2018 Basecamp Dream yet unrealized

[Glampman]

I was able to convince my wife the that the 2018 Basecamp was going to be our ticket to enjoying and waking up in a different gorgeous location each weekend in the Northwest. The price was certainly higher than the feature rich white box trailers, and the Basecamp is a true stunner, buy my wife is quite practical.

I brought her into the dealership and between the salesman, and the solid brand name that is Airstream, my wife agreed with my selection of the Basecamp.

We have owned it for nearly three months and unfortunately it has been at the dealership getting repaired for a significant portion of that time. And, as my credibility with my wife, along with Airstream’s, has taken a significant hit. In general, we go out on the weekend, and drop the trailer back off at the dealer for another repair. Now the dealer is not next door to my house, so after you consider the additional hour each way, and my very busy work life, the weekend trip to new and exciting locations dream is more of another weekend trip to the dealer dream.

Here is our list of repairs so far:

1. Bathroom door bowed (no fix offered)
2. Refer doesn’t work on electricity (pending new computer board)
3. Roof Leak
4. AC doesn’t blow cold air (compressor was properly connected)
5. Outside shower pass through door leaks
6. Black water drainpipe cap broke on first gentle twist
7. 3M liner on front quarter needed to be replaced due to the service sticker melting into and damaging it.
8. The table tops could not be removed from the table legs after the first trip.
9. Outside aluminum strip on front bent/broken

This seems like a large list and one would hope some level of consideration would be given, but none has been offered. I would like to believe that Airstream values their brand enough not to take a look at this to see if it warrants a bit of “dream repair.” I am hoping my wife forgives me, in the meantime, I am hopeful that Airstream does the right thing and repairs their credibility with me.

[moosetags]

First off, welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us.

I am very sorry for your troubles. New Airstreams are not perfect, but are usually better out of the box than your Basecamp has been.

I also sounds like you are dealing with a marginally competent dealer. This situation is, unfortunately, somewhat common. The problems that you have mentioned should be handled quickly and properly.

You might consider calling the Service Center in Jackson Center. Explain the situation to a customer service rep, and see what they can offer that would be of assistance.

Brian

[HUSK N TUSK]

I would bring it back to Jackson Center and let them try to fix it right. Once you get it back, camp in their little parking lot Porto campground thingy and test everything thoroughly before heading back home across the country.

But, in reality, it is the prospective Airstream owner's responsibility to read up on all of Airstream's (lack of) quality control issues before purchase. The myth of "Airstream quality" (especially regarding Basecamps) is sadly just that...a myth.

Good luck! Be positive. At least your door window didn't fly off going down the highway, potentially beheading a poor wandering road lizard.

[swakyaby]

So sorry to hear of your troubles. The Basecamp is expensive for its small size, so I feel your frustration. I have had a better, but not perfect, experience with our 2018 Basecamp. Our first outing, I smelled propane inside the trailer, even though the propane leak detector was silent. The 2nd outing, the trailer brakes locked up and started smoking and had to be disconnected on the way home. Taking it to our service center 1.5 hours away, they found a loose connection under the stove and tightened it (no more propane odor), and replaced the trailer brake assembly on both sides under warranty. They also did minor repairs--a few stripped snaps were replaced, delaminated areas were replaced.

Our 3rd and 4th outings were perfect, no problems whatsoever. Even the refrigerator had no issues. It rained lightly both trips, and there were no leaks. We were comfortable and enjoyed boondocking without worries. It did take a week for the service center to do the repairs, mainly because they had to order some parts, but they probably came from the Jackson center. I am very satisfied with the level of service we received at Bay Area Airstream in California; your service center should have resolved your issues by now.

[OTRA15]

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry for your troubles -- unfortunately you are not alone. Not sure if you have seen the following threads, but sooner or later you will probably see them, so here goes.

Fridge -- Simple Survey: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f404...ne-169937.html

BC Issues: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f404...es-162632.html

Not the best of news . . .



Good luck resolving things with the dealer, and have a good long weekend!

Peter

[Rgentum]

My condolences for all your AS problems.

I see that you are in Renton, at the south end of Lake WA --- I am in Woodinville, at the north end of the lake.

Your being in Renton, I am assuming that your dealer is the AS dealer in Covington, with whom I have had very mixed success. Their attempt to sell me a new AS was terrible, so bad I bought the identical model of the trailer they were trying to sell me for $7K less in CA.

Last summer, I ran into the guardrail of the Hood River/White Salmon toll bridge. I took the AS to the dealer, got an estimate of $16K, fortunately was paid all but $500 from my State Farm insurance, and had them do most of the repair. They did a superlative, timely job (well, mostly, a few oversights).

