2024 Omni BT36 Nightmare

[Indy6]

This trip has made me want to drive this RV off one of these gorgeous mountains.

Every day with this coach has been a battle. On the way home from the dealership we found our rear bathroom sliding door would not latch open or closed because the handle was installed too low in the door. We had to put pillows in the way to keep it from slamming back and forth during our 2-hour drive home. We took the door off and tried to adjust the latch, but now the door scrapes when it opens.

On our first at-home dry run our batteries stopped charging, and the lights would flicker when the generator was on. We found the buttons on our Xantrex inverter were stuck pressed in. (One brother in law is an electrical engineer, the other is a master tech mechanic. Thankfully they've been with us every time we've had issues.) I don't think this has been fixed, but at least the buttons were able to be unstuck.

During our first night on the road we lost all power when trying to turn on the a/c. We found the chassis battery cables had heat shrink covering half the connectors, making the connection spotty. We had to carefully cut it off in the dark.

Our macerator toilet repeatedly blows its 15 amp fuse.

The shower leaked and it took a few nights before we resealed the right spot with silicone.

We can see daylight through one of our ceiling vents. Another ceiling vent hole is cut too large and the diverter falls out.

One of the solar panels covers a bathroom vent cover so we can't open the vent.

One arm on the vent cover in the kitchen broke while opening.

The clothes bar support in our closet was pulled out of the top of the closet.

The showerhead holder was cracked and not made for our showerhead, so you couldn't secure the head in a good position. It just flopped around.

At our first two night stop, I stepped outside the RV to smell gas. I heard a hissing and narrowed it to the propane tank compartment. My husband found that a connector was loose and was leaking propane. Who knows how long it was leaking, because the refrigerator was off and on LP power because of the batteries not charging properly.

The auxiliary lp connection door didn't have a latch. We contacted our dealer and the manufacturer of the door and have never received a latch. We've got it velcro-ed shut.

At our next stop, one side of our full side slide-out was hardly moving. We reset the controller, tried Lippert's synchronization method and still had the one side moving a tiny bit then shutting off. (It seemed like it was binding up? We checked the tracks for debris but found nothing.) After inching the slide out inches at a time, I held the extend button for a few seconds after the wall stopped moving as the manufacturer suggests. There was a puff of smoke from the controller and the slow side extended the rest of the way out without trouble. We called Lippert, we were told the controllers were on backorder. A mobile repairman told us there was nothing he could do. My husband and brother in law were able to manually activate the slide motors with a power probe to get the slide in.

Paint bubbling on the back cap.

Cabinet door hinge screw stripped out

Velcro dots screwed into the dinette for the cushions over-tightened and stripped, falling out

Yesterday we found the Xantrex inverter fell from its mounted spot in one of the cargo cabinets underneath. The screws into thin wood are not supportive enough for such a heavy piece of equipment.

The Ford F600 truck has steering codes and we've had to reset them twice.

What will we find next? I'm sure I probably missed something. Does everyone have this many issues with a new RV? We had our travel trailer for 8 years and maybe had to replace a water pump once. For the amount of money we're paying for a brand new unit, I'd expect only small knick-knack warranty repairs. If my husband and family weren't blue collar mechanics, we would have been stranded out here multiple times. It's not worth it, and I regret choosing this camper.

[ducksface]

Except for the falling off inverter, all of those could have been found before delivery by the professional you used for your pdi and certainly when you stayed in it overnight at the dealer.

In your search for an RV did you find this site prior to purchase?

Just askin' how you missed things like a shower latch.

As to the amount of money;
You paid the least you could for a bottom tier product. Period.

I understand your frustration.
I don't understand your casual, or less, pre delivery choice.

Sell it
Look at the loss as a great mental value.

Pay closer attention during your next purchase.

If you're headed toward the Grand Canyon I can spare an hour or two to loan tools, supply a shop and coach you on fixing most of those problems.
Most are very easy and require a deep breath and self-application. Chasing the warranty for that little stuff will make you nuts.

