Disappointed with interior workmanship

[TheoLucas]

We just returned from our first overnight trip in our 2017 Quantum GR22. This is my first purchase of a brand new RV. While we are happy with most aspects of the coach--the fine cabinetry, the faux wood plank floor, the awning and the slide out--we are very disappointed with the interior workmanship. You would think that a coach listed at $99,000 would have quality interior work, but in fact much of it is careless and sloppy. For example, holes and tears in the dinette vinyl, loose trim under the dinette seats, dinette seats and backs with taped Velcro that has already come unglued, wrinkled and crooked wallpaper trim, a crooked shower slide curtain, a freezer that drips water and ices up, glue and tape marks on the bathroom sink top, no caulking or silicone around the walls of the bathroom, a rattling microwave while the coach is under way, and horribly loud road noise while driving (so loud I can't hear the radio). Where is Thor's pride in workmanship? Tell me, am I expecting too much? Or is this normal for a new Thor?

[be happy]

It sounds as though your dealer did not to a very good dealer prep. As for every but the freezer thing could very well have happened at rhe dealer. You did not say if you found all of these things out before you took delivery or not. I will agree that the workman ship is not there but do not think its a Thor only problem. The freezer I do not beleive can drip water and ice up at the same time. Check the door seals make sure they in good condition. Take a tissue have it between door a frame close door if you can gently pull out tissue you do not have a good seal.

[djcarter]

Unfortunately this seems standard for most RVs ( I've researched others as well) A little piece of cardboard wedged between the microwave and wall or cabinet whichever it is rubbing against does the trick for that rattle

[jb1911]

2017 Vegas owner (our first RV). We are also appalled by the cheapness of the whole experience. One of my favorites is the way they screwed brackets to the wall inside the wardrobe cabinet to hold the table tops when not in use. They pulled out in the time it took to drive home from the dealer. They were screwed into the cheapest 1/8" particle board I've ever seen.

[mcr1010]

I just received an ad from Thor on "Go Behind the Scenes of the Thor Motor Coach Manufacturing Process!" in my email today.

Since this thread is on quality of workmanship, you may get a laugh out of the "lead in PR" of this factory tour video.
Enjoy.

https://www.thormotorcoach.com/motor...1,3UT9Q,84S6,1

[Mike in AZ]

We made a punchlist during our walk through, and our Challenger is at the dealer now for the fixes. One of the top items for me was the microwave. The noise it makes when driving is horrible. Service rep tells me they need to pull it out, install some foam, reinstall the microwave and tighten the screws. And for this, they've been waiting for over a week for Thor authorization. Gotta say, seems like a no brainer.

[Chip]

Coming from personal experience I suggest that you closely inspect the caulking on the roof, windows, and other outside openings to make sure ALL were accomplished and that there are no gaps.

[Mike in AZ]

Originally Posted by Chip

Coming from personal experience I suggest that you closely inspect the caulking on the roof, windows, and other outside openings to make sure ALL were accomplished and that there are no gaps.

We identified a number of those issues during the walk through, thanks.

[DenverTransplant]

Originally Posted by mcr1010

I just received an ad from Thor on "Go Behind the Scenes of the Thor Motor Coach Manufacturing Process!" in my email today.

Since this thread is on quality of workmanship, you may get a laugh out of the "lead in PR" of this factory tour video.
Enjoy.

https://www.thormotorcoach.com/motor...1,3UT9Q,84S6,1

Just look at how hurried almost everyone in the Factory Tour video is, hardly time for craftsmanship. Our ACE has its share of craftsmanship short falls - staples on wall panels that were covered up with badly smeared putty that doesn't really match, drawer guides that have come loose (1/2" screws in the 1/4" panels and half of them missing - now replaced with real anchors), multiple wiring errors, etc.

You don't see much better from anyone unless you are in the $200K plus range and even then there are still problems. Having owned a travel trailer with about the same trim level I knew going in that I'd have to put more time and money in finishing the job for the factory. In some respects I'm just as glad as on the whole I'd rather fix it my way and likely for less than it would cost to get it in the first place. If you buying in at less than $150K, plan on spending at least 5% more fixing stuff.

[Kev]

I guess we are lucky we are on a shakedown trip with out 2018 Windsport and the only issues have been two bedroom drawers that don't close correctly and the sliding door that doesn't lock when closed. So far we are very happy and enjoying our first camping trip in the coach. Maybe the dealership made a good pre-delivery inspection.

[RickyP]

We just finished our second week of ownership of our 2017 34.2 Miramar and are very pleased so far. We've put 1100 miles on it and can say all mechanical systems have functioned as expected and the "fit and trim" of the interior and the exterior body has been much better than I expected from reading some threads on the subject.

