Thor warranty service while on the road for a new RV

[billm1998]

In response to roadrunner255. Good luck getting anything done on the unless you want a long stay in a motel. First the dealer has to inspect it and that might take a day or two. Then he has to take pictures of of whatever the problem is and send them to Thor. Then Thor checks with the manufacturer of the parts you may need and waits for them to give the word weather or not it's covered. Then Thor gets back to the dealer with a yes or no answer and finally the dealer makes you an appointment which may be days away. If you have the extended service plan forget it because it isn't worth the paper it's written on. I hope I didn't scare you too bad. Good Luck!!

[Pete'sMH]

I think that if you are in the road you should first call Thor and ask for help. In my experience they will try very hard to help including sending you the parts you need at your next stop if you can do the repair.p yourself. Just email them photos .

[71_340]

Originally Posted by mmcorrey

Hi all,
We just purchased our first Class A Thor Palazzo. We are the third owners of the RV. We have been looking at purchasing an extended warranty but not sure it would be worth it. It cost over $2000 a year with a $1000 deductible. Has anyone had experience with extended warranties? Are they worth the annual money?

I bought an extended warranty when I bought a used 2011 Itasca Reyo last year; cost me around 3K for 75000/60 and zero deductible. MPP paid for a new macerator pump and a slide out mechanism repair, both repairs totaled 2K.

Last June we bought a new Four Winds 24BL (also Sprinter chassis) from the same dealer and I was going to cash in the remainder of the warranty. My dealer said he could transfer the warranty for free and since I bought a new RV it would cover it for 105000/84, again zero deductible.

I had no issues or paperwork to do for both warranty repairs. It sure is worth it to me. This June my Thor warranty runs out and MPP takes over for the next 6 years.......piece of mind to me.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by 71_340

I bought an extended warranty when I bought a used 2011 Itasca Reyo last year; cost me around 3K for 75000/60 and zero deductible. MPP paid for a new macerator pump and a slide out mechanism repair, both repairs totaled 2K.

Last June we bought a new Four Winds 24BL (also Sprinter chassis) from the same dealer and I was going to cash in the remainder of the warranty. My dealer said he could transfer the warranty for free and since I bought a new RV it would cover it for 105000/84, again zero deductible.

I had no issues or paperwork to do for both warranty repairs. It sure is worth it to me. This June my Thor warranty runs out and MPP takes over for the next 6 years.......piece of mind to me.

I think the cost and what the warranty actually covers may be a big factor. i.e I will say in a NY sec I will never buy an ESP; but if I could have purchased one for $3k, 5 years, and 75k miles, I would have jumped on that. Note I assume that the actual coverage items are at least what is normal in the industry to be covered though.

Also, since you bought a new RV from dealer, they have the insight to know the profit margins on new purchase to cover on extending the existing warranty. I had that done with a Harley that a warranty was transferred into my name for 7 years; I only had to pay $50 for the name change. (oddly, I never was able to use the warranty to cover any repair that was required) That is actually a positive as repair items encountered were service related or cosmetic.

But in my case for brand new RV they wanted $7,500 for 5 years . I didn't try to negotiate just said no knowing that had I paid that much, I could give myself $1,500 per year. After 1st full year, I had no warranty items that the ESP warranty would have covered. I did have a few cosmetic things that a Dealer took care of under Mfgs warranty, (i.e replace external stainless steel grill that was bent etc.) I am now on year 2 with no warranty (Mfg or ESP) at all; but up $3,000 should anything occur. Later this year if nothing happens that the ESP warranty would have covered; I will go up $4,500

I am actually using some of the money to pay for some of my mods as I have. i.e. I purchased AGS, Wifi Extender, EMS, Macerator pump, 2 Cabin Alpine speakers, 40" Samsung TV & Vizio Soundbar for under the $1,500 of my 1st year warranty repair allocation reserve. Next year I will use up another $1,500 if I don't have a repair that would have been warranty covered.

Note: With the exception of the AGS, I installed all of the other items above myself; so that is factor on why it is less than $1,500 in total.

[71_340]

dkoldman,

It is always a wash with extended warranties because they are expensive and you may never need them. In my case I think it worked in my favor and I am sure that over the next 6 years I will use up the remaining $1000 it takes to recoup my investment.

The warranty I bought is MPP Premier Coverage with very few exclusions. It cover the whole coach/chassis except water damage (covered by my insurance though), slide out seals or chassis emissions. Also comes with roadside assistance, rental car and some lodging.

