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Old 10-14-2019, 03:58 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Missouri
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THOR #17028
Aria 4000???

We currently have a Bounder but our family of 10 just does not fit very well. I've searched and searched and found that the Thor Aria 4,000 would be a practical choice for our family.
I haven't been able to find any reviews on it. Does anyone have one? What are your thoughts? Have you had any issues/problems with it?
And does anyone know if it's possible to replace the outdoor TV for an outdoor kitchen instead? And although I haven't seen this but an outdoor kitchen that's practical such as a place to grill not make gourmet coffee.
Thanks!

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Old 10-15-2019, 09:41 AM   #2
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2019 Aria 4000
State: Utah
Posts: 336
THOR #15943
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leanne View Post
We currently have a Bounder but our family of 10 just does not fit very well. I've searched and searched and found that the Thor Aria 4,000 would be a practical choice for our family.
I haven't been able to find any reviews on it. Does anyone have one? What are your thoughts? Have you had any issues/problems with it?
And does anyone know if it's possible to replace the outdoor TV for an outdoor kitchen instead? And although I haven't seen this but an outdoor kitchen that's practical such as a place to grill not make gourmet coffee.
Thanks!

Hi Leanne and welcome!
We have the Aria 4000 and have taken two trips in it. It drives and rides great, quiet when in motion, spacious and roomy when all the slides are out. It also has the 55 degree turning radius so it's easier to maneuver in tight areas. The Cummins 360 diesel pusher engine and Allison 6-speed transmission are smooth and quiet, although the engine takes a couple of seconds to get revving from a standing start. It also uses quite a bit of DEF for the exhaust, having a 10-gallon tank. Our TOAD is a 4-door Wrangler Rubicon and the Aria doesn't even know it's back there. Basement storage is huge with all the horizontal doors with 3 that pass through both sides.



The front, middle, and rear interior is separated by two sliding wooden doors, offering privacy in the front, middle (where the bunkhouse and mid-bath are), and the rear where the tilting King bed and the master bathroom reside-complete with a bigger shower and Jack and Jill sinks. The water heater is tankless and works well once you figure out it's sweet spots. The galley turns into a bed, as well as a fold-out full size bed in the couch. The overhead electric bunk bed sleeps two more but I think the weight limit is 350 pounds. 2 full bathrooms was a must-have for us, and the mid-bath is advertised with a "tub" but only for an infant or toddler, not baby-boomers like us! A stacked washer and dryer is included in the mid area next to the fridge. The kitchen has a convection microwave ONLY-no oven. The bunkhouse TVs include DVD players in the side of each unit while the front and rear TVs work from a central command center, also with DVD players and satellite antennas. I do not know if the outside TV area can be converted to a kitchenette but I suppose at a cost, anything is possible.



It is a thin center aisle when "buttoned up" for travel and you cannot access the rear bathroom w/o climbing over the bed.
The fridge door in ours will not remain closed even with the locking latch-put your galley bed cushion in front of the door, and use some packing tape to tape the doors shut until the latch can be inspected and/or repaired. One of our dash fans is overheating on HIGH-waiting on the dealer at EOM. Our dash AC hasn't worked from the date of delivery-another warranty item. Our kitchen sinks' drain plumbing broke on the 2nd trip-awaiting warranty work....


With twin furnaces and twin AC units (with heat pumps) there are plenty of BTUs to keep the coach warm or cold as necessary. The coach also includes automatic generator start should you be away from the coach during a power failure with your pets inside. The generator will kick on to regulate the inside temps depending on where you set your thermostats.

Automatic hydraulic jacks make the coach stable when in base camp. Blow the air bags to reduce ground clearance before setting the jacks, and set the jacks before extending the 3 slides.


Even with the repair issues (that ALL motor homes have at first) we love our 4000 and plan to retire full time into it in a couple of years.


Best of luck with your RV search-hope this helps!
GVP
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Old 10-15-2019, 07:03 PM   #3
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Thank you very much!
I've heard of people complaining about leakage. What year do you have?
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Old 10-15-2019, 07:15 PM   #4
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Outdoor 'kitchens' take up a LOT of room, and no, will not simply 'fit' in the space your outdoor tv fits into, it's a 'flat' screen...

I've also not seen a diesel pusher with any outdoor kitchen, as that is not something that seems to appeal to those buyers, at least not in the eyes of the manufacturers.
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Old 10-15-2019, 07:48 PM   #5
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Ok thanks. It just seems like there are TVs or screens everywhere in these things like someone has an addiction! ��
We perfer to "unplug" and enjoy each other. A movie here or there but nothing constantly on.
We have the weather on our phones. It's probably one of the more crucial things you need to be aware of when traveling.
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Old 10-15-2019, 07:55 PM   #6
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well, maybe you do, and I’m sure many of us have that same desire, at times, but the manufacturers are fairly good at knowing what the motorhome public ‘really’ wants - a lot of TV and entertainment options, both inside and out... when they didn’t provide as ‘many’ in previous versions, the same public made an outcry!

