Had It With My Basecamp

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Good luck at Jackson Center today!

Just tell 'em Wally sent you.

The internet is like television how? TV exists because advertisers pay. Content is why they pay. The internet is exactly the same in that respect. BUT most of the programming on the internet is now free: the millions of people who write, educate and entertain us on the internet are doing it without getting paid.

A lot of RVers may shy away from the Nest because of this poster..... but a far greater number will go ahead and buy, because every manufacturer of RVs pays for internet (and press + TV). Thor may make things right - because it it is the right thing to do, and it will be the best way to make the most cost effective way to fix this mess. Or they decide to bury the problem(s) with great advertising and marketing. The popularity of the brand is a double edged sword. Ask Rosanne Barr about how much a really bad mis-step can cost. Casita and all the others barely advertise and have NO dealers, and reportedly have a backlog of orders... Was Nest meant to be a step down that same path? If so, oooh.

I hope you are stunned by their response... in a very good way!

[boondockdad]

Had my Classic at JC for tread separation repairs recently.

Tech who did repairs walked me thru everything he did.

Tells me he had to pull fridge. Asks me if I had done work on it. I ask “why?”
He says “it was basically installed wrong... very shoddy workmanship... had to make a bunch of fixes on it”
I say “yeah, it hadn’t been touched since it was here a few years back.”

He looked very sheepish.

[HeadWest]

Good luck today and please keep us posted. Hopefully they will replace it with one that has much better fiberglass work and they treat you well through the process.

FWIW, the only Nest I’ve looked at in person the fiberglass quality was atrocious. It also had loads of poorly done and highly visible FG repairs. Very sad since I had high hopes for the Nest product line (I’m on that is not hung up on Airstreams needing to be aluminum).

[OTRA15]

Oops, just noticed that this discussion is in a Basecamp thread. Any chance it could move over to the Nest thread?


http://www.airforums.com/forums/f546...et-181181.html

[HeadWest]

Originally Posted by Beboplu

Seriously? I have not heard from Chris in days, and have sent several email updates. The fiberglass is not a simple repair. I am not going to accept anything less than an unblemished replacement or a refund. This trailer is so defective its ridiculous. Im not even sure I want another one. Repairing the fiberglass is not going to be a long term fix. Fixing the leaking window does not fix the damage already done with water that leaked in between the walls and fiberglass shell, causing the fabric walls to bubble up. Delamination and mold are now an issue.The power converter failing due to being defective left us without power for 3 days to use even the fan to cool the trailer when we were traveling with a 15 year old miniature dachshund and an 18 year old bird. I am so disgusted with this product and Airstream right now! I am hitching this nightmare up, putting signs all over it not to buy this messed up p.o.s. and driving the 11 hours to bring it back to Jackson Center this weekend, be there bright and early Monday morning and somebody better be ready to make it right!

So, any resolve yesterday? Repairs, replacement or refund? Hopefully Airstream is taking care of the situation.

[Beboplu]

Originally Posted by HeadWest

So, any resolve yesterday? Repairs, replacement or refund? Hopefully Airstream is taking care of the situation.

Happy to say that Airstream is stepping up and gave us the option of a new Nest or swapping out for a 16 ft Sport Bambi. We love the layout and amenities of the Nest. The sport felt a bit cramped and lacked the inside storage and counter space of the Nest. So we are going to stay with the Nest and keep our faith in Airstream to make sure our new Nest is built right this time. We will come back to Jackson Center to inspect it and bring it home when it's ready. Thanks for all the support in this forum!

[Beboplu]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Good luck at Jackson Center today!

Just tell 'em Wally sent you.

Happy to say that Airstream is stepping up and gave us the option of a new Nest or swapping out for a 16 ft Sport Bambi. We love the layout and amenities of the Nest. The sport felt a bit cramped and lacked the inside storage and counter space of the Nest. So we are going to stay with the Nest and keep our faith in Airstream to make sure our new Nest is built right this time. We will come back to Jackson Center to inspect it and bring it home when it's ready. Thanks for all the support in this forum!

[Beboplu]

Happy to say that Airstream is stepping up and gave us the option of a new Nest or swapping out for a 16 ft Sport Bambi. We love the layout and amenities of the Nest. The sport felt a bit cramped and lacked the inside storage and counter space of the Nest. So we are going to stay with the Nest and keep our faith in Airstream to make sure our new Nest is built right this time. We will come back to Jackson Center to inspect it and bring it home when it's ready. Thanks for all the support in this forum!

