sandyhu248
North Carolina
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Seriously considering purchasing a brand new 2017 Thor Freedom Elite 29FE. Any information and opinions (good or bad) would be greatly appreciated. Looked at the unit today a Camping world. Got a price of $66,000 before my trade. Im not familiar with Thor as far as workmanship and durability. This is a major purchase so of course we are hoping to buy a unit that will last many years. We have had 2 MH's in the past, a 1984 class A Holiday Rambler and currently have a 1997 Coachman Pathfinder class C. Both were bought used and were 15 on more years old when we bought them, so we didn't have too much money invested in them. Thanks in advance!!
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Tom/Barb
Oak Harbor, Wa
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Joined: 10/16/2009
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sandyhu248 wrote:Seriously considering purchasing a brand new 2017 Thor Freedom Elite 29FE. Any information and opinions (good or bad) would be greatly appreciated. Looked at the unit today a Camping world. Got a price of $66,000 before my trade. Im not familiar with Thor as far as workmanship and durability. This is a major purchase so of course we are hoping to buy a unit that will last many years. We have had 2 MH's in the past, a 1984 class A Holiday Rambler and currently have a 1997 Coachman Pathfinder class C. Both were bought used and were 15 on more years old when we bought them, so we didn't have too much money invested in them. Thanks in advance!!
My opinion? Don't.
for that 66k you can find a very high quality coach a few years old, hat has the bugs worked out.
2000 Newmar mountain aire 4081 DP, ISC/350 Allison 6 speed, Wrangler JL toad.
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Tom/Barb
Oak Harbor, Wa
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For your money, you could have this
https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2003-Newmar-DUTCH-STAR-4006-5000394515
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goufgators
Crawfordville, Florida
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My wife wanted us to trade our '05 Itasca, class A in for a smaller class c so we traded for a 2017 Thor Freedom Elite F29. Big mistake! While the Ford chassis is likely good...the coach workmanship is far from good. Have you heard the phrase: Buyer's Remorse. Wish I had our Itasca back.
2017 Winnebago Sunstar (gas)
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wanderingaimlessly
Kerr Reservoir
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Double Whammy
Thor and CW
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garysol
Traverse City, Michigan
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goufgators wrote:My wife wanted us to trade our '05 Itasca, class A in for a smaller class c so we traded for a 2017 Thor Freedom Elite F29. Big mistake! While the Ford chassis is likely good...the coach workmanship is far from good. Have you heard the phrase: Buyer's Remorse. Wish I had our Itasca back.
Could you provide some details about the lack of workmanship and problems your having? Like the OP we are also looking at some Thor C class motorhomes due to their low cost. As much as I would rather have an older high end coach such as the Dutch Star shown previously I sort of need to buy from a dealer because I really do not want to have to sell my 5th wheel on my own and also financing a 15 year old camper could be a bit of an issue.
2020 GMC Canyon
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LOG
Austin, TX
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The maintenance and upkeep on an older model diesel pusher would be a lot more expensive than a Class C. We went from a Class A Diesel to a Class C and could not believe how much less expensive it was to own and operate. Stick with your plan to buy a Class C. In my opinion, the idea to buy an older higher end model is a good idea.
LOG
2005 Chinook Glacier
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kerrlakeRoo
Va
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Sandy, since you have had a couple of motorhomes for years, you already know that the drivetrains are basically the same, ford provides most and does so for all the major players. Thor is one of the biggest specifically RV manufacturers and uses all the same appliances and fixtures as the others. Thor does appear to have a poor reputation (at least in here) for shoddy workmanship. furthermore the unit you are looking at I believe is their lowest grade unit, meaning they cut every corner they could. CW you can read up on (here at least) and see that support from them is sporadic at best. Constant stories on here of owners buying a unit, to have it stuck in CW purgatory for months awaiting service or corrections of factory flaws.
My best suggestion would be to go to a Mom and Pop dealer, you can deal direct with the owner, by selecting carefully which one, you can get upfront pricing, not be told $66k only to have $8k added in fees after they get you to think you have a deal.
And lastly, try to purchase a step up, with any brand, you are usually best off to get a mid to upper level unit rather than their price promo.
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Owinsmom
South Carolina
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kerrlakeRoo wrote:Sandy, since you have had a couple of motorhomes for years, you already know that the drivetrains are basically the same, ford provides most and does so for all the major players. Thor is one of the biggest specifically RV manufacturers and uses all the same appliances and fixtures as the others. Thor does appear to have a poor reputation (at least in here) for shoddy workmanship. furthermore the unit you are looking at I believe is their lowest grade unit, meaning they cut every corner they could. CW you can read up on (here at least) and see that support from them is sporadic at best. Constant stories on here of owners buying a unit, to have it stuck in CW purgatory for months awaiting service or corrections of factory flaws.
My best suggestion would be to go to a Mom and Pop dealer, you can deal direct with the owner, by selecting carefully which one, you can get upfront pricing, not be told $66k only to have $8k added in fees after they get you to think you have a deal.
And lastly, try to purchase a step up, with any brand, you are usually best off to get a mid to upper level unit rather than their price promo.
Not the OP, but I was wondering how you find out the grades of their motorhomes. I see a lot of brand new Thor's for cheap, so my thought is, they must not be great. I am looking at a used 2017 THOR FOUR WINDS 30C and wondered about it's quality. They want $54,900 for it, which seems high for a used, when I could buy a Thor Class C brand new, for the same price. The one I am looking at already has 30k miles and 500 hrs on generator. Thank you
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sandyhu248
North Carolina
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Thanks all for the input. Much appreciated!!!!! I was online until 3 am checking for reviews on the Thor freedom elite, and for the most part, they are not good. CW service dept also has extremely poor reviews. I had the "WTH was I thinking" thought at about 5 am.... We have bad experiences at the CW service dept where we were looking the at the RV. NOT going there. Loved the unit , but we will keep looking...LOL!
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