Mine has 5, and sometimes that’s not even enough... : )
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Old 10-15-2019, 08:04 PM   #7
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Hi Leanne,
Fleetwood used to offer outside kitchens in the Excursion and Discovery, but they took up 2 entire curbside compartments. That for a small cooking space, small sink, and mini-fridge. We carry a Blackstone 36" griddle with grill top in part of the pull out compartment, and a cooler for drinks (my beautiful wife likes her beer iced, so do I) in another compartment. The Blackstone allows me to cook for 2 or 20 and takes only a couple of minutes to set up, and I plumbed it into our on-board propane tank so we don't have to carry another tank. We have a '19 3901 and did have water encroachment into the compartments until Thor sent me new seals, no longer an issue. We pull a Durango with ours and love our Aria.
Mike
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Old 10-15-2019, 11:38 PM   #8
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We bought the Aria 4000 new and moved into it full time, mostly as a necessary quick-exit solution, and have been living in it with 2 teen/tween boys for almost a year. We choose that unit due to the large bunks as compared to others, and the two full baths.

Gotta say, GVP really hit the nail on the head, and was very thorough. They had a few different problems than we did. Mechanically, it's wonderful. I would drive it anywhere. The build quality has left some things to be desired- just annoyances, really, but the Firefly electrical system can get buggy (our cargo lights just randomly stopped working early on, and I can't even get the telephone support from Thor to intelligently address it, they just move on to another issue). A majority of our service issues have been with the way they are handled- Thor hands everything off to the dealer, who half-asses or ignores everything, then we're back at step one. I have resolved to handle everything on my own.

We've had hot and freezing weather. Some freeze precautions need to be taken, but not as much as others. The tanks are all insulated, as is the cargo area and plumbing areas. We had some hoses poking through the exterior bottom of the slide which froze up for about 2 days during a particularly cold snap, then back to normal. The heat pumps keep up until you're consistently sub-40, then to save propane (you have to drive it to refill it), we run dual space heaters front and back, after isolating the drivers area with floor-to-ceiling blankets. We continue to have a problem with condensation *inside* the unit when it's really cold outside, and this has caused problems with wet mattresses in the bunks, which isn't really fun.

The AC units do well, but if you don't have shade, the exterior just cooks and they will have trouble keeping up. We had a leak over the master bedroom slider early on, but oddly enough, that resolved itself (and trust me, I've looked for any leak with a vengeance). The two "burner" induction stove is fine for some things, I guess, but the lowest setting will overboil things, and we ended up getting a rice cooker and electric skillet to fill the gaps. We also got a fairly large toaster oven to use, as the convection oven isn't great for baking. BE CAREFUL ABOUT HOW MANY HEATING ELEMENTS ARE RUNNING AT ONCE!

One recurring issue we haven't been able to nail down is that the house charging system (Inverter/Charger) will randomly just stop working, and we watch all our stuff start to brown-out until we turn everything off, and wait 5-10 minutes, then it starts up again. No breakers broken, no fuses popped, just odd.

This house lives 4 people snugly, but fairly comfortably. The master bed and bunks are the always-available beds (except the master while sides are closed). The "tilt-a-view" master bed has a bad habit of randomly flattening out on us when we lay down in it. The drop down bed over the cab seems fine, but we've never used it. It blocks the door area somewhat when lowered. The couch bed has been described as "uncomfortable" and "WTF, they call this a bed?" when folded out. We haven't tried the dinette conversion, as it seems just... awkward. So, for a family of 10, I really hope y'all like each other... a lot.

Mostly happy with our temporary home, regardless of the quirks, however!
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Old 10-16-2019, 09:46 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leanne View Post
Thank you very much!
I've heard of people complaining about leakage. What year do you have?

Thanks Leanne,
Ours is a 2019-Red and Black with the Dark wood interior. No leakage other than the kitchen sink plumbing.

GVP
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Old 10-16-2019, 09:52 AM   #10
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[QUOTE=VinnieSmith;207173]...
Gotta say, GVP really hit the nail on the head, and was very thorough.



Thanks Vinnie-lots of editing!
GVP
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Old 10-16-2019, 08:59 PM   #11
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All very good info. Thank you.
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Old 12-29-2019, 04:53 AM   #12
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Model: Forester 3051SF
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Master Bedroom Outlets/Charger locations?

Could one of the owners of a 4000 share the location of the outlets for charging phones/tablets/etc? Also in the living areas please.

