RV manufacturers

[Wazzupdock]

Hi I'm in the process of purchasing my first class a motorhome I have been doing a lot of research. I've narrowed down to three manufacturers Winnebago Newmar and Thor. I am curious about if there's any feedback regarding Thor industries and the reliability and serviceability of the Products. Particularly The Ventana and the Ventana LE. Thank you

[bsinmich]

Wazzupdock wrote:
Thanks to all for your feedback. I looked at the Venetian (Thor), The Forza(Win)and The Ventana (Newmar) all relatively in the same price range along with size. I heard more about Newmar and Winn. but hardly anything about Thor. I like what I've seen in the Thor coach but concerned about reliability and servicability history by ownwers who have this or other prducts of Thor. I don't want to buy a vehicle with all the bling and it's structure quality doesn't hold up. I did visit the Newmar factory and 2 things caught my eye the floor construction is wood frame and they used residential insulation (R30) in the roof and side walls which I heard could present a problem with sagging over time. I don't know,just trying to get as much info as possible to make intelligent decision.

I have never heard of insulation sagging in a Newmar. I had a 2003 for 11 years and had no problems. I had to go smaller because I couldn't do the steps up to a big MH. I would be willing to bet the one who said about sagging insulation didn't sell Newmar products. With their hung walls they are also not subject to delamination because they aren't laminated to begin with.

[Steeljag]

Finally Time wrote:
I owned a Thor ACE, and now a Winnebago Vista. No comparison. After 3 months of problems with the ACE I took a loss and traded it in for a Vista. I have been happy with the Vista, only a few minor issues. But if I had known about the issues with the slide system used for a few model years, I would have gone with Newmar. (So far I haven't had any problems, but it's like waiting for the other shoe to drop.)

What model years had the issues ?

[Finally_Time]

I owned a Thor ACE, and now a Winnebago Vista. No comparison. After 3 months of problems with the ACE I took a loss and traded it in for a Vista. I have been happy with the Vista, only a few minor issues. But if I had known about the issues with the slide system used for a few model years, I would have gone with Newmar. (So far I haven't had any problems, but it's like waiting for the other shoe to drop.)

[jeffcarp]

Winnebago COULD have control over their dealer network if they wanted to. All they need to do is put "dealer shall provide warranty work on any Winnebago coach on a first come first served basis without regard to point of purchase" in their dealer agreements.

[wbwood]

I agree Newmar would be the first one....now as far as Thor and Winnebago, I would classify them pretty close to each other. First of all, we have owned to Thor products (TT and Class C). Very little issues and not really Thor issues, but more or less components (slide motor in Class C). I have a friend that had Winnebago and had to have an interior wall replaced, water pipes leaking under the bed, and the main door adjusted because they could see day light when inside. All those issues were not components, but build issues. Every manufacturer produces RV's with issues. Many people are against Thor, because they hear a lot of stories about issues... Well Thor is the largest manufacturer in the US of RV's. So based o that alone, they are susceptible to more reports of issues. But I would almost guarantee you that if you looked at it on a percentage basis, that they are not going to be any worse than their competitors. Heck my in laws have had issues with every motorhome they have owned. Even the $500k monaco they used to have had issues...problem being that their issues were a lot more costly.

Stick to what you like and check it out good. You will be more happy than worry about what everyone else is saying or thinking....

[2gypsies1]

snicky wrote:
While in Albuquerque, New Mexico and still under warranty we stopped at the Mesa Winnebago RV Centerand asked if they could check out dianette slide. We were asked if we had purchased the RV from them and when we said no, they told us that they didn't have time. Like what difference whould it make where we made the purchase, it was under warranty. Frustrated, I contacted Winnebago Ind. which was also a waste of time. I was told that they don't have any control over their dealers and suggested I call the Winnebago factory warranty center and schedule an appointment.

This is very strange. How do you think full-timers who travel constantly deal with service issues? They don't go running back to where they bought it. There are times that they would be 2,000 miles away! We never returned to our selling dealer and never had issues while traveling with our Newmar. Of course, we didn't have big issues to deal with on our Newmar. 🙂

[snicky]

Here's what I don't get, Winnebago Ind. who does nearly 1 billion dollars in sales per year, employs nearly 3,000 employees, has a 4+ month wait time at the Winnebago factory in Forest City, IA to have warranty work done, has no control of their Winnebago Dealers, and still continues to be one of the largest and fastest growing RV producers. I have to ask myself, what kind of thought process goes thru their minds when the time comes to contemplate spending some of those positive revenues on expanding their Factory Warranty Center to improve lead-times? I see it as a "no-brainer" investment. I guess it all boils down to if you like RV-ing which I do, in desperation you're going to have to put up with the "bads" that come with it including poor service, long lead-times, etc... and their getting by with it. From what I'm hearing, it's the industry standard... (let me know if I'm wrong) For the sake of current RV manufactures, they should hope that no one comes along someday and offers a quality RV backed by customer satisfaction as being the number 1 priority.

