More repair/warranty work!!! - Page 2

RobbieH · 03-16-2015, 07:17 PM

My 2014 Four Winds Super C just had the slide out break for the fourth time. And the Four Winds is NOT a sub $100k motor home. I'm sitting here filling out paperwork for the Texas Lemon Law.

Thing is, if we are able to return it, I don't know what to get to replace it. Seems everything out there is junk now.

brianh442 · 03-16-2015, 07:28 PM

Hi Robbie,

Sorry to hear you have to go to this next step! I did as well, I've hired an attorney and his firm is working to get some type of resolution, This is not what we had in mind when we spent over $100k for this unit over a year ago!

Like I've said here before, there will be problems, I think we all go into ownership thinking that! This is my second RV, the last was a Thor product and it was great! Maybe 2 issues while I owned it!

There comes a point when enough is enough! Thor must do a better job with their QC!

Brian

RobbieH · 03-16-2015, 08:00 PM

Enough is enough when I can't go on a single trip without the slide hanging. Once it hung out, which means it can't be driven.

I just did the math, the coach has been down for repairs and in the shop for a total of 172 days, with the last day in the shop being at 11 months of ownership. That means it has spent half its life in the shop, and now it needs to go back again for the same dang thing.

elevinsp1@aol.com · 03-16-2015, 09:58 PM

LOL
After reading through this thread
Maybe I should have bought a 18 wheeler and converted it myself!! HAHAH
Wonder why my ACE 29.2 does not have a window in the rear wall. Would rather that then the head board

**fhenn** · 03-16-2015, 10:11 PM

Why do you not call Thor, and see if they have an authorized traveling tech that they can send out. Most of these guys are really good and know their stuff.

doubravsky · 03-16-2015, 10:42 PM

Ours was in the shop after each of our first three trips, and I did some stuff outside of the dealer like adding solar and different cabinet hardware. I remember thinking that of the first 6 months we owned it, 4 months were spent in the dealer for repairs. But, thankfully, the last three trips we've had no problems ( hefty knock on wood!). And the dealer's work seems to have been ok. We're happy

RobbieH · 03-16-2015, 10:44 PM

Because after this happening for the 4th time, my concern is it will happen again at a time I have no options to send the thing back. And now that I've been searching around, I'm not happy with all the Schwintek issues I'm finding out on the internet. And think, I haven't used it half as much as I would have liked to, we have canceled trips or not planned trips because of the RV being in the shop or broken.

mfgreptim · 03-17-2015, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roddy53

Sorry to hear about your problems but we too are very disappointed. We bought a 2014 Thor Challenger 37KT in April 2014. Guess what it spent 8 weeks of the summer in the repair shop. We have had so many problems that we no longer go to the deal we have to go the the factory for repairs. Our repair list has exceeded over 103 items. We have owned it almost a year now and have yet to have a camping trip without something failing. We are in Florida for 3 months we meet with every Thor owner that comes in the campground and we are hearing the same horror stories from all of them. My opinion owners should band together and try to get a class action suit against Thor.

I may have to join up with you.

ratboy46 · 03-17-2015, 07:57 PM

Same thing going on with us over a year.
I totally agree with you.
Sad thing is Thor doesn't care and will do their best to work around and get out of every situation a consumer has complained about.
We're with you.

ratboy46 · 03-17-2015, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fhenn

Why do you not call Thor, and see if they have an authorized traveling tech that they can send out. Most of these guys are really good and know their stuff.

Tried that. Thor said they only have two guys who travel and if they are not in your area you are out of luck. Guess what? We were out of luck.

Nursx2 · 03-17-2015, 08:10 PM

Class action law suit just gets the attorneys rich!!!!

I just got a notice from a Justice class action lawsuit - the attorneys are going to received 3 million$, each person will get $12.00!

Roddy53 · 03-17-2015, 08:24 PM

I agree about the class action. What we need is more states that have a good "lemon law". Us being in michigan sucks because our lemon law only applies to cars and non-commercial pickups. We can at least be thankful for the internet to share our concerns.

ratboy46 · 03-17-2015, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nursx2

Class action law suit just gets the attorneys rich!!!!

I just got a notice from a Justice class action lawsuit - the attorneys are going to received 3 million$, each person will get $12.00!

I don't think those who own a Thor and are asking for Thor to own up to a lousy product, are looking to get rich. They are looking for Thor to man up and accept the responsibilities they have to the many complaints on this forum and to the consumer and build a quality unit.

OHpink2 · 03-17-2015, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roddy53

Sorry to hear about your problems but we too are very disappointed. We bought a 2014 Thor Challenger 37KT in April 2014. Guess what it spent 8 weeks of the summer in the repair shop. We have had so many problems that we no longer go to the deal we have to go the the factory for repairs. Our repair list has exceeded over 103 items. We have owned it almost a year now and have yet to have a camping trip without something failing. We are in Florida for 3 months we meet with every Thor owner that comes in the campground and we are hearing the same horror stories from all of them. My opinion owners should band together and try to get a class action suit against Thor.

I agree. We have 900 miles on ours (that we put on). Took it in today for power train repair. Had to go to Ford dealer for this one. The other repairs we have had done we just waited while they fixed it. Only being on short trips we have no idea what else may occur. I think some sort of class action should be initiated.

