Well, maybe step back and take a breath...
I bought a 2017 shortly after they came out. We are pushing 15,000 miles with it. If the fridge worked, I would be a happy camper pretty much 100% of the time.
If I were in the market for this type of trailer today, and knowing what I know about the recent history of the Basecamp, I might still buy one.
Only hesitation I have from my personal experience comes down to two issues. Airstream introduced the 2017 Basecamp with a fridge design that did not stay cool except under the mildest of climates without having first let one sit outside in a state that gets hot in the summertime (when most folks camp, I’m guessing).
When it became clear to me that the fridge could not vent adequately to handle outside temps above 80 or so, it took a long time as well as a visit to the factory in order to get attention to the problem. For a long time, I was told by AS that mine was the only BC having this issue.
Then came the “fixes”; none worked. My trailer has been to the dealer (who has done everything within their power to make this right) some 5 times now. We have been through 2 or more fans, new baffles, you name it. Nothing has worked.
I knew and I believe that AS knew at the time that these issues arose that an absorption fridge cannot work without vertical venting. That they went with a compressor after telling me for two years that there was no need for a compressor pretty much says it all.
My wife and I just picked up our BC from the dealer after I agreed to try AS’s latest suggestion to replace the black plastic tank cover with an aluminum one used on the Bambi. Strangely enough, this was another proposal I put to AS as I knew that the black cover was a heat sink right in front of the vents. As they did with my request to swap out for a compressor, AS refused my request on the aluminum tank cover. That both of my requests were turned down only to see AS ultimately embrace them 2 years later says volumes about the current state of AS attention to real customer problems, in my view.
While we were at the dealer, we looked at a new 23’ Globetrotter. Though we were both interested in the newly designed interior and the extra space, we couldn’t bring ourselves to consider another AS at this time. Not necessarily because we thought that the Globetrotter would be ladened with problems, but because we have little faith that any issue that might eat into AS profits won’t again be treated they way my fridge was.
For what it’s worth, the current BC is much more likely to work out for new owners primarily because of those of us who have been uncompensated Beta testers.
Good luck with your decision.
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