Punchline:
We don't commiserate.
We offer solutions.
Sell it or take a deep breath and follow our lead.
You'll be surprised what we can collectively do once you get over your mad.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Indy6

What will we find next? If you have finished inspecting the coach top to bottom with a PDI Checklist, you should have found everything by now

I'm sure I probably missed something. Does everyone have this many issues with a new RV? No

We had our travel trailer for 8 years and maybe had to replace a water pump once. For the amount of money we're paying for a brand new unit, I'd expect only small knick-knack warranty repairs. If my husband and family weren't blue collar mechanics, we would have been stranded out here multiple times. It's not worth it, and I regret choosing this camper.

I agree that for amount of money paid, you should not see the issues. We were close to buying a Windsport and when we did our PDI we found 71 items. it was so long the Sales Manager told us flat out, it may be new but it ain't perfect. He then tried to make me feel like a wimp if I didn't buy. He didn't even act as if they might fix at least half of the issues. We walked; and they had sold the RV within a week.

My advice
Come to peace that a full blown PDI could have saved you a lot of this grief. Then write a letter and send to TMC. A call works too. Just giving them a copy of all the issues will set the tone.

You will need to decide if you gonna accept the fact that it is your RV now and will get your coach fixed, or if you wish to cut bait now and sell it. But be cautioned and think about it like this, most people looking to buy from you will do through PDIs an will shake you down further to get items fixed. So why not give Thor an opp to fix all they can or will. Get help with a Mobile Tech to fix the balance, then you can enjoy your purchase.

[The Gritz Carlton]

I'm with Duckface on this. Been to his home and his heart is as huge as the Grand Canyon...regardless of what opinion you form here based on his opinions. He does it on purpose. BUT...you must answer the big question...did you do a PDI at all? How long did you spend on the initial walk-through? Did you test (opening the roof vents...sliding the doors, etc) the operation of every feature in the coach prior to purchase? This isn't a blast at you for not doing it...it just helps people understand further so they can better help you.

[Indy6]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Except for the falling off inverter, all of those could have been found before delivery by the professional you used for your pdi and certainly when you stayed in it overnight at the dealer.

In your search for an RV did you find this site prior to purchase?

Just askin' how you missed things like a shower latch.

As to the amount of money;
You paid the least you could for a bottom tier product. Period.

I understand your frustration.
I don't understand your casual, or less, pre delivery choice.

Sell it
Look at the loss as a great mental value.

Pay closer attention during your next purchase.

If you're headed toward the Grand Canyon I can spare an hour or two to loan tools, supply a shop and coach you on fixing most of those problems.
Most are very easy and require a deep breath and self-application. Chasing the warranty for that little stuff will make you nuts.

Punchline:
We don't commiserate.
We offer solutions.
Sell it or take a deep breath and follow our lead.
You'll be surprised what we can collectively do once you get over your mad.

We're aware of our mistakes, as mentioned, hindsight being 20/20 and all the other bullshit. I'm amazed at the amount of "You should've known the trash you were buying" that is spewed here.

We ordered our RV off the line, and did a walk through at the RV dealership months afterwards. We could only take delivery on a Saturday or Sunday since we work during the week, and their "RV techs" don't work on weekends. So yes, a wooden sliding door latch was missed. We also fixed it ourselves, but still have a warranty issue.

Complaining isn't allowed? That should really be posted in your forum rules somewhere. It makes me wonder how large companies are ever forced change, if everyone is just told "Yeah it sucks, join the club."

[Indy6]

We're obviously letting Thor fix the coach when we get back, and understand that we signed up for this. I told my husband the entire time we were shopping that new RV's spend the first 6 months getting warranty crap fixed. I expected a certain amount. There is a point when you're thousands of miles away from home and this large purchase just seems to fall apart on you that one feels hopeless. My hope was that someone would be able to say, "Hey, this happened to me and this is how I fixed it."

-A macerator toilet repeatedly blowing a fuse after days on the road- not in the walk through, not in the first week we used it multiple times.
-We did not open up the steps and check the connections to the batteries. I agree, we had such a good experience with our travel trailer that we did not know the extent we needed to inspect in an RV. And yes, we have learned from that experience.
-Slide motors binding up and frying a controller? Not sure how is that found on an inspection.

Disappointment?

