Anybody happy with their Class C Thor Motor Coach?

[fhenn]

going off track here , go back to the main road.

 

[Lloyd S]

going off track here , go back to the main road.

 

[kprun]

I retired in 2015. Wife and I decided we wanted to get an RV and see our beautiful country. We bought a 2015 Thor Vegas. We knew nothing about RVs. I'm really glad that I didn't research Thor before we bought because we probably wouldn't have bought the Vegas. We loved our Vegas despite a few problems. After a couple of weekend outings with the grandkids, we realized that we needed a bigger RV. The Vegas had 1 slide in the bedroom which meant that the living space was a little tight. We were enjoying the RV lifestyle and decided that we needed (wanted) a bigger coach. We decided on a 2016 Thor ACE 29.4. The local CW dealer wanted way to much for the one on their lot and was offering a lowball price for the trade. Found a good deal in Virginia (500 miles) and jumped on it. I knew a little more about what to look for during PDI. Dealer was great, fixed everything I pointed out. I have had to reach out to Thor a few times regarding issues and their customer service has been great. We've had the ACE for over 4 years and have had a blast with it. Yes, we've had a few problems but nothing that kept us off the road or that I couldn't fix myself. This forum has been amazing. I have learned how to fix things by following this forum. Thanks to all of you for your knowledge and wisdom. Bottom line, I love my "entry level" Thor ACE and I believe I got more than what I paid for.

 

[Homer3]

Yes, we are very happy with our Thor Freedom Elite. Previously we owned a Komfort Travel Trailer (before they were bought by Thor and were an independent, stand-alone RV manufacturer) -- we had it for 24 years. Next we bought a 2 year old barely used Itasca Spirit (Class C) which we had for 15 years. In 2015 we bought the Freedom Elite because it had the floor plan that we wanted. As someone else pointed out, it probably is an entry level vehicle and we are experienced RVers. We liked that it didn't have carpet (not good at the beach or for pets), had the safety of the Ford E450 cab and was gas powered. Mr. Homer worked 48 years in diesel truck dealerships and does not want to own a diesel.



As many others here have stated, some people just like to complain and are probably not good at do it yourself fixes and upgrades. We love our Freedom Elite and use it at least once a month now that we are retired. I would buy it again for sure.

 

[peterjds@comcast.net]

Answer to Buying Thor Class C

In January this year we purchased an Entegra Esteem class C made by Thor. The quality of the motorhome is great and is a stunning good looker. Construction of the coach is very good and the ride is superior to any motorhomes I have owned, ask my wife she'll said way too many. Problems with the unit have been minimal and very easily fixed. My thanks to Thor for a gold ride.

 

[Cpd]

Our 2018 freedom elite fe 30 is our home. We are full timers and although we've had some problems, one still open , we love "Homey." Is it perfect? Hell no. There are a lot of things we would change, improve but it works for us and it didn't cost us 200k+
I guess happy is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Woodman3-THOR]

Happy with our Thor

Bought new 2018 Thor Class C Chateau 24 footer from dealer. No issues with it. Perfect for the 2 of us up here in Canada.

 

[vt800c]

happier than a pig in slop!!!

I've had a Thor Four Winds 24FE on a MB Sprinter chassis for almost 2 years now. We bought it as used (with 2200miles??). It has a slide-out for the bed and another for the living room. We removed the dinette as it was too tight for me, and replaced it with 2 RecPro recliners (I since lost 50# but we're happier with the recliners!)

The complaints I have? OMG!!! The electric step doesn't always work (I know it's the controller board, I just haven't swapped it out yet) and a problem with the tankless water heater (we used the wrong type of pressure regulator. Got one that is adjustable with a gauge, and now everything is fine!)

If you get new, you get new problems. If you get pre-loved, you get problems, but nothing to really write home about. I also have a repair warrantee, but not from the dealer. I got my own.

The only thing I'm really unhappy about my RV is, I still have to work and can't go as often as I want to!

