What is so HARD, just take some PRIDE in what you build.
It could start tomorrow..
newnewnew,betterbetterbetter, can be addressed down the road.
My attitude towards our 03 purchase would very different without the many QC problems encountered during our first Season, forget the corrosion. The first thing that became apparent, was build quality.
Taking pride in what you build is very common on the forums, but not as common as you'd think elsewhere. I have no doubt that many at airstream take pride in what they build, but equally there is likely many there as in virtually all sectors of the work force that are there only for a paycheck and will do whatever is the easiest (lazy) and do the minimum to get signed off (I remember reading a post about rivets completely missing the mark and forums members commenting on what was the bucking bar guy thinking?) or knowing what will be overlooked or not seen after the inspection.
As a public school teacher in a perfomance based curriculum, it is amazing how many kids have parents that don't take pride in anything, whether it pays or not (and they definately pass that down). As Frank pointed out in my restoration thread, many people in our nation don't take responsibility/pride for what they do or don't do.
No doubt many of the small parts are out-sourced to cheaper builders, who also do the minimum to meet specs. Brand new rims on my truck last year the chrome caps started pitting 6 weeks after install, figured out they only had one thin layer of chrome, to find out the company that was making them had spec'd this shape, this guage, chromed, and the builder chromed them all right, with the least possible.
I don't see airstream boasting record over the top profits, so the premium price must be spent somewhere in the building/marketing process despite issues stated in the past posts. Its not as simple to just say we'll get better parts, because the market will only support a certain price. Raise the cost here, means the cost needs to be cut there..
The product can always be improved, the process more efficient, I'm just saying that talking about fixing the problem on a forum is a heck of a lot easier than getting a bunch of humans to do it.
roof locker tracks (plastic) square cornered astrodome screen 63 refer, or at least the original door insert 2 12v hehr motors (working) w/ or w/o fan blade
I've said it before, but I think it is a very good thing that the CEO of Airstream is taking the time to answer a few questions regarding his product. It will be even better if he keeps answering and making improvements.
my response to anyone who asks about our airstream when we take her out is, we love airstream, but if we had to do it again we would buy vintage. All of my problems have been small, corrosion on wheels from the dealership, tongue jack blows fuses, minor marks on the shell, leak in the shower, the worst mattress I have ever seen, a distinct downward tilt on both the L lounge pull-out and the bed and a table wobble that is really annoying ( now I am depressed) But they should not be there on a unit that has a 67,000 window sticker.
This thread and the truckload (trailerload?) of other threads documenting quality and service woes have certainly tempered my enthusiasm for patronizing the Airstream brand.
I bought a Toyota for a premium price because of their (arguably) proven reputation for quality and hassle-free ownership. 9 years later and I could not be happier with my truck. (The 2007 Tacoma in my profile is my husband's truck and our prospective TV.)
I bought a Macintosh for a premium price because of their (arguably) proven reputation for quality and outstanding customer service. 5 years (and 2 more Macs) later and I could not be happier with my beautifully designed, heavily used laptop.
For both of those brands, the icing on the cake is their aesthetic appeal.
I had hoped to say the same about an Airstream travel trailer, but now I'm not sure it would be worth the premium pricetag.
As a consumer I have always sought quality products even if that means I have to pay 2x or more than I would for a flimsier item. However I cannot say the same for pure aesthetics.
The impression that I am gathering straight from the owners' keyboards is that late model Airstreams are all icing and no cake. Is there more to newer Airstreams than just an attractive facade? is rebuilding a vintage 'stream the only prudent option?
I am another, soon to be footloose, wierdo who came up with the iconic vision of spending the final good years, doing what I want, where I want.
I came here to learn some things. And I certainly have.
I wonder if Airstream has any new construction/manufacturing techniques and or materials getting ready to come on line? Or, are they going to stand pat?
I really fell in love with the shape, after all. If it was made out of space age polymers and painted silver, I would'nt mind.
I suspect, Gene, that Mr. Wheeler faces the problem of cognitive dissonance. In any corporate environment, there is an inherent positive bias internally. Employees consciously and unconsciously filter out negative information (that flows upstream). They also tend to "enhance" positive information. This is one of the reasons I pick up the phone and talk directly to customers every day. The only way I can assess how we are doing is to cut out every filter between the public and me.
A challenge for any CEO is understanding that reality is not available inside his or her office, listening to people he or she knows, trusts and likes. Real is the word on the street. These forums, my friends, are the corner of Airstream Road and Reality Boulevard.
Wheeler's last post here tells me volumes about his perceptions and expectations. It tells me about his depth of experience with the Internet. It confirms Gene's assessment that Wheeler is probably a nice guy and probably a smart guy... not that different than the basically nice, smart executives from the Big Three who managed the Big Three's domestic market share from 95 percent to 50 percent.
Airstream is a corporation... a subsidiary of a very large corporation, facing what is essentially an entrepreneurial problem. This is probably old hat to someone like Wheeler who during the ubiquitous MBA program discussed incremental measures in response to transformational challenges. Put simply, the iceberg was a transformational problem and the Titanic had incremental steering.
This isn't just about QC, or filiform corrosion, the dealer network or customer service. A viable premium product requires (and inspires) covetousness. It is a product where people bring home the brochure and read it, line by line, while lying in bed. It's the kind of product that ends up on a poster in the room of teenaged boy or girl. It's the kind of product where neighbors invent excuses to drop in and see it.
For me, there isn't a single modern Airstream product that inspires that sort of unbridled passion. I didn't covet the Basecamp. I won't covet the Scout. Since the modern Airstream corporation won't build our dream--or anything really close to it--we'll build our own on the frame of a classic '67 Overlander.
My previous post--now lost in the vast digital wasteland--rued the fact that Wheeler and Airstream simply fail to recognize what these forums so eloquently provide. In every renovation, every suggestion, every silly idea and crazy experiment, we define what it is we covet. We give a more clear and perfect shape to the Airstream dream than any thousand focus groups or any million surveys. To the entrepreneur, this forum is poetry; to the corporation, it is gibberish.
We have had very minor issues with our new Airstream with the exception of corrosion at panel edges and some rivets. My hope is that this is not written off as an environmental issue. There are two 25-year-old aluminum boats outside at our house, one painted and one bare metal, that do not have the problem our trailer has.
Otherwise we absolutely adore this trailer. It is perfectly sized for us and the floor plan is extraordinary. The classic design and beautifully simple interior is a work of art.
Will Airstream plan and hold another Homecoming at Jackson Center in the future? We attended the ones in 2004 and 2005 and thought they were the very best rallies we have ever gone to. Employees and owners interacting in Airstream festivities was most special, educational and exciting. The food and entertainment such as hot air balloon rides, The Troubadours, pig races, the Trump Airstreams, the Surreal Gourmet in his toaster AS and seeing the Sky Deck and coffee in the factory talking with the workers who build our Airstreams are the best rememberances for me. We got to meet so many Airstreamers and see their Airstreams.
__________________ CJ The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.-Eleanor Roosevelt It is never too late to be who you might have been.-George Eliot
Quick Links
63 PARTS NEEDED
Linear Mode
