2011 Serrano 31z

[bikerbart]

Originally Posted by ocn

I find the chatter on the Serrano rather interesting. We've been thinking about switching to one in part for the fuel economy. I do find the multitude of quality issues rather troubling. Our 2010 Hurricane, also a Thor product, has had a host of issues ranging from minor trim & window issues to major mechanical problems. Overall I am appalled by the coach assembly quality, so hearing all the issues with the Serranos is giving me second thoughts.

Anyone had any experience towing something at rated max tow load of 5000 lbs? Curious how it does for performance and fuel economy.

We just finished a 2600 mile trip towing a 2007 Mustang convertible on a 17.5 foot Featherlite trailer behind our 2011 Serrano 31X. (Actually it is a 2011 coach on a 2010 WH chassis with a 2009 MAXX Force 7 engine.) Combined weight at or slightly above 5K pounds. Cruising speed around 65 MPH. Had no trouble keeping up with my buddy's 42' Tour Master dp w/ Mercedes 330 HP. Ran some serious mountains between Myrtle Beach and Nashville on I40. It wasn't flying over the crests but it made it faster than most 18 wheelers. Worst tank 8.7 MPG in the mountains. Best tank 11.1 MPG. Average MPG for the trip was 10.1.

The only problem I've run into is when I'm towing and the ambient temp gets over 85 degrees and I've run through more than a half tank of fuel and pull a long steep hill, the check engine light and buzzer comes on. The code set indicated the return fuel temp is too high. The cure is to refill the fuel tank with some nice cool fuel.

Workmanship is a universal problem with RVs, regardless of price. I usually spend half of my vacation tinkering with my buddy's $250K rig.

Hope this was helpful
Bart

[anotherone]

while workmanship might be a continuing issue I find the condition of my 2011 31x embarrassing. I have shown some things to friends and they say no way and start laughing. Some things are actually stupid! It seems to me that the 31x was put together by a company going out of business and said just get it out. And I am not unqualified to make this statement as part of my career was repairing construction defects. Please dont think I am being too picky as one of the motorhomes I've had in my life I actually traded a lawnmower for.
The chassis and motor seem great with 12.5 mpg thru several tanks. Fan clutch might have an issue , dont know yet.
This is my 8th motorhome and the biggest challenge .

[bodycoach2]

Originally Posted by anotherone

while workmanship might be a continuing issue I find the condition of my 2011 31x embarrassing. I have shown some things to friends and they say no way and start laughing. Some things are actually stupid! It seems to me that the 31x was put together by a company going out of business and said just get it out. And I am not unqualified to make this statement as part of my career was repairing construction defects. Please dont think I am being too picky as one of the motorhomes I've had in my life I actually traded a lawnmower for.
The chassis and motor seem great with 12.5 mpg thru several tanks. Fan clutch might have an issue , dont know yet.
This is my 8th motorhome and the biggest challenge .

As a Serrano owner, I don't believe your being picky at all. While we love the features, design, and individual parts, the RV seems to have been assembled by inexperienced non-tech/non-RV people wearing blindfolds. After all the work that's been done on my RV, the cruise control STILL does not work.

While I'd much prefer diesel, I think I'll go with a Ford chassis with gas engine next time.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by bodycoach2

As a Serrano owner, I don't believe your being picky at all. While we love the features, design, and individual parts, the RV seems to have been assembled by inexperienced non-tech/non-RV people wearing blindfolds. After all the work that's been done on my RV, the cruise control STILL does not work.

While I'd much prefer diesel, I think I'll go with a Ford chassis with gas engine next time.

I think that I would have purchased a different RV if I had read all of these comments first!

[anotherone]

Originally Posted by TheArnolds

I think that I would have purchased a different RV if I had read all of these comments first!

Actually its really hard to comprehend the amount of repairs needed. I would think someone or several people at Thor should have been fired. I too would have gone elsewhere if I could have found another coach with this chassis.

[Dirk Haas]

Hi Bart. We met you, your wife and buddy at Huntington Beach State Park. We are the ones with the Serrano 31V. And by the way we are still waiting to get reimbursed for the warranty claim for the levelers. And on the last week of the vacation we had a leak on the gray water tank, where the outlet pipe is connected. However the problems are not major, only the levelers were, we still enjoy the Serrano very much and are looking forward to the trips next year. It was good talking to you at Huntington Beach.
Dirk and Elly Haas.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by Dirk Haas

Hi Bart. We met you, your wife and buddy at Huntington Beach State Park. We are the ones with the Serrano 31V. And by the way we are still waiting to get reimbursed for the warranty claim for the levelers. And on the last week of the vacation we had a leak on the gray water tank, where the outlet pipe is connected. However the problems are not major, only the levelers were, we still enjoy the Serrano very much and are looking forward to the trips next year. It was good talking to you at Huntington Beach.
Dirk and Elly Haas.

What happened with the leveling system? Was it something that could of been prevented with some maintenance?