With that said and despite the fact I bought a new RV I have replaced some minor items myself because it was just easier and I like to tinker around. In my opinion a warranty is essential for a RV, considering how they are put together and the "abuse" they experience just by driving it and under normal use. It is even more important for owners who are not able to do repairs themselves.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by 71_340

dkoldman,

In my case I think it worked in my favor and I am sure that over the next 6 years I will use up the remaining $1000 it takes to recoup my investment.

Agreed in your case; but do you NOT agree that if this was true for the masses the Extended warranty companies would be out of business?

In my opinion a warranty is essential for a RV, considering how they are put together and the "abuse" they experience just by driving it and under normal use. It is even more important for owners who are not able to do repairs themselves.

I think all would agree they would like to have an warranty over not having one, but the real question is at what cost? Fact is ESP is a very effective way for Dealers and ESP Companies to increase their net profit. There is no one right answer, when it comes to ESPs. You might as well be in Vegas because while their are a few winners like you, the House (ESP companies & Dealers) will always win over the masses.

I do concur with the wisdom of a few that for some folks that don't have the liquid cash, they need to get the ESP they can to roll up in the finance cost to avoid the fear of potential of a big bill later. Other than that; it may be simple for most to take their RV to whomever they wish to have it serviced and pay them what is agreed upon and call it a day; just as I do with all my vehicles when their Mfg warranties expires. It is a peace of mind as well, but different perspective.

For example.

In my new RV, I wanted to add a Sound Bar because when sitting in the Captain & Passengers chairs facing the TV, you could barely hear, so finally after months I figured out how to get the TV down, I wanted the power for Sound bar and hdmi cable to go through the wall behind the TV for neatness. When I finally got it all done the TV would not come on So somehow in the process it got damage, the TV was under warranty and I could have had it replaced with Mfg or an ESP if I had, but I didn't really want another new TV like I had anyway I don't believe either of the warranties would have paid for me to get a high end 40" Samsung? So I pulled from my $1,500 / year reserve allocation and bought my Samsung TV of choice. I am happier as I now have higher quality, WifI on TV, ethernet, direct streaming to TV from phone among other things. With that built in Subwoofer, I have theater picture and sound quality in my RV for few hundred bucks.

[Edki45]

Originally Posted by jackpwelch

Hi
I had my Thor on the road for 3 years under warranty and I found out Thor warranty is useless. The Ford chassis is warranty is great because any Ford truck dealer will be glad to work on it. I dare anyone to find a dealer on the road that will actually work on it under 2 or 3 months. most dealers will tell you that if you didn't buy it from them they won't work on it. Even your home dealer will fall under the 2 to 3 months wait time. Obviously Thor doesn't make it advantages to the dealer to work on warranty jobs because as we all know warranty work for auto industry is a big business.
Jack

I bought my 2020 Thor Axis in July of 2020 from Motorhome Specialists in Alvarado Texas. I told Motorhome Specialists about a lot of the problems that it had the day before and the day I picked it up. I am now going to get to turn it in on February 2/2021 just to leave it there for warranty problems for several months. They say they are selling so many RVs that their new preparations have to be done first. Unfortunately that did not happen on my cheap $100,000 RV. I wish I could afford the time and money to go to the factory in Elkhart to get it fixed but I can't. I recommend that other people that think they will get their warranty done better close to home that they go to Elkhart survive their motorhome. Buying RVs close to home means nothing anymore. The air conditioner doesn't work properly (10 deg drop in the shade with insulated shade on the windows, with 18amp draw). I called a few "so called Coleman authorized repair facilities" and they said I would have to pay for all the labor including diagnostics. The slide wall is warped so that it does not come close to sealing. The wall in the bedroom has the wall board bowing out because the roof is sagging and pushing down against and bowing the stud. Several pieces of molding have fallen off. The drawers did not close because of faulty drawer latches. That caused the slide to rip one of the drawers in two and tore up the facing on that cabinet. It has a hole in the roof. My sewer pump burned up because of all the chunks of wood that they threw into the black and gray tank. Of course, there are many other problems so they told me I'll probably I have to wait four months or more after I have been trying to get it in for service for 7 months to get it repaired and be able to use my brand new motorhome that I will have had for almost a year at that time. I spent two days after they said it was ready looking it over and telling them all the things that were not right. Many of the things they said "oh that's normal". Like the slit under the slide that later had 3 feet of wires hanging out of it and got hung. They sort of fixed a couple of things. This motorhome had been sitting on their lot for 6 months and they didn't bother to even look at it until I signed on the bottom line. I am pretty sure that after I leave it there for a month-and-a-half they will do not have done anything to it so that I will have to go to Elkhart and camp there to get it fixed. Or leave it and fly home. I already left it there once for two weeks and they never looked at it. It never moved. I bought a motorhome so that I did not have to fly any place. Motorhome Specialists are crooks.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Edki45

I wish I could afford the time and money to go to the factory in Elkhart to get it fixed but I can't. Motorhome Specialists are crooks.

