THOR Motor Coach

[Card35]

Anyone have experience, good or bad with THOR Class C Motor Homes. Currently looking at many different Brands, and Thor just happens to have a floor plan the wife likes. I have no experience with this manufacturer..

[Cider]

Most Thor products I have looked at were priced well, but cheaply made. I don't think you begin to get a quality Thor product until you get into the Entegra line of class A's. When we were looking at Class A's, and Thor was one of the products considered, we had not even gotten into the very far and already noticed 4 or 5 issues relating to quality of build. We purchased from another manufacturer based on quality. Paid a bit more, but got a product that was well built.

[garmp]

the water heater is under ketchin cabnets with no axes panel to get at the buy pass valves. pieces falling off and comming loose all the time. i can go on but thats my problem. so dont tell me thor is ok

Guess I have to agree!?!

[Oldtymeflyr]

We have a Thor 24L which is on the Sprinter Chassis. We are at 24,500 miles in almost 3 years. No troubles. Everything is working well. We are satisfied. Its been nice driving it about the country.

[cbigham]

Interesting thread.
I've had 2 thor products: 2004 funmover 39c on a f750 cat c7 chassis and a 2017 23u. An rv tech I use put it best when he said "..the shell is solid..but the inside is like paper mache'.." I've seen lots of interesting wiring solutions as well.

I bought the 23u knowing this, but also that there are thousands of rental 23u's out there. Many with over 100k miles. I use mine quite a bit. Dirt biker, dual sport trips. 60 to 90 days a year. Keep em well caulked!

[PatJ]

bobndot wrote:

I also found some Thor units plumbed the bathroom sink into the black tank. That would not work for us because we boondock most all of the time.

Our Thor has the bathroom sink plumbed into the grey tank, however my last class C the BR sink went into the black and I actually preferred it that way. Now I intentionally add extra water to the black via the toilet. We also boondook most all the time.

I prefer to dump with full tanks. In the old rig I would just turn the BR sink on and let it run to fill the black tank full before dumping. Now I have to stand there on the toilet pedal 🙂 So it is all personal preference.

[bobndot]

way2roll,glad to put a smile on your face.
Re Winnie : it's amazing how often these rv companies change ownership, I can't keep up with it.
High end coaches as you mentioned. Our friends own a 45' Newmar Essex , for the 3/4 mil price tag you would think there would be some kind of quality. Honestly, timewise , I think that coach has been back to the mfg for repairs more than in their driveway. FYI, nobody is willing to touch that MH except the mfg. The fuel cost to go back every time is nuts ! People forget we have to earn 2x what we spend. I wonder how many people think of that when they are considering plopping down $100,000 or whatever on a toy .

[way2roll]

bobndot wrote:
Staples and glue. If you want to see how well made an rv is hire a few 6 year old's to run around inside for 30 minutes. Let them use the bed as a trampoline and see how the frame holds up. An experienced 6 year old can rip a flat screen off a wall and burn out slide and awning motors within the allotted time.

I was not impressed by Thor products while looking on the lots. Just with people going through them and opening doors and drawers, I saw things start to fall apart before the rv hit the road. Screws and Hinges ripped out and molding ripped off walls was the obvious. These are things that are going to fail once you own it too.

Funny footnote, I saw the EXACT same things on a brand new Newmar at a show a year back. A bay star. Corner trim falling off, the famed Amish built cabinets had a hinge pulled and stapled together, valances pulling away from the wall and a bin door that was racked and wouldn't close flush. Those are just the few things I noted in 5 minutes on what some consider the benchmark of quality. If you think you can tell the difference in quality at the entry level, I challenge anyone to go to a show, walk in comparable units and try and do it without knowing what brand you are in. See if you can tell the difference. And FYI, Winnie owns Newmar now.

[pushtoy_2]

l have a chateau 27a 2015 iam still fixing mfg. screw ups i find. couldnt fix some of them i just have to live with them. the dealer said they couldnt fix the heat duct work under the floor is crushed so not much heat comes out of the vents. the water heater is under ketchin cabnets with no axes panel to get at the buy pass valves. pieces falling off and comming loose all the time. i can go on but thats my problem. so dont tell me thor is ok

[GDS-3950BH]

PatJ wrote:
I don't know why Thor is considered low quality online, I have nothing but positive comments about my rig.

AJR wrote:

The folks that throw “THOR” out there as junk product is just is not right. They make many, many products. Some are better than others. In some cases much better than second up.
In Thor’s case they make so many products you have to hear about the bad ones more than the good ones on the net.

Never owned one but came close to buying a Thor TT at one point, a Dutchmen Denali.

