Forest River Forester vs Thor Four Winds

[RRTom]

Considering the Forest River Forester 2251SLE, and the Thor Four Winds 24F. Any insights to either or both would be appreciated. Please, no brand bashing unless you can give concrete examples.

Thanks

[pauly_boy]

Bought a Thor 22b a couple off months ago. Love it.
All 24 footers are basically the same layout. You won't get everything you want in one model so there will be compromise. Basically, "Not what I can live with But what I can live in".
You've decided on one of two models. Half the battle done. It now comes down to Dealer support and maintenance. Good dealer, good mechanic. Always horror story's about RV's. They are like anything you purchase, car, home, bicycles, etc. If you don't maintain them they become expensive boat anchors. Make your purchase and enjoy. Life is to short to dwell on what might happen.
Paul ... New Rv owner

[AJR]

I have had two used Thor products a class A and a class C. Thor customer service has been excellent when I called them. They emailed me an electrical diagram on the class A and a plumbing diagram on the class C.

The only other issues I have had were due to age. Like re-caulking everything.

I now have a used Leprechaun on a Chevy chassis (love the cab room for getting into the coach from the drivers seat and it handles so sweet on the road in bad weather). We will see how this one fairs.

[bobndot]

TheLuvShack wrote:

bobndot wrote:
I really don't think it matters which you buy. Finding a good dealer is the key. If the dealer is making enough profit on the sale, then their is a lot of wiggle room to get things done for you. If you lessen his profit during the sale, then don't expect the dealer to jump for joy when you return for help.

Amazing! Are you saying that when you call the service manager to schedule an appointment, the service manager calls the sales manager to see what kind of profit they made on your unit? The more profit made on the sale the better service you get?

It will depend on the dealership. Some dealers are paying ridiculous rent and taxes and others own their properties outright with no mortgage. Some are one man operation while others have countless number of employees. Overheads are different.
Many times, if he has the means, a dealer will dig into his own pocket to make a repair for a good repeat customer. Sometimes the digging is deep. If the dealer has made a marginal profit too often (like selling at steep discounts)then he has very little wiggle room to dig into his profit margin to help you when the mfg doesn't. It unfortunately happens.

[SidecarFlip]

TheLuvShack wrote:

bobndot wrote:
I really don't think it matters which you buy. Finding a good dealer is the key. If the dealer is making enough profit on the sale, then their is a lot of wiggle room to get things done for you. If you lessen his profit during the sale, then don't expect the dealer to jump for joy when you return for help.

Amazing! Are you saying that when you call the service manager to schedule an appointment, the service manager calls the sales manager to see what kind of profit they made on your unit? The more profit made on the sale the better service you get?

Unless I'm sleeping, no one does anything in a business setting for free and the more a business can make profit wise, the happier they are.... and in as much as any RV is a luxury item when you get it socked to you. be happy. You are supporting the employees and providing profit for the owner.

[TheLuvShack]

bobndot wrote:
I really don't think it matters which you buy. Finding a good dealer is the key. If the dealer is making enough profit on the sale, then their is a lot of wiggle room to get things done for you. If you lessen his profit during the sale, then don't expect the dealer to jump for joy when you return for help.

Amazing! Are you saying that when you call the service manager to schedule an appointment, the service manager calls the sales manager to see what kind of profit they made on your unit? The more profit made on the sale the better service you get?

[lfcjasp]

Cbigham is right. No matter what brand you decide on, if you do not take care of your rig and respect its limitations and if you don't want to fix anything yourself, you might as well just buy anything or buy nothing.

We've had our Thor Four Winds 24C for five years (six summers...we bought it in May) and it's been relatively problem free, at least compared with some of the horror stories I've read here on brand new campers on their maiden trip of all things.

A good dealer, good insurance and a willingness to do some work yourself can make all the difference between a POS and a fun camper!

ETA: I'm still shocked at all the Forest River complaining; I would have loved one of their Class C's :?

[cbigham]

Recently bought a thor 23u. Had been circling around liking the 2501 sunseejer and the smaller 1 slide sunseeker (fr product) seen a few at the lot with broken slides. One they tried to sell me sales staff said we will repair it if you buy it. I could see daylight thru the slide, improperly aligned when closed. I asked if they drove from Indiana like that? Yes. Pass.

There's a couple rv repair facilities in SOCAL known for competency in major repairs many of these manufacturers send their stuff for rework. One of them had been my main go to for my funmover(thor product we bought in 2005 and put 92k on) Thor, as I already knew, the house, box is strong, inside stuff paper machete. Lots of nice flashy stuff in the various FR products but lots of leaks. Avoid slides. He had a nice business fixing slides including some poorly cut holes.

Because I use my motorhome sever, dirt roads, extended stays no hook ups, I wanted no issues with slides weakening the box or failure to retract keeping me from leaving. No leak issues again either, please. (Dirt bike rider, carried in hitch rack) after 10k miles, many bad roads, the thor is holding up. That's not to say it hasn't been problem free and there have been some stupid things I've discovered..and fixed.
To succeed in rving ur gonna have to be somewhat handy no matter what the brand!

[Ralph_Cramden]

azdryheat wrote:
I work in the industry. Thor has severe quality issues. Lots of unhappy customers.

Do you think that they may have lots of unhappy customers because they sell twice as many MH's as the 2nd place manufacturer and have done so consistently almost forever?

Thor has 43% share in motorized RV's, Forest River a little less than 23%, and Winnebago 13% and change.

[SidecarFlip]

Not brand bashing (because I own an FR product) but in my view, all but the total custom units are all poorly constructed today.

I've had my share of issues but being handy and self reliant, I've handled them all myself. Having said that, none of the 'issues' should have been there in the first place.

[IAMICHABOD]

One great thing is that you can get both on a Chevy Chassis that is a Plus :B

[bobndot]

I really don't think it matters which you buy. Finding a good dealer is the key. If the dealer is making enough profit on the sale, then their is a lot of wiggle room to get things done for you. If you lessen his profit during the sale, then don't expect the dealer to jump for joy when you return for help.

[azdryheat]

I work in the industry. Thor has severe quality issues. Lots of unhappy customers.