Venetian: Thor Motor Coach Quality

[Scarab0088]

Thor Motor Coach quality is as good or better than many. Thor's overall quality is excellent considering that includes brands like Airstream, DRV Luxury Suites and Dutchmen.

The problems (except 2 track Schwintek slide drives on 2013-2014 large slides) were by a large margin caused by minor assembly errors or abuse after leaving the factory.

Pick the TMC that you like...then complete a thorough pre-delivery inspection...and I mean check EVERYTHING, so the dealer is inspired to fix it.

Seems that MANY repair issues come from dealers that are not so interested in doing warranty repairs, 'cuz that work is at cost

Best luck

[BethGreer]

We just took possession of our 2016 Tuscany 40GQ trading in our 34' Windsport. We had minimal issues with the Windsport so had no hesitation in remaining with a Thor product.

[rvbunz]

In my opinion, Thor's QC is lacking, but my experience with the service has been great. The great service has been at the service center in Elkhart. I have received parts even after warranty. Now you will read horror stories about service from unhappy customers. You will find issues with all brands. I'm particular to Thor because of the floor plans, and the service I've received. I would advise you do a good walk thru, test drive and find all issues before you sign. Get them fixed then sign. Good luck.

[Bdhicks]

I agree they all have issues and problems. Doesn't matter which manufacturer they all have problems. Some big some small. Remember the top of the line Tiffen zephyr brand new with the motor issue a few years back...that owner put out hundreds of thousands x 2 and immediately had major issues. Engine replaced after some long hard fought battles. mine is a 2012 Thor ACE. Cheap by some standards, but It was still MSRP at 100+. It's not just Thor. It's laughable when others come into Thor forum and put on full blast that Thor sucks when they don't blast their own brand. I Think quality can always be improved, my big one was when I bought it and after Pdi, I got it home and could not believe the saw dust wood partials and screws I found.. Could have built a house with all of them screws

[lars36]

Originally Posted by Bdhicks

I agree they all have issues and problems. Doesn't matter which manufacturer they all have problems. Some big some small. Remember the top of the line Tiffen zephyr brand new with the motor issue a few years back...that owner put out hundreds of thousands x 2 and immediately had major issues. Engine replaced after some long hard fought battles. mine is a 2012 Thor ACE. Cheap by some standards, but It was still MSRP at 100+. It's not just Thor. It's laughable when others come into Thor forum and put on full blast that Thor sucks when they don't blast their own brand. I Think quality can always be improved, my big one was when I bought it and after Pdi, I got it home and could not believe the saw dust wood partials and screws I found.. Could have built a house with all of them screws

I will be a first time buyer soon and I have looked @ & 7 different brands. With that said, I have started to research, research and research. I look @ a MH that I like and then I go to the forums to see what people have to say. Very interesting for sure. I think, IMHO, some of theses companies flat out lack good QC. Maybe competition from the Japanese like our auto industry went through?

[gatorb8]

entry and mid level coaches require a good dealer that will get the initial quality problems resolved. Believe it our not, Camping World in Gulf Breeze has been excellent to work with. So if I believe all the negative Thor and CW press, I should buy lotto tickets cause I'm the luckiest RV'r on the road!

researching your dealer is just as important as your coach!
good luck!

I would buy a Thor again

[EricGT]

Originally Posted by TXiceman

In general, the Thor owners are not an overly happy bunch. Seems they have a lot of quality control issues.

We are full timers and host at some parks, so we do get to see a lot of different coaches and talk to owners.

Ken

Really? I have found quite the opposite to be true.
I have found our issues to be mild compared to some of the big dollar motorhomes in campgrounds I have frequented.
Just because one spends more money on a motorhome does not assure them a lack of issues. And when one has an issue in a Prevost or Newmar, you better be ready to pay up.

[Gordon Dewald]

I keep asking the question and have not found the absolute answer. What is the failure rate for manufacturers.

Based on the threads on this forum it appears using a straw poll that the failure rate per 100 is about the same across all brands.

If you factor in the purchase cost it may be better for the brands not touted as superior or best bang for buck.

Just sayin'.

[Gordon Dewald]

I keep asking the question and have not found the absolute answer. "What is the failure rate for manufacturers?"

Estimating complaints in threads on this forum it appears that the failure rate per 100 is about the same across all brands.

If you factor in the purchase cost it may be better for the brands not touted as superior or best bang for buck.

Just sayin'.

[jones47172]

I have a Thor Venetian A40. The A40 has all hydraulic slides which I wanted to get away from the Schwitek system used in the Palazzo and many other coaches.

The Venetian is a beautiful coach and well built on the Freightliner chassis. The things to look out for are those not visible without removing drawers, panels, etc. The issues I have had were all fixed by myself since I will not take to a dealer, only Thor in Waharusa:

- Washer leaked when draining. Had to pull out of cabinet and seal drain ABS pipe.
- Most drawers not lined up such that the face fit flush on cabinetry. Had to reposition glides.
- One screw broken that holds ladder on. Drilled out and installed new.
- A lot of screws installed wrong behind cabinets where they missed their mark completely or split the wood. Much construction garbage left any place you cannot see it. I cleaned it out.
- The aft side of dining room slide fit too close the wall and busted a few trim pieces when it hit during retraction. I removed 1/4 inch from the trim pieces to gain clearence and reinstalled.
- Various drawer and cabinet latches needed adjusting to work properly.

