Picking up new 2011 advice?

[1414lake]

We are new to Airstreem. Taking delivery on 27Fb in 2 days.
Any must do check list, before leaving the dealer. Other than
signing check of course. Seems like very reputable dealer,
they said plan on at least 1-2hr to go through all systems.

Thanks

[leopattie]

The amount of detailed information you are going to get will be overwhelming, especially if (like us) you are new to the RV world... bring a big notepad and take lots and lots of notes or, even better: see if you can video the system checks/procedures.

So excited for you, enjoy your new trailer!

[Gringo]

We just picked up our 2011 27FB a week ago today. the 'walkthrough' took about four hours, but I asked a whole lot of questions. And I wanted to see every single thing demonstrated. Made him run the awning out, start the heaters...make sure the fridge was working on both ac and gas...explain all the funny light switches....oh the fun you're gonna have!!

He STILL missed some stuff, but with the manuals I had it pretty well figured out by the time we set it up at an RV park for the first time. Our mistakes are chronicled in here somewhere. For eternity.

[fmr.capt.evi]

Congratulations on your purchase! I recommend taking a short "shakedown" trip as soon as possible after taking delivery. Coincidently, we are presently in Zeeland, at Dutch Treat Campground, and plan to be here for several weeks......we can crack open a few beers and work through our "buyer's remorse" together!! No, really, I'm a big Airstream fan.....

[pmclemore]

Take the video - no way can you take enough notes. Stay overnight - or two - to get to know all your systems. Ask every question you can think of - even the ones that you think you know the answers to.

Pat

[cosmotini]

If your dealer has the facilities, plan on spending the first night or 2 there and try out everything while you're there. Air/heat pump/furnace. Fill the fresh tank and make sure the water pump works. Connect to city water and turn pump off. Water still work? Pump too noisy? There are flexible hose kits that help with that. Test the oven and all burners on the stove. Check the microwave - popcorn is good for that. Make sure all of the electrical outlets work. Play with the TV and stereo.
There are many more things to check - refrigerator, awnings. Does your shower drip water from the door? Most new ones used to until properly caulked.

If you can't stay there, find a place as close as possible to stay.

Congratulations and good luck!

[Lucky Dog]

Congrats on the new purchase. Good advice here; take your time with the walk through, take notes and pictures/videos as you can. Also, you can search, using key words, for old threads on the subject. Try this thread:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f368...ber-65467.html

You should find plenty of reading material there. Best of luck and travel safe.

[MrUKToad]

We picked ours up about a month ago and realised that you can never stay long enough with the dealer to find out everything. The shakedown trip not too far from home, or even a night or two on your drive, is the best way (IMHO) to find out how things work. Mrs Toad and I love to research so we enjoy that feeling of discovery when we finally figure out how to get the microwave to cook baked potatoes!

[Wingeezer]

When we picked up our AS at a dealer, I was a bit surprised to find that they offered zero warranty! They said that they would guarantee everything worked when we picked up the trailer!

I almost considered cancelling the deal, but then realistically, thought that bthe best I would likely get would have been 30 days anyway and since we lived a long way away, we wouldn't be coming back for repair work unless there was a really serious problem.

So I said ok, but that in addition to the (pretty complete) walkthru and demo they were going to give us, we wanted to sleep in the trailer on their property to check things our further and meet with them next day before we left with the trailer.

That was agreed, they hooked up water and elec for us and we spent our first night in our new AS!

We did find a couple of very minor things (ie tv antenna wouldn't go up etc) that they happily fixed for us next day and all has been fine since!

I still thought it was odd that we would have no guarantee at all - I wonder of that is common with used RV's

This particular dealer was - but is no longer - an AS dealer. I was told by someone that because they were very close to JC, they wouldn't do warrantee work and instead would direct customers to JC and that JC were not happy about that, but I have no idea if that is the real reason or not!

In any event, from what I could judge, the price we paid seemed fair and we are happy with our purchase so that's the main thing!

Brian

[cms4140]

Originally Posted by Lucky Dog

take your time with the walk through

Congratulations. I think this line from Lucky Dog is the best advice. Take you time. Be thorough in your own personal inspection and questioning. If you can, spend the night in it at the dealership.

We took delivery of own new 'stream a couple weeks ago. We spent the night at the dealership which allowed for even more snooping. That snooping led me to find the following wad of loose wiring between the road side bed (twins floorplan) and the wall of the bathroom, plus a couple other small items. All of it was fixed the next morning, but I would have been sick had I made the 10 hour trip home before noticing.

Happy/Safe Travels!
Chris

[tksbaskets]

A shake down trip very shortly after you pick up your new AS is a great suggestion. We went with 5 other families and along with showing off our new-to-us camper we had LOTS of help figuring things out.

Although we were the only AS, our friends helped us when we came in to make sure our fill up went smoothly. Now true friendship is the pal who went with us to the dump station to help us through the steps there too.

Use it, love it, start your memories right away! Also, post pictures so we can see your new AS!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

[steverino]

On the 27Fb, examine carefully the window coverings on the panoramic windows. Any tell-tale stains is an indication of water leak.

Enjoy the introduction experience, and your 27FB - it's much fun!

[1414lake]

Thanks all for the great suggestions. This is a great forum. We are doing a shakdown this weekend close to home. Fortunaly the dealer is only 40 min from us. Our family is quite excited.

[Gringo]

I've got a small suggestion. We only got one set of keys with our trailer. So I probably thought through the scenarios re: keys more carefully than I would have otherwise. I do that. Drives the wife nuts. Of course I was playing "what if" and thinking of what I would do if our only set of keys was locked inside. I mean, I DID take the Belsaw mail order locksmithing course many years ago,after all.

Anyhow, with all those keys you need to actually have the keys in your hand in order to turn outside locks them and lock things up........except for one. You can slide the lock on the inside of the door, and then slam the door from outside, and it locks.

We had to go to a locksmith ( after trying three hardware stores in Cypress Texas) to get the right blanks, but we had a couple extra sets made. I like the idea of hiding a copy of that one door key someplace reachable. You, or someone near to you but prone to playing with sliding things on Airstreams, could conceivably lock you out with your keys all inside.

And then where are ya, huh?

[Bambi_Bandit]

Level out the trailer Spray water on all windows, roof (especially skylight and vents), compartment doors and vents for a good few minutes.

I'm not talking pressure washer, but a garden hose with a nozzle to emulate a good hard rain.

After all, Airstreams never leak... especially when new...

[tksbaskets]

Originally Posted by Gringo

I've got a small suggestion. We only got one set of keys with our trailer. So I probably thought through the scenarios re: keys more carefully than I would have otherwise. I do that. Drives the wife nuts. Of course I was playing "what if" and thinking of what I would do if our only set of keys was locked inside. I mean, I DID take the Belsaw mail order locksmithing course many years ago,after all.

Anyhow, with all those keys you need to actually have the keys in your hand in order to turn outside locks them and lock things up........except for one. You can slide the lock on the inside of the door, and then slam the door from outside, and it locks.

We had to go to a locksmith ( after trying three hardware stores in Cypress Texas) to get the right blanks, but we had a couple extra sets made. I like the idea of hiding a copy of that one door key someplace reachable. You, or someone near to you but prone to playing with sliding things on Airstreams, could conceivably lock you out with your keys all inside.

And then where are ya, huh?

We always hide a door key too. Our door has mysteriously locked a couple of times

TK