Fleetwood vs Thor

[JR123]

Same basic RV. How much better is a Fleetwood?

[Steve Kiemele]

Thor is not generally noted for quality. I had a 2002 Southwind and was satisfied with the build quality. Note that a Thor and any other similar coach will use the same chassis and appliances. The differences will be in the materials, construction, wiring, and plumbing.

[Scarab0088]

Thor is the #1 best selling RV maker in North America.
The #1 best selling Class A is the Thor A.C.E.
The best selling Class B is the Interstate by Thor.
The best selling Class C is the FourWinds line by Thor Motor Coach.

Selling so many RV's there are complaints you can find on-line, but that's just a function of more sales.

Fleetwood RV's are very nice and like Thor Motor Coach, they use the same chassis, use the same appliances, and use laminate multi-layer walls and roof for superior strength and weight savings.

Is one brand better than the other? I submit that is dependant on the individual unit and the dealership. We LOVE our Thor built RV.

Best luck

[bmurph44]

Originally Posted by Scarab0088

Thor is the #1 best selling RV maker in North America.
The #1 best selling Class A is the Thor A.C.E.
The best selling Class B is the Interstate by Thor.
The best selling Class C is the FourWinds line by Thor Motor Coach.

Selling so many RV's there are complaints you can find on-line, but that's just a function of more.
Best luck

The reason being Thor is in the process of buying most other RV companies, Jayco is the latest victim, God help them.....

[NLOVNIT]

It can kind of depend on whether or not you are considering used vs new. Thor had lots of quality issues in the past but I believe they've stepped up their game. Although, as Steve stated, by sheer production volume, there will be more issues because there are more Thor products produced.

Fleetwood took a hard hit with quality after the bankruptcy. They've worked hard to claw their way back, but I don't think they've reached the benchmark they had pre-bankruptcy. There are many threads about Fleetwood's quality (or lack thereof) too. We had only a handful off minor issues when we bought our coach new & have been very happy with it. Issues since have been due to aging & component failure on 3rd party systems installed (not mfr'd) by Fleetwood.

I say pick the one you like & roll the dice.

Lori-

[JR123]

I like the Fleetwood better but it has almost 10,000. More miles on it and maybe a little more used and my husband thinks the Thor would be worth the extra 6 grand. They are both 2013.

[aether_one]

I've owned 2 Fleetwood travel trailers, a Forest River travel trailer and a Thor MH.

In my experience the Thor is best and the Fleetwoods were crap, especially the second one.

[bmurph44]

Originally Posted by JR123

I like the Fleetwood better but it has almost 10,000. More miles on it and maybe a little more used and my husband thinks the Thor would be worth the extra 6 grand. They are both 2013.

I wouldn’t worry about mileage but I would avoid anything that has been lived in like snow birding etc.

[AFChap]

Originally Posted by Scarab0088

Thor is the #1 best selling RV maker in North America.
The #1 best selling Class A is the Thor A.C.E.
The best selling Class B is the Interstate by Thor.
The best selling Class C is the FourWinds line by Thor Motor Coach.

I suspect that list was put together by a Thor salesman! I certainly have not seen any list like this in any RV industry publications.

Fleetwood used to be the monster company in the business until they went bankrupt. The current Fleetwood is not the same company it used to be. Thor is now the monster RV "maker", buying out other mfg'ers right and left. They likely do sell more RVs than any other umbrella brand, but I have seen several articles that contradict the rest of that list.

When buying a used coach, original build quality can be a factor. I might give Thor a little edge in that category, but not much. But a far, far bigger factor is how it has been used, and how well it has been maintained in it's lifetime. It needs to have been used enough to not be suffering from "lot rot," and it needs to have had regular chassis maintenance and overall upkeep.

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by AFChap

I suspect that list was put together by a Thor salesman! I certainly have not seen any list like this in any RV industry publications.
...

While Thor does share these sales facts, the news came from RV Business as reported by sales figures.

The A.C.E. numbers are for the last 3 years.

BTW, best selling Class A Diesel (a subset of the Class A segment) is Tiffin.

Just offering specifics.

[nothermark]

The folks behind Thor and the folks behind Camping World have a mutual support pact. That has the largest dealer network selling Thor. Mostly they go to first time buyers.

FWIW I looked over an ACE several times. They are nice on the first look but not when one pokes deeper into them. Probably fine for the couple of weeks and some weekends crowd but not something built for long traveling and living. Priced and discounted accordingly. Winnebago should hire the Thor design team. That might get us good ergonomics with good build quality.

[ThePowells]

We bought a 2017 Thor Quantum. Haven't found a serious issue yet. We have spent well over 100 nights in it. We love ours.

[NC25T]

I would get the floor plan you like best. Take them both for test drives so you can compare how they behave and if one doesn’t stand out from a driving standpoint just get the one with the best layout.

Personally I would also base my decision on where you will get it worked on. If you are someone who takes it to a RV repair center talk to them and weigh their opinion into the equation.

I don’t think brands matter to much, if your comparing two $75k new RV (or any other price) they should be pretty similar with each company having good and bad vs the competitor.

My last coach was a Fleetwood, had the best layout for the price I was looking at. Next coach will again be a Fleetwood, not because they are so superior to anything else but for me it has the best layout for the size I want and the service center is 2hours from where I presently live.

I would be more worried about how the RV was maintained then having 10k more miles. Just like a car low mileage doesn’t mean it was well maintained.

[soonerdave]

This is our second Thor, both have had Very minor problems, would buy another one. PDI is essential, as is a good dealer that stands behind their products.

I would first look at a floor plan that suits you the best and go from there.