The idea is if you can fix these types of issues you will have a well designed and lasting beautiful coach. The A40 handles like a dream down the highway. At first the fuel computer showed 7.5 mpg. Now, after about 2000 miles it seems to be right around 9 to 10 mpg.

[triplewide]

Originally Posted by jones47172

I have a Thor Venetian A40. The A40 has all hydraulic slides which I wanted to get away from the Schwitek system used in the Palazzo and many other coaches.

The Venetian is a beautiful coach and well built on the Freightliner chassis. The things to look out for are those not visible without removing drawers, panels, etc. The issues I have had were all fixed by myself since I will not take to a dealer, only Thor in Waharusa:

- Washer leaked when draining. Had to pull out of cabinet and seal drain ABS pipe.
- Most drawers not lined up such that the face fit flush on cabinetry. Had to reposition glides.
- One screw broken that holds ladder on. Drilled out and installed new.
- A lot of screws installed wrong behind cabinets where they missed their mark completely or split the wood. Much construction garbage left any place you cannot see it. I cleaned it out.
- The aft side of dining room slide fit too close the wall and busted a few trim pieces when it hit during retraction. I removed 1/4 inch from the trim pieces to gain clearence and reinstalled.
- Various drawer and cabinet latches needed adjusting to work properly.

The idea is if you can fix these types of issues you will have a well designed and lasting beautiful coach. The A40 handles like a dream down the highway. At first the fuel computer showed 7.5 mpg. Now, after about 2000 miles it seems to be right around 9 to 10 mpg.

[marjoa]

We're down here in Houston, TX. You would think that in a city of this size and the huge market that's here you'd find a good dealer. Well, think again. My wife & I currently have a 23' trailer and love it but are ready to move up to MH. We live very comfortably but are not rich by any means. We've gone round & round & round....diesel, no gas, no diesel, no gas. Where are we going to store it? Figuring out all the cost issues and so on. Sometimes all this just makes me dizzy and numb. So we said, can't afford new. Have to buy used. We've looked, looked and looked some more. We've been to a lot of used lots and in my opinion they are junk yards full of projects or out of our range. PPL is a joke IMHO just to mention one place. I'm 64 and don't need a big project but I can fix just about anything and am willing to do the ongoing maintenance on a MH. I've owned a couple of 36' yachts before in my earlier years and RV vehicles of any type just need constant TLC. You have to have tools & know how to use them.

But back to the dealer issue. These guys down here are all like car sales people. Love to sell you anything, don't know [Moderator Edit] about anything and then after the sale they're no where to be found and lines of coaches to be repaired out the wazu. And, if you didnt buy from them you're out of luck too for the most part. So where does that leave people like us that are trying to make the wisest decision possible ?

After all our research and traveling to look we've decided to buy new, gas, a 2017 Thor 31C Windsport and going to order the way we want it in 2 to 3 months. It's perfect for us and we can afford it and costs a lot less to store under cover. Now the question is, where are we going to buy it? Well, it looks like we've decided on Motor Home Specialist (MHS) up in Alvarado, Tx. About 3.5hrs. away just south of Dallas. But now who's going to help us with warranty issues down the road. No one here in Houston because we didn't buy it from them. MHS has good reviews in this respect, of which I have read several here on this forum. I plan on talking to THOR 1st though before our purchase and see if they have other authorized dealers in this general vicinity other than the regular big boys (like CW and the like) to do warranty work. If they don't, anything that I can't fix myself, I'll accumulate a to-do-list and make a trip up to MHS.

Being a member of this forum has really taught me the importance of not only how to take care of a MH but you guys ought to see my PDI list I've made from all the stuff I learned & downloaded from here. MHS is going to (Mod Edit) when they see me walking up to do the PDI with a 4" binder with 15 tabbed sections. haha

[tcopeland]

Good luck with your search.
The decision I finally made after a few attempts at local dealers for warranty work:
For chassis work I go to Freightliner in Gaffney SC.
For coach work I go to the factory service center.
No one else seems to know what they are doing or even cares after the sell.

[usmcsarge]

I moved up to a 2015 Thor Tuscany XTE 40AX last year and the best advice that was passed in earlier posts was to inspect, inspect inspect. Our first year repair shops had the MH longer than we did. Most was minor repairs I could have done myself, but that wasn't the point, when you pay as much as we do, it should come with better quality. There were some pretty major issues as well such as the fresh water pump having a short in the wiring, the center toilet not being connected to the black tank, 4 cracked ceramic tiles, the back toilet failing, the steering gearbox failing at 8k miles, awning over major slider dropping off one end when going down the freeway, bolts on the transmission flywheel backing out to the point of almost falling out and the windshield having to be sealed 4 times before the wind would stop whistling. I know that there will be many more issues as this is a house constantly in an earthquake, but they should never have the issues we experience when purchased new. With all of that said, we love our Tuscany, I just wish we would have had been more prepared for the quality and repair issues,