Water damage

[LK Stetler]

We bought a Thor ACE 30.4 in 2018 at the Hershey RV show. We picked up the coach in February 2018. We’ve used it quite a bit over the last three years and really enjoy the coach.
This summer we began noticing bumps under the wallpaper on the wall board next to the driver seat.
At the end of the season, I brought the unit in to be winterized and take care of some maintenance. As I sat in the driver seat I noticed a “mushroom“ protruding out of the wall next to the driver seat.
My repair guy took the wallboard off and found extensive water damage inside the wall causing corrosion to all the wood under the window.
As a very experienced motorcoach and trailer mechanic, maintenance and repair person, he believes the water was coming in through a channel that covers the seam in the fiberglass on the front side of the window. That channel is a hollow track that runs from the roof down to the top of the window. In the manufacturing process, Thor attaches the channel and then inserts the window crushing the end of the channel between the window and the siding. They then seal the window. This leaves a “gutter” that water can travel from the roof directly inside the window.
I have seen many others who own a Thor ACE who have had similar problems. This indicates that it’s a manufacturing defect. After many emails from myself and my repair shop (who was ignored), Thor does not agree and is taking no responsibility for the repair work. I’m posting this as a heads up to others who may have a similar situation with their coaches. If you do have bumps under the wallpaper, have it checked carefully. Thor should stand by their product when issues such as these occur and are defects in the manufacturing process. See pictures below.

 

[NWIP]

Sorry @LK Stetler to hear about your issue. I would have hoped that Thor would give some assistance in the repair but sounds like you have a competent repair person. Hope you can get it fixed and go back to enjoying your coach. Thanks for posting for others to be on the lookout.

 

["EZ"]

Sorry to hear of your problem. I hate those problems that don't show up for a couple years. The Manufacturer rarely wants to warranty issues like that.

 

[LK Stetler]

Of course they don’t want to warranty issues like this. They caused it in their manufacturing process. Many, many others have the same issue. They don’t want to have to correct their defect on many coaches due to the cost that would have to be paid out.

 

[Vick-rose]

Hi, I just found this post. Finally we got the RV 2015 Thor ACE. I have noticed the same on ours. Its there's any following regarding this issue please share. This post is old but it seems the problem still there. Regarding the quality of any R

V in my experience I have noticed that they are all builded with flaws no matter the manufacture or how much you paid. Buy what you can afford and learn to work on them as much is possible. Regarding the waiting time to have any warranty or recall repair; I think the waiting time is bad time management by the dealer and repair shop. We should be making appointments to have our RV work on and not put them in storage. I found an old recall that were ignore by the previous owners. They both were taken care off. One was the wipers motor replaced the other was the shower curtain. Well I was told they need the RV the entire day. Okay, next day I sender a text no response. Called they took the messages no response. 3 days went by and nothing from the dealer that is CW. Well the 4 day early morning called Thor to check is everything was approved and they said yes. That job shouldn't take more than an hour. They recommend to stop by and let them know I want my rv. Also Thor costumer service said if you have any problem to call them back when I get there. Well to my surprise my rv wasn't were to be seen. We walked the lot searching for it. Talked to the repair person that took the order and she mentioned that the sales person from CW were the one who supposed to work on the recall . They were to busy chasing the money. Bottom line the job was done in an hour. I refuse to make appointments to have my rv storage at the dealer and it seems regarding the type of work they automatically will keep your rv for weeks or months. We don't care for that practice.