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We have a 2017 ACE 30.1. Overall we've been happy with it, but with any coach you will find anywhere from a few, to some larger number of construction issues. Unfortunately its a bit of a lottery on how many defects you get, so do a thorough Pre Delivery Inspection and test everything.
At the ACE price point you are basically getting Class C trim in a Class A body. Nothing wrong with that, especially if you are just going to use for shorter duration trips and not expecting to full time in it. We chose ours because we wanted to get into National Parks and anything longer generally won't fit. Even then we have to be careful about site selection.
We've done well but did have a few things, all of which I was readily able to fix.
- Had to troubleshoot and reconnect wiring for 3 circuit breakers. Thor had scrambled the water heater circuit with the passenger and driver side receptacles.
- Had a problem with water getting into the furnace and causing strange behavior as the water pooled under the circuit board. Fixed that by putting butyl tape around the cover.
- A couple of drawer slides came loose in the back due to an insufficient number of screws.
- The OEM batteries lasted 6 months. Ours were Harris batteries. You will find a number of posts in the forum of how poor these batteries are and that the warranty is basically worthless
- Wife replaced all of the curtains with more opaque ones of her design. The blinds that came with the coach weren't all that opaque in her view. Also the front curtains will have a limited life if you get much sun.
You should realistically expect to have to make some investments over the purchase price. Figure on spending another 5% to 10% of purchase price in upgrades (this isn't just an ACE issue, you will find that in any coach in the same price range, especially with the F-53 chassis
- Recommend replacing the batteries with good ones, and also replacing the OEM WFCO Converter with a Progressive Dynamics Converter. This will provide you with good power and not have the WFCO improperly charge your batteries
- With any F-53 chassis, you will likely find you need to make improvements to the suspension. This will likely be your largest cost after delivery improvement. There are tons of posts here, but you will find things like the Cheap Handling Fix (CHF), a steering stabilizer such as a Safe-T-Plus, a rear track bar, replacing the too soft OEM Bilstein shocks with either after market Bilsteins or Koni FDS. You may also find you'd like to add Sumo Springs. Many, many posts around on the pluses and minuses of each.
I have done all of the above except the Sumo's, which are on the plan for next spring. The biggest bang for the buck were the Safe-T-Plus, Koni's and the track bar. Don't let an RV dealer do any of this work. Find a good suspension shop or do it yourself if you are mechanically inclined and can take a few hours crawling around under the rig.
You will find any number of other upgrades desirable. As with most RV's the OEM tank level system is poor and you might consider adding a See-Level. Also a tire monitoring system is a really good idea. Possibilities are limited only by your budget.
Check out the "Jerry's Hurricane Mods" thread for ideas. The Hurricane's are very similar to the ACE's, with the primary difference being the front cap and some slightly higher grade trim items in the Hurricanes. There is also an ACE Modification thread on the forum, but Jerry's is pretty active. Enjoy your ACE
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