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Gene · 06-06-2012, 10:43 AM

Sad to see how this worked out, though I'm unsure exactly what happened. Did you sell it to the BC dealer out of frustration? It seems a couple of months ago you were happy with JC's response and everything was getting solved. Then there was a dispute over getting the trailer to JC?

In nearly 5 years on this Forum, this is the 2nd hopelessly leaking new Airstream I can remember that the owner got rid of. There may be others considering the state of my memory.

I don't know what you can do legally, although I believe Canada has better consumer protection laws than the US. It sounds like you bought it in the US and may have to deal with that state's laws.

Gene

xrvr · 06-06-2012, 11:38 AM

If you took your GM car to a Ford dealer would you expect them to fix it, then why would a non AS dealer fix your AS under warranty? Again am I missing something here? Jim

ROBERT CROSS · 06-06-2012, 12:32 PM

Jim,

Possibly, as there are not an abundance of AS dealers to go to, and there are quite a few here who have had to travel to repair centers who are not AS dealers to have warranty concerns repaired.

It's hard to follow the trail of this sad story. I do know there was a thread I posted on where the OP was planning on a trip to 'Palooza to have JC address the concerns, I don't think that trip ever happened.

One thing for certain....the ball was dropped.

Conjecture on our part doesn't help, if the OP feels the need, the facts should come from there. If not....we should let it rest.

Mojave,

Good Luck, tents can be kool too!!

Bob

xrvr · 06-06-2012, 12:39 PM

I agree, but to let a leaky trailer sit outside at a nonAS dealer for 6? Months is not smart. Jim

Airtandem · 06-06-2012, 01:10 PM

OK; where does the buck stop? We have Mojave, JC and a NON AS dealer. JC policy is to not patronize a non dealer (been there),Mojave letting the leaking unit set outside for 6 months at the dealer; so where does the fault lay? With ALL of them. Instead of leaving the unit set out, should have brought it home and protected it while a decision was made. The Non dealer for letting it set knowing the problem.And finally JC, but they gave an option and it was not followed; return to JC or the dealer where purchased. Problem is that there are a number of AS dealers that are NOT equipped to handle major repairs, namely body and structure. Heaters, AC, frig etc can be handled by any GOOD independent. Locally I have 2 good independent RV repair companies.
Anyway good luck on your camping experiences and be safe.
mike

xrvr · 06-06-2012, 01:12 PM

Any AS dealer can handle leaks. Jim

danlehosky · 06-06-2012, 01:25 PM

The AS dealers should be equipped and have the knowledge to fix anything on the coach. Again, shame on the mothership if this isn't so. What would you do if your Chevy dealer just wasn't capable if "difficult" repairs and told you to take it to Detroit. There should be specific and ongoing training to insure dealerships can represent these coaches in a professional manner...... Again JC what is your dealer training policy? Are new techs certified? Are all techs obligated to complete ongoing technical training to update their skills? Are dealerships evaluated and promoted based on service outcomes? Maybe the initial sale is more important.

Dan

xrvr · 06-06-2012, 01:38 PM

He did not take it to an AS dealer unless I am wrong. Jim

Bluto · 06-06-2012, 01:39 PM

Dan,
I bought my trailer in Texas and the techs at the Airstream dealership had just returned from JC and had completed tech training at the service facility. So I'd say yes, they do get training on Airstream repairs.

Bluto · 06-06-2012, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zigzagguzzi

He did not take it to an AS dealer unless I am wrong. Jim

At this point, I'm confused. Who knows?

xrvr · 06-06-2012, 01:51 PM

The dealership he took it to does not show up as an AS dealer, and their website confirms that. Again I may have misread. AHaving done similar things that cost me even more money than this I can feel the pain. Jim

Gene · 06-06-2012, 03:32 PM

There are a lot of unanswered issues. First, Mojave lives on the west side Vancouver Is. and it is quite a drive to the ferry, then a ferry trip to the Vancouver area and then to a dealer. There are 2 Airstream dealers in BC and that could easily be the 12 hour round trip he mentions in a post. Or, he could have come to Washington state where I think there is at least one dealer. He mentions it was brought to a "dealer" once and "repair shop" at least twice. I don't know how it was assumed he brought it somewhere else.

So, I doubt he went to a non-Airstream RV shop. Airstream does authorize people to go elsewhere if they are far from a dealer. I doubt many shops would want to mess with a complete rebuild of an Airstream interior unless they were an Airstream dealer and did body work.

We know it was sitting outside, but we don't know if it were covered. There seems to have been more damage during the stay at a dealer, but that is kind of unclear too. He says after a "few weeks" there was serious damage to the interior, so it didn't happen after or during 6 months, but pretty quickly.

There seems to have been a deal with JC to get it fixed at the dealer, but why it didn't happen, I don't know. Then there seems to have been an attempt to take it to JC for repair, but it didn't work within Mojave's schedule. Then he sold it, possibly out of frustration.