[The Gritz Carlton]

The best road to recovery is realizing the source of the problem that put you there...now its clear. Dealers are your worst enemy. They don't want to do PDI's and will try late deliveries, weekend deliveries...anything they can to quicken the process and keep you away from finding things yourself. What you can't fix or get Thor to fix for you...someone will always be here to help. It's a great lifestyle...hope everything works out. And yes...if it weren't for complaining...a lot of us here wouldn't have much to talk about. Rant on my friend!! I see you're in Indiana...great place to be right now for you...call the factory service center and set up a time to drop it off. They don't build them but they can fix them. Your's is a good candidate for them.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Indy6

We're aware of our mistakes, as mentioned, hindsight being 20/20 and all the other bullshit. I'm amazed at the amount of "You should've known the trash you were buying" that is spewed here.

We ordered our RV off the line, and did a walk through at the RV dealership months afterwards. We could only take delivery on a Saturday or Sunday since we work during the week, and their "RV techs" don't work on weekends. So yes, a wooden sliding door latch was missed. We also fixed it ourselves, but still have a warranty issue.

Complaining isn't allowed? That should really be posted in your forum rules somewhere. It makes me wonder how large companies are ever forced change, if everyone is just told "Yeah it sucks, join the club."

Change? As mentioned in dozens of threads here with MANY complaints about Thor lack of QA/QC (as well as other manufacturers), change will not be effected by complaints; change will only be effected by money (or lack of it) when an educated public stops buying poorly assembled RVs by people with no work ethic.

It took the invasion of overseas car manufacturers to make domestic manufacturers wake up and smell the crap they were selling, to change the quality of US made cars. They were hit in the pocketbook so they either had to compete or go belly up.

BTW, you are not complaining to Thor here - this site has no affiliation with them (although they do monitor it on occasion), you are complaining to fellow Thor RV owners, many of whom are happy with their RV.


So now that you have your RV you have to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze:

Sell it now, take the loss, and move on to something that will make you happy, not frustrated. OR

View it as a kit, fix what's broke, modify iy - make it better than it was, take it to the dealer for warranty items if you can tolerate that source of frustration, research your model here for clues on what other issues you may encounter, and ask for help here when needed as there are many knowledgeable people here willing to help you solve your problems.

Good luck in your decision!

[ducksface]

When I write something like that, you're just the skid marks disappearing over the cliff that I am now explaining to those yet to buy...how to negotiate a slippery slope.

This post will be up for years.
Maybe 3,000 people will read it.
Hopefully 3 or 4 of them will ask the spouse:
'Should we hire someone to inspect and should we ask for an overnight stay before buying...because look at what someone well spoken and eloquent missed on their own. Man, I'm glad I read that!"

It's nothing else.

You put it all online.
I used it as a vehicle to edumadate those who find this site prior to purchase.

But as said multi times;
Make a list, post it, watch us have you happy in just days.

If thy RV offend thee, pluck it out.
Otherwise
We offer 20/20 foresight here.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Indy6

"Yeah it sucks, join the club."

I missed where anyone said "Yeah it sucks, join the club."

I am not a Thor owner but that sounds like rhetoric I may read on a thread that is really going after Thor for poor quality.

I think I read; and Lord knows my angle was to try to help as to what can you do now. But if the goal was to in effect walk into a bar and drink over your woes sharing all the things that went wrong ( or not identified during (PDI), I am all for that too, just tell me which bar, I never pass up a good opp for drinks.

As far as fixes go. You might consider a new thread with one of the topics to get the best help. i.e If you open a thread that says "Why is my Macerator pump blowing a 15 amp fuse?" Without all of the other baggage you will get real answers you can use.

FWIW, Your Macerator pump may be binding and not running properly. Most pumps have a way you can clear the obstruction on the inside with a flat head screwdriver. Look for model and make of the Macerator to see if it may also require oil to help free the impellers, I suspect a little oil and turning that impeller to ensure it is free / not binding and it will stop blowing fuses. The more you use, the better the pump will operate.

[ducksface]

My macerator pops its internal thermal self-re-set breaker just about every two minutes if the ambient is 70+. Below that and it runs continuously.
I assume it's an internal fault.
It thinks it's a BIM. Two on, two off. Doubles my empty time.
I'm not anxious to fix it.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Indy6

We're obviously letting Thor fix the coach when we get back, and understand that we signed up for this. I told my husband the entire time we were shopping that new RV's spend the first 6 months getting warranty crap fixed. I expected a certain amount. There is a point when you're thousands of miles away from home and this large purchase just seems to fall apart on you that one feels hopeless. My hope was that someone would be able to say, "Hey, this happened to me and this is how I fixed it."

