Thor Axis: New Owner Experience

[belfastboy]

We have now owned our Axis 24.1 for exactly one year now m(7500 miles, 51 days of use). Overall, for a first time RV owner, it has been a good experience.
The good;
We love the Axis, it is perfect for our needs, comfortable to live in, relatively easy to drive and navigate even the tight spots.
The V10 engine is indeed a workhorse. The warranty issues of relatively small size, i.e. nothing major. The dealership has been great to work with on all warranty issues.
The bad;
The overall quality control in the build is worrisome. Our claims have been for small issues that in my view should have been noticed on the factory floor. Just shoddy workmanship and no QC.
Also the level of workmanship at the dealership, at $130 US dollars/hour shop rate is overall appalling. I am not a woodworker or particularly skilled but I with not much effort could have handled the repair and the finished product with much much higher quality.
I will shop around for a smaller perhaps sole proprietor RV repair shop now that I am out of warranty and hopefully find a higher level of care and skill.
We are loving the RV lifestyle and pleased we chose the Axis.

[mcr1010]

Well said. My thoughts exactly. Glad you are enjoying your Axis and keeping the gain vs pain in perspective.

[Chance]

Are there any Class A options to Axis/Vegas if a buyer was looking for higher quality than what is often reported on this forum?

The compact size for a Class A and built on van chassis makes it unique as far as I know (excluding Sprinter diesels which are not directly comparable). It's unfortunate one can't shop around if quality is substandard, or for any other reason.

[belfastboy]

When I purchased there were almost zero used Axis available. If I were to do it again I would give serious consideration to purchasing a used, one year old model with low mileage. In my thinking it would save the vexation of having to take it back multiple times for the warranty repairs, theoretically they would be handled by then. And the savings would help take care of any holdovers.

[belfastboy]

One of the minor (very minor) warranty issues was the stainless steel plate on the shower side of the bathroom medicine cabinet was installed incorrectly. It was cut too long and had a big wow in the middle thus creating a place for water entrapment. I was going to fix it myself but when I had other issues I thought ...why should I compensate for their ineptness! They cut it to fit and when they screwed it back in, both the bottom screws were cocked badly. It is actually a small hazard to anyone who cleans the panel as the screws sit at about a 45 degree angle with an exposed sharp edge. The screwdriver slots were all stripped so I am not sure I can even remove them. I shudder to think if I actually paid someone $130 per hour to do this work.

[Beacher]

Originally Posted by belfastboy

.... The screwdriver slots were all stripped so I am not sure I can even remove them. I shudder to think if I actually paid someone $130 per hour to do this work.

That guy must have been in a big hurry with his power drill!

You can remove the screws using a small vise-grip. Just clamp it on the screw head and carefully turn.

Chances are that the original holes are stripped, that's why they replaced the screws at a 45 degree angle. If he holes are stripped, stuff in some epoxy putty or wood putty into the oversized holes , let it dry. Drill small pilot holes into the dried putty smaller than your screws, and then re-install.

[belfastboy]

super, thank you.

[mcr1010]

Or if you are in a hurry like I am most times, you can use cut-to-fit plastic wall anchors to fill in the hole. That is what I used on the ceiling bathroom door catch that had been stripped and was loose. If you have the time though, you can't beat epoxy fill and re-drill.

[Mr Sunshine]

Originally Posted by belfastboy

When I purchased there were almost zero used Axis available. If I were to do it again I would give serious consideration to purchasing a used, one year old model with low mileage. In my thinking it would save the vexation of having to take it back multiple times for the warranty repairs, theoretically they would be handled by then. And the savings would help take care of any holdovers.

Letting an original owner work out the bugs is a theory I often agree with. In the case of Axis & Vegas, it seems that the quality is improving, and you might want to factor that in. You'll probably never know the real reason the last owner moved on. Just because the factory warranty ends doesn't necessarily mean problems are all fixed.

We expect to keep our Vegas for several years, so that 1st year hit will be spread out and not quite as painful. If you are going to trade every 2 or 3 years, you won't suffer as much depreciation with a used purchase. We have used ours about 50 days so far, with only minor issues so far. I think Vegas QC compares very well with comparably priced competitors.

[belfastboy]

Yes, overall we are pleased with our Axis. I am surprised as a first time RV buyer at the low QC. It seems the problems are so minor that it would make economic sense to catch them in production rather than dealing with them as warranty items. But I guess if they are paying the assemblers close to minimum wage it may make sense to just crank the units out and deal with the crap later. And when that seems to be the case throughout the industry a company like Thor will not hurt its reputation as everyone offers the same level of quality. It must make economic sense or presumably they would change. It just seems strange when compared to the automotive industry where quality is king.

[Arby]

On my 2015 24.1 I had the same issue and I had to pull the Microwave to tighten the cable connections to the switch. Very loose Then connector for the cable connection was just inserted into the connector with maybe one turn on the threads.