Would You buy another Thor?

[PatMac]

Probably not. Since purchasing Our 2014 Thor Challenger 38ft KT, we have had nothing but problems. Every time we head out on a trip we have a major issue. So far we have had at least 40- 50 repairs. Some minor most major. Thank goodness for our extended warranty.
Coming to Fl this winter the adjustable mirror on the passenger side kept sliding out of focus and couldn’t be adjusted. The water pump died and the hot water is not functioning properly. All minor issues but frustrating. The big issue we are having is that something is draining our batteries, the engine and house. Can’t tell you how many times we have had to jump the engine after stopping to gas up.This issue was addressed just prior to this trip. Quality control, terrible. Anyone else having these issues? As for Thor, we went directly to their Factory in Wakarusa for the first 30 fixes. Great service and repairs, can’t complain. Our extended warranty excellent. Just a frustration with poor workmanship.

[Bob Denman]

Now that I know what to look for, and what questions to ask: Hell yes!

[M&M_MURPHYS]

All I can do is offer our experience. We have never owned an RV before purchasing our new Quantum.

In our case I was very surprised and disappointed in the quality of the build in our quantum. I cannot compare it to other manufacturers or past rigs since it is our first RV.

I will not go into the long list of issues in detail but I will say there were many minor issues and a few major issues we did not expect to find on a brand new RV.

Having said that, The most surprising and disturbing was that the fresh water tank was plumbed in such a way that we could only get 18 gallons out of our 30 gallon tank. Our RV is in for warranty repairs now. It has been there for almost 9 weeks and the dealer now says THOR has authorized re-plumbing the tank.

Another annoying one was that a dinette seat literally caved in due to poor construction. I repaired it myself with major reinforcement and also discovered that the other seat was also failing in and needed the same reinforcement.

There were many other issues I either repaired myself or I am hoping the dealer can agree on the issue and THOR will find it in there hearts to approve repairs.

In short, I love the RV experience and and happy I bought an RV. I am not so sure about the THOR brand. After my own research when we were in your pre-ownwer shoes, I fully expected a few issues to work out with a new RV, but was still very surprised at the sheer number of issues directly related to the quality of the craftsmanship from THOR.

All I can say is - expect to work through a lot of issues in the warranty period. If you get lucky and have a trouble free unit great. But if you get a issue plagued rig like me and many other owners have experienced you will at least be braced for warranty work and it will not be surprising and jarring to you as you work through it with THOR. A painful process but a topic for another thread.

[mountainsam]

YUP, we would buy another one. Small issues, none to keep us off the road and enjoying it. We bought from La Mesa RV and aside from them being over run with service to other RVs and long waits the get scheduled they have treated us very well. Help from this Forum has also been a factor in our enjoyment of the coach.

[Metalman]

I probably wouldn't buy another Thor. We bought ours used with about 6,000 miles and less than one year old. We only had a 30 day warrantee and in those thirty days we discovered several problems, which were taken care of by the dealer. Since then we have discovered several more problems that I've taken care of, except for the alignment of the front end. At this point I don't know of anything that needs attention, but it's been a long haul to this point. And I do not trust the vehicle and am always expecting failures.

Some of the problems were assembly problems and some were simply poor equipment that wasn't up for the job. One of the problems was the water pump. I replaced it with a much better unit.

Don't get discouraged, just keep after the dealer to fix the problems and eventually you will work though them. Of course more will occur in time, but that's the nature of an RV.

[DocMike]

Yes, we would buy again BUT we would be much more aggressive in the pre-delivery inspection (2 - 4 hours): getting down and dirty by crawling under the unit, getting on top of the unit, removing drawers, looking for anything from trash/free screws/wood shavings/missing screws, position of transmission cable, require a test on the batteries, check every moving part 6 to 10 times and then do the driving test.

We learned that the first 6 months are for shake down and finding the Warranty Work that is there and just waiting to be found before year's end.

DocMike

[Bob Denman]

There's little doubt that most of us would up our "PDI game skills", for the next go-round!

[tigwelder]

No, 1 year warranty is useless, dealers are useless. QC , there is none. Designers are all in second grade. they forget to tell you before you sign the papers that you have to spend $5000.00 more so you can drive it more then 20 mph down the road.owners manual is useless. did i say i would never buy another MH ? well you ask.

[Bob Denman]

Soooo... what kind of tent will you be buying?

[bigben]

Cute Bob - cute.

[Whirnot]

I think Jamie nailed it way back when this thread started. Mostly it depends on the dealer. We have had ours in twice for warranty work and have one more trip scheduled. The dealer: Beaver Coach, Sales and Service of Bend Oregon, has done a great job. Maybe because they used to build their own?

We would buy again, We are very happy with our Vegas.

[Pete'sMH]

Yes, I would buy another.