Could it be that you read more negative reviews because Thor outsells the 2nd closest competitor Forest River, by a 2 to 1 margin, and outsells the 3rd place competitor Winnebago by 3 to 1, when looking at Class A and C motorhomes? Everyone else is not even anywhere close in sales.

[bobndot]

Staples and glue. If you want to see how well made an rv is hire a few 6 year old's to run around inside for 30 minutes. Let them use the bed as a trampoline and see how the frame holds up. An experienced 6 year old can rip a flat screen off a wall and burn out slide and awning motors within the allotted time.

I was not impressed by Thor products while looking on the lots. Just with people going through them and opening doors and drawers, I saw things start to fall apart before the rv hit the road. Screws and Hinges ripped out and molding ripped off walls was the obvious. These are things that are going to fail once you own it too.
Look underneath cabinets to see how they are assembled. Assemblers tend to waste a lot of screws by missing their mark by NOT hitting any support. Usually when you screw a screw into AIR it does not bite, making it kind of useless. But, they keep doing it !

I also found some Thor units plumbed the bathroom sink into the black tank. That would not work for us because we boondock most all of the time.
No matter what brand , try to find a dealer that will work with you after the sale of any rv. Don't rely on a salesman knowing the answer, ask the mechanics, that's how learned about the black tank plumbing and slideout problems.

No matter what brand you buy:
If you buy one on-line at a discount don't expect a dealer to jump for joy when you go there for service. You can forget about a dealer doing anything for you after the warranty.

On the other hand:
If you buy from a trusted dealer that you know and you pay more for the rv, you offer that dealer some cash in his bank to help you because you have awarded him financial wiggle room and some will do that for you after the warranty hoping you'll come back as a return customer. Some smaller dealers have been known to dig into their own pocket for you after the warranty or during the warranty when the MFG refuses to take action.

[VA-Apraisr]

Glad to hear others have similar experience with Thor. Mine is a 28A floorplan and have 117k miles on it. No slides and virtually no problems. Knowing what to expect from a "starter RV" is important. Super particular, then move on up the $$ ladder. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another one if that time ever comes.

[way2roll]

I've owned 2 Thors (not C's but small Class A's) and were very happy with them both and had minimal issues with either. I found Thor to be a delight to deal with as far as customer service.

The trick is having realistic expectations. Just about all entry level brands are built within the same quality range. They all use the same materials, same refer, same heaters, same AC, same generator, same chassis etc etc. I have heard horror stories from every brand. They are all made cheaply made when it comes down to it. There are however differences in slide mechanisms so do some homework. But don't expect quality and fit and finish from a $50k RV to be the same as a $200k one. Just like like any other product. But lucky or not, my 2 Thors served us well with no real issues. I am handy and do a lot of preventative stuff and mitigate problems before they happen. I also don't consider broken drawer slides, or failed cabinet hinges as "big problems". Spend $10 at Lowes, fix it yourself and move on.

Another plus is having a dealer you can trust and does good work - and that goes for any brand of RV.

[PatJ]

I have been RV'ing since 1996. I have over 100k camping miles and WELL over 1200 camping nights in RVs. This past spring I purchased my third RV (this time new,) a 2019 Freedom Elite 23H which is the same as Four Winds 23U.

The floor plan I chose is very common and offered my basically every class c manufacturer. The difference with Thor in this floor plan was they had so much more storage. Basically a full basement. That's what steered us to Thor over the other brands that had basically the same floor plan for basically the same price.

I knew what I wanted as far as floor plan and this was it. Quality-wise I've had zero issues. I don't know why Thor is considered low quality online, I have nothing but positive comments about my rig. I have experience with other 2019 rigs including brands considered premium to Thor and my Thor is top quality in my experience. I can elaborate if you are interested. I love my Thor C.

I will even go a step further and say my experience purchasing at Camping World was great. CW also has a terrible online reputation and that is just not my experience at all. I have nothing but good to say.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

[AJR]

I all ways by used. I had a 2011 28’, Thor made, Chateau for my last class C. It had some electrical issues. But the coach was made to the same standards as my 2002 Arctic Fox and 2003 Damon Challenger near as I could tell inside. In fact my current coach made by Coachmen, a subsidiary of Forest River, (2014 Leprechaun) is made with the same standards inside. Yes, some small things are made on the cheap with this unit also. As you will find in any mid-priced coach.

The folks that throw “THOR” out there as junk product is just is not right. They make many, many products. Some are better than others. In some cases much better than second up.

In Thor’s case they make so many products you have to hear about the bad ones more than the good ones on the net.

Peace…