[OTRA15]

Beboplu, please see my reply in the Nest thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f546...et-181181.html

Thanks,

Peter

[HeadWest]

I’m so happy to hear that Airstream is taking care of it properly. I love the Nest, even if it isn’t the right trailer for us right now, and do want to see it succeed in the market.

[AirstreamInc]

Originally Posted by HUSK N TUSK

I guess I was ignorant. I admit it.

I knew the Basecamp was a POS not only from the first version a decade or so ago but reinforced by the reissue I saw at a trailer show leaking like a broken aquarium.

I knew Airstream's quality was abysmal and their factory service department was incompetent from personal experience.

But, for some reason, inconceivable as it is, I never considered the possibility of the Nest being a POS as well, although it apparently is. I should have assumed it would be, and I didn't. I allowed myself to be surprised by the reports above of the Nest's sh*ttery.

I should have known better. I was ignorant of Airstream's latest rolling ball of plastic poop. But, I honestly never considered the Nest to be an Airstream. But, given the fact that they suck off the line, they clearly ARE Airstreams.

Leave fiberglass eggs to the masters...Scamp, Casita, and Oliver.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Airstream Forums mobile app

Hi HUSK N TUSK,

Are you currently having issues with your Basecamp? We have reached out a couple of times for your information so that we can escalate them and connect you with our Technical Support and Customer Service team. Please send us a direct message with your contact information and the last 6 digits of your VIN.

Thank you.

[TLHough]

We purchased our BaseCamp in June 2017 and have used it on road trips to Missouri and back and numerous RV’ing adventures up and down the east cost of the USA with few issues that were fixed last Fall by our Airstream dealer; Colonial in Lakewood, NJ. We did notice though that the refrigerator was not staying cool enough (40 degrees or less) to keep food from spoiling. So after reading the various posts on this forum, we have an appointment (Sept. 6th, 2018) to get the factory fix completed. My question though is to those who’ve gotten the work done, how is the refrigerator working now? Is it keeping the temp at 40 degrees or less? It’s intrresting to note that although the issue appears confined to the refrigerator section, no matter whether using propane or shore power, the freezer section stays between 0 and 20 degrees...

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by TLHough

We purchased our BaseCamp in June 2017 . . .
. . .

Not sure if you have read the Simple Survey thread, but that is the best collection of BC fridge reports IMO:

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

See also these recent threads:

https://www.google.com/search?q=base...=airforums.com

If anyone can fix the situation, it is Colonial, but the poor design of the BC's fridge location etc. may be beyond any dealer's capabilities to remedy completely IMO, especially in hot weather when the front of the trailer is in direct sun.

Good luck,

Peter

[Castaway]

Originally Posted by Beboplu

Sorry to hear, we bought the Nest, so many issues, front "ski goggle" window leaked as soon as we got it home - washed and waxed it first day, and just the hose rinsing off the roof leaked down the inside onto the fabric interior and leather dinette. Then I discovered a cracked area under the front fiberglass body when wiping off the wax that someone had smeared what looks like bondo (?) near it to patch it but didn't even come close. After that, we looked under the body and found at least 3 more areas that had been repaired. Add to that, there is an area near the top of the rear lighted handle that the fiberglass is eggshell thin and cracked like an egg - causing a hole. Then the fabric on the interior around the 2 windows on either side of the ski goggle window "bubbled up" in several places, so makes me think something leaked behind the panels that we didn't see previously, and moisture caused the fabric to seperate from the panels. We were so excited to get this trailer, our retirement dream, and it has been nothing but a nightmare! Several other issues as well. On vacation and now have our trailer in for service, they tell us it may take a week, we were supposed to be home in 4 days, my husband will be missing work, and the trailer was our place to stay. So where am I supposed to stay with a dog and parrot? NOT a happy camper anymore!

Only took 8 posts to hijack this thread! Might be a new record. Why do people feel the need to do this? Attention?

[Beboplu]

Being new to Airstream Forum, not sure what is meant by hijack. If I am understanding you correctly, people are not allowed to compare issues between different Airstream models in these forums? No, I am definitely not an attention seeker! The Basecamp and Nest are new ventures for Airstream, and the reason for posting in this thread was comparing similar issues with both. No reason to be rude.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Beboplu

Being new to Airstream Forum, not sure what is meant by hijack. If I am understanding you correctly, people are not allowed to compare issues between different Airstream models in these forums? No, I am definitely not an attention seeker! The Basecamp and Nest are new ventures for Airstream, and the reason for posting in this thread was comparing similar issues with both. No reason to be rude.

