Exterior Panel Deformation

[braunski]

I have a 2020 Thor Chateau that is still under warranty. On the back exterior panel above the center rear light, the panel is show inward deformations where it curves to meet and attach to the roof. The dealer indicated that this is a cosmetic issue and did get Thor to agree to replace the entire back panel. My concern stems from the fact that the dealer indicated that when they put in the new panel and curve it at the top to meet the roof, that the same issue could happen again. Claims there is no support behind the panel at that point.
Is this true? If so, why would it not be a manufacturing defect with a process to fix it permanently.
Has anyone else had this issue. I have attached two pictures taken today that should highlight this problem.

Thanks for any and all ideas.
braunski

[Judge]

I see you are in Arizona so you may not want to hear this advice.....

If you schedule the repair at the Thor Service Center in Wakarusa, they wll fix it right to make sure it doesn't happen again.

That being said... if your dealer know what the problem is, I would ask them to see if they could fabricate a support during the repair to prevent it from happening again.

[Bob Denman]

The Judge is right: take it to Wakarusa and get it fixed right.

[Lt Keefer]

That looks like damage to me, not some kind of cosmetic issue.

[Pete'sMH]

Agreed. Take it to Indiana if you can! I suppose that you bought it to travel in and there are lots of interesting things to do in and around Indiana and Michigan (I highly recommend the UP and Mackinac island!) so perhaps you could work it into a spring trip? If you wait until near the end of your warranty period you might find that you have a list of items requiring attention. You should be confident that the factory service center will fix it right while you wait. Good luck.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by Lt Keefer

That looks like damage to me, not some kind of cosmetic issue.

I thought it looked like a boot print...

[Elite Washington]

That does look like damage almost like someone climbed up there and sat on the area. Hopefully someone is trying to steal anything off your rig

[Lt Keefer]

The one picture looks like a ladder was placed against the back and someone climbed up and stepped off the top rung onto the end cap.

[braunski]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I can assure you that there was no ladder, no boot print step, no hitting of anything that caused this. As much as I would like to take it back to the factory, their approval of the warranty work will have me getting it repaired here in Mesa Arizona. Thanks again.

[DogLovers]

Well there's always matches.

[16ACE27]

Looks like a manufacturing defect to me. Should be fixed under warranty. If it happens again then they need to fix it again as well as the root cause because I've seen a lot of Chateaus on the road and none of them look like that.