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1.6

We have to confess that this is our first time purchasing and using a Motorhome. As with anything new there is going to be a learning curve and this case has proven to be no exception.

We purchased a 2017 Thor Ace 29.3 on 3-11-2017. Our total purchase including extended warranty came to just over $93,000. Included in that total was a charge of $500 for a walk-through and orientation. The dealership originally wanted $700 but when I questioned the validity of the charge they dropped it to $500.

Now $500 compared to the overall price of $93,000 may seem insignificant but as you will see further in this letter the $500 and $600 charges keep adding up! The walk-through and orientation was supposed to be designed to familiarize the customer with the outer and inner workings of the motor coach. Our orientation was on a Saturday afternoon. We expected that the motor coach would be in pristine condition.

Unfortunately it was not. There were still sales stickers attached to windows, the front windshield had been cleared of sales stickers but still had residue from glue. The trim around the inside of the entrance door was loose. The trim on the sink countertop had been taped down and when the tape was removed the trim piece was still loose.

These may seem like minor things but it is a reflection of the overall preparation and quality control put into the motorhome. While we were being shown the various aspects and workings of the motorhome we were also being distracted by an energetic 8 year old boy. He was the son of one of the mechanics who had been called in on his day off and didn't have a sitter for the boy. Instead the boy's father let him run loose throughout the dealership.

The boy was crawling in and out of our motorhome, crawling into the storage compartments and so on. Having never owned a motorhome before it was very important for us to learn as much as we could. After all, we did pay $500 for this orientation. Long story short we were distracted and missed a number things that were wrong with the motorhome and didn't really get a full understanding of how the systems on the motorhome worked.

The following Monday I returned the motorhome to the dealership after having noticed one of the brackets on the slideout awning was missing. It turns out the dealership had taken the bracket off our motorhome when it was on display in the showroom and used it on another unit. The dealership forgot to order a replacement. In addition, during the trip from the dealership to our home which is 2 miles away, part of the trim above the couch in the main seating area came loose and fell down.

Additionally we noticed the flooring on the passenger side front of the motorhome was loose and needed to be properly trimmed and reglued. We also noticed that the veneer seam between two of the lower kitchen cabinets was jagged and torn from the top of the cabinet all the way to the bottom. The dealership had to order all new veneer for that. Additionally, one of the outside compartment doors was slightly bent as if the door had been sprung.

The dealership ended up ordering a new door. The inside door that separates the bedroom from the rest of the coach had come off its mounting at the bottom. We ended repairing the door and installed a strap to stop it from slamming back and forth. Bottom line we feel cheated.

We paid $500 for an orientation which fell far short of expectations. Not only that but the employee who was conducting the orientation complained on several occasions that his normal duties didn't usually include doing orientations. We blame part of this situation on the dealership and a large portion on the factory where the motorhome was made. It seems clear to us that Quality Control was not a major concern.

The overall fit and trim of the motorhome was less than satisfactory. Another problem with this motorhome is the stearing and handling. James is retired military and drove tractor-trailers throughout Europe in the 1980's. He states that the handling on those military trucks was far superior to that on the Thor Ace 29.3.

Further research on several internet chat rooms revealed to us that it would be necessary to purchase and have installed a "Steering Buffer" in order to achieve acceptable handling characteristics. That cost us another $602. Obviously the factory and dealership are both aware of this issue and yet we were never advised of the problem nor offered the opportunity to have it taken care of before we accepted delivery of the motorhome. This problem should be fixed at the factory.

Another expense that we didn't expect was Satelite. The motorhome comes with a manual TV antenna for local channels only. What we can't understand is why the factory doesn't prewire the motorhome for satelite. It would be extremely easy for the factory to do so and would save the consumer a lot of money in the long run.

As it is we had to purchase a satelite unit and control box for $400 and then have the dealership install it for us at $120 an hour for labor. Our motorhome has 3 TVs but we only had one hooked up to satelite because to have all 3 hooked up would have cost us $1000 in labor! The latest problem is with the dining room table which folds down into a bed.

When we lifted the table back up it tore loose of the mechanism that raises and lowers it. I haven't even bothered to take it to the dealership, will try to fix it myself.

Reason of review: Bad quality.

Monetary Loss: $93000.

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution.

Thor Industries Pros: Floor plan.

Thor Industries Cons: Product quality, Quality of product, Warranty service is slow at best, Customer service.

Location: 701 County Rd 15, Elkhart, IN 46516, USA

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Guest

Yes a class action suit would be a good thing. So many have lost an incredible amount of money.