-A macerator toilet repeatedly blowing a fuse after days on the road- not in the walk through, not in the first week we used it multiple times.
-We did not open up the steps and check the connections to the batteries. I agree, we had such a good experience with our travel trailer that we did not know the extent we needed to inspect in an RV. And yes, we have learned from that experience.
-Slide motors binding up and frying a controller? Not sure how is that found on an inspection.

Disappointment?

My recommendation to you is:

Document everything that is wrong and take pictures. Send the documentation and pictures to Thor via certified mail, not email, not phone call Certified mail to Thor with a carbon copy to your dealer. The certified letter will get Thor’s attention faster than anything. That is also something that can be done while traveling to accelerate the process.

Take some time to read the threads regarding other Magnitude and Omni issues such as the front cap separation, incorrectly wired BIM and slide issues.

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by Indy6

We're obviously letting Thor fix the coach when we get back, and understand that we signed up for this. I told my husband the entire time we were shopping that new RV's spend the first 6 months getting warranty crap fixed. I expected a certain amount. There is a point when you're thousands of miles away from home and this large purchase just seems to fall apart on you that one feels hopeless. My hope was that someone would be able to say, "Hey, this happened to me and this is how I fixed it."

-A macerator toilet repeatedly blowing a fuse after days on the road- not in the walk through, not in the first week we used it multiple times.
-We did not open up the steps and check the connections to the batteries. I agree, we had such a good experience with our travel trailer that we did not know the extent we needed to inspect in an RV. And yes, we have learned from that experience.
-Slide motors binding up and frying a controller? Not sure how is that found on an inspection.

Disappointment?

As to slide binding up. I am anal in making sure I’m level prior to sliding out. I also absolutely do not ever run it partially out. Or partially in. I run it all the way out, or in. Count to five after I hear end of motors running. At a campground in Estes Park I heard a husband outside tell his wife to release the button after motors stopped. Another was parked down hill in a visitor center lot with a full wall slide run out. I cringed.

I know nothing about a macerate toilet. Sorry, no help.

My batteries are in different location, but I physically have to remove them twice a year to add distilled water.

Sorry you’re having these issues. Pay attention to that front cap overhang. Several folks with your unit have had issues with it coming loose.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Indy6

The showerhead holder was cracked and not made for our showerhead, so you couldn't secure the head in a good position. It just flopped around.

Our Showerhead holder was just fine, but we learned our Shower would zap us with cold water when shower handle button was released to restart water flow. WBGO and Dealer offered to replace, but I didn't like it anyway. It had two knobs for hot & cold, so we paid $29 after some research and assurances that a new model and design with a single handle would get rid of the cold water zapping in the shower. I installed myself and it worked flawless. It came with new showerhead holder and the satin polished finished look better than the white showerhead and holder. Turned a problem into a benefit. May still have the old white shower holder around if anyone needs one.

FWIW, I use the old showerhead and hose to connect with the outside kitchen sink to have outdoor shower. My wife loves as she has more flexibility with it than the outdoor fixed sink faucet

[Lt Keefer]

Yes, a lot of people have this many issues with a new RV, particularly a Thor. On the positive side, you will get pretty good at repairing the quality defects.

[16ACE27]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZJKFNBcHTE

[The Gritz Carlton]

Originally Posted by dkoldman

Our Showerhead holder was just fine, but we learned our Shower would zap us with cold water when shower handle button was released to restart water flow. WBGO and Dealer offered to replace, but I didn't like it anyway. It had two knobs for hot & cold, so we paid $29 after some research and assurances that a new model and design with a single handle would get rid of the cold water zapping in the shower. I installed myself and it worked flawless. It came with new showerhead holder and the satin polished finished look better than the white showerhead and holder. Turned a problem into a benefit. May still have the old white shower holder around if anyone needs one.