[Laco]

Any RV, even the multi-million dollar Prevost's are problematic, especially when new. Thor is no better and probably no worse than the others. When we were looking, for a different motorhome, we decided on the size we wanted, I decided what chassis I wanted in on, and my wife and I were very fixed on the floorplan. As it happened Thor offered one that met our criteria. Some things about it are disappointing, some things about it impress me. Overall, little about it surprised me a lot. We have had our share of expected issues and problems with it, most very minor and annoying, but the dealer took care of them, and worked with Thor when parts a labor was required to bring it back into specs. Our experiences with this motorhome would neither lead me to, or away from buy another Thor, should we be in the market for another RV.

[rvfigs]

I have had nothing but good experiences with Thor. However, it was always a nightmare with dealer service.

[Woofwoof]

I’ve had plenty of problems with my Thor. The slide has been a nightmare for the first 3 years of ownership ( fingers crossed it’s finally fixed right ). Thor has been mostly decent with my repairs after warranty, in my opinion they pawned a whole lot of factory defects off to my extended warranty company, but between the two of them they have paid all the bills, I think I’m out of pocket for one copay of $100 for well over $10,000 worth of work. In Thor’s defense while it was a factory defect with rollers missing, installed backwards, and not properly secured, my selling dealer was absolutely horrible, and couldn’t find the problems after 4 attempts. After getting Thor to approve warranty issues at my local repair shop (which they did with no complaint) the problem was found and fixed. Btw if near Cape Cod and you find yourself needing repairs Majors RV in Bourne Mass are some of the best in the biz. So back to the question would I buy a Thor again? Yes I would. We are in the market for a new unit after next season (when our extended warranty ends ) Thor has their issues with QC, but all companies do. Thor has the best Floorplans out of all others in my opinion. We’re in the market for a DP and looking at the Forest River Berkshire (or last 5th wheel was a FR with absolutely zero problems for 8 years) Winnebago Journey, Thor Aria, and Thor Super C. I’ve been on the Winnebago, Forest River, and IRV2 sites and they all have the same complaints, QC, slide issues, water leaks, build quality. Do your homework, expect some bugs for the first year or two, and most importantly enjoy your new unit and time with family.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by Laco

Any RV, even the multi-million dollar Prevost's are problematic, especially when new. ....cut....

Shouldn't that be expected?

It would seem natural that the more "stuff" a motorhome has the more things there are to break, or need adjustment, or need maintenance, etc. For those that are "handy" and can take care of stuff themselves, that's not much of a deterrent, but what about people who don't know one end of a screw driver from the other?

When RVs were simpler (and also cheaper to buy) they didn't have as many "things" to go wrong. One simple example is addition of solar. It's a great feature to have, but if it's not there it can't cause problems. The same logic applies to levelers and other convenience options -- great to have but maybe not meant for everyone unless their budget can afford paying for repairs.

Likewise two identical air conditioners are more likely to break or leak than one, and the same for two slides versus one versus none. Three TVs with interconnections are also more involved than one. It seems like common sense no matter what the item is.

I agree than even million-dollar RVs will have issues because they have more systems to go wrong. Unfortunately, from my perspective (based on extensive experience with equipment beyond RVs), when you add a lot of cheap content to hold cost down, reliability is even worse.



The Thor motorhomes I've used were super simple and have been mostly trouble free. They didn't have slides, levelers, awnings, etc. They didn't even come with a TV, so not much to not work.

[groundpounder]

I have the service records for mine. In 70,000 Miles as a rental. The following has be repaired or replaced.
Alternator (twice)
Starter
Starter solinoid
Transmission at 10,000 miles
Black water tank
Power converter
Microwave
Water pump
Outside shower fauset
Door locks
Carpentry issues
Oven

Wear out items include batteries, windshield cracked, tires

You should look at this as a machine that is abused and hope it still performs.

We abuse it by not using it, letting it get real hot and freeze. Then shake it. Many parts move and have systems to manage friction such as oil or rubber. Daily exercise will allow them to last, let them sit and they will fail.

You should consider what is Thor's fault or what is another manufactures fault. Was it fabricated by thor or just a part they used?

I do not believe any manufacture is immune from problems. The true difference is how they deal with issues.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by bigben

Cute Bob - cute.

Thanks! I'll be here all week; try the veal!

[Metalman]

Originally Posted by groundpounder

I have the service records for mine. In 70,000 Miles as a rental. The following has be repaired or replaced.
Alternator (twice)
Starter
Starter solinoid
Transmission at 10,000 miles ....

.....You should look at this as a machine that is abused and hope it still performs.

We abuse it by not using it, letting it get real hot and freeze. Then shake it. Many parts move and have systems to manage friction such as oil or rubber. Daily exercise will allow them to last, let them sit and they will fail......

The engine parts that failed can not be blamed on Thor, unless the alternator is not capable of keeping the batteries charged due to insufficient amperage output.

You make very good points about the abuse motor home are given. However, many owners, complain about failures that occur within a few miles due to faulty materials or workmanship, or poor design. To me, those are incomprehensible.

[Hoser123]

2018 37rb: have had our RV for 3 months took two trips in it had fourwarranty items that the dealer took care of very pleased with its operation.