The real casualty comes with the stress, worry, loss of trust and helplessness. If only there was a way that our 50 state Attorney Generals would change the outline in the lemon laws or start investigating and hold Thor responsible! Or perhaps a brave class action suit legal firm will take notice.

The only way forward is for everyone to keep writing truthful fact reviews on this site and Yelp-Thor Motor Coach-Elkhart IN. Or can we all write an email to 60m@***.com each month begging them to hear us.

Guest

THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN OUT OF SERVICE FOR OVER 30 DAYS FOR REPAIRS FOR NONCOMFORMITY THREE TIMES SINCE OUR PURCHASE MAY 26, 2018. THE FIRST TIME OUT OF SERVICE WAS FROM JUNE 23,2018 TO AUGUST 25,2018.

A TOTAL OF 66 DAYS OUT OF SERVICE. THE SECOND TIME OUT OF SERVICE WAS FROM SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 TO OCTOBER 20,2018. A TOTAL OF 45 DAYS OUT OF SERVICE. THE THIRD TIME OUT OF SERVICE WAS FROM NOVEMBER 1, 2018 TO JANUARY18,2019.

A TOTAL OF 78 DAYS. OUT OF THE 231 DAYS THAT WE HAVE BEEN MAKING PAYMENTS, WE HAVE HAD POSSESSION OF IT FOR 42 DAYS. IT HAS BEEN OUT OF SERVICE 189 DAYS. THIS HAS CERTAINLY BEEN A HARDSHIP ON MY WIFE AND ME.

IT HAS BEEN EIGHT MONTHS OF NOTHING BUT WORRY, ANGUISH AND DISAPPOINTMENT. THIS HAS KILLED OUR RETIREMENT DREAMS. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN IN REPAIR, FOR WATER LEAKING INTO THE CAB 189 OUT OF 231. WE HAVE HAD IT IN OUR POSSESSION 42 DAYS SINCE PURCHASE DATE.

WE PLANNED TRIPS, THAT HAD TO BE CANCELLED. WEโ€™VE HAD NO USE OF THE VEHICLE IN THE EIGHT MONTHS SINCE WE PURCHASED IT 0N May 26,2018. THE VEHICLE HAS HAD WATER POURING INTO THE CAB ON TWO DIFFERENT WORK ORDERS (W.O. 5438,6659) AND STILL LEAKING ON THIRD #7381.

THE LEAK ON WORK ORDER # 5438 WAS WRITTEN UP BY RV WORLD UPON CHECK-IN OF THE VEHICLE. THIS IS A NONCONFORMITY AND SAFETY ISSUE. YOU CAN NOT DRIVE A VEHICLE WITH WATER POURING IN ON YOU LIKE A HEAVY RAIN AND DRIVE IT SAFELY. I MIGHT NOTE HERE THAT A POINT OF ENTRY FOR WATER FROM THE OUTSIDE HAS MORE RELEVANCE THAN GRAVITY WHERE THE LEAK INTO THE CAB IS CONCERNED.

THERE IS THE PROBLEM WITH THE TAIL LIGHTS HAVING MOISTURE IN THEM. THERE IS A REAL CHANCE THAT THEY WILL SHORTOUT AND WE WILL NOT HAVE BRAKELIGHTS TAILLIGHTS AND BACKUP LIGHT, WHICH WOULD MAKE IT EASY TO BE HIT IN THE REAR, A SAFETY ISSUE. THE TAIL LIGHTS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN-UP THREE TIMES (WORK ORDERS # 6659 RESEALED TAILLIGHTS, #7381 REPLACED AND RESEALED #8074 REPLACED TAIL LIGHTS). IT IS SETTING OUT THERE NOW WITH MOISTURE IN THE TAIL LIGHT.

I WOULD SAY THAT THE PROBLEM ISNโ€™T THE TAIL LIGHT ASSEMBLIES BUT WATER BETWEEN THE INTERIOR WALL AND THE EXTERIOR WALL. I WILL LEAVE IT UP TO MERCEDES-BENZ AND THOR TO FIGURE OUT WHERE WATER FROM THE OUTSIDE INTO THE CAB CAME FROM, ALL I KNOW IS WE HAVE BEEN WITHOUT THE VEHICLE THAT WEโ€™VE BEEN MAKING TIMELY PAYMENT ON FOR 8 MONTHS AND HAVENโ€™T USED THE VEHICLE ONE TIME. THE ONLY TIME IT HAS BEEN DRIVEN SINCE WE PURCHASED IT, IS TO AND FROM RV WORLD FOR REPAIRS. IT HAS HAD APPOXIMATELY 233 MILES ON IT.

