More repair/warranty work!!!

[Beacher]

Originally Posted by davidgebo

I am sure NO ONE who designs these motorhomes is an RV user and owner.

That is absolutely the case. RV manufacturers do not pay their "designers" or "engineers", (non-college degree individuals), or assembly workers, (floor managers, supervisors, leads), enough to ever afford what they build day in and day out.

[RobbieH]

David, it is interesting you cite the issue with Thor using a single screw in their construction. We have had several of our window blinds fall down because they use a single screw in each bracket, screwed into the flimsy wall material, with no molly bolts or anything similar, They simply pull out and fall. And when this happens, because Thor only uses two brackets for even the widest shades, the opposing bracket breaks, which means we cannot hang the blind back up even if we re-mount the brackets properly.

Oh, and regarding Atwood, our striker knob broke off after just a few uses. So that doesn't work either.

And I like your comments about all the sawdust. Under our bed is most of the inverter equipment, and inside that compartment is all sorts of sawdust, wire insulation removed during construction, loose screws, etc. It's a hazard. Just a simple 10 second shop vac job could have solved most of those issues.

[fivejackie]

Just got our Hurricane 27K back from warranty service. Had to wait 2 months for a cabinet door to come in and then we took the RV in. All repairs done with in 2 weeks. Very happy with Thor and Mike Thompson RV. I hate to be the one to bring good news.

[RobbieH]

No worries, luckily all you had was a cabinet door break. Hoping you all the best.

[mikensallyt]

Originally Posted by Nursx2

FW, you make a great point and strong argument. Your words are so true! Well stated!


I have more TV's in my Hurricane than in my house - 5 in the RV and 3 in my home! However, I did not purchase the RV for that reason, but am just as guilty as the rest! I did not purchase it for the TV's however, but I will admit, I was taken by the outside kitchen and full body slide when choosing this model, so I am guilty as charged!

Guilty also

[jacksharp]

Well put for sure! We are the lucky ones I guess. Have had very few problems, and have been in our new coach for going on 6 months. (extended vacation
The exception is that during our first week out we kept noticing some sort of "electrical" smell. Not always there, but sometimes pretty strong. No matter what we did, we could not find it. One evening the little woman had just finished her shower, and we were sitting at the kitchen table when we started to notice the smell again, only this time it was REAL strong. We looked back into the bedroom and actually saw smoke filling the room. The smell seemed to be coming from everywhere, but after some time we discovered it was coming out from under the closet, across from the bathroom. You guessed it... the panel covering the hot water heater at the bottom of the closet, was yanked off and we discovered electrical tape was smoking. The wire that goes into the plastic junction box was real hot. After a bit more inspection, we noticed that the wires were touching just enough to cause a small short! Could have been a real problem. That part of the coach must have been assembled on Friday before a big Holiday weekend. The reason I mention this, is because you might want to take a look in that area and make sure your unit does not have this problem. Good news... That is the only major problem we have had so far... Knock on wood I have to give credit to Mike's RV Repair in Lincoln City, Oregon for help on this one. The wires inside the junction box were so badly melted that I was unable to repair. Mike stopped everything, and came to our rescue. If you are ever in this area and need any help, this guy ROCKS!

[RayB66]

Rms31W, I purchased a 2014 Chateau 31L that someone bought and got rid of it in less that 3 months. We were given a good deal on it and since the salesman told us we had all of the warranties, we went and bought it. On our first week outing, we made a hit list and camping world fixed everything. It took numerous trips to the shop and months of waiting, both in and out of the shop. But it did get fixed. I'm still finding screws, now if they can just fix the water leak at the fwd slide when it rains, I'd be happy. I still don't have a lot of confidence in the mechanics at Camping World. We deal with the Supervisor only now.

[Beacher]

Originally Posted by MRS JARHEAD

...I guess my question to you experienced owners of "new" motorhomes, is it normal to bring a brand new rig back in for so many warranty problems? ...

I would say yes. It's normal.

And, it's not just Thor. And, it's not just RVs.

In the academic world of Quality Assurance the Pareto Principle is commonly referenced. Basically, it's the 80-20 rule applied to anything and everything in life, including the assembly of shiny new motorhomes from every manufacturer, and production line model.

80% of the products will be "fine", 20% will experience "something".

Even among the 80% that are "fine", 20% of those will need something repairable.

And, for the original 20% that had "something", 20% of those will probably be a "lemon".

It's all in the statistical probability of reliability.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by RayB66

Rms31W, I purchased a 2014 Chateau 31L that someone bought and got rid of it in less that 3 months. We were given a good deal on it and since the salesman told us we had all of the warranties, we went and bought it. On our first week outing, we made a hit list and camping world fixed everything. It took numerous trips to the shop and months of waiting, both in and out of the shop. But it did get fixed. I'm still finding screws, now if they can just fix the water leak at the fwd slide when it rains, I'd be happy. I still don't have a lot of confidence in the mechanics at Camping World. We deal with the Supervisor only now.

When does the slide leak, when it's in or out? A mobile tech found that Thor did not install a "bulb seal" on my Challenger. The seal serves three purposes on mine, as a seal, as a slide stop spacer and as a wire chase to secure the slide motor cable. My cable was not secure, it came unplugged from the motor and the slide quit working.

