic levelers, 1500 watt inverter, Engine bay/Dog house insulation.

Perhaps A complete 200 watt solar system?

Residential Frig?

Im not talking about having the Dealer add this stuff after purchase.... Im talking about ordering directly from the factory.

So they can advertize a stripped down 24.1 for 89K or 99K but then when you show up an see the 27.7 (or even a 24.1) with all the bells and whistles that you want for 129K.... I bet many would pull the trigger .

I would remove residential fridge since that would be too large for an Axis/Vegas unit and simply add a compressor fridge (kind of the same thing, just 12V powered and not requiring an inverter).

[Pabs4]

Originally Posted by Chance

I was looking at pictures to see if they eliminated curved cabinets in order to make them larger, and noticed an interesting picture indicating this particular 24.1 was built on E-350 chassis rather than an E-450.

Thor specs still show E-450 so this picture may be an error (from a different unit), but I’d check just to make sure if buying a 24.1 and extra GVWR and GCWR are important to you. I recall this came up once before where buyer was quite upset at only getting an E-350.

We recently had our Vegas at the dealership for warranty work. Our salesman told us they were no longer utilizing the E450 chassis for the Vegas. They made the change to try to keep the price down.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

I would remove residential fridge since that would be too large for an Axis/Vegas unit and simply add a compressor fridge (kind of the same thing, just 12V powered and not requiring an inverter).

That’s what I’d want. The new 10 cubic foot RV compressor refrigerators fit in same space as smaller absorption units, weigh less, and don’t require additional holes to be cut on sidewalls for venting of heat. They don’t require as much RV leveling, and unlike house (residential) refrigerators, it’s made to be in a moving vehicle, so doors have locks and interior keeps food from flying around as much.

There’s a lot to like with an RV-specific compressor fridge. I’ll bet propane absorption refrigerators will lose market share quickly over next few years.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by ducksface

.....cut....

When it's just the two of us the slide is never used. Someone here on the forum prayed for one without a slide and could not understand the concept of 'just ignore that button on the wall'.)

Not understanding you and not agreeing with you are two vastly different topics.

How does ignoring a button on the wall address or correct all the negatives that a slide adds to a motorhome, particularly when you don’t even need it in the first place?

If a buyer likes slides, more power to them. Personally, I dislike them enough to have offered to pay extra to have the slide on an Axis 24.1 eliminated at the factory.

I also understand completely why Thor wouldn’t build it (for marketing reasons), although I disagree, believing an entry-level smaller, cheaper, and simpler Class A could be successful if done right.

In my opinion Thor should design and build an Axis optimized for an active couple, splitting the difference between a 24.1 floorplan and Class Bs.

[sage]

Originally Posted by TimmyB

That's why I prefaced it with "almost". I know they're are some class C models that felt really spacious, but they were huge! We wanted a smaller unit, one that could easily be driven through towns and easily parked. The 24.1 stood out against the others, at least in the gas engine models. There were some sweet Sprinter series that we loved, but even if we had decided to not overlook the diesel models, I still think our Vegas would have won for us.

Immediately before our Vegas we owned a 2005 Fleetwood Tioga 23E for six months. We'd been without an RV for 10 years and were missing it. But we didn't want to get back into something like the 32' and 36' Tiffins we'd had previously. We wanted something to transit back and forth between New England and Florida and for short (3 to 4 days or less) trips - definitely not something that we could snowbird in. We looked at all sorts of Class B units but with a cat and a dog, we felt we needed something bigger.

The Tioga 23E fit the bill perfectly except for one thing: after owning it for six months and making a number of trips we decided that we had to have something with at least a full size bed. Even for just a few nights we weren't happy with sleeping in different beds.

We had come to that decision when I went to the storage lot in our community to get something out of the Tioga and right across the aisle from it I saw an Axis. All I could see was the outside but I was smitten on the spot. As soon as I got back to the house I started doing research on the Net.

Then a couple of days later I drove by the only (new) RV dealer in town and saw a 2017 Vegas 25.3 sitting on the lot. I did a u-turn and headed back. I took it for a test drive, went thru from top to bottom and was ready to jump.

The next day I took the wife to look it over and got my ballon popped. She said she could try to live with a convection oven instead of the real thing, but there wasn't any way she could handle having the microwave at knee height. Back to the drawing board.

Two weeks later we bought our used 2016 25.2. She still complains about not having a real oven and the fact that the convection oven is a piece of junk but basically we are very happy.

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by sage

...The Tioga 23E fit the bill perfectly except for one thing: after owning it for six months and making a number of trips we decided that we had to have something with at least a full size bed. Even for just a few nights we weren't happy with sleeping in different beds.

That's exactly what we love about the 24.1. It has BOTH (twin beds AND a King) wrapped into one. We saw MANY motorhomes with twin beds that we discounted straightaway, simply because they were truly two separate twin beds and always would be.

Either way, glad you found what you like!