FW28z · 03-17-2015, 10:37 PM

If it takes more than a couple of days to fix from the discovery of the problem to the RV being returned to you, the manufacturer should step in and remedy the problem, even if this means them finding another dealer for you or flying in a tech.

A 180 day repair cycle is simply not acceptable in my view. If they had to fix the problem in a couple of days at a higher cost to them, you can bet they would increase their quality because it would cost more for warranty work than building it correctly in the first place.

So methinks the only reason they are letting the warranty process take so long is that keeps their costs low.

JamieGeek · 03-17-2015, 11:08 PM

Unless the dealer is pushing off the warranty repairs until after the "paid" stuff is done..but that is speculation on my part.

What is worse to think about is that there may be that many warranty repairs that the dealer is so backed up? Or the dealer is so shoddy...boggles the mind why it takes that long?

My dealer doesn't make appointments: you just drop off your rig. My two repairs were done within a week--granted my repairs were nothing compared to the slide issues described in this thread.

**EA37TS** · 03-17-2015, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FW28z

If it takes more than a couple of days to fix from the discovery of the problem to the RV being returned to you, Thor needs to step in and remedy the problem, even if this means them finding another dealer for you or flying in a tech.

But a 180 day repair cycle is simply another part of poor quality. If they had to fix the problem in a couple of days at a higher cost to them, you can bet they would increase their quality because it would cost more for warranty work than building it correctly in the first place.

So methinks the only reason they are letting the warranty process take so long is that keeps their costs low.

In Virginia a 180 day repair cycle time could kick start the lemon law. A motor vehicle out of service for more than 30 days in the first 18 months after initial delivery to the owner is grounds for replacement or refund if proper notification was made to the manufacturer. If the dealer performing the repair is a factory authorized service center them being notified could constitute notification to the manufacture.

Roddy53 · 03-18-2015, 12:56 AM

Well! This is my experience. The dealer does not take appointments. It's first come first server. I had a 2.5 hour drive each way and it was usually a minimum of 2 weeks turn around. After 3 trips and and the same problems happening over and over the factory called me. They could not get me in for 4 months. But when I consulted an attorney to sue them for a trip I had planed with couple thousand dollars of non refundable tickets and reservations they told me to bring it in and they would look at it in the parking lot. I had 3 inverters fail after 3-5 hours of operation. The rest of the items were put on hold until 3 months later and we were to have everything done at the factory and not go back to the dealer. The interesting thing is I asked why they felt the 4th would last. I was told they just found out the defective inverters were not pulled from the warehouse and only purged on the line. So every time a dealer neaded a replacement they were getting another bad one. So they pulled one of the line and put in my unit. You want to talk of poor management and quality control. How could they mis that one.

RobbieH · 03-18-2015, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FW28z

If it takes more than a couple of days to fix from the discovery of the problem to the RV being returned to you, Thor needs to step in and remedy the problem, even if this means them finding another dealer for you or flying in a tech.

I realize I'm repeating myself, but my last slide room repair took 98 days.

davidgebo · 03-18-2015, 02:29 PM

I gave Thor the benefit of the doubt, in the first few months. I defended the company at first. Now, after a full year of ownership, with ruined trips, cancelled reservations because of workmanship and QC problems, aggravation and fuel costs for driving back and forth for warranty work, we are done. It is a shame. The Vegas handles well, is fun to drive, nimble in traffic and tight spaces, and gets 10 MPG. The wife getting trapped in the bathroom was the final straw. I know from doing some of the repairs myself, that some components Thor uses are really cheap. The drawer slides are very flimsy, and have actually fallen apart, after they came loose from the mounting points. They came loose because Thor uses one tiny screw in the rear flange to hold the entire slide and heavy drawer. This drawer is large, and is intended for pots and pans and should have a more substantial support system. I plan to replace the slides with heavier components. Simple issues like this tell me that Thor is not interested in longevity of their products. I have discovered many instances of inferior components and application in this coach. Another example: the cabinet door struts are extremely flimsy, and they are attached to the cabinet by a small screw. There is no washer or any type of isolation between the strut pivot movement and the cabinet wood, allowing the wood to abrade, and the screw to loosen in the first week of use. This is such a glaring example of poor workmanship that is so obvious as to be laughable. Any fool could see that this application will fail almost immediately. These are just two examples of stupendously stupid build quality by Thor. Some of the components Thor uses are typical, such as Norcold, Atwood, Coleman, and other quality pieces. Most of these things are tried and true. I will maintain that Thor quality control issues, and extremely poor application of some components has led to such a poor record of customer satisfaction and high failure rate. Just open any drawer and look inside the bottom of the compartment, you will see piles of sawdust and wood chips that should have been cleaned out before final assembly. I also found 10 feet of loose, extra cables and wires stuffed under the drawer. Under a moveable drawer, which will result, eventually in a wiring problem. In fairness, I found similar situations in our high-end Tiffin coach. We had a lot of problems with that coach as well, though the workmanship was not nearly as shoddy as the Thor coach. I know from experience of owning and repairing RVs for 30 years that the repairs I make will last. The little alterations I do should have been done at the factory, cost little more to do correctly, and would add up to years of contented ownership. Come on, Thor people, wake up! It is not too difficult to make a superior motorhome. I am sure NO ONE who designs these motorhomes is an RV user and owner. If that was the case, most of the design flaws would not leave the drawing boards. I have made suggestions to various Thor reps on how to improve the finished product, but I fear they fell on deaf ears.

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