What would you do?

[Remax gal]

We picked up our brand new Airstream 2015 Classic around the end of April. So excited to finally realize our dream! Took off on a 5 week trip and had a blast! Baby that thing constantly! We had a few minor things that needed to be taken care of so we scheduled a trip to Tampa RV (took a month to get in). Anyway, my husband was picking it up today so we could take our grandchildren camping this next week. Moments before he gets there, they call me to tell me they had a "situation" with our trailer. They were backing out another Airstream and the two hit one another. I am SICK! Makes me so upset. They have patched it up for now but we will have to schedule another trip for them to repair it. Just curious as to how other members would handle this.


Laura & Tom

[ghaynes755]

Laura something similar happened to my 25FC while my indoor storage company was moving it (didn't need to move it, they went to the wrong AS). Major scratch on the roadside rear quarter panel, knocked off the side light and put another scratch from the sidelight forward into the side panel. Estimate from the factory and Timeless Travel here in Denver were about the same. $7-8,000 to replace both panels. At the time my trailer was 89 days old.

A couple of routes you can go. First get an estimate from the factory to replace the side panel. Ask them to quote both bucked rivets and Olympic rivets. Bucked will be more expensive simply because they will need to pull everything out of the trailer on that side wall, remove the interior skins to buck on the new rivets/panel and the re-assemble.

Olympic rivets can be done without removing the interior and the factory probably does more of those rather than bucking. When done correctly hard to tell the difference.

Have Tampa RV also give you a quote to repair as a comparison.

Doesn't hurt to file a claim with your insurance company just to be on record. Tampa RV should cover the repairs regardless of whether they do the work or you have JC do the work. Also include any costs of transportation to and from the factory, lodging, etc if you decide to do the work at JC.

In my case the storage facility tried to claim that their rental agreement held them harmless. Good Sam Insurance said they wouldn't pay as their policy through National General excluded any coverage while a trailer was being moved by a third party like a storage lot or service center. My lawyer got paid and I got a check for the full amount. All worked out in the end and don't expect you will have a similar problem.

Finally at the end I didn't do anything with getting it repaired. I used acrylic clear coat from the factory to seal the scratches, light was reattached and figured it isn't the only scratches, dings and scrapes that were going to happen. Wasn't worth the time of going to the factory nor having everything pulled out and replaced.

Sorry for your happenstance. Been there and done that and it wasn't much fun.

[mojo]

What would I do....? Go camping.

Ask what Tampa RV intends to do and ask for the name of their insurance company. Then send photos to JC and ask for a repair quote.
The only thing worse is when YOU dent your trailer and only have yourself to blame!

[AnnArborBob]

If you get it repaired, I would not settle for Olympic Rivets, they are not as reliable as Buck Rivets. Since it wasn't your fault and you are not going to pay for it, you should not have to settle for "second best."

[moxie t. moto]

factory does the best repairs. done right. in &out. fun to visit. been there done that.

[AIRTRVL]

Laura, Just some food for thought. From the photo it looks like a clearance light was knocked off with a small crease and scratch behind that. What if you were to have them replace the clearance light and then have them install a CLASSIC emblem like the one that you have by the door to cover the scratch. Most people would probably never know the difference. If you decide to do this I defiantly would not let the dealer off the hook. I would demanded that they pay you some depreciation cost. Probably the cost to do a permanent repair. Good Luck

[AnnArborBob]

Originally Posted by dan hartman

factory does the best repairs. done right. in &out. fun to visit. been there done that.

Be careful about the factory as well, I've seen them use Olympic Rivets on panels repairs instead of Buck Rivets. I don't know if the owner of that particular trailer agreed to that to save $ or if that was just the factory taking the easy way out.

[ROBERT CROSS]

In my experience.....

A Proud shop will want to tout their work, ask for photo's of any insurance claims they have done recently, testimonials.
Take a look at where the work will be done, a clean well organized shop can tell you a lot, same goes for the folks that will be doing the work......EXAMPLE

Good Luck!!!

Bob

[Lily&Me]

The first boo-boo is hard, but if your trailer and you were not living their life, it would not have happened.

You have lots of great advice here.

Get it fixed, and go camping.


Maggie

[Remax gal]

Great advice everyone! They did do a patch job and the entire lower side panel will have to be replaced, so I'll check out their testimonials and do some homework, but for now...we are going camping!! Happy, safe travels everyone and thank you so much! I knew I could count on you!


