Pains of a New RV

One of the big reasons we bought a new RV is that we were tired of the repairs required with a ten year-old RV. Since we bought our new RV (Thor Freedom Elite) we’ve had all sorts of problems. Some are just customizing it.

·       --- We’ve added hooks all over for things like keys, towels, and hats.

          --- The RV has an accordion style door for the bedroom. Using it at night is noisy and can only be opened and closed by holding it near the ceiling. At 4’ 10”, that’s not easy for me. So we bought a curtain and rod to close the area.

·     ---   The curtain that is provided for the front cab wastes a lot of space. You can’t use the area for storage or to sit in when you’re camping with this curtain. Instead, we used insulated foil that fits into the windows. It keeps the heat and light out better too.

·     -- -  The RV is not dark when you’re at an RV park with outdoor lights. The last RV had 2 types of shades that kept things darker while the new RV has just one. We’ve bought skylight cushions and extra curtains and more foil to block light.

These were somewhat expected (though it would have been nice if RV manufacturers understood the needs of RV’ers over the last 10 years). The bad part was the defects and sloppy construction. So far we’ve been to two different Camping Worlds to get things fixed and have to go back again.

·     -- -  We’ve had to clean several times with sawdust and construction debris in storage areas and in the ductwork. Several bumpers used on the shades have fallen off.

·      - -- We’ve had leaks in several places. The one around the antenna got fixed the 2^nd day while the one in the outdoor refrigerator area we didn’t find for a week so it damaged some of the fiberboard. We’ve been told it will be a month before they can fix the fiberboard though the leak should be fixed now. The leaks on the roof corners we think are fixed, but we won’t know for sure until the next big rain.

·      ---  The piping was kinked to the gasoline tank so that you could only pump a few seconds before the gas shut off at the pump. It took 15-30 minutes to pump a full tank (not that we ever did). We haven’t checked this, but we hope it’s fixed now. Probably the most frustrating defect.

·     -- -  One of the drawer slides was defective (no stop). Haven’t been able to get parts but, again, they hope they can fix this in a month or so. Several other drawers were installed incorrectly so they didn’t lock in so they won’t open during travel. John just went ahead and fixed these.

·     -- -  The table couldn’t drop down to be used as a bed because the benches were installed incorrectly. This has been fixed, but they damaged some of the veneer while fixing it.

·     ---   The air conditioner was missing screws and sloppily installed so only half of the RV received cold air. We hope this is fixed now.

·      --- The water heater was leaking. This was fixed.

I’m being fairly specific here because I wonder how many other Thor Freedom Elites had such poor quality. Very frustrating!!!