HELP! And A.C.E. 27.1 Questions<<----

[jbwilli1]

Don't, I worked on wife for 20 yrs, while we had an excellent 5th wheel. She didn't want one & only did it for me, now neither of us enjoy it as much as we did the 5th wheel.


I had a 2008 Holiday Rambler Presidential Suite, bought as a repo in 2008. Hurricane Ike put 7 feet of water in my downstairs, so I needed a place to stay.


Shoulda put the $'s in the 5th wheel. We both miss it, so much so if I could find another or mine, I would go back.

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by jbwilli1

Don't, I worked on wife for 20 yrs, while we had an excellent 5th wheel. She didn't want one & only did it for me, now neither of us enjoy it as much as we did the 5th wheel.


I had a 2008 Holiday Rambler Presidential Suite, bought as a repo in 2008. Hurricane Ike put 7 feet of water in my downstairs, so I needed a place to stay.


Shoulda put the 4's in the 5th wheel. We both miss it, so much so if I could find another or mine, I would go back.

We sold a 2003 fifth wheel when we bought the class A. Planning a 3 month trip thru the west next summer. My wife didn’t want to ride that many miles in a F350. I was fine with it. I gave up a ton of storage. But, wth, I’ve got it. I’ll make the most of it. Besides, traveling in a Small Class A beats mowing grass.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by ThatCrazyOldGuy

OK... Running out of time. (Yeah, REALLY!)

I've been thinking about an RV for a while. Last week I started getting Serious and starting digging hard to figure out what I Need. I'll List them.

1. 2 Person Rig
2. Class A
3. 30' will work
4. As New As Possible.
5. 30-50k

What I found was a 2014 27.1 Thor. So I drove 2 hours to go look at it. Yes, the Captains Chairs are Peeling (no big deal). 34k miles, super clean. The owners are Ready it Move It. (but what I've Read on the Thor's is Not So Good! Many New Owners Not Happy about Quality of the Rig.)

What I Did Not Do! Discuss this with my GF, who is still working and can't see Retirement. We do not Live together.

After looking at the Thor, I told the Couple "I'll Get Back To You"! So I'm contemplating "Make an Offer But I need to talk to Susan/GF FIRST! Well, after a couple of Scotch and H20's I sent a Text. "What Do You Think About Buying a Motorhome" and I sent the Thor information. Her Response was "NOPE". So I didn't say anything else about it until Wednesday when she came to my house for Dinner. I asked her, why she said "NO". Her reply was "I just don't think we'd use it and if I was going to Buy anything It Would Be Another Boat". (we both have owned big boats for 20 years) Boats Cost Money! Slip Fee, Insurance, Up Keep to the tune of $600 to $1500 a Month. I told her "Well, a Motorhome won't have a Slip and the Insurance Cost is $75 a month". She goes back to the "Well, I'm Still Working...". And she says the 27.1 is SMALL!

My thoughts are BUY IT, Load up on Friday and ROLL on Down The Highway and Back to Work On Monday. (Yes, I am 95% Retired.) Your Opinion on Weekend trips?

Any Concerns on the 2014 27.1 A.C.E.?

What About The Roof? My driveway is loaded with Pine Trees!

(I am a Hands on Guy so I can do almost anything.)

Last but not Least "BUY the 27.1 Or NOT? Discuss it with her and try to convince her or just "Do What The Hell You Want Too"! Wemen!

We have a 2016 ACE 27.1, bought used in 2016 with 2300 miles on it. We always had travel trailers before this RV and the thought was to buy this MH instead of a new TT/5th wheel and new truck to pull it as our 2008 Silverado was getting long in the tooth, and use it to travel the country after we retired. I woulda retired 2 years ago but for the wife. I AM retiring at the end of this year but she still wants to work. Wimen!!

We have used ours frequently for visits to family, kids, grandkids, family reunions, long weekends, week and 10 day vacations. We have over 20K miles on it now.

We love our floorplan. We replaced the "couch" with dual reclining loveseats and created a side table between them and the forward bathroom wall. We had to replace our peeling front seats this spring and got better sitting captains chairs in the process (lotsa 27.1 and 27K owners have made this modification). The bathroom works great with a big enough shower and there's tons of storage in this MH. Like most RVs this size, the single A/C struggled to keep it cool on those 95+ degree days so I added a second A/C in the bedroom this year with a separate power connection.

Things I would look for/test on a used unit:

Test the hydraulic levelers - not necessarily in Automatic mode, manually tilt the coach in all directions to make sure all the jacks work and listen to the motor to see if it is struggling. The motors are cheap and prone to fail if abused.

Take a good close look on the roof, especially at the front and rear seams for cracking of the sealant. Check inside at the front and rear seam area for water intrusion.

Check the walls below the driver's and passenger's windows for "pimples", a sure sign of water intrusion.

Cycle that big slide in and out. Hold the button for 5 seconds after the slide stops moving. When it is out, look underneath it under the sink area for the flex-bag that encompasses all the plumbing and electrical in the slide - it should not be hanging out below the floor.

Check the operation of every appliance on all modes. Fridge on propane and 120 VAC, water heater on propane and 120 VAC, A/C, Furnace, 12 VDC water pump. Start and run the generator and load it with the A/C and microwave. Check the stove and oven. Test the house batteries by starting the generator without the chassis engine running and without being plugged into SP.

Every RV manufacturer has had quality control problems since the big downturn in 2008. Thor is not better or worse than any other manufacturer. The key is to go in with your eyes open and know that, just like a boat, there's always things that need tending to.

Let me know if you have more specific questions about the 27.1.

[SamABQ]

16ACE27 says it pretty well. We have a 2014 ACE 27.1 and overall have been happy with it. The couch is very uncomfortable and we are thinking about replacing with recliners as 16ACE27 did. Also the captains chairs are not as comfortable as some. We replaced the radio when it failed. We have not had any major mechanical problems. We love the king size bed.
Good luck on your decision.

[mgunnin]

If I were buying used I would have a professional RV inspector look at if for me.
Also buying used I would go Winnebago. They make almost all of the bid items themselves, so you can replace item on older units.
I have owned both Winnebago and Thor. Hands down Winnebago better unit.
I will say the Thor Vegas that I have (2018 - 27.7) gives a lot for the small buck.
I would never go back to a big box class A. The E450 chassis is great.

[paulwadley]

Everyone will have an opinion about a manufacturer and poor quality. My first was a Winnebago brand new. Had a terrible time with it and the dealership where I bought it. When I traded it in 2 years later I went with Thor and have never looked back. My dealership I have now is great. Thor has been good to me during my warranty period. I would not hesitate to go with another Thor product. As long as you can feel comfortable fixing as you go along what you can and having someone else fix those things outside your comfort zone, consider the purchase(after some convincing at home) and go forward.

Paul

[WarriorLori]

We rented a rig like the one we were thinking about buying and it was the best decision ever!! My husband was on the fence about the purchase and not sure how we would use it, but after a short weekend, he was convinced (& within 3 weeks we had a new rig in our driveway We have a class c and love it for those weekend trips. Good luck!

[ThatCrazyOldGuy]

Thank You all for the Excellent Replies.

Still unsure right now. Looking to talk to another neighbor who just got a C Class.

Will Keep You Posted!

[Bob Denman]

Is this going to turn into a case of World Class Christmas shopping?