Advice on Best Bunkhouse Model Under 32 FT Thor ACE 30.2 or something else?

Hello

My husband and I are looking to buy a used Class A with a bunkhouse and bed over the driver cab.  We are a family of 5 and want the permanent beds without any of the hassle of making up the sofa or breaking down the dinette.   

We want something as small as possible which in our case is as close to 30ft as we can get.  We narrowed our search down to:
1. Thor ACE 30.2
2. Jayco Alante 31R/ Jayco Prospect 29UR
4. Winnebago Vista 31BE
5. Coachman Pursuit 33BH

We looked at the Winnebago & the Coachman at an RV show and did not like them as much as the first 2.

We had a test drive of the ACE 30.2 & Jayco Alante 31R and we really like the ACE , but I?ve read nothing but negative reviews about the ACE. 

We are looking to buy a used coach 2014 ? 2016 model years.  I?ve done a lot of research and have learned to anticipate issues, however the sheer # of negative reviews about the Thor is making me second guess our choice.

Is the Thor really a bad choice, would we be better suited with one of the others?

Any advice from owners of these specific coaches would be greatly appreciated,

You answered the question. The Thor Ace is Junk. Don't know of anyone who didn't have problems.
I believe it was Thor that bought Jayco. They are better than the ACE. I have had several Winnebago's and they have all been good.

innakur said:

We are looking to buy a used coach 2014 ? 2016 model years.  I?ve done a lot of research and have learned to anticipate issues, however the sheer # of negative reviews about the Thor is making me second guess our choice.

Is the Thor really a bad choice, would we be better suited with one of the others?

Any advice from owners of these specific coaches would be greatly appreciated,

Click to expand...

So what did you end up with and why??  We are looking at much the same list just starting out now.

We are looking for the same as well. Would like to know more pros and cons to both.

Seen alot of Thors that looked really cheap and tons of complaints on quality. Even heard lots of complaints on the higher end diesel pushers. Have talked to a couple different people that had the Tuscany's that hated the quality. We owned a Winnebago Vista and loved it. We took two trips out west over 10k miles in a month. Pulled our grand Cherokee through all the mountains. No issues. Only reason we switched was for more comfortable ride of diesel pusher. I would have stayed with a Winnebago but floorplan didn't work for us in the diesel.

Use the search function here and search for Hurricane Ace. There is at least one long and interesting thread on that particular model from a couple of years back.

The OP only shows one post....they posted this and never came back apparently....

still, I'll comment.
Not directly on the Ace since I have no experience with it....

Re. bunkhouse for family of five.
We too have three kids.  At first I wanted the same thing...beds for everyone that don't have to be made.  the thing is, at the time I was shopping anyway, none of the bunkhouse floor plans were very good.  There were some really great large bunkhouse TT's though...North of 30ft.  I found that tow vehicle options for those are pretty much limited to crew cab trucks, that don't really seat 5 or more comfortably.
We found that Class C's fill the niche.  When my kids were younger, all three would easily fit in the overcab bunk across the bed.  More lately one has been sleeping on the sofa.  It hasn't been a big issue...although soon he's going to want to pull it out, and ours being an air mattress sleeper it is a pain in the neck.  I'd rather have a jacknife sofa I think...

Re. Thor.
As  a Thor owner, i spend time over at the Thor Owners forum.  Yes there are lots of quality issues.  My guess is though that not all that much worse than most others, until you get into a higher end bracket.  It sure does seem that the ACE type are very popular.
Would I buy another Thor?  About all I can say is I would consider one, maybe.  I certainly wouldn't be the loyal customer necessarily going to them first....In fact it might count as a negative for me.... but there would be many other things to consider ahead of that variable.