First year of ownership

[awoollie]

We just had our Airstream anniversary and thought I would share our experience through the first year. We are in our mid 30s, work full time and have two kids ages 5 and almost 2. We live in Houston and bought a Flying Cloud 25FB from Camper Clinic II in the Austin area.

Buying experience was good but the dealership didn't do a very thorough job of checking the trailer before handing it over. Our first trip was 10 days to CO and on the way back we dropped it off for:

1) lights over dinette not working
2) water pump broken
3) batteries dead
4) broken break away cable
5) outdoor shower not working
6) rock guard seal messed up
7) leaking faucet under the sink

Since then it's been to the Holiday World in Houston for multiple reasons, listed below.

8) One of the ACs replaced (took two trips to get it replaced and has to go back as they didn't activate the furnace option when replaced it)
9) Water pump replaced...again
10) Bedroom wall with TV was not secured to the frame and had to be fastened with brackets
11) Toilet lever broke
12) One of the bed lifts broke off so had to be replaced so we could lift and lower it
13) Outside chrome insert on the back came off
14) Leak under the sink had to be fixed again
15) Has to go in for sewer smell in the closet
16) Has to go in for dinette seat trim pulled off by dinette stopper not installed correctly
17) Has to go in for shower temp not mixing (either super hot or cold)

Even with all the issues we've gotten to use it a lot - about 6,000 miles and 32 nights. Having owned it for a bit, we wish we would have gotten a 28 or 30 foot model so we could have a separate couch and dinette but we will make ours work for a while longer. Maybe as the kids get older we'll get the bunk model.

[Martee]

Awoollee, sorry about your 1st year problems with your Airstream. I also purchased an Airstream 2018 FC 25FBT; and had some 1st year problems with my trailer. I live in Waco, Texas.

I will add that I purchased from Colonial Airstream in Lakewood NJ primarily due to their exceptional dealer prep of trailers.
I also have family in nearby New York State. So I took delivery last October, 2017. I have put the trailer to moderate use with 86 nights of use and 10,800 miles travel.

Things that went wrong:

1. Hot water heater (Atwood) went out in fourth month. Replaced mixing valve on back of water heater. Help on this forum was incredible.... and made the repair in under 24hrs.

2. The bathroom mirror door latch screws pulled out in 7 month and made repair using epoxy and larger screws.

Thats it. That's all the problems I have had in my first year of ownership. I am certain that dealer prep played a large part of this happy ownership.

[rowiebowie]

Both of you have a success story to tell, to some extent.

Despite problems you remain positive about your Airstreams and most likely will have many future trouble-free miles ahead of you.

Happy travels!

[mpsgolf]

Wow, sorry to hear about all your issues.

We started with a 2006 Flying Cloud 25’ we bought used. We had very few problems. We upgraded to a new 2015 International 18’ we bought from Airstream Adventures in Tacoma WA. The dealer checked/prepped it well I guess and we’ve had few issues.

So hang in there! Your kids will have great memories of going camping and all of all the things they’ll see and experience. We’ve put a total of almost 20,000 miles on the two and are extremely happy we took the plunge.

Have fun and be SAFE!

[awoollie]

Martee, I’ll research here about replacing the mixing valve on my own, I’d rather not take it back to the dealer, thanks for that.

I should have ended that first post more positive. I appreciate everyone’s input here so wanted to contribute and share our experience to this point. We do enjoy the trailer and have already created some really good memories. I’ve owned boats since college so I knew we were going to have issues, we’ve been very patient with them so far. It would defeat the purpose to get pissed off each time something broke. All in all we still wouldn’t have bought another brand and are happy with our decision.

[AirstreamInc]

Originally Posted by awoollie

We just had our Airstream anniversary and thought I would share our experience through the first year. We are in our mid 30s, work full time and have two kids ages 5 and almost 2. We live in Houston and bought a Flying Cloud 25FB from Camper Clinic II in the Austin area.

Buying experience was good but the dealership didn't do a very thorough job of checking the trailer before handing it over. Our first trip was 10 days to CO and on the way back we dropped it off for:

1) lights over dinette not working
2) water pump broken
3) batteries dead
4) broken break away cable
5) outdoor shower not working
6) rock guard seal messed up
7) leaking faucet under the sink

Since then it's been to the Holiday World in Houston for multiple reasons, listed below.

8) One of the ACs replaced (took two trips to get it replaced and has to go back as they didn't activate the furnace option when replaced it)
9) Water pump replaced...again
10) Bedroom wall with TV was not secured to the frame and had to be fastened with brackets
11) Toilet lever broke
12) One of the bed lifts broke off so had to be replaced so we could lift and lower it
13) Outside chrome insert on the back came off
14) Leak under the sink had to be fixed again
15) Has to go in for sewer smell in the closet
16) Has to go in for dinette seat trim pulled off by dinette stopper not installed correctly
17) Has to go in for shower temp not mixing (either super hot or cold)

Even with all the issues we've gotten to use it a lot - about 6,000 miles and 32 nights. Having owned it for a bit, we wish we would have gotten a 28 or 30 foot model so we could have a separate couch and dinette but we will make ours work for a while longer. Maybe as the kids get older we'll get the bunk model.

Hi awoollie and Martee,

We're very sorry to learn about the issues you have had. If you need any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to 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

Thank you.