We are interested in a pre-owned one, but it is several states away from us.

Thanks all!
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Old 12-31-2019, 06:44 PM   #13
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Powered USB ports (dual) on driver's control panel, center of the dash, and both sides of the master bed. I have found there to be no shortage of 120 outlets, and in the middle of the living area I use two 6-outlet/4-USB plus-in adapters for all the kid stuff and games, etc.

120 outlets are 1) adjacent to the passenger seat- this one may be tapped into the chassis electric as opposed to the house power, 2) under the dinette, 3) in the cabinet above the dinette, 4) dual in the cabinet above the driver seat- the fore AV control center, a good place for a console game if that's a concern, 5) above the sofa, 6-8) around the kitchen counter, 9-10) one in each bunk, 11) mid bath, 12) dual in the rear AV cabinet above the small closet, 13-14) either side of the master bed, at the base, 15-16) either side of the rear bath sink.
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Old 12-31-2019, 11:01 PM   #14
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THOR #17676
Thanks so much. Really liking this DP more and more. Any watchouts or recommendations.
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Old 01-01-2020, 12:42 AM   #15
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State: Illinois
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THOR #7074
What are some of the other Models built for 10 passengers?
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Old 01-01-2020, 02:14 AM   #16
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I am going back a few months in memory but if I recall when we looked at the Aria 4000 the 2020 model year has an external LP hookup that could be used for a grill. That external LP hookup was not on the 2019.

Also, one big issue we had was the coach was extremely tight when the slides were in for traveling. If I remember correctly it would have been extremely tight tying to get into the bathroom with the slides retracted.

We looked at the Aria a couple of times and took one on a lengthy test drive and we passed. We went with the Entegra Accolade 37TS Super C instead.

Enjoy the search.
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Old 01-01-2020, 02:17 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by revjeffrey View Post
What are some of the other Models built for 10 passengers?
Our Entegra Accolade 37TS Super C has seat belts for 10.
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Old 01-01-2020, 08:31 PM   #18
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Model: Aria 4000
State: Oregon
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THOR #17711
Just took possession of Aria 4000

My family of 4 and our dog is planning to go full time in July and the Aria 4000 had the best floor plan for us that we could find. We just got it yesterday (New Year’s Eve) and after driving in the rain, found a lot of water in the basement. I have read that this is a known issue on this model year, but I have not seen if there is a remedy.

Also, I found that I was struggling to get up to about 45 mph on regular inclines throughout town...nothing crazy steep. Is this normal for this large of a coach? I knew it wouldn’t accelerate like a car up a hill, but I expected it to have a little more pep. Is there a potential maintenance issue, or is it more likely I am just not used to driving such a large vehicle?

Thank you for the input
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Old 01-01-2020, 09:29 PM   #19
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Model: Forester 3051SF
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Renegade Winters View Post
My family of 4 and our dog is planning to go full time in July and the Aria 4000 had the best floor plan for us that we could find. We just got it yesterday (New Year’s Eve) and after driving in the rain, found a lot of water in the basement. I have read that this is a known issue on this model year, but I have not seen if there is a remedy.

Also, I found that I was struggling to get up to about 45 mph on regular inclines throughout town...nothing crazy steep. Is this normal for this large of a coach? I knew it wouldn’t accelerate like a car up a hill, but I expected it to have a little more pep. Is there a potential maintenance issue, or is it more likely I am just not used to driving such a large vehicle?

Thank you for the input
I read on another thread (Venetian J40 was in the subject) that the water intrusion was a known problem and supposedly fixed starting 2019 model year. But based on your experience, maybe not.
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Old 01-01-2020, 10:30 PM   #20
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Exclamation

Quote:
Originally Posted by Renegade Winters View Post
... I was struggling to get up to about 45 mph on regular inclines throughout town...nothing crazy steep. Is this normal for this large of a coach? I knew it wouldn’t accelerate like a car up a hill, but I expected it to have a little more pep. Is there a potential maintenance issue, or is it more likely I am just not used to driving such a large vehicle?
well, it's hard to know what YOU mean by the terms 'struggling' and 'regular inclines', as everyone has a differing perception of what they 'expect' with a large diesel coach. What are you comparing your experience to? What 'inclines' are you referring to?
Diesels are about torque, not speed, though once up to speed, they can certainly do anything most any other diesel vehicle can do.

You also have two settings on your ALLISON Transmission gear shift pad, with 'Normal' as the default, and pushing the 'MODE' button to enter the 'ECONOMY' setting, which simply shifts gears a little earlier and seems to provide better fuel mileage, yet will not 'speed' up the mountains as 'normal' setting would be better suited for.

Are you towing?

Are you full loaded?

What 'town' are you referring to?
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