FWIW, I use the old showerhead and hose to connect with the outside kitchen sink to have outdoor shower. My wife loves as she has more flexibility with it than the outdoor fixed sink faucet

My Thor has that single handle oem. My butt kept hitting it, either turning it to full hot or turning it completely off. The problem...handle was in the center back wall and shower head was on the left wall. Handle was always in butt's path.

[Indy6]

Originally Posted by dkoldman

I agree that for amount of money paid, you should not see the issues. We were close to buying a Windsport and when we did our PDI we found 71 items. it was so long the Sales Manager told us flat out, it may be new but it ain't perfect. He then tried to make me feel like a wimp if I didn't buy. He didn't even act as if they might fix at least half of the issues. We walked; and they had sold the RV within a week.

My advice
Come to peace that a full blown PDI could have saved you a lot of this grief. Then write a letter and send to TMC. A call works too. Just giving them a copy of all the issues will set the tone.

You will need to decide if you gonna accept the fact that it is your RV now and will get your coach fixed, or if you wish to cut bait now and sell it. But be cautioned and think about it like this, most people looking to buy from you will do through PDIs an will shake you down further to get items fixed. So why not give Thor an opp to fix all they can or will. Get help with a Mobile Tech to fix the balance, then you can enjoy your purchase.

I can't believe you found 71 things. I mean, I do believe it, but wow. We allowed a delivery delay and a $2000 non-refundable deposit and a 2-hour drive on the weekend to push us into taking what they offered. I knew it would obviously bite us in the ass.

[Indy6]

Originally Posted by Jimbo56

As to slide binding up. I am anal in making sure I’m level prior to sliding out. I also absolutely do not ever run it partially out. Or partially in. I run it all the way out, or in. Count to five after I hear end of motors running. At a campground in Estes Park I heard a husband outside tell his wife to release the button after motors stopped. Another was parked down hill in a visitor center lot with a full wall slide run out. I cringed.

I know nothing about a macerate toilet. Sorry, no help.

My batteries are in different location, but I physically have to remove them twice a year to add distilled water.

Sorry you’re having these issues. Pay attention to that front cap overhang. Several folks with your unit have had issues with it coming loose.

The whole front overhang coming off??? Holy crap.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Indy6

I can't believe you found 71 things. I mean, I do believe it, but wow. We allowed a delivery delay and a $2000 non-refundable deposit and a 2-hour drive on the weekend to push us into taking what they offered. I knew it would obviously bite us in the ass.

We had 4 PDIs at one Thor Dealer. One ACE 29.3, Two Hurricane 27Bs, and One Windsport 27B. One Hurricane 27B with 71 defects was the last and worst. It was our final straw with that dealer, so we try another Dealer that we saw a Windsport 27B just like what we were looking for. My wife and I drive 5 hours one way and they show us a different Windsport 27B ( different color inside and out). The sales guy even brazenly lied at one point saying it was the one I told him to make ready. He then shifted to say they had the keys mixed up in the back with the wrong model numbers, but that was a lie too because the model number on the key set we saw was the same model number on the window sticker. They tried real hard to push it anyway until I kind of snapped to see the one we came to see, long story short it was in the a back with dead batteries, 2 wheels on flat, rusted on all outside chrome, and interior look as if they had filmed a good old western bar fight brawl inside. Essentially cabinets, fridge and pantry doors were broken, floor warped etc. etc.

I still have all of my lists. The one with 71 issues came near the end, and by that time, I had learned what to look for. About 10 of the items were questions as I was still a newbie. But when I look at the questions, it shows that I was I looking at everything. We got all of our deposits back. I was talking with Thor Customer Service Product Management every step of the way for the ACE 29.3 & 27B issues. 99% of everything I saw was Dealer induced. Some things the Dealer had tried to fix, they made worse and broke something else.

Full Disclosure. I was bargain shopping and I tend to be attracted to best deals. They were likely best deals because they had been on the dealer's lot a long time even though they were all brand new. The attitude was buy it, and we will fix it

We got all of our deposits back. With all that baggage you can imagine our disbelief when we fly to Florida to see our Sunstar 29ve and could not find a single issue. It was and has been a no brainer.

Somebody bought the RV with the 71 issues the following week. I often wonder did they even see it before buying? Or did they buy it, fly in and eventually made their way to this forum complaining about Thor RV Quality without ever placing any of the blame on the Dealer?