IT IS 32 MILES FROM HOME TO RV WORLD, IT WAS ON THAT ROAD 7 TIMES. ACCORDING TO THOR MOTOR COACH REPRESENTATIVE, MARK LEFKOW AND THE CHECK-IN WORK ORDER #5438 ON MARCH 1, 2018, IT APPEARS THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT. IF YOU WILL NOTE, THE ONLY DATE ON THIS WORK ORDER #5438 WAS THE DAY IT WAS CHECKED IN AND IT LISTED NUMEROUS PROBLEMS INCLUDING WATER POURING INTO THE CAB OF THE VEHICLE. THAT WAS A FULL TWO MONTHS BEFORE WE PURCHASED IT.

THEY HAD 85 DAYS TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE BEFORE IT WAS PUT ON THE LOT FOR SALE. OBVIOUSLY, THEY PUT IT ON THE LOT TO SELL WITHOUT RUNNING A LEAK TEST, BECAUSE IT WAS POURING WATER INTO THE CAB WHEN WE GOT IT HOME THE FIRST TIME AFTER PURCHASING IT ON MAY 26, 2018. NOW I WOULD LIKE TO POINT YOUR ATTENTION TO W.O. #5438 PAGE:5-10.

THIS WORK ORDER WAS WRITTEN UP ON MARCH 01, 2018, MY NAME WAS ADDED TO THIS WORK ORDER ON MAY 26,2018.

THE FIRST TIME WE SAW THE WORK ORDER WAS NOVEMBER 8,2018. WE HAD NEVER BEEN TOLD ABOUT THE WORK ORDER OR THE WATER POURING INTO THE CAB OR ANY OTHER PROBLEMS WITH THE VEHICLE.

Kady Xcu
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1639767

If there is ever a class action filed against Thor industries, Keystone RV, Montana products, count me in. They have literally destroyed our retirement dreams.

Bought a 201* ***TH Montana High country with the 4 season package and the complete residential upgrade. What a freaking joke. No heat in the rear of the trailer. All the slides have been ruined because of leaking grease or oil from the drives.

The interior of the coach is less than *** The almighty Keystone (Thor) has decided to screw us because this KNOWN slide issue is out of warranty. Did I mention the dealer delivered the trailer to us? Walk through was less than one hour. How would you even know to check the heater in the middle of the summer?

The person that delivered it was just one of the service techs that had a one ton truck. No sales staff came with it or were present. $82500 out of our pockets.. This was our retirement home.

It was made very clear to camping world of Tulsa. This is our retirement home.

Guest

I would agree that Thor is a piece of junk. We have had the same nightmare as these folks, and it is frustrating to have no recourse.

Guest

Wow, to think I was considering purchasing a THOR...that will certainly not happen after reading all these reviews. Quality and Customer Service is something THOR could stand to adopt!

Guest

Thor is 100% junk

Guest

Count us in! Bought a brand new 2017 thor freedom elite and have had nothing but issues.

A.C. doesn't work, breakers always trip, tv issues, the list goes on and on. Oh don't forget the the *** thing floods every time it rains.

Camping world you suck! They treat you great until you sign on the dotted line then they treat you like dirt...

Guest

Count us in, too. Bought a Four Winds 31E last summer and it's been one problem after another, most recent, full wall slide-out not retracting, and major service bills, only to find out a motor was installed incorrectly.

Grrrr.. Class action in order!

Guest

I'm in if the law suit is against Thor and Camping World. A former regional service manager at Camping World told me that they knowingly accept substandard units from Thor as part of a business deal CEO Marcus Lemonis did with Thor, who was about to go under.

He left CW after 12 years as a regional Service manager because of the on going issues with the Thor products and angry customers yelling at the service writers, so service writer turnover is ridiculously high.

Guest

Count me in just bought a 2018 Miramar and after one trip it fell apart! Too many things to waist any more of my time talking about . My dream is now a nightmare!

Guest

I am in on class action. So many problems are due to lack of craftsmanship.

Diesel tanks poorly vented can't get fuel in takes 30-40 minutes to fill. Thor does not care told me to sell it and buy another brand rv

Guest

Your dealership hosed you (technical term). The walk through should have been complimentary and I think they saw you coming.

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