Bill and Jennie Mangan say their dream of spending the first 10 years of joint retirement traveling the country inside their luxury RV quickly faded beneath a cloud of diesel fumes pouring into their bedroom at night as leaking hydraulic fluid seeped into a basement drawer.
Then there was the sewage, which they say pooled daily in their bedroom and geysered from their shower drain like an off-color Old Faithful each time they flushed the toilet. The combination, the couple told the Charlotte Observer, left their new Thor Tuscany 44MT smelling like a $270,000 rolling outhouse.
This week, the couple sued Thor Industries, the Indiana company that built their RV, seeking a full refund of the sale price plus $100,000 in damages for the 160 separate defects that the couple says have crippled the vehicle during the short time they’ve owned it.
The lawsuit says the couple’s highly anticipated life on wheels instead bogged down into hours lost on the phone or laptop debating warranties and service claims. When they actually drove the 45-foot-long RV anywhere, they say, it was usually a two- to three-day trip to some RV service center in a distant state.
I think 3 months of not one sale nationawide would cause panic industry wide.
Not enough people know about or use the RV Consumer Group. http://Www.rv.org
Not enough people know about The RV Consumer Group http://www.rv.org that rates RV’s
What you need is for someone that can afford it, is to NOT settle, but go to court. They will most likely always try to settle and not go to court. If they go to court it now becomes public.
So sorry for this couple. I know what it is like to have a dream disappear through no fault of your own. I hope they don’t give up on RV traveling.
Just a reminder that bigger and/or more expensive does not always mean better.
These Rv’s are made by unionized men and women who are being paid big salaries with pension, so shame on them
No they aren’t. they are made by “piece workers”.
Maybe the motorized chassis came from the auto manufacturer.
They don’t set toilets or run sewer pipes.
Don’t remember who said following maybe Schumacher but the gist was don’t blame labor they don’t make the decisions that effect the outcome lousy management is the cause.
Actually it was Edward Demming
Not even close to reality.
My sister and brother-in-law bought a new-from-the-factory 2019 Class A Thor. It does look great. I feel badly because while I cautioned her to inspect EVERYTHING thoroughly, there were a number of issues. I sent her the rvtravel.com website which she thinks is great; so, that’s one of the best things that’s come from this so far.
I hope this and every person saddled with or conned into buying a lemon takes their case to the media AND to their elected representatives. If enough people make enough noise, the media will see a nationwide story and lawmakers will finally get off their asses and pass lemon laws that will protect RV buyers. Until then, this is gonna keep happening until people boycott all new sales for a year. THAT will get the mfrs attention (although I know that’s unlikely to happen).
Hope we will the outcome. Thanks for getting the story!
I sued Thor from Canada and they settled out of court… I had the legal papers served at the CEO’s office and within a week I heard back from them… it is unlikely you will ever see the outcome here on RVTravel… settlements also come with non-disclosure agreements… when I shredded the paper files, I filled a large blue recycling bag… the 500 plus photos of a Challenger gas Class A I still have on a memory stick… but you have to be prepared to fight… no one should have to go through what this couple is going through and we went through… even to this day, we still have things going wrong like one of the motors on a slide failed while on the road… with the help of another RV couple, we were able to close the slide and another $352 later, it was repaired… they had installed the motor so badly that the wiring was rubbed through… but I had thought of things like this happening and allowed for contingency moneys in the settlement.
I would like to know how the sewage came out the shower? Thor would have really screwed up if this happened.
Me too, grey and black tanks are supposed to be separate.
Hopefully THOR will fix this as the bad publicity has already hurt them, THOR is now on many people’s black list.
I wondered the same thing
Wishful thinking. Thor will bring this couple to their knees, how you ask, by using the legal system against them. First, they hired a lawyer to sue on retainer. Their lawyer is not in their corner, he is going to bill them by the hour, all the while, using the emotion of this event, to bleed every last dollar from them.
All you people out there in la la land, who think your lawyer is on your side, have no idea. It’s called billable hours in their trade.
Here’s how this plays out. After their pocket book is lightened, the negotiations begin. Their own lawyer will tell them look, they want to settle, it’s the best we can do.
Oh, and one more thing, it will never see a jury, why you ask, because when they get that bill, upfront, these two will buckle from the amount their lawyer wants, to get ready for trial.
Reading these, oh feel good, we are going to get justice articles, are really laughable. The only one who wins here is their lawyer
Actually the opposite. When not on retainer the law firm will pressure for a settlement because they are putting out so much money in costs.
It does take deep pockets to bring a suit. If they had the money to buy this rig and travel for 10 years, I’m sure they have something to cover the legal bills.
I have sued twice before and in both cases, my lawyer was working on a contingency basis. That way we are both partners and united towards the same outcome. We did settle one because the defendant had all his money tied up in annuities which in my state are exempt from the claims of creditors. He was a lawyer also.
I understand your reluctance to believe any good could come from this, Phil, but you and I don’t hear or read all the success stories.One of the Lemon Law attorneys I talked to while writing this article told me of several cases where the consumer prevailed, but, as mentioned above, there are non-disclosures that prevent either side from talking about them.
I understand how you could be reluctant to think that anyone can win these cases, Phil, but they do. One of the Lemon Law attorneys I spoke with while writing this article told me of several cases where the consumer prevailed, but there were non-disclosures on both sides. Yes, most of these cases do not come to a jury trial because the manufacturer settles first. They know darn good and well what would happen with a jury. You should try to look at things from a half-full perspective instead of half-empty, because there are some success stories. I suspect we will see even more in the future.
Hope they win their fight. I hope that RVTravel will publish the results of this case as I think we are curious to find out the outcome. All it takes is one president setting case, that we all can reference, for legal action against the manufacturers of sub standard rigs. Good luck Bill and Jennie with you lawsuit.