Maybe everyone has a part in this, but Airstream built the thing and it was a leaker. It seems like either the BC dealer or Airstream couldn't decide what to do and then it took forever to get the OK and parts. If a dealer knew it was a leaker, why didn't they protect it when they had it in their care? They have a duty to protect it—if they left the keys in the door and parked it in front with no gates or fences, they'd be responsible; this is the same.

Should Mojave have followed up? Seems like he did and kept getting put off. Then when he is finally told to do something, he is far away and can't. Maybe someone at Airstream handled it badly by suggesting he stop vacationing and bring it to JC, but maybe it was a misunderstanding—no way we can know.

After a while of getting what feels like the runaround, people move on to other things and can't waste time. They check from time to time as Mojave seems to have done. Eventually you cut your losses. I don't know whether Mojave did everything perfectly—hardly anyone does—but he seems to be the victim here.

I think he may have a case against the dealer if the dealer left it outside in the rain. He may have a case against Airstream. I doubt he will get damages for loss of use, but maybe damages for allowing the trailer to deteriorate. Since there will probably be a confidential settlement, we'll never know.

And, finally, Jim, what is this about a dealer website? Airstream has 2 dealers in BC—one in Langley (Traveland Leisure) and one in Penticton (Midtown)—according to Airstream.

Mojave

xrvr · 06-06-2012, 04:34 PM

On the other thread he said he took it to Triangle RV, not an AS dealer. Jim's

Gene · 06-06-2012, 04:48 PM

Jim, so that's it. Triangle RV is near Victoria on Vancouver Is., so that makes sense. The ferry is expensive, so RV owners on the island do not take their trailers off the island unless they really have to.

Vancouver Is. is a great place to visit and we've held off on that because the ferry costs so much.

Gene

Naper · 06-06-2012, 05:01 PM

Easy to see why Airstream might be reluctant to allow a non Airstream dealer do major repairs. Their techs have not been trained to work on Airstream products. If the problem is not repaired correctly Airstream will be on the hook.
This thread has way too many questions and we are only getting one side of the story.

SilverRanger · 06-06-2012, 08:03 PM

It's unfortunate things didn't work out for them. I recall how enthusiastic they were when they first came on the forums. There's too little information, at least for me, to draw any accurate conclusions.

Out of curiosity, and to fill in some blanks, I read back through some of the posts they made in the beginning. All of this is on the forums, so I hope I'm not in violation of some forum policy by compiling it.

It seems they bought the Airstream at Can-Am RV Centre in London, Ontario, and were happy with the purchase, and the dealer. Given the distance, I'm not surprised they didn't want to take it all the way back to where they bought it. Shortly after the purchase, they took a cross-country trip, during which they developed some kind of leak. They had planned to take it back to the mother ship during Alumapalooza, but didn't. Too bad they didn't make it, as Can-Am was there like they are every year, and Airstream was doing a lot of repairs. In fact, when we got there we scheduled our Bambi for some brake work, and they picked it up the next morning at 10:00, and we were out by 1:00. They (Mojave) were scheduled to be the entertainment at Alumapalooza on Thursday night, but cancelled due to unfortunate circumstances (according to the announcement by the organizer).

In the interest of accuracy (especially mine), I wish they would come back and fill in some of the blanks about how the leaks developed and how it was handled.

TG Twinkie · 06-06-2012, 09:37 PM

Gee! I thought A$'s we're built for outside use. Wonder what JC's excuse is when someone has one in storage and comes back in the spring to find the interior totally destroyed. Don't know but I'd bet they'd find any excuse to put off fixing it or blaming someone else.

tpi · 06-06-2012, 10:26 PM

To Mojave, I'll give a real plug to the Escape trailer, built in British Columbia. My sister bought the 19' unit. Its very nice, with queen bed in the back, dinette in the front, reasonable bathroom along the street side. The company was very accommodating, adding custom upholstery, wiring an inverter and putting several inverter outlets around the trailer. It appears to be nice quality, the electrical wiring is certainly neater than whats in my trailer. The trailer was expensive, shipped to CA and fully loaded over 30K. But if the Airstream is in your budget, the Escape could be too. Built locally to you would be a huge plus, return it to the factory for repairs. I would assume the method of construction would be less prone to leakage than Airstream.

She pulled it with a V6 4runner, got over 16 MPG on a trip through AZ, UT, NV and CA.

GettinAway · 06-07-2012, 05:24 AM

This is one of the strangest threads I've ever seen. I went back and forth between post 14 and 15 several times. There's about a 2 1/2 month gap between posts. The OP goes from waiting to see what's going to happen to taking a $20K loss.
I don't know if there were some posts that were deemed inappropriate, but there's too much missing information.
Hard to tell what happened IMHO..

ROBERT CROSS · 06-07-2012, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GettinAway

This is one of the strangest threads I've ever seen. I went back and forth between post 14 and 15 several times. There's about a 2 1/2 month gap between posts. The OP goes from waiting to see what's going to happen to taking a $20K loss.
I don't know if there were some posts that were deemed inappropriate, but there's too much missing information.
Hard to tell what happened IMHO..

EXACTLY....let's not specificate.

Bob