K-Z now owned by Thor

[pennysmom09]

We just learned K-Z has been bought out by Thor, and we are planning to,order a new Durango in the near future. Does anyone think it will delay or complicate the whole ordering and manufacturing process? We were so excited, but now we are a little hesitant. We really like our Durango, have had no problems, we just want a little bigger model. I am really disappointed about this....am I being paranoid?

[spadoctor]

Well we have friends that have had terrible success with Heartland customer service. No company is perfect but some are better then others. And in most cases bigger is not better. If you ever had dealings with KZ you would know the workers there were more like a family then just a number....that generates a better product.

[Hunter11]

We are on our 2nd KZ product and are not happy that Thor has bought them. Read all the problems on the net with Thor. As for the 2 year warranty I bet it will go to a 1 year as they did that last year with Crossroads and then their customer service went south as well.

The warranty being lowered from a 2+5 to a 1 + "Promise" and the decline in quality control at Crossroads was due to poor management they had at the time not Thor. At least Thor had enough sense to get rid of them before they had a chance to do enough damage that could not be repaired. Now one of those same managers has been hired to run the Heartland Landmark line. This is one reason we ordered our Landmark now before he has a chance to work his magic over there.

[ricatic]

spadoctor wrote:
We are on our 2nd KZ product and are not happy that Thor has bought them. Read all the problems on the net with Thor. As for the 2 year warranty I bet it will go to a 1 year as they did that last year with Crossroads and then their customer service went south as well. KZ was still family owned by the founder and he is at an age that I bet he wants to retire. Too bad it is a fantastic company that truly cares about their customers and quality....now just another notch in Thors belt.

no intent to argue...but this mindset was very similar to some Heartland Owners when they moved under the Thor tent...it has been a complete non issue for Heartland Owners and the same result is likely with KZ...in fact... some models of Heartland fivers have a 2 year warranty with full timer blessings...

Regards

[katfish]

spadoctor wrote:
We are on our 2nd KZ product and are not happy that Thor has bought them. Read all the problems on the net with Thor. As for the 2 year warranty I bet it will go to a 1 year as they did that last year with Crossroads and then their customer service went south as well. KZ was still family owned by the founder and he is at an age that I bet he wants to retire. Too bad it is a fantastic company that truly cares about their customers and quality....now just another notch in Thors belt.

We too are on our 2nd KZ fifth wheeler. But there will not be a third if we see problems with Thor. I guess we will have to just keep up with it an see what goes on...
Good luck to all who own KZ, I know we have been really happy with KZ with the help we have received from KZ.

[JEBar]

blue trawler wrote:
I have a Durango and love it. Hope they keep the warranty as it was before, 2 years. My dealer went out if business when it was sold to a idiot, who had no knowledge of the Rv business. So now we have no KZ dealer within 500 miles! Wishing CW would sell KZ again!

Bruce

from looking at CW's inventory it is clear that they are heavily affiliated with Thor so it wouldn't be surprising to see KZ brands appearing at CW's in areas where there aren't established KZ dealerships .... with this takeover, KZ has been crossed off of our list of brands we will consider when we replace our current one

Jim

[spadoctor]

We are on our 2nd KZ product and are not happy that Thor has bought them. Read all the problems on the net with Thor. As for the 2 year warranty I bet it will go to a 1 year as they did that last year with Crossroads and then their customer service went south as well. KZ was still family owned by the founder and he is at an age that I bet he wants to retire. Too bad it is a fantastic company that truly cares about their customers and quality....now just another notch in Thors belt.

[dbear]

kakampers wrote:

pennysmom09 wrote:

n7bsn wrote:
THOR's typical pattern is buy a RV maker that is doing well and leave the company to continue the job.
So... if THOR thinks K-Z is doing things OK, there probably will be few, if any, changes.

This is very encouraging, thank you!

This is what happened when they bought Heartland several years ago...all that occurred was that Heartland now has the capital needed to expand and move forward; customer service, etc., has remained as good as always.

You guys must be mistaken. I read it on multiple forums (I think from the same few individuals that are all French models) that Thor destroys all it touches. It was on the internet so it must be true because you can't put anything on the internet that isn't true.:)

[kakampers]

pennysmom09 wrote:

n7bsn wrote:
THOR's typical pattern is buy a RV maker that is doing well and leave the company to continue the job.
So... if THOR thinks K-Z is doing things OK, there probably will be few, if any, changes.

This is very encouraging, thank you!

This is what happened when they bought Heartland several years ago...all that occurred was that Heartland now has the capital needed to expand and move forward; customer service, etc., has remained as good as always.

[blue_trawler]

I have a Durango and love it. Hope they keep the warranty as it was before, 2 years. My dealer went out if business when it was sold to a idiot, who had no knowledge of the Rv business. So now we have no KZ dealer within 500 miles! Wishing CW would sell KZ again!

Bruce

[Us_out_West]

To bad the Mods can't merge topics since there is already a thread on this.

[pennysmom09]

n7bsn wrote:
THOR's typical pattern is buy a RV maker that is doing well and leave the company to continue the job.
So... if THOR thinks K-Z is doing things OK, there probably will be few, if any, changes.

This is very encouraging, thank you!

[n7bsn]

THOR's typical pattern is buy a RV maker that is doing well and leave the company to continue the job.
So... if THOR thinks K-Z is doing things OK, there probably will be few, if any, changes.

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[BB_TX]

I doubt there will be any immediate obvious changes. Maybe new top management. But not likely to disturb a good thing, at least until the new guys in control decide how they think they can do it better.
Companies are bought and sold regularly with few internal changes. I worked for a company 35 years and 5 different owners. But little changed at the actual working level.