Laura & Tom

[cwf]

Get paid for loss time and depreciation... Say50%

[carver 1]

Laura,

What ever you do I would suggest STRONGLY that you have it repaired by an Airstream Dealer with more experience than Tampa RV. If it was my trailer I would contact JD Sanders .

[66coupe]

When we paid for our 2015 International in November, 2014, we arrived at the dealer (Safford RV in Stafford, VA) to be told a yard worker had accidentally backed our NEW trailer into another RV, breaking the door-side corner window and creasing the aluminum corner. We were fortunate that we had planned to have the dealer keep and store the unit until the weather warmed up, and there was thus time for them to repair it there. Repair properly done, no sign of damage, no leaks, proper craftsmanship and no debris or glass shards left anywhere.

Living in the DC area, we have no basis to judge dealers or repairers elsewhere, such as Tampa. Before we purchased, we researched Airstream dealers in NJ, PA and Safford in Virginia. All the dealers we researched, including Safford, had a segment of their feedback from customers which urged others not to use that dealer, and recounted incidents of poor behavior or bad business practices by the dealer.

I figured if I'm going to risk a problem, I'll do it on the closest dealer. We gritted our teeth and used Safford, with OK results so far - in fact the trailer was well-enough manufactured and readied for delivery that the only quibble I have after 4-5 camping trips is a slightly misaligned cabinet door, not worth a dealer trip until there's another issue worthy of a visit. Everything else works as advertised, a pretty good performance for machinery as complex as an Airstream. Put another way, things I thought at first were QC or dealer-visit issues turned out to be my operator error, corrected with some research and experience.

Safford at that time (late 2014) had a poor reputation, but had recently hired a new Airstream-specific sales manager, sales staff and maintenance personnel. In other words, they had (have) something to prove. Let's hope we continue to not need 'em.

66 coupe

[369goose]

Ditto Carver 1. Check with a dealer with more experience & better CS

[akjam]

I would not register a claim with my insurance company. Insurance companies maintain a database that is accessible to all of them and they report all issues whether or not they pay a claim. It is sort of like having a negative mark on your credit report. May not make any difference in the end by why take the chance if you expect to get paid by the storage company's insurer?Jim

[B00merang]

Carver 1
I'm not sure about JDSanders...they kept my AS for a week to work on the AC after they identified the problem, but turned out they mis-diagnosed it. So it took a second week to install an entire new unit...had to stay in a motel/with friends for those two weeks. Then they charged 2 hrs more than comparable dealers. Kinda soured me on these folks. jon

[07007]

We were full time in an Allegro 43' bus. When we had problems we brought of authorized dealers and almost every time we had problems with the dealer damaged our RV. We estimate 6 months over 6 years were spent at repair shop all over the country. Almost every repair was covered by the dealer, our warrantee, or the factory. But the lost time and sleeping on a dealers lot was difficult. The last time was in Portland Or. when a worker was moving a 5th wheel and broke off the passenger side mirror which swung down scrapping the entire front right side of the RV which was the final straw. We were looking at a month to get parts, repair and paint job and near the end of our original 5 year $3000 warrantee and looking at a 3 yr warrantee would cost $8000 minimum. So we said screw it and sold the Bus and purchased our AS. We had a problem with the black water tank leaking eeek and brought it to an authorized AS dealer in Boise Id who fixed it, at no charge.

We again had a problem on a trip to the keys with the black water tank leaking.

We were in a tight time fix having made campground reservation up to NY and back home via Nashville beginning 8/6.

I Called J D Sanders, Inc in Alachua, Fl who said it would be difficult to get the AS fixed by 8/6 but they would try hard to do it. I took it there anyway on 7/10/15 and the dealer got it fix on 7/17/15 almost 3 weeks b4 we had to leave. They filled the tank 3 times and emptied it to be sure it didn't leak. Wel'll see how the fix works on our trip.

So Lake Placid is not so far from Alachua. For when you need to get your AS fixed or when your next repair is needed give them a call. They about 4 miles off I-75

[07007]

I guess the bottom line is a dealer is a dealer and maybe a wheeler dealer. But my experience was good sorry yours wasn't. Good luck and let us know the final result of the first of hopefully not many issues you may have in the future.

[hank1953]

I would plan a vacation to the mothership for repairs in Ohio. Their fault so they should pay everything for repairs exactly as it was originally plus depreciation. If necessary an attorney letter would be well worth the cost. Just picked up our 19' ASFC last week and can only imagine how that first dent hurts. Chalk it up to character and camp on.........
Good Luck!