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by Pabs4

We recently had our Vegas at the dealership for warranty work. Our salesman told us they were no longer utilizing the E450 chassis for the Vegas. They made the change to try to keep the price down.

Something's fishy, then. This is directly from the Thor website:

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by TimmyB

Something's fishy, then. This is directly from the

Yeah I wouldn't trust a salesman. They don't know what they are talking about.

[taylorbob1]

Originally Posted by Long & Winding road

I love the idea of Thor offering a stripped down Axis / Vegas BUT i also love the Idea of Thor having a Loaded up version as well!

Big money to be made with add on's. Look at the automobile/Pickup truck world.

Example of "Must have" add on's for me would be: Hydraulic levelers, 1500 watt inverter, Engine bay/Dog house insulation.

Perhaps A complete 200 watt solar system?

Residential Frig?

Im not talking about having the Dealer add this stuff after purchase.... Im talking about ordering directly from the factory.

So they can advertize a stripped down 24.1 for 89K or 99K but then when you show up an see the 27.7 (or even a 24.1) with all the bells and whistles that you want for 129K.... I bet many would pull the trigger .

Add front & rear Helwig Anti-Sways & Sumo Springs
Steering Stabilizer System
High powered & efficient Air Conditioning system
Increased flow water pump & Oxygenics Showered
What am I forgetting???

We want it “turn-key!”

[Chance]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

Yeah I wouldn't trust a salesman. They don't know what they are talking about.

I agree — some can be clueless.

In fairness though, Thor’s website has been very slow in the past to revise pertinent chassis revisions. The change from E-350 to E-450 and back a couple of times (mostly on the 24.1 floorplan) has caused significant confusion.

Regarding pricing, there is likely pressure to lower costs, and it may surprise many that the E-350 stripped chassis is slightly higher cost than the entry F-53. The advertised difference today has E-350 at $120 higher.

Going from E-350 to E-450 adds nearly $2,200 more, so why incur the cost for the lighter Axis/Vegas 24.1 when most buyers won’t need the extra GVWR and GCWR capabilities?

I’m not saying a few don’t need or want an E-450, but from a business decision Thor may be smart to trim costs and then advertise why the E-350 is the right choice (that’s why they have marketing department).

[Chance]

Originally Posted by sage

.....cut....

The next day I took the wife to look it over and got my ballon popped. She said she could try to live with a convection oven instead of the real thing, but there wasn't any way she could handle having the microwave at knee height. Back to the drawing board.

.....cut.....

I agree with her that microwaves shouldn’t be placed that low. Too high isn’t ideal either, but somewhere around chest height would be great. Worse than a microwave that low for me is a small refrigerator under kitchen counter near the floor. It’s bad enough when you see an empty one in a showroom, but in actual use trying to get stuff that’s near the back of the fridge when fridge is that low requires squatting or kneeling. This location is common in many Class B motorhomes and is a deal breaker for me.

I know some floorplans don’t give designers many options, but maybe they should come up with new floorplans that “function” more efficiently rather than spend so much effort on aesthetics. Like most people I like things that look nice too, but not if its function is limited.

My guess is that lack of ergonomics comes from designers who don’t actually use these products, or else are too young to fully appreciate that older campers don’t have the same level of physical capabilities. I can still easily bend over or squat to get a Coke out of an undercounter fridge, but feel I shouldn’t have to.

[Oneilkeys]

In an RV everything is a trade off and whether it is good for you depends on how you use your coach, what is important to you and even how tall you are. We went from Class B to Class C To the Axis because we started taking two week trips and ended up taking 2-4 month trips - some over 10,000 miles. For us the Axis was perfect for that. After 12 years of RVing, we are finding that our trips are getting shorter and we are primarily using our RV as transportation between our two homes in Florida and Nova Scotia as well as week long “vacation” trips. We still enjoy our three week trips up and down the east coast, stopping at campgrounds along the way, so we are considering downsizing to a Class B - (maybe the new Sequence) completing our circle of RV ownership. I agree with the comments on the fridge and microwave height, bathroom size, etc. While that trade off was not worth it to us previously, maybe it is now, to move to a smaller footprint and easier coach to drive, park and hopefully maintain. It will also allow us to drop town to three vehicles, and maybe even two which would make the expense of upkeep and ownership even less. Life is a trade off.

[Chance]

If you go with the initial Sequence Class B floorplan, you’ll get both the fridge and microwave down low.


I like its value but don’t like floorplan, which is similar to one of discontinued Axis/Vegas, just smaller. I’m not sure why Thor marketing thinks it’s going to work out any better long term.

One thing to also consider is that it’s a window van, so not many windows that can be opened on a nice day. Granted, side door with screen can be opened for ventilation, but that’s not quite the same depending on where one is parked. Being a window van also affects heating and cooling; something to consider.

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by BYoshida

Love the new cooktop. Need to see if I can retrofit my 2018.

how do you winterize? Do you blow air and drain? Do not like rv fluid in tanks? doy uo use a cover or does mold build?