Thor Forums

[bigben]

Bigfoot - first off IMO if you are this apprehensive about your move up - quite honestly you may want to wait. Just my two cents. From my experience the first year of ownership you are gonna have to work out the kinks (issues) in you coach. From my experience again, the issue is NOT Thor but poor dealer service. The forums are alive with people talking about issues that Thor won't do this or Thor won't do that. That is what gets related to the owners from the dealer. Not saying that dealers misrepresent Thor's responses but Thor has never once failed to address any issue I've had. That is Zero, Zippo, Nadda. Morale to the story - call warranty factory service directly. I've dealt almost exclusively with Tom Overton. Always gets back with me.

With your concerns I'd also recommend you find a Thor authorized servicing dealer within a 100-150 mile radius that will work on your unit BEFORE you buy. You will have issues in the first year and nothing more frustrating than getting the run around right up front. IRV2 is another good site that help you narrow down your service search.

There are lots of PDIs that can be used. I'd get one, then go to your nearest dealer and ask questions based on the PDI like "Where is this found?, how do I turn on the water heater, how do I empty the holding tanks, how do I put in fresh water, how do I plug my unit in to shore power, how does the generator work, how do the levelers work, etc". Tell the sales person your really new and want to understand so you can compare models. The first thing you'll find out is that in general sales folks tell you a lot of stuff but most won't understand how the unit works. Again that is in IMO. Continue that at least 3 times or until you feel comfortable.

Relative to price - careful. The only price you really are interested in "how much to drive away with the coach?". Anything other than that number is interesting but irrelevant. Then find the lowest price. In my experience, buying local only guarantees you'll have a shorter drive home. It would be great to have a low price and service, but the odds are against it.

Now the absolute truth from us - we love our Challenger. We had lots of service work done the first year but have gotten to a great place with our coach. Feature for feature,$ for $ - tough to beat the Challenger.

Hope this epistle is helpful.