This thread is about a Basecamp. People come to this thread expecting to read about a Basecamp. Not a Nest. If you want to complain about the problems with your Nest, feel free to start your own thread about it, and not simply piling on in a thread about a different thing. With 50 posts, you should have at least the basics of forum etiquette now, and hijacking a thread is one of those things you should know about. It's you that's being rude, not the person calling you out on it.

[Rzrbrn]

Ditto

[GettinAway]

Beboplu, I for one, don’t think it was inappropriate for you to post your nest issues in this thread. You titled your post “Nest Issues” if a reader was only looking for basecamp issues it was very easy to skip your post. All this talk of forum etiquette. It’s a forum.. I’m also glad AS stepped up and remedied the situation.

[swakyaby]

Originally Posted by overlander63

This thread is about a Basecamp. People come to this thread expecting to read about a Basecamp. Not a Nest.

Agree. This entire subforum is called Basecamp. There is a subforum for Nest owners.

[roc97007]

Originally Posted by Twitterpated

Fed up with my Basecamp and Ewald Airstream of Wisconsin (I usually have to go back to Ewald two to three times per repair in order for them to fix the stuff they screw up in the process of fixing some other thing...like my refrigerator). Considering options as I can’t believe someone might want to pay me money to take the POS off my hands. Sink it in the local SCUBA lake for wreck diving? Chop the top and turn it into a greenhouse? Chicken coop? [emoji4]

Have you posted the details yet? We own a 2017 Basecamp, and it has frankly been a nightmare, but we stuck with it, and did a shakedown campout last weekend (dry camping) and it finally seems to be in usable shape. Just so you know, it can be done.


If yours is a 2017 through mid-2019 with a gas/electric refrigerator, please do yourself a favor and get rid of the damned thing. Don't try to fix it. It won't ever get cool enough, and the vent placement guarantees that water will get into the front of the trailer and rot out the subfloor. Trust me on this.



We replaced ours with a Norcold de0788b 12/110 fridge. Arrived at the campsite Friday night, dry camped with two 12 volt batteries until noon on Sunday, and still had battery power when we parked it at home Sunday evening.


We had the fridge swapped out when we had the subfloor replaced (see previous paragraph on water leakage and floor rot) and the big advantage was the ability to seal off the source of the water leakage, but the other big advantage is that the Norcold actually... gets... cold! I had it up too high at first and froze everything on the top shelf. Actually having cold food when you're not on shore power was a real novelty for us.


After having the subfloor replaced, we had the trailer pressure tested, where they pressurize the inside and run along the outside with a spray bottle of soapy water, looking for bubbles. They found that one of the taillights and the bottom of the (replaced under warranty) back door were leaking badly. These are now sealed and pass a leak test, and this process probably saved us from having the subfloor rot out again in a year or two.


Note that Airstream has NEVER admitted that the Dometic gas/electric fridge had problems, and NEVER admitted that the placement of the fridge vent results in premature subfloor rot, despite this being the experience of many Basecamp 16 owners. Although the trailer was on warranty, Airstream Corporate refused to make good, saying it was "lack of owner maintenance".


That being the case, we refused to have the work done at the Airstream dealer. I scouted around, and the local Camping World had a good reputation so I took it there. They did the whole job for just over 50% of what Airstream had quoted us, and I think they did a very good job.


The main thing is, Camping World had no dog in the fight -- their objective was to make us happy. Whereas Airstream was very carefully denying that there was a problem at all.


The other big repair was the range, which blew out a connection on our VERY FIRST campout. Major propane leak. Airstream refused to honor this on warranty because, they said, it was the range manufacturer's problem, not theirs. The range manufacturer said their warranty is one year, which had already passed, not the three years of the rest of the trailer, so we were out of pocket on that too. Moreover, the part that blew was not available separately, requiring replacement of the entire range.


There was a lot of small things, like trim coming apart and flying away in the wind during travel, but most of that was unimportant compared to the big three - range, fridge, subfloor.


But we have everything fixed now (we think) and last weekend we had our very first campout, in 2021, that was totally problem free.


The point being, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, Airstream built crappy Basecamps the first three years of their introduction. They should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for selling "premium" trailers for $30K -- $45K that were so badly constructed. But, they CAN be made to work, if you have the time, energy and of course, money.



Just incidentally, I've purchased the domain "airstreamsucks.org" but I'm not sure yet what to do with it.