My many times there, however, reveals a huge lot packed with AS trailers, some new for sale, many owned by others and there for repair. I would suspect that at this time of year, they're swamped with work --- mine was done last fall/winter, when the they seemed to be not so busy.

Given that your in Renton, going back to JC may be a little "too much." Being able to take one's AS to JC for repair may be one of the few benefits of living east of the Rockies.

[HUSK N TUSK]

Make a fun trip out of it. Piqua, Ohio just south of Jackson Center is an interesting town, and the bike trails there are to die for!!! They go all throughout town, through one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the country, along the river, and out through the wilderness. You can ride til your feet fall off...by that time Airstream might have fixed some of your Basecamp issues. Do it!

[Airkeeper]

We also have had problems with our Basecamp. We have owned it for about 7 weeks and of that time, 29 days (and counting) have been with it in the shop or otherwise out of service. As Husk N Tusk said at least your door window hasn't fallen out. After our picking up our Basecamp from the shop on a Friday we left for a 150 mile trip to Oklahoma. When we arrived we discovered that the door window was missing and the insulation was hanging out. Although it is under warranty we are still awaiting (2 weeks now) for for repair parts, etc. from Airstream. We don't even have an estimate of when the window will be available.

[HUSK N TUSK]

When I had my new window installed at Jackson Center they installed the wrong non-tinted glass and proceeded to insist to me that it was in fact tinted, I just didn't see it correctly (nevermind that it didn't match any other windows). The service manager became rudely loud and irate then flippantly said he could just rivet aluminum over the old window hole. I wrote to the owner and the service manager apologized the next day, but they still didn't have the right window in stock and wasn't sure which one to order. So, I left. Drove 1000 miles back home. Weeks later Airstream shipped me the correct window with a damaged surround so I paid SafeLite to just install the glass, damaging my original surround in the process. It's still not right but it's not a headache I want to relive. It was a horrible incompetent experience all the way around.

[kendrick.l.j]

I see this is your very first post so welcome to the forum. It’s too bad you didn’t hear or know about this great resource prior to your purchase. I am not saying you made a bad decision but just that if you had known more your expectations would have been more realistic. There are several threads dedicated to all things Basecamp that you may find helpful. Things will get better so hang in there and read everything you can, we have it all, air conditioning to Zipdee awnings.

[brick1]

My new International Serenity 28 is a month old. No issues.
brick

[Trae and Ann]

Hello and welcome to the forums! You are definitely in the right place for dealing with basecamp issues. I wanted to share some past experiences with some of these problems. We have had our basecamp for over 1.5 years. We have one of the first ones made so we have been thru all the lovely first run problems. Unfortunately we are still working out bugs. While i think you will be successful checking off some of these from your list others I have learned there really isn’t one. The table tops are a pain. When we first started out we really struggled with them, thought they would never come off but there is a trick or feel to popping them off that we learned in time. If you grab both sides rock it back and forth then pull straight up they will release. It only takes a few seconds to do for us now but seemed impossible at first. Bad design I think but no real “fix”. The shower pass thru leaking made our list but no fix there from airstream either , it’s just the way it is designed, you can see a little leaking on the outside after a shower.. something leaking from the inside out doesn’t bother me as much as the other way around. Our door is also bowed very slightly and was an issue with leaking, they also did not replace the door but fixed it so it doesn’t leak anymore. Our list is now down to 3 things (hate to say we just dropped it back off yesterday). Back door leaking still (the new seal they replaced is not allowing the top latch to engage) front refrigerator vent leaking (third try on that but they do have a new fix since the last try). Our biggest concern is the refrigerator cooling in hot weather. We had the latest “fix” done this fall and while it performed ok thru the milder months, it didn’t stand a chance to a week in the West Texas heat in May so keep an eye on that one! On a more positive note, we have also had a lot of good times in this little camper, we use it the same way you intend too, it’s our weekend getaway with a few longer trips sprinkled in. If it wasn’t for all the problems here early on, I would be perfectly happy with the design it’s just exactly what we were looking for. Reality though leaves a bitter taste when you have to play “beta tester” for their new product. Hopefully we are getting close to the end of this ride and we can all start focusing on the fun. Good luck!!
Ann

[Glampman]

I would like to say a heartfelt thanks to my new friends who posted their sage advice and best wishes to my "plight."

