I hit my thumb and its really Thor

I for one believe the general concenus is that thor are really not a high quality MH.In my DD on thor products I have come to the same conclusions
that being said I own a 2008 Allegro bus and the quality control of this unit leaves a lot to be desired BUT Tiffin really look after their customers I will give them a A in that category but still not anywhwere near perfect

Hi Effy,

Excellent comparison and I thank you for it.

I have been surprised by the reaction I get when I mention our plans to sell our home for full time RVing. What I thought I'd get "are not nuts" is more great curieosity followed by, "wow what a great idea, how exciting"!

Then if I show them a brochure of the Thor Tuscany 45' LT and they want to sell their house and go with us! I know some don't like Thor but its a great brochure and its the one I have.

There always has to be killjoy around right and a CPA friend of mine said "those things depreciate like crazy, how long do you expect it to last before you have to replace it? Less than 10 to 15 years and you'll lose your shirt"!

It seems from what I've read and correct me if I'm wrong, that 10 to 15 years with proper maintenance is doable. Certainly the diesel and drivetrain are up to the challenge, its the coach itself that will show its wear & tear right?

Harry

Foodsman wrote:
One thing I have found reading this and other threads is there is a singular theme on the different manufacturers.

Thor seem to be at the bottom of the list of manufacturer and generates the most anger. Although many Thor owners have good things to say!

Fleetwood, Forest River and Winnebago/Itaska seem to be in the middle.

American, Entegra and Newmar at the top.

Tiffin has been considered a top line brand but apparently has had some serious trouble lately and Monaco and Holiday Rambler are off on their own because of the MaxxForce engine and Roadmaster Chassis. They do not seem to come up to the level of Cummins with Freightliner chassis (Spartan Chassis with Entegra).

So sure am I of this list that I can almost guarantee all future posts will dramatically change the order shown above... Ain't it just grand! :) ;)

Harry

I think you have a good grasp on the situation. MH's are unique in that they are assembled by hand and when you add a human to the mix you invite the opportunity for error. You can take 2 identical models that roll off the same day and they may be wired completely different, or have unique things to each one. The same coach, minutes apart. I have had nothing but a pleasant experience with Thor. Perhaps I am lucky but I think there are more than a few happy Thor owners. Would I buy a Palazzo? No. Would I buy a nicer coach if I had the money - sure - likely a Newmar. Would I buy a nicer coach if I had yet more money? Sure - Newell, Prevost, Foretravel etc. My point is this, Thor's business model is built on quantity. Getting units to the showroom floor as quickly as possible and build in a budget for repairs on the back end. This translates into 2 things; lack of quality and a cheaper price. Thor makes a budget MH with perhaps one high end offering. At the other end of the Spectrum you have companies like Newmar. They employ a better quality, better materials, higher skilled employees more control and get it to the floor with no issues, and if it does, we want to know so it does not happen again. Newmar seems to care more about quality. But Newmar will be the first to tell you they aren't the cheapest. Thor still maintains a healthy market share. And I will say this, despite the quantity over quality, they are likely the best innovator in the market. I have seen more blatant copies of design items from other manufacturers that start at Thor. They came up with the small entry level class A to bridge the Class C market, mud rooms, laptop work stations, brought back the drop down bunk, Pet windows, pet bowls, tinted gel coat, the double swing engine bay, the RUV etc etc. You look at an FR3. If that isn't darn near a complete copy of an ACE I don't know what is. Thor brings a lot to the table with respect to innovation in the industry, but their "ready, shoot, aim " approach to get to to market speaks ill of their execution strategy. But as a generalization I think you get the pecking order. But, at any given day you can have a good Thor roll off and a bad Newmar. It happens. But generally speaking if you have a small budget vs a large budget and still want a MH, there is a price point for everyone. And as in anything else, you often get what you pay for. I am very happy with my entry level Thor. Frankly I never thought I'd ever own a MH so it's a bit of a dream for me. And knock on wood (or veneer) it's a good one.

Daveinet wrote:
Actually his post could be substantiated with fact. How many of those coaches require roof maintenance to prevent leaks? How many of those coaches have a high potential for delamination? How many have wall covering that is prone to shrinkage? How about trim pieces tha are poorly attached? I could go through a long list of that which is less than well made on my parents Allegro Bay. How many of those coaches have daylight under the slide when it is out? How many of those handle poorly or ride rough? How many have enough holes to invite mouse intrusion? OK the term "junk" might be a little harsh, but any of those issues should be considered serious. Most have just chosen to tolerate, because for the money, it is considered exceptable.