 

[DWM-THOR]

Thor Class C

Very very pleased with the performance and service on our new (July)Thor Chateau 24BL. Several issues on our 4 trips (one was for 2 weeks) and General RV in Birch Run MI took care of them all before heading out again without issue. Having great experience with RV-enjoy our own shower facility in morning. Thor has been great with answering any question when calling IN manuf place. Problem Example - last trip (2 weeeks trip) lights on one side of RV blew fuse and stopped working for trip-used other lights-General fixed all when we returned. I’m sure we will have more issues in this first few months of ownership and General RV will make it -Back to good. Very Satisfied Customer of Thor and General RV.

 

[azcaz]

Well 714Greg, I have a 2018 Chateau 26b, absolutely love it. So far we have visited about 26 states, 32k miles, pretty much trouble free. I would buy Thor again. As for your dealer, I would think he would want to work with you, espessally since you want to trade up. Good luck, and, happy RVing.

 

[kbatschke@gmail.com]

Happy 28Z owner

We purchased our Chateau 28Z in June. Have about 7k miles and 40 nights so far. No serious issues (knock on wood) other than a small leak under the front of the slide. Still under warranty so going back to the dealer next month. And a broken wire to the grey tank sensor (which I fixed myself). I think it's partly good luck and partly a good dealer who has learned to do a serious vehicle review/repair prior to delivery and I guess credit where credit is due, Thor did a good job with this one. We love the floor plan and storage space. Don't love the 8mpg of the E450 and will likely look at a Mercedes chassis in our next one.

 

[JKSupertramp]

Magnitude

To choose between a Thor Class C, and nothing, I'd certainly buy it again. I know it seems like a lot of money, but to get into something that's built/assembled in a way that removes a lot of the issues, you're going to spend twice as much. Even then, things are going to go wrong because of the inherent nature of the beast.


I spent the majority of the weekend installing captive mounts for wire looms, rerouting cables/tubes, and correcting sloppy installations, which luckily I enjoy doing. One positive of this is that I'm getting to know it inside out, so when issues arise, I feel more prepared to deal with them

We just bought a 2021 Magnitude SV34 and took delivery last week after a punch list of items that I had to be addressed. I fully understand the infant mortality of components and other various issues that can happen within the first couple of thousand miles on the road. What I am interested in is the "modifications" that you performed on your own to :improved" the RV. I read that one person installed an electric water valve with a switch for his fresh water tank so he doesn't always have to go through the bed and birds nest of wires to get to it when its time to dump the water. Any others that have done modifications/improvements to a Magnitude or similar?

 

[LandKO]

We’ve had our Freedom Elite 30FE for two years now. We bought it “used” (it had 1,068 miles on it) so there was no factory warranty.
We are very pleased with it.
We took two long trips with it last year and have tried to do one week, in state, trips every month since they reopened the campgrounds in June.
We’ve had a few problems that I’ve been able to fix myself and I’ve done several mods to make it more useful for us.
I’d definitely buy another Thor if and when we tire of this one. Don’t see that happening any time soon.

 

[aaurbanelli@aol.com]

I've only owned 2 RVs and both were Thor. The motorhome I have is okay so far but I haven't really stressed it yet. But be prepared to be surprised every time you remove a panel. You'll find poorly installed wiring, partially screwed screws, shavings, cuttings, misaligned bits and pieces, etc. Quality control does not seem important to Thor, and when building a box rolling down the road at 70 mph while full of equipment and out of light lumber and a few screws and tons of staples, it's tough not to have problems. The dealer network is pretty useless, so be prepared to sort things out on your own. And try to find a good mobile mechanic. I enjoy the tinkering, I just hope nothing major fails.

