Was this site instrumental in you buying your Airstream? - Page 2

InsideOut · 01-06-2004, 01:34 PM

First of all, welcome to the Airstream "family" and the Forums "BOBHAST"!

Quote:

Most of you have made the Airstream decision without the need for the forum.

Keep in mind that this forum is just now coming up on two years old and a lot of folks have have owned their Airstreams much longer than that...had it been around when we purchased ours, my answer to this poll probably would have been different because I searched, read & re-read EVERYTHING that I could find online when purchasing ours. I'm sure the longer this forum exists, more & more folks will be answering "Yes" to this poll ~

Good luck with your road-trip this weekend!

Shari

**jcanavera** · 01-06-2004, 01:40 PM

This forum wasn't in existance at the time I bought my Safari. I did do a lot of Internet searching and conversing on the RV forum on Compuserve. The Compuserve forum was fairly negative and I probably heard more bad than good. Some of the folks there noted that anything new wasn't an Airstream but instead was to be considered a "Thorstream".

Luckily I did find the Yahoo Airstream listserve group that pretty much answered my questions and got me feeling pretty good about my decision. This sight has moved beyond what the Yahoo group offers due to the fact that its a website and not a list serve and our search capabilities are far better.

Obviously if I were a newbe the resources here would have definately influenced me.

Jack

**Action** · 01-06-2004, 03:33 PM

My situation is the same as Shari's and Jacks.

And it ain't over yet for you. It's just begun.

I have used this forum for so many things - to get and share data since I bought my round shiny.

You will have many Q's, so you can end the lurking and ask that Q or share a discovery, cause that's what this forum is about.

>>>>>>>>>>Action

RivetED · 01-17-2004, 12:45 PM

We purchased our current travel-trailer based on info from their web-site (a Casita 17'). The help was 'priceless'. We have been pleased with the unit but have now decided to purchase an A/S, which is what I wanted from the beginning. The cost was a concern especially since we had no real travel-trailer experience. After 2 years & a lot of trips we feel comfortable with up-grading to an Airstream. We are looking to this site to provide us with the same level of purchase info & support we have become used to at the Casita-Site.

Tin Can Crabs · 02-27-2004, 10:24 AM

We purchased our 2000 Safari from this site! We also sold our Caravel with help from this site. What a great resource for anyone into "Airstreams!".

Big Dee · 02-27-2004, 01:29 PM

Altough the reason for buying a new A/S was the RV show, this site has been invaluable in answering the dozens of questions I've had since buying. Actually I've become addicted. But's it a good addiction!

whistler · 02-27-2004, 09:52 PM

I bought my vintage A/S, after finding this site, but I would have purchased one even if this site didn't exist. I had been looking for a vintage unit for awhile and that search led my to this site one day. I have gained great insite from this forum and I am sure it will come in very handy during the restoration. I don't understand the comments on 'cheer leading' for Airstreams. We all have different passions in our lives and for some of us it happens to include Airstreams. I am not 'cheer leading ' when I say this. This is America and we each have the right to state our opinions, our passions and we have the right to respectfully disagree about things. As long as we respect each other. To me owning a A/S was just as important as owning my Harley and a 29 Model 'A' roadster, they all have a peice of American history wrapped up in them.

Sorry if I offended anyone.

whistler

Mom2abidrew · 03-30-2004, 12:11 PM

I am a new owner of an airstream ( my friends say I am the youngest we are 30) I took my parents to look at a 1986 25 foot airstream ( I thought they were the funniest things around) but I took them and they looked at it. It wasn't just what they wanted but I fell in love with it. So I took my hubby down to look and we weren't sure about the size and price (we thought was way to high) but after looking around this WONDERFUL site for a week we took the plunge and I couldn't be happier!! I LOVE my airstream. This site has been very helpful to me.

sovereignrwe · 08-04-2004, 02:43 PM

We too are 30-somethings. This Forum and the knowledge that everyone is willing to share, were huge factors in our final decision to buy our first Airstream.

We felt far more comfortable in the fact that all parties involved were getting a fair exchange. We were able to quickly get enough information to make an informed purchasing decision, which we really can't place a value on.

As it turned out, my worry about being ripped off by the seller on this purchase (unlike many others), was completely unfounded. Our POs were great folks. We spent over 15 hours over 5 different visits to see the trailer with them. On the day we drove the trailer home we took steaks to grill and potato salad for lunch. We hung out by their pool for most of the day. Anyone purchased a car or home and had that experience? I doubt it. Airstreams just seem to draw that type of people.

I certainly felt more comfortable that I would be able to overcome any issues that crossed our paths with our "new" old A/S.

This forum is an important extension one of the very "pros" we listed early in making our purchase decision. "This trailer will provide us with opportunities to meet more people while camping, than would a traditional trailer"

We searched online and couldn't find a Jayco (insert brand here) club anywhere. In addition, we realized that in past years of camping in tents, we were more drawn to say "hi" to people with an Airstream than we were someone with a more generic trailer. That isn't to say that we didn't meet people and even tour a few RVs, but there was always something more to the Airstreams.

We couldn't be happier with our choice, and we haven't even had it out of the drive!

08-04-2004, 04:41 PM

I was looking for an Airstream when I found this site. I bought a 31'Sovereign as a direct result of this forum and one of it's members. Thanks Roger and thanks to the forum.

Jack

fireflyinva · 08-05-2004, 09:44 AM

I have to vote no, although that was surely no indictment of this site. We got our trailer a little under a year ago, and while we had already discovered this site, we found the info up on the VAC site and RJ Dial's webpages to be more useful in terms of influencing us into being informed consumers. I think it was mostly because that information is organized into articles and faqs, which were easier when we were just figuring out what we wanted. It's not that there isn't a ton of info here--it's just hard to wade through all the posts and figure out what is need-to-know for purchase decision.

Another area of influence that also occurs to me is whether the site actually influenced us on the larger decision to buy airstream (rather than SOB). Again, I have to say no again. We had been looking at buying a trailer for over a decade, ever since we met a young couple (while we were on vacation out West) who telecommuted to tech jobs and full-timed out of a vintage spartan (I believe). While we didn't want to full time, it made us consider getting a trailer that we could permanently install on a little land out in the mountains. Eventually, this evolved into wanting a more mobile trailer, not buying mountain property and ultimately to wanting a vintage airstream. So, when the right unit appeared, we jumped on it and have never had regrets.

This site really became useful to us once we got the trailer. Then we found a group of very helpful folks willing to help us through rather arcane concerns (that I suppose are typical of owning an older vehicle). However, we did have a little difficulty, since due to some bizarre configuration issue, I couldn't post or access my control panel for about 5 months after signing up for an account. But that's just the way computers are, so I used dh's account for a while!

59toaster · 08-05-2004, 03:22 PM

We inherited ours. I found this site while trying to put a value on it for the estate of my wifes father. We ended up keeping it as a project so Our family could use it to get out a little more.

After the decision to keep it we then spent a lot of time learning from the forum members about the coach and what we were going to have to do to restore it to its former glory. Along the way I was able to pass on what I have leared to help others that were just starting on simular projects.

grizzy · 08-06-2004, 12:29 PM

We found our 2001 Bambi on this Forum! It was better than anything I found on any other web site.

norbert · 08-06-2004, 01:42 PM

i found the forum after i made the decision to buy an airstream....my decision was made not by being informed, but by my gut..... now, the forum is invaluable to me, and also is an addiction...
norby