What I like about Amazon on-line are the customer reviews. Here's a website I found that is somewhat helpful regarding RV reviews. http://www.rv-coach.com/rv/rating/rate_your_rv_results.html. If anyone knows of any other sources that provide end user reviews on RV's please forward them. Thanks

[Atlee]

That's interesting about how travelers are treated. Once, I was looking a a new trailer up in Salem, VA, I'm from Richmond, VA area, and the dealer told me that his dealership would always move to the top of the line anyone who purchased from him.

However he did have an exception. If someone was passing through Salem but needed warranty work done, he would fit them in as soon as he could, so they could be on their way as soon as they could.

snicky wrote:
My wife and I recently purchased a new Class C Winnebago 24G View on Mercedes Sprinter chassis. The Merceded chassis has been flawless so far, but we've been having some serious second thoughts on our purchase. New to RVing, we took a short 3 week trip to Az. and just returned a week ago. On the 2nd day out, our dianette slide quit working, our LP furnace & LP refrig quit working, we have 4 galley lights not working, and the chassis infotainment center (GPS)had faults. Late last fall our hot water heater didn't work that I repaired. More disappointing than the components failing, was the response we received from the Winnebago Service Centers and Winnebago Ind.. While in Albuquerque, New Mexico and still under warranty we stopped at the Mesa Winnebago RV Centerand asked if they could check out dianette slide. We were asked if we had purchased the RV from them and when we said no, they told us that they didn't have time. Like what difference whould it make where we made the purchase, it was under warranty. Frustrated, I contacted Winnebago Ind. which was also a waste of time. I was told that they don't have any control over their dealers and suggested I call the Winnebago factory warranty center and schedule an appointment. Unfortuately, that wouldn't be until August of 2016.

Although we had an unusual amount of issues with our coach, we still loved it. Regretfully, our issues are with the poor service we received from Winnebago and its' dealers. We're considering trading our new Winnebago View for a different make. Any one have any recomendations?

[Wazzupdock]

My sentiments exactly Snicky, that's my whole concern regarding the post purchase of an Rv. Chances are that when you need service it'll be when you are hundreds of miles away from where you purchased it. So it doesn't sound comforting to know it will be a struggle to get service when you need it.

[snicky]

bikendan, didn't know that about the RV industry and how RV warranty issues are handled. After building and selling fire trucks for 26 years, I would of expected more following a large dollar purchase. If there's any sort of a bright light on the subject of warranty, our new waranty agreement will soon exprire and then it won't matter who does the work. This should give us more options.

For various reason's, we're still considering a trade for something else and still hold somewhat of a grudge against Winnebago on how are matters were handled. It would be nice to see the results of a un-bias survey on which motor home manufactuer offers the best service, highest quality, and best customer satifaction during and after the warranty. Have you seen anything like this?

[bikendan]

snicky, what you experienced is pretty much the standard in the RV industry.

Forest River does allow owners to seek warranty service from independent RV shops. you have to be willing to pay up front and be reimbursed, as long as you got pre-approval from FR.

[snicky]

My wife and I recently purchased a new Class C Winnebago 24G View on Mercedes Sprinter chassis. The Merceded chassis has been flawless so far, but we've been having some serious second thoughts on our purchase. New to RVing, we took a short 3 week trip to Az. and just returned a week ago. On the 2nd day out, our dianette slide quit working, our LP furnace & LP refrig quit working, we have 4 galley lights not working, and the chassis infotainment center (GPS)had faults. Late last fall our hot water heater didn't work that I repaired. More disappointing than the components failing, was the response we received from the Winnebago Service Centers and Winnebago Ind.. While in Albuquerque, New Mexico and still under warranty we stopped at the Mesa Winnebago RV Centerand asked if they could check out dianette slide. We were asked if we had purchased the RV from them and when we said no, they told us that they didn't have time. Like what difference whould it make where we made the purchase, it was under warranty. Frustrated, I contacted Winnebago Ind. which was also a waste of time. I was told that they don't have any control over their dealers and suggested I call the Winnebago factory warranty center and schedule an appointment. Unfortuately, that wouldn't be until August of 2016.

Although we had an unusual amount of issues with our coach, we still loved it. Regretfully, our issues are with the poor service we received from Winnebago and its' dealers. We're considering trading our new Winnebago View for a different make. Any one have any recomendations?

[dblr]

Ask this question over on the Thor Owners forum board, plenty of reading on Thor's quality both good & bad.

[Wazzupdock]

Thanks to all for your feedback. I looked at the Venetian (Thor), The Forza(Win)and The Ventana (Newmar) all relatively in the same price range along with size. I heard more about Newmar and Winn. but hardly anything about Thor. I like what I've seen in the Thor coach but concerned about reliability and servicability history by ownwers who have this or other prducts of Thor. I don't want to buy a vehicle with all the bling and it's structure quality doesn't hold up. I did visit the Newmar factory and 2 things caught my eye the floor construction is wood frame and they used residential insulation (R30) in the roof and side walls which I heard could present a problem with sagging over time. I don't know,just trying to get as much info as possible to make intelligent decision.