Thor Motor Coach FREEDOM ELITE 26HE reviews

We really enjoyed this size of an RV for our young family. Most of the renters we had were couples or sets of 4-5 people renting for a trip. All of the renters enjoyed the ease of driving, set up and layout. Our favorite feature of driving with a family in the RV is being able to set up beds for late night driving and letting kids sleep on the road. The transition from driving to parking is less than 10 minutes at a good site so we never had trouble with kids waking up, like you would transitioning from car to hotel. We also loved being able to homeschool, practice music on small instruments and cook and eat will driving far distances! It’s a great family vehicle, not matter if your family is just 2 people or 6! Show less

Storage space inside the motorhome was good enough for all clothing, food and the pantry held plenty for cans and other items that you need on a daily basis. the frig was good enough to hold for for several days. The stove was small but enough to cook a pizza or any other single item. Sleeping was a dream and very easy to get in and out of bed without bothering my partner. Show less

THERE HAVE BEEN NO PROBLEMS WITH THE THOR 26he MOTOR HOME. I'V MADE THREE TRIPS AND THE PERFORMANCE WAS JUST LIKE THE MANUFACTURE SAID. ALL TANKS FRESH, GREY AND BLACK WORK LIKE THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO. REFRIGERATOR AND STOVE WORK GREAT. Show less

We purchased our 26HE at year end 2018. Got a great price ! What a great floorplan! We love it. The Positives - Great appearance , spacious bathroom, queen size bed, refrigerator/freezer, ducted air conditioning & heat, microwave, Big TV, Ford Chassis with powerful V-10 Gas Engine, and a 4000 Watt on-board Cummins Generator. EXCELLENT, GREAT, FABULOUS SERVICE MANAGER AT CAMPING WORLD. The Negatives - Furnace control board failed in the first month. Steering / Handling is an absolute HORROR! Had to spend $600 to have a steering stabilizer installed! Front wing boards not sealed, cheap wood and rotted. Vehicle suspension inadequate for the RV, leans dramatically on the driver's side ( slide out, propane tank, generator, kitchen all mounted on the driver side while right side has the sofa and bathroom only (unbalance weight load). Awning lights failed in first year. No Spare Tire or Jack. Formica kitchen and bath tops already peeling off. No stabilizers on the RV (even though they are advertised as standard equipment). TV stopped working 3 months after buying the RV. Generator has 85 hours on it when it was delivered. I have to admit that our dealer's service manager did everything possible to facilitate repairs. Thor's re-action to warranty requests were consistently unreasonably slow according to the dealer, and caused considerable delay in receiving repair authorizations. That said, Thor did authorize rear spring modification to equalize the weight in-balance issue , authorized repairs to the furnace, and wingboard replacement, and reimbursed us for the Television. We traveled 19,000 miles in our first year, visiting 37 States and 3 Canadian Provinces, and enjoyed every minute of our trips. In my opinion, as an entry class, relatively inexpensive RV, the Freedom Elite is a good RV to own. I do believe that Thor should build the 26HE model on a E-450 chassis since the E-350 with the model 26 RV, does not afford adequate weight capacity for cargo and passengers. Additionally , Thor should furnish ALL Rv's with heavy duty steering stabilizers and front and rear sway bars. The customer should not have to figure out why their brand new RV is all over the road, and then spend over $1000 to upgrade the steering and suspension to accommodate the heavy RV body. The selling dealer is at fault for not revealing these issues at point of sale and is creating a dis-service to his customer by this omission. The many, many, bad reviews by customers, could be avoided if the warranty authorization process was streamlined, dealer salespeople were more honest in their presentation, and improved quality control by the manufacturer implemented. I can tell you that I for one, would have no problem paying a reasonably higher price for the RV, if the steering, suspension, and quality issues were all addressed at the factory prior to sale. Show less