[Dirk Haas]

Originally Posted by TheArnolds

What happened with the leveling system? Was it something that could of been prevented with some maintenance?

On our trip to the West, in Wyoming the levelers did not retract, but instead they extended. So the RV went up in the air by 5" to 6", everything we tried did not work to get them retracted. Good Sam came to the rescue, they talked to LCI, and got the advise, after trying everything else, to retract them manually. When we were back home in Ohio a new pump and motor was installed. The old pump was leaking. The unit had less than 5000 miles on it, the levelers itself were cleaned all the time, before retracting them. The fluid level was right on the mark.
Dirk.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by Dirk Haas

On our trip to the West, in Wyoming the levelers did not retract, but instead they extended. So the RV went up in the air by 5" to 6", everything we tried did not work to get them retracted. Good Sam came to the rescue, they talked to LCI, and got the advise, after trying everything else, to retract them manually. When we were back home in Ohio a new pump and motor was installed. The old pump was leaking. The unit had less than 5000 miles on it, the levelers itself were cleaned all the time, before retracting them. The fluid level was right on the mark.
Dirk.

Thanks for the feedback! Reason for asking...two days ago I went to raise my jacks on my 31V and the left rear would not retract. I unplugged the power to the control unit, loosened the return line and I was able to manually push the jack back up. I left the power disabled and I will troubleshoot later when I have time. This time the purpose of moving the coach was to winterized, wash and wax.

It would be nice if someone had an idea why only one jack would not retract. None of the buttons on the control panel worked ans all of the lights were flashing?

Thanks again!

[bikerbart]

Originally Posted by Dirk Haas

Hi Bart. We met you, your wife and buddy at Huntington Beach State Park. We are the ones with the Serrano 31V. And by the way we are still waiting to get reimbursed for the warranty claim for the levelers. And on the last week of the vacation we had a leak on the gray water tank, where the outlet pipe is connected. However the problems are not major, only the levelers were, we still enjoy the Serrano very much and are looking forward to the trips next year. It was good talking to you at Huntington Beach.
Dirk and Elly Haas.

Hi Dirk, It was great chatting with you and Elly, too bad we didn't have more time to compare notes. We haven't had any more major issues with our Serrano, knock on wood. Winterized it last weekend and helped do my buddy's today. With any luck we will be heading for FL next month. Let us know how you make out with your levelers.
Bart
halnjoan@comcast.net

[Dirk Haas]

Originally Posted by bikerbart

Hi Dirk, It was great chatting with you and Elly, too bad we didn't have more time to compare notes. We haven't had any more major issues with our Serrano, knock on wood. Winterized it last weekend and helped do my buddy's today. With any luck we will be heading for FL next month. Let us know how you make out with your levelers.
Bart
halnjoan@comcast.net

We are just done winterizing our RV too, and are very sad to cover it up till the spring. Hope you have a save trip next month, keep in touch.
Dirk.

[TexasSprinter]

Our 31V just came back from the fourth trip to the dealer for leaks. This time is was the recall on the mirror wiring leak and re-sealing the front and back cap seams. The mirror leak is something they've been chasing for awhile so I think this will get it. The recall information gave them what they needed. The old 'water in the cupholder' deal. On the seams, the tech said that it looked like both front and back had been painted at the factory, but never actually sealed. Thor covered basically the whole thing.

I also had the dealer re-design the kitchen sink drain so that it wouldn't bind or catch when the slide went in and out. I've already had two problems in that area. They redesigned with two 45 degree bends instead of one 90. I've not examined it closely yet, but they also build a shield so the drain hose wouldn't catch on the edge as the slide moved in and out. Said they tested running it in and out 10 times to make sure nothing would bind.

Sigh. I sincerely hope we're at the end of the list, at least for awhile.

[anotherone]

our 31x goes in after thanksgiving with the list of 23 items. Should be interesting!!!!!

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by COSerrano

Our 31V just came back from the fourth trip to the dealer for leaks. This time is was the recall on the mirror wiring leak and re-sealing the front and back cap seams. The mirror leak is something they've been chasing for awhile so I think this will get it. The recall information gave them what they needed. The old 'water in the cupholder' deal. On the seams, the tech said that it looked like both front and back had been painted at the factory, but never actually sealed. Thor covered basically the whole thing.

I also had the dealer re-design the kitchen sink drain so that it wouldn't bind or catch when the slide went in and out. I've already had two problems in that area. They redesigned with two 45 degree bends instead of one 90. I've not examined it closely yet, but they also build a shield so the drain hose wouldn't catch on the edge as the slide moved in and out. Said they tested running it in and out 10 times to make sure nothing would bind.

Sigh. I sincerely hope we're at the end of the list, at least for awhile.

I am interested to see how they fixed your drain line. During winterization I had to remove the panel under the sink to bypass the hot water tank and noticed my my sink drain was bent almost closed (slide extended). I need to fix this and it would ne nice to see a picture of what they did to fix yours.

Thanks!
Jack