Been there and done that

Only difference between you and me is that my list was longer, and that since they refused to fix it all upfront as part of PDI; I walked away from the deal. You are EXACTLY right; the issues that I saw ALL were 100% related to what had happened on the Dealer's lot. I did not see one true Thor manufacturing defect on my list. It is one of the reasons why I empathize with Thor Motor Coach.

For example.. The coach we walked away from during PDI had an exploded battery that had corroded everything in compartment including hydraulics and battery floor, a broken ladder that had a wobbly patch job that was not stable It felt like it was going to break off any minute while trying to climb, cabinet doors ripped off, scratched walls where someone had tried to patch and exposed nails, dry rotted curtains etc. etc. all on a brand new coach that may have been sitting on the lot 6 - 9 months. Worse part is not only would they not repair before the sale, they tried to convince me that all coaches are not perfect as if I was the one with problem Their attitude is we sell 50 of these things a day, why aren't you buying I got my deposit back and never looked back. They did called us a few hours later while we were headed home, but only to ask us had we changed our mind

Your last sentence says it all. Based on what you know, why take it there again 2/1/21? I know you said you don't have the time nor the money to take it to Elkhart, but if I were you, I would find a way and get it to Indiana. Don't allow your story to grow worse; or at minimum get with Elkhart to document all of your issues; so when / if your dealer fails you again, you can go to factory later.

FWIW; knowing what I have learned over the past couple of years. I may have attempted to negotiate $2,000 more off the price given all of the issues with the intent to take it to Thor factory after I had driven it about 6 months to get an even more comprehensive list.

As it was, I bought a Winnebago in Florida and brought it back to Dallas. Passed PDI 100% the 1st time; as no dealer induced issues. Winnebago got us a local dealer who has just been awesome getting us in and out as best they could with covid etc. We are technically without warranty now, but the dealer has it now looking at few cosmetic items like wood trim around bedroom mirror and one bay compartment door alignment (both were related to previous repairs)

[Pete'sMH]

With respect, if you are not satisfied with dealers why do you keep going there? Unlike cars many independent repair shops are authorized to do warranty work. These shops are not focused on RV sales and they generally don’t have space or inclination to have a bunch of broken units sitting around for months. Make an appointment and they’ll take care of you. If you have a long list it may take a few visits as most shops are pretty busy but here only business is repair and they need to do a good job. They probably have better “techs” than camping world too.

[roadrunner255]

Has anyone taken their RV back to the factory for warranty work?

Depending on the outcome of our warranty service at our local dealer (where we purchased, only sold 1 of our unit last year and I have over 20 items to correct including a 12V DC issue) am thinking of taking it up for service (AC needs to be replaced and on back order).

Draw back is that they are 1200 miles away.

Cheers!

[taylorbob1]

Get your appointment now because it’ll probably be 6mo out
Then decide if you want to make the trek.

[txc2936@yahoo.com]

I have a THOR under warranty. I have decided to fix all issues with the RV and send the receipts to THOR for re imbursement. Follow the you tube videos, and read this blog. Most repairs can be done by yourself.

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by txc2936@yahoo.com

I have a THOR under warranty. I have decided to fix all issues with the RV and send the receipts to THOR for re imbursement. Follow the you tube videos, and read this blog. Most repairs can be done by yourself.

Good luck with that. Thor DID allow me to make some repairs and sent me the parts to do so after I emailed them photos of my failure. I’m not at all confident that they’d let me make my own repairs and just send them the bills. The warranty almost certainly requires pre approval and work to be done by an authorized repair facility.

[chunker21]

I stopped by MHSRV in TX back in April to look, and maybe buy. Their attitude prior to a sale was I should be happy they let me in the door, put down 10% NON refundable deposit and go home and shut up. I don't work that way and wouldn't waste any time or money there. The OP should have seen the writing when they told him that after the sale service was non existent since they were busy fixing things before the sale. See how well that works out huh??

Guess I don't understand why anyone would bother to go there at all except maybe to research a model you wanted to see. There service department gets horrid reviews, sales is caustic and arrogant, and they don't have much on hand anyway.

[txc2936@yahoo.com]

Dont listen to sales people. Do not accept the RV if things are broken!!!