2017 Thor Aria 3401

[Trokay]

I am writing this with the hope that this may help one person with their decision to purchase a Thor product. By way of background we have owned 5 RVs over the past 28 years. We fully understand and live with the fact that there will always be issues with every manufacturer and we expect to make our own repairs. What we didn’t expect was Thor to wash their hands completely and take no responsibility for poor quality workmanship.
With that said here is the saga of our 2017 Thor Aria 3401. We purchased this coach because it met all of our criteria; size, layout and king-size bed. Here are the major issues we had.
1. The first complaint is Thor does not have model specific Owner’s Manuals and when calling Customer Service several techs did not know the manufacturer of many components in the Aria. This makes it difficult to self-diagnose and make your own repairs.
2. At delivery it was raining, the windshield was leaking and had to be replaced.
3. The full slide while retracting tore the handle off the drawer below the washer/dryer. I had Thor send a blank replacement drawer front and I modified it to work.
4. Driver side front slide rubbed on faux marble and damaged trim moldings on slide.
5. Headlight bezel on passenger side flew off on freeway. We checked driver side bezel and it was missing 4 of 6 screws.
6. Daytime running lights not functioning because they were not plugged in.
7. Driver side leveling jack would not retract properly for the entire time we owned it.
8. Bundle of wires hanging out from under bed with several broken wires. Thor could not tell me what they were for and had no wiring diagrams.
9. Kitchen outlets not working from delivery. After 15 months and several attempts to repair, the entire kitchen wall was opened to find broken wires. Again, it was out of warranty and Thor would not accept responsibility even though it was on several previous work orders.
10. Bathroom GFI not working. When two dealers and Thor had no answer for repair, I discovered online the issue was between the inverter and new generation GFI. Purchased and installed an old school GFI only available on eBay and problem was solved.
11. All awnings missing 50% of screws.
12. Microwave had to be replaced.
13. Screen door screen was delaminated at delivery.
14. Cabinet doors in bathroom had to be replaced at delivery.
15. Bed could not be operated from main control panel. Lived with the issue and used the switch in the bedroom.
16. Eight-foot-long crown molding fell off in bedroom because it was not attached with nails or adhesive.
17. Bed actuator wiring failed in Canada, making the bed unusable until is was repaired by mobile repair. Discovered that any further repair or actuator motor replacement would have necessitated removing the entire over bed cabinetry.
18. Transfer switch failed in Canada. One week after replacement the electrical system stopped functioning on shore power and generator for a day. Returned to dealership and problem could not be replicated even with photos of all the fault codes.
19. Three outside basement storage compartments were replaced due to water damage. Damage was discovered three months after warranty expiration. Water intrusion was from leaking graywater lines in full slide running down interior walls and not visible.
Every item on the list except for the bed actuator, transfer switch and storage compartments were just frustrating, irritating and somewhat expected from a Thor product. The cost to replace the storage compartments was in excess of $15,000. Thor would not participate in any costs because the dealership failed to call them during the repairs. The damage was obviously a result of an issue that began long before the warranty period expired and discovered only three months after expiration when the slide tray fell out while in Canada. I was willing to participate and accept partial responsibility and was hoping Thor would have felt the same way with a desire to satisfy a customer. Unfortunately, they just referred me to their warranty policy and said theywished there was something they could do to help and were very sorry they couldn't. After the service technician could not replicate the last electrical problem, he told me if it was his coach, he would sell it immediately because something major was on the horizon. He had no motivation to tell me that as his dealership didn’t sell Tiffin.
Knowing all of the issues and the technician’s assessment of the coach we could not in good conscience sell it to an individual, so we traded it on a new Tiffin after 23 months of ownership at a big discount.