I will internalize all of your wisdom and proceed with the following:

1. The knowledge that I am not alone.
2. I have some level of culpability for not having done my due diligence.
3. Remembering that the experiences I have with my family are the true draw.
4. Inform Jackson to see if they want to participate in the dialogue.
5. And continue to work with the dealer.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the trailer is the talk of the RV park. I am currently at KOA in Anacortes and the visits by bystanders is non stop. But for now, I am forced by ethics to share the not so great features with prospective consumers. But Airstream has a real opportunity to make this a win/win situation. Because I will be more than happy to be an ambassador for a superior product.

[AirstreamInc]

Hi Glampman,

We are very sorry to learn about the issues in your new 2018 Basecamp. Please send us a direct message with your contact information and the last 6 digits of your VIN so we can share it with our Customer Service and Technical Support team.

You can also reach Airstream Customer Service and Technical Support at customer_support@airstream.com

We look forward to helping you get this resolved.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by AirstreamInc

Hi Glampman,

We are very sorry to learn about the issues in your new 2018 Basecamp. Please send us a direct message with your contact information and the last 6 digits of your VIN so we can share it with our Customer Service and Technical Support team.

You can also reach Airstream Customer Service and Technical Support at customer_support@airstream.com

We look forward to helping you get this resolved.

Is Airstream considering a total redesign of the Basecamp to move the fridge to one side, out of direct sunlight and thermal loading, because of the fridge’s poor performance in some camping environments, as documented in the Simple Survey thread linked earlier in Post #5 here?

Thanks,

Peter

[Glampman]

Good Morning Peter,

Thanks for entering the dialogue. The last 6 digits of my VIN # are 203780.

The critical issues that are remaining are the following:

1. Air Conditioner--Compressor stops working after 10 or 15 minutes and the unit blows warm air until the temp dial is turned to hot and back to cold again.

2. Refer--does not chill on either propane or electric, despite the dealer stating that it will chill on propane while waiting for new mother board for the electric portion.

3. The bowed bathroom door.

4. right front marker light reflector wasn't properly attached when the 3M liner was replaced and it fell off on the road somewhere.

It is ridiculous how many people want to stop and talk to me about this unit. I would love to give stellar reports so that way I appear to be a smart consumer and Airstream can benefit from the positive word of mouth. I have a lot more camping to do this summer at busy RV parks and they seem to like to place me right at the front. I see a tremendous upside to getting these issues dealt with so that all parties feel valued during the transaction.

Thanks

Greg Gauthier

[Glampman]

Hi

My email I gregorypgauthier@gmail.com

[sobiloff]

It's a damn shame there are so many problems with the Basecamp. It's almost exactly what I want out of a trailer: a heated and air conditioned space to sleep, shower, and cook, that can be taken off-pavement. I haven't found anything else that offers all these things, but there's no way I'll buy a Basecamp at the moment. I don't have the time/money/energy to put up with the flawed design and questionable quality control. It's terribly frustrating just as a perspective owner--bless everyone who's gone through all the hassle and is finding enjoyment with theirs!

[OTRA15]

PS to Post #15 --

FYI the Simple Survey thread has a recent post which is not too encouraging IMO.



[click on orange arrow to go there]

Originally Posted by Trae and Ann

Ok here is our report on the latest fridge fix vs the West Texas heat. We spent a week there with highs at 100 and the lows in the upper 70s and mostly ran off electric. Didn’t stand a chance. We stayed between 45 and 58 degrees in the fridge and relied on our cooler for the most part. I really think the only way we got it down to 45 was because we used 2 blocks of blue ice that we swapped out back and forth from the freezer. The freezer compartment seems to work just fine. Let’s face it Texas is hot, but if Airstream is going to market in this climate they need to do the testing here too. It’s back in the shop, we will see what they come up with next!

[Glampman]

Originally Posted by sobiloff

It's a damn shame there are so many problems with the Basecamp. It's almost exactly what I want out of a trailer: a heated and air conditioned space to sleep, shower, and cook, that can be taken off-pavement. I haven't found anything else that offers all these things, but there's no way I'll buy a Basecamp at the moment. I don't have the time/money/energy to put up with the flawed design and questionable quality control. It's terribly frustrating just as a perspective owner--bless everyone who's gone through all the hassle and is finding enjoyment with theirs!

I sure am sorry my experience has contributed to your feelings, but I understand. I am hopeful that all of my issues will be resolved in a way that recognizes all of the additional work I have had to endure with the product just to get camping in a style that is consistent with the sales pitch. The brand is selling an upscale luxury camping vehicle that allows you to "glamp" but the reality has not quite met the Airstream narrative. I sure hope it will. I will keep this forum in the loop as to how Airstream chooses to assist.