I can't imagine how frustrating it must be have so many issues with your coach.

[KNK]

Mike in AZ is correct. The dealer makes it breaks the Thor product in my opinion. I feel very lucky with our first RV, 2017 ACE. We have had zero problems and I attribute that to the dealer. I also appreciate the fact they spent over 6 hours walking through the RV when we picked it up. We've put about 1000 miles on it with no problems.

On a side note, our "neighbor" at our storage lot backed into the front of our RV. That's not that bad part. He never said anything! Security found it and notified me. Police took report and confronted them and they admitted they "might" have hit me. There insurance is covering damage but it put me out of service for 2 months! Hope to pick it up today.

[Pete'sMH]

Our 2017 Freedom Elite certainly is not Air Force one but for the money (a whole "house" for the price of a nice pickup truck) it's entirely satisfactory. I probably have a full days work or more in fixing and adjusting things that possibly should have been better but in fixing stuff I have learned SO much about the machine. I don't doubt the troubles reported here and I'm certainly sorry for the misery they cause people but I am pretty confident that there a lots of pretty satisfied customers that you never hear from. I've also noticed that many, if not most of the issues are cosmetic or convenience matters. Once corrected I expect many of these customers will have many years of good service. I hope so, anyways.

[Mike in AZ]

KNK, I'm glad the storage security came through for you! Bad enough to have the down time, but at least you know who did it and it's covered. Ugh. People like that really irritate me.

[blw2]

I'm what, 3 years in now, and I'm still finding stuff.

The outstanding roads in Louisiana during our recent trip helped me to determine that they attached my closet rod to the styrofoam crown molding trim....which in turn was held by two sided tape and a few pin nails

[blw2]

At least it gave me the opportunity to see what the Lowes store in Albuquerque looks like!
Not surprisingly, it was the same as home....except the view when i walked out the door to the parking lot made me do a double take and say, wow!

[TheoLucas]

Originally Posted by be happy

It sounds as though your dealer did not to a very good dealer prep. As for every but the freezer thing could very well have happened at rhe dealer. You did not say if you found all of these things out before you took delivery or not. I will agree that the workman ship is not there but do not think its a Thor only problem. The freezer I do not beleive can drip water and ice up at the same time. Check the door seals make sure they in good condition. Take a tissue have it between door a frame close door if you can gently pull out tissue you do not have a good seal.

Wow, it's a good thing I copied what I wrote below, because I guess my time expired and I was unable to post anything. I guess they don't want you to write too much. Anyway, I guess you're right--a lot of the problems must be dealer prep. The dealer is Mike Thompson RV Super Stores in Santa Fe Springs, CA. Fortunately, before we drove off the lot we made an appointment for late August to have all the problems fixed that we find during the summer, since we bought a lot of extended warrantee stuff.

Regarding the freezer accumulating moisture, I just removed an L-shaped tab in the upper left corner that was keeping the freezer door from closing tightly. It must have been there for transit and was not removed by Mike Thompson. The bathroom door has to be pushed hard to close because the hundreds of screw heads holding the door-length hinge in place are preventing the door from closing easily, thus forcing it open as the coach bumps along the highway. Regarding excessive road noise, I guess I can't expect a truck to be as insulated as a Lexus. The other stuff is going on a long list to be presented to Mike Thompson RV Super Stores in late August. Thanks everyone for your comments.

[M&M_MURPHYS]

We share your pain. I will not list our tale of woes here but our experience is the same as yours on our 2017 Quantum 25 ft. Just plain poor workmanship through out.

New to RV world - I expected issues before we purchased because everything I was reading indicated that the industry is just putting out sloppy products with very poor quality control. That said I was still surprised at the number of items I am finding that are related to poor workmanship. I feel our dealer did a pretty good prep, but that cannot overcome the sheer number of quality control issues from the manufacturer.

It is disappointing to get a brand new and expensive item with so many issues right out of the gate, but that seems to be the norm the more I read. I am, very begrudgingly, fixing the small stuff myself and plan to return to the dealer for bigger stuff out of my scope (that list is building). I am sure things will smooth out but that is no consolation for a new owner who is so excited to stock the unit and hit the road only to discover a laundry list of issues to contend with before even embarking on the initial shake down cruise.

Hang in there and work your warranty. It is the only good option you have at this point.

[Bob Denman]

We're working on our list also; it's not going to be pretty!
To be fair: there's nothing major that's wrong... But the quality of the build is not what we had hoped for!

[Dbadger777]

https://www.businessviewmagazine.com...blazing-trail/

This is the article from Business view Magazine, featuring an interview with Thor's CMO, Jon Krider. Some interesting perspective on what I bought.