And this list can go on. I think the average buyer would have a hard time determining the "potential for delamination" which is a big concern that I have. What better adhesives or processes have Mfg used? What better sealing methods are employed? What years were these improvements made? Where do you research to find out these details? Then you read on here of all the quality problems with newer M/H's (9 pages of Thor problems) most of us do not understand the details of the design problems. I almost think it is better to buy a older MH with a know problem with a fix than to buy a new unknown problem. Case in point 10 years age when I bought my MH I had no idea what I was buying being my first MH. It was a 454 on a p-30 chassis and it overheated on every hill with leaking exhaust manifolds. The well established fix was headers and there was a wealth of knowledge on this forum as how to fix it. $1000 worth of headers and muffler fixed the problem forever. Engs, chassis, appliances are common to each MFG. You read about refers failing after 5 years,recalls fires etc. and ask why, my 18 year old Norcold still works, as well as all my other appliances, my slide never leaked or failed to operate but the body delaminated. Other than complain about these issues is there a way for us potential buyers to determine which problems have been fixed and what are the new design changes that might cause these potential problems? The specifics seem hard to find before you buy.

I tried to get my new coach into Thor service center to have lower slide seals put on and storage door panel repaired due to double face tape coming loose but they can't get me in until mid august. They may need a larger repair shop to repair all the coaches they have to repair.

I am on my second damon/Thor unit and this one is 2014 Challenger. I have had alot of major issues on both. The new slide system is horrible and the interior is built with sticks and double face tape. The first 2014 challenger we brought home I went to cleaning the floor thinking there was gum on i, it was vinyl floor patch patching at least seven holes in the vinyl and it was smeared all over the floor, this was in the living area and then the vinyl floor in bedroom was patched together. Luckily we bought it on the weekend and the thor rep was there and helped us swap it out for a different one. This one only had a few holes in the vinyl [lack of quality control]. We have been on the thor factory tour and the workers had screws and tools laying everywhere. Lack of care is all over that factory.
Oh yea my niece and nephew have one that is brand new ace and it has been in shop for 6 out of 7 months owned [furnace fan blew up, slide won't work, water pump went out and endless other major issues].
I don't think the price you pay on this rigs that it should come out of the factory without testing everything.
The new slide system is horrible. I had to remove a slide motor what a mess

One thing I have found reading this and other threads is there is a singular theme on the different manufacturers.

Thor seem to be at the bottom of the list of manufacturer and generates the most anger. Although many Thor owners have good things to say!

Fleetwood, Forest River and Winnebago/Itaska seem to be in the middle.

American, Entegra and Newmar at the top.

Tiffin has been considered a top line brand but apparently has had some serious trouble lately and Monaco and Holiday Rambler are off on their own because of the MaxxForce engine and Roadmaster Chassis. They do not seem to come up to the level of Cummins with Freightliner chassis (Spartan Chassis with Entegra).

So sure am I of this list that I can almost guarantee all future posts will dramatically change the order shown above... Ain't it just grand! :) ;)

Harry

Actually his post could be substantiated with fact. How many of those coaches require roof maintenance to prevent leaks? How many of those coaches have a high potential for delamination? How many have wall covering that is prone to shrinkage? How about trim pieces tha are poorly attached? I could go through a long list of that which is less than well made on my parents Allegro Bay. How many of those coaches have daylight under the slide when it is out? How many of those handle poorly or ride rough? How many have enough holes to invite mouse intrusion? OK the term "junk" might be a little harsh, but any of those issues should be considered serious. Most have just chosen to tolerate, because for the money, it is considered exceptable.

smacdiesel wrote:
Every Motorhome under $120,000 is junk. Fleetwood, Winnebago, Thor, all of them have nightmare reviews all over the internet. Same ford chassis, same components, same customer service problems, etc..

Incorrect post above, my current and last motorhomes were from Fleetwood, {pre BK} and no issues what so ever, just little stuff like drawers needed tighten, etc, so far my 2008 Bounder is great, even the Ford chassis and transmission, I have it a year this month and not 1 break down or any major repairs, my 1st trip was across 3 states and back and ran good with zero issues..

I really think Fleetwood had their act together after 2000 on there motorhomes than the economy took a dump and they BK and shut down in early 09, can't say anything about the new company, {Fleetwood} I wonder is they are having issues.

We've had two Thor products. Neither of them were anything to brag about. Every trip was more like a maintenance excursion. We joked about what problems would come up next. Constant slide issues on the first one (Grand Junction), which never got resolved.

We were naive enough to buy a second. Bad decision. Of all the RV's we've owned Thor has by far the worst track record.

They're great at marketing and making them look great, but everything else falls short. They will never again be on our short list.