[mikensallyt]

OMG. Spend close to 200k for what I consider excellent craftsmanship and I read all these problems. Wow. Dealership warranty repair and the waiting time. Unspeakable. I've always wanted a coach and now that I can afford it and paid for it, I read all these problems. Say it aint so. /Mikey

[OHpink2]

My sentiments, exactly. I just plan to keep running back to dealer while it is under warranty. I hope this stint at the Ford dealer doesn't take too long. We can't find problems if we don't have it in our possession. Good luck with yours.

[srolfe]

Check forums for other common brands, much the same

[davidgebo]

Our Vegas 24.1 is getting a new dash ac/heater blower motor. The blower fan was making a screech noise since the coach was new. We are also getting new inside dual rear tire valve extenders, new dash vent, bath door latch repair, new cabinet door struts, and a loud creaking noise from the front of the coach will be addressed. These items are the last warranty problems to be taken care of just as the year warranty expires. These issues were in addition to about 15 previous problems that were repaired under warranty, and 10 others I repaired myself. This entire fiasco has left such a bad taste in my mouth, that future ownership of tis coach is in question for us. But, I hope, finally, we have reached the end of the problems.

[Beacher]

Originally Posted by mikensallyt

OMG. Spend close to 200k .. /Mikey

In reality, only about 40% of that $200,000 actually went towards the actual building and assembly of the motorhome, (where any quality can be controlled).

The rest is all margin and overhead at every stage until you purchased it.

[kushiebear]

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.

Roddy53, I agree with you. We bought our Tuscany February 2014. it has been in and out of the shop now for a total of 10 months, and one of those times it was in for 4 months. The main slide on the coach (length of coach), has been messed up since we got it. It has been adjusted to no avail many times, the trim piece on the coach that is below the slide has been painted twice due to the slide hitting and rubbing the paint off. they finally moved the trim piece down, but it is still hitting on one side and we are being told by the repair shop that they have adjusted it to where it cant be adjusted anymore to fix this. I contacted Thor many times about this issue. The last time I talked to them was around April 5th this year and was told they would send out a technician. 1 1/2 months later, I haven't seen a technician and I haven't heard back from Thor. I am now seeking a Federal Lemon Law attorney. I am done with Thor and will never buy another one and will tell everyone I know and meet along the way to steer clear of any Thor products. I would also like to mention that this wasn't the only issue, we had over 25 issues, most have been fixed, except for the slide out, the shower continues to leak all over the floor and it seems every time we get a chance to go camping (when it isn't in the shop) something else goes wrong.

[kushiebear]

There is a Federal Lemon Law that covers RV's.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by kushiebear

There is a Federal Lemon Law that covers RV's.

What is commonly referred to as the Federal Lemon Law is actually the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

The act can be found at

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the Federal Lemon Law - Car Lemon

[Beacher]

Originally Posted by dstankov

Repairs can be extremely slow in this world. unfortunately the "real slow" time (May through Sept) is rapidly approaching......

Actually, the repairs themselves are really fast. Time is money! Mechanics are paid to get as much work done as possible, and earn as much as they can for their boss/owner.

What takes forever is the inefficient bureaucracy and ineptitude that the dealership service departments have developed, and the Warranty authorization cycle imposed and required by the motorhome manufacturers.

I am a dealer's service department NIGHTMARE CUSTOMER! I will do their job for them, if they cannot perform to my satisfactuion!

I'm on my 5th RV, (3rd motorhome), and I unfortunately learned that I have to babysit and assist the entire warranty process in order to improve the efficiency, (I'm actually an "efficiency expert" by trade, and an aerospace industry executive when I'm relaxing). My Fleetwood Pace Arrow transmission replacement would have taken over six months if I left it at the dealership lot, I had it performed in 24 hours. My Winnebago Vista rear fiberglass cap replacement would have taken 90 days to complete if I had left it at the dealership, I had it finished in 48 hours. And with my current coach, a Thor, the replacement of the Shwintec slide motors and rails for the drop down bunk would have taken six weeks to accomplish. I made sure that it was completed in 6 hours.

It takes a lot of annoying babysitting, hand holding, and telephone calls to the people in charge both at the local dealership performing the service, (owner, general manager, service writer, parts manager, service manager, service technicians), and the manufacturer's warranty department. It takes scheduling coordination.

But it can be done. In the end, everyone knows you by name. Heck, the salesmen would announce that I just drove onto the dealer's lot over the intercom!!

[EA37TS]

The thing to keep in mind is 20 days. The Thor warranty allows 20 days and then the owner is required to notify Thor, in writing, that the repair is not completed to their satisfaction. That letter, sent to the address in the warranty, puts Thor on notice and they are allowed one final attempt to make it right, provide a replacement or refund your purchase price less depreciation. If they refund the purchase price the owner must be able to turn over the unit to Thor, at that time, free of all liens (clear title). Thor is not required to pay off your bank loan or refund the cost of additional items purchased or financed such as tax, title fees, extended warranties etc...

[RobbieH]

I'm going through that right now on mine, but Texas Lemon Law. Thor was just here doing some major changes to my slide. Just took it to Ford for the recall it needed and a couple of other things, then it is off on our first trip to hopefully get to use it without it breaking.