 

[Janet and Kevin]

We have a 2018 Thor Chateau that we’re basically happy with and enjoy immensely when we are traveling. It took me a while to figure out that the truck engine was superb but the ‘house’ part of the RV was constantly bouncing up and down the road all the time. Which means being in tune with the ongoing fixes and such. I will say this tho the only time I wrote here was a great problem we we’re having when the slider wouldn’t go back and we we’re in an isolated area with heavy rains and no cell service. I was desperate when I wrote and luckily someone responded Steps to resolve and we fixed it. At the time I wrote I wished we’d never bought an RV. That lasted about 24 hours. I don’t write when I’m cruising road the road or swimming in a lake. So I’m thinking you’re reading stuff about people seeking support when there’s a problem but that is likely a small part of there whole experience. I just read about an used RV for sale it’s the same year/make as mine and they were asking 5k more than what I paid new 2 years ago. Sprinters are so popular now. Pollyanna

 

[phalexander]

Readi g through these 6 pages is really encouraging. I hope the OP is more comfortable now.

 

[Pat Ll]

We bought a quantum km 24. The bottom of the drawers fell out right away. We were told that the RV runs fine without the drawers so they couldn't fit us in quickly to fix it. The radio was replaced three times, then, to their credit, they paid for a third party to put in a good radio. The stabilizer jacks were replaced, but when they didn't work after the warrantee period was finished, they did not honor fixing them. They worked for about two trips.

Other than the poor reliability, we love the RV. It is a great size and drives very well.

 

[Yosemitebob]

answer to unHappy class c owners

Yes, there will always be problems in some. Sometimes huge problems. But when you look at the total of unhappy people and compare them to the amount of class C's sold, they are actually few. I had problems when I first got mine, took a year to get all fixed, but I've been happy sense. It seems to me no matter what you buy there will be the potential for a problem to accrue. We can only hope for the best.

 

[browndg]

We also used to believe that some people are so negative they will complain about anything no matter how petty it is. That is until we purchased our first motor home in February 2020. We absolutely love everything that works on our new 2020 Thor Chateau 28Z. The key words in this statement are "that works". We understand that no matter how much quality goes into building something as sophisticated as a motor home, some things are bound to break/fail. The problem we have is with the amount of items that so quickly failed can probably be attributed to bad workmanship/quality assurance problems at the factory or bad engineering. To quantify our statement we list the problems we have encountered to date:

1. We refused the first motor home we selected because there was a propane leak in either the walls or floor of the motor home. So we were offered another motor home.

2. During the walk through (Feb 14 2020) the radio stopped working. (it happens) A technician determined it needed a new radio.


May 2020

1. Never heard back from the parts dept. so we scheduled an appointment to have the radio replaced (technician stated it was a bad speaker wire and we didn't need a new radio) We also listed the following discrepancies we discovered during the initial shake down:

a: Neither the deadbolt nor the door latch would fully engage. If you pushed or pulled the door hard enough you could open the door even with the latches engaged. (Perhaps we should have checked this a little better during the walk through).

b: Water heater won't fill with water (motor home had not been de-winterized as we were told).


c. At this point the spouse insisted we end the trip and return home due to security concerns (I think it was due to the lack of hot water).



August 2020

1. Made another service appointment to have the following discrepancies (discovered during our 2nd shakedown) addressed (in addition to the problems discovered during the 1st shakedown):

a. Most of the interior wall panels are warped and the staples are popping out. One wall is so badly warped the slide-out gouges it each time the slide-out is extended/retracted. We have used the recommended moisture absorbent materials in the recommended quantities.

b. Vinyl flooring is bubbling in several places. It doesn't look like glue was applied to the underside of the vinyl flooring but maybe this isn't required.

c. San-T-Flush system has never worked. Very little water enters the black tank.

d. Water heater only works with propane, not with shore power or generator.

e. Radio occasionally cuts out which also cuts out the side/rear cameras potentially leaving a blind spot when changing lanes.

f. One of the slide out seals keeps slipping off.

g. House batteries will not charge while the engine is running Not even on extended trips. (battery cut-out switch is switched to the on position). Batteries will charge if motor home is hooked up to shore power.

After encountering all the discrepancies listed above (motor home has only been used 3 times and has logged 2,649 miles), maybe a good many of these people have a valid reason to complain. Perhaps it will take this kind of bad publicity before the manufacturers take notice and modify their manufacturing/quality assurance practices to provide a better product to their customers.

 

[Scubawise]

2020 thor vegas hardly any problems and dealer will fix