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Junior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Palazzo 33.4
State: New Mexico
Posts: 17
THOR #3722
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Caution and a warning, 2016 Palazzo 33.4
I’m generally not one to do this, but I feel this situation was beyond what should be acceptable behavior by any company producing items for sale and use by the public. So, I’ll make this as short and succinct as I can. On February 19, 2016, my wife, Nadine and I took ownership of a brand new Thor Palazzo motorhome. We purchased it because we felt we needed an RV that was a bit larger than the one we had, and this one had a very nice floor plan and amenities. It was also built on a very good chassis, and based on the test drive, was easy to handle by Nadine and I. Just under a week later, we left on an approximately 2 month trip in the RV. Less than a week into our trip, we began to experience issues with the RV, all related to the quality of workmanship of the actual coach. In all, we’ve ended up with over 25 items. Now, many of them were minor in nature; two were a bit more serious – a water leak that could have undermined the structural integrity of the RV, and some wiring and tubing that were poorly designed so that they were easily caught up in the slide as it retracted and expanded, with normal use. This last issue resulted in the TV on the outside of the RV being unable to use, as one of the wires cut dealt with the TV. However, all of these issues pale in comparison to what happened to us on April 5, 2016. As we were driving on I77 N in South Carolina, on a divided highway at about 65 mph (within the posted speed limit), with no warning, the overhead cabinet directly over our heads came crashing down on us. It hit me on the arm and hand and Nadine on the head and shoulder. Although we were not seriously injured, we very easily could have been killed as the cabinet blocked our vision of the road (please see the attached photos). I managed to sort of look out the side window and use the center lane marking to make sure we stayed on the road, then put my head down so that I could see well enough to get us off on the shoulder of the road. If I hadn’t been able to do that, we very likely would have gone off the road. As you all know, these RV’s are not meant for that type of activity, and most likely would have rolled. Since the front part of the coach is completely surrounded by glass, we would have been cut badly and again, potentially killed, as they are also certainly not built with any roll cage to protect the driver and passenger(s). When this was brought to Thor’s attention, we first had to semi-argue with them to get them to address all the warranty items when we drove to their location in Elkhart, IN. When they finally agreed to address all the items, we were there for 3 days while they worked on the RV. They did put us up in a hotel one day, because they had to pull out the shower in order to address the water leak (someone had gouged a water pipe when doing the install initially, and just let it go). All of this repair work, of course, is what is to be expected, since the RV was less than 2 months old at this point, and covered by warranty. It is also worth noting that I had to re-work some of the items that they “fixed” – did this after they released us to leave for home on Friday night. We thought about staying to have them fix the fixes, but they don’t work on the weekends, and we didn’t really want to do that – who knows what would be wrong after a third attempt to fix it? As disappointing as all of this is, what is most disappointing and telling about Thor as a company, is the attitude of the executives of Thor. We asked for a rebate that was offered after our purchase be extended to us, in a way as a discount for a faulty product. We also asked for an extended warranty period, for obvious reasons. They categorically turned us down because they said we didn’t have any “tangible damages”. I guess it would have been easier for them if we had been severely injured/crippled or killed by their product. When I said that to one of the executives, Bob Harlan of Consumer Affairs, he simply kept repeating that there were no “tangible damages”. We then asked for them to take back this product that they apparently do not view as faulty in any way (since it’s been “fixed”), and they also declined to do this. Nadine & I are truly disappointed and disgusted by the lack of integrity by Thor Motor Home, Inc., and its executives. They are not willing to stand by their product (by offering the rebate/discount or the extended warranty, or arranging for it to occur), nor do they apparently care about their customers. I am sharing this so that if any of you have a Palazzo model, please be sure to verify that the overhead cabinet is attached securely to the bed framing above it. Also, if you have any other model with an overhead cabinet, it might be worth checking out as well. This is not our first motorhome purchase, and I’m happy to say other manufacturers – Winnebago/Itasca and Tiffiin, to name a few – do produce good quality products. Yes, they have had some warranty issues, but the numbers are far, far, far less, and none of them has tried to kill us. My message to family, friends and anyone else is, if you want value for your money, and potentially even your life, stay away from any Thor product.
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