Why I wouldn't advise buying a Freedom Elite from Camping World: This is regarding the customer service from Camping World and Thor's unwillingness to stand behind their product. we purchased a Freedom Elite 26HE motor coach new in January of 2017 from Camping World in Saukville Wisconsin. We are extremely dissatisfied with the customer service from Camping World. Our first concerns came to light when we purchased the motor home. We had looked at the coach at the RV show in Milwaukee February of 2017. We liked the layout of the 26HE and decided to purchase one. We noticed several deficiencies with the display model and were assured that we would get a new one that was identical from Saukville. The display model was from the Madison Camping World. When we arrived at Saukville Camping World and finished all the paperwork, we discovered the RV we were being sold was the same display model with a Saukville Camping World sticker over the Madison sticker. Red flag number one. We pointed out all the deficiencies we noticed at the RV show and were assured all the issues would be fixed. One of the issues was a seal that was on the overhead cap. Red flag number 2. We had the RV serviced at Camping World Saukville off and on from February 2017 to July 2017 with warranty issues. One issue was with an electrical relay that almost started the RV on fire. Another issue was a screw that during the manufacturing process had been driven through the fiberglass portion if the roof near the roof access ladder. Although this issue was fixed, it was also apparently made to look worse than it was by a technician at Camping World who drew pencil marks around the screw in the shape of spider cracks. I can only think that this was done to exaggerate the damage to get the manufacturer (Thor) to foot the bill? Red flag number 3. The employee who attempted to fix the seal on the overhead cap dripped sealant and caulking all over the front hood. I spent a couple of hours cleaning it up. We used the RV during 2018 season without incident. During the 2019 season We noticed on the inside of the cap the right wall was delaminating due to a water leak. We also noticed water leaking from the cab roof over the passenger seat. The RV was taken to a local RV repair shop who initially couldn’t find a leak. I then removed the cushions from the overhead bed, and it was discovered that the wood was rotting, and mold had started. They suggested we take the RV back to the dealer (Camping World) and advise. We dropped the RV off on Dec 2nd, 2019 at Camping World, Saukville WI. Since the RV has been dropped off, I had called Camping World at least 7 times and had stopped in once in person requesting updates. The service department had promised to call me back with updates on numerous occasions and had not done so. I called and left a message for the service manager to call me Friday, February 28th, 2020. After talking to Camping World Corporate and sending a letter regarding our concerns, I finally got a call back. On March 11th I received a call from the service department stating they found the leak, that it was under the right-side screw track on the overhead cap. They stated the seal had failed and caused the damage estimated at $7,700. I initiated a claim with the extended Camping World Warranty we had purchased. The claim was denied because it did not cover leaks or leak damage. I then called Thor and asked that they help cover the cost of repairs as I believed the motor home was not properly sealed from the factory, and the location the leak occurred was not one that could have been found through routine maintenance by the owner or service shops. Thor stated that the motor home was out of warranty, and that the manufacture warranty only covered seals for 3 months. I stated that a three-month warranty was not a warranty at all, and that apparently Thor must expect that their products are inherently defective. On April 28th, 2020 I received a call from Camping World stating they had found damage to the fiberglass wall next to a window that had to be removed to fix the water damage. The estimate was approximately $900. I asked how the new damage occurred, since I did not see this damage prior to dropping off the vehicle. They could not explain how the damage had occurred. It’s June 4th, 2020 as of this posting and we are still waiting on our RV. Half a year! We have used our motorhome only 8 times since we purchased it, putting around 15,000 miles on it. We keep it covered during winter storage. This is our second Thor RV from Camping World, and I have to say at this time we are not satisfied at all with Camping World, or Thor motor homes. Show less

We purchased this motor home new in 2017. This is our second Thor product. The first one was a 2015. I should have known better. While there were issues with the first one, I actually had more issues with the dealership and their service than I did with that RV. So the 2017 We bought new from a different dealership. Worse service and the quality of the 2017 26HE is horrid. Particle board furniture that falls apart the minute it gets wet, workmanship of either crack heads or 4 year olds, and seals that are defective. It almost burned up the first year because of a defective relay switch under the dinette! I have mold all throughout the over cab bunk because the manufacturer failed to effectively seal the cab roof seal to the overhead bunk. the mold and water damage is not covered by the extended warranty, which covers nothing that can actually go wrong with the coach. Don't buy the extended warranty! The only solid part of the whole RV is the Ford E450 Chassis. I have 15,000 miles on it. Show less

We love the rv but had lots of trouble with small details the converter caught on fire during the night left us high and dry,just behind the cab the plywood was rotted needs marine grade wood had dealer repair but caulking does not work rear storage all rotted at bottom this is the 2nd Thor I have purchased but I know that it is no use to go to the dealer for repairs I installed L frame around bottom of storage compartment and connected to good wood sewer hose hangers fell down which was screwed into rotten wood I installer proper hangers worried as to how long it will be before the floors are rotted out.Tie wraps hanging down wires under rv hanging which I repaired.I love this rv but the under side is poor and no sign of quality on the under side. Show less

We purchased Freedom Elite Last year around this time. This was what we hoped to be the start of a great and adventurous future for the family, however we were sold a lemon. I can’t place all the blame on Thor. The salesman in Draper, UT was a viper in sheep’s clothing. This camper is a true lemon – a lemon we can’t make lemonade out of. The engine and several other systems have gone out, the cabinet veneer has come off, door knobs have fallen off, the backup / rear view camera has gone out as well as several fuses and the radio. The list goes on and on… It has spent more time in the worthless garage at the dealership and at a Ford dealership than we have been able to use it. It is now back in again for heaven knows what. Dealer won't do anything. I implore Thor – do the right thing: trade us out a good camper for this lemon we purchased!!! Or at the very least buy it back!! We hate it! Show less