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AtomicKiwi · 06-17-2010, 03:36 PM

Just wondering how long everyone shopped for their Airstream before purchasing? And if you're still looking, how long have you been searching?

I'm getting very antsy and I've only been actively looking for about a week...

darlingbooks · 06-17-2010, 04:00 PM

I think we looked for about 6 or 8 months. We weren't a hundred percent sure we were going airstream. We decided we needed to find our tow vehicle first. Once we found it, used, we started looking for our airstream. We ended up driving 2000 miles to buy ours. It was an adventure! Now we live in it full time.

Anne Marie

JackMac · 06-17-2010, 04:01 PM

8 years

**Stefrobrts** · 06-17-2010, 04:08 PM

About six months of having trailers snapped up before I even had a chance to go look at them!

I recommend you watch your local CL, and get in touch with folks in your local WBCCI unit. If there are any airstreams for sale in the area, they'll know about it.

NicheVintage · 06-17-2010, 04:44 PM

2 years 7 mos. And well worth the wait.

janiemerle · 06-17-2010, 04:50 PM

five months of searching craigslist, ebay, classifieds, etc.

InsideOut · 06-17-2010, 05:09 PM

We were impulsive on both ours...

Maxwell - saw the ad, called within 10 minutes "just to go look at it..." came home with it shortly there after.

Birdy - saw the ad, went by without calling & made an offer, picked it up a couple of days later.

Shari

bobfowler · 06-17-2010, 05:18 PM

We didn't "shop" for our first Airstream (a 2007 Base Camp). I had an assignment photographing interiors at a newly renovated car dealership right down the street from Colonial. As I was passing by, the Base Camp caught my eye, and as I had some time to spare before the shoot, I stopped for a look. Patrick came out and gave me the tour and I was hooked. I brought my wife down the next day and we bought the trailer.

We spent a lot of time looking at other Airstream trailers, in person and in pictures, and decided that our next step would be something in the 20 foot size range. We really like the open space of the Globetrotter floor plan, but all the GTs we saw were either on the wrong side of the country or in too rough shape.

I was sitting in the airport waiting area in St Louis, waiting for a flight back to Newark when I found the Argosy 20 in the Airstream Forums classifieds. I showed the listing to Liz as soon as I got home and we made contact with the seller. We drove to North Carolina to take a look at the trailer. It was butt-ugly, so ugly it could stop a clock, but it was the perfect starting point to build the trailer we wanted - there was no place to go but up! The rest is history...

It was about 3 months from the time we started looking until we acquired the Argosy.

BTW - the much maligned Base Camp is a nice little trailer for camping at state parks where there are no hookups, though it's not very good when you're traveling and staying somewhere new every night. My favorite use of the Base Camp is for all-night astronomy outings in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

mutcth · 06-17-2010, 06:07 PM

I spent 14 months looking for ours. It took a while to decide which way I wanted to go - if I wanted a bigger trailer (which would have likely meant buying a 2nd car as a tow vehicle) or if I wanted to tow with what I owned.

I then visited several rallies and events as well as going to the dealer. I thought I had lucked out several times, finding a 2001 Bambi 16' only 20 miles away (with a rotted floor) and another Minuet near my home town (got bought sight-unseen a day before I could go buy it.)

I wound up buying a T@B teardrop, towing it cross-country, figuring out we liked RV camping, and then finally finding the trailer we have by just clicking through pages of a Google search. I'm glad I waited, although part of me regrets not buying a nice restored 60s Globetrotter I had seen...

Tom

**Kevin245** · 06-17-2010, 06:18 PM

It was Pop's for several years before we purchased it. Told him one day to let me know when he was ready to sell. A couple of years later he called and I wrote the check

I paid way too much but it'll never be enough to repay him for all he's done.

Kevin

Lothlorian · 06-17-2010, 06:41 PM

I shopped to two years for an R.V. trailer or motorhome. The airstream I bought was decided on price, location, and we liked the lay out.

Brian

kevin242 · 06-17-2010, 07:10 PM

Six months for us.

My brother-in-law posted "Airstream Wanted" ads everywhere in newspapers, internet sites, bulletin boards, etc... He got lots of calls (some junk, some too new), but ended up with a solid 1969 Overlander after about 2 years of looking. The sellers were about to put their trailer in the paper, but called him first. Guess who he competed with for this trailer - nobody! I think 'wanted' ads are way under used by serious shoppers!

68 TWind · 06-17-2010, 07:11 PM

I spend about 2 years watching Ebay, Craigslist, and the classifieds in area newspapers. Most things I found were too new and too expensive, too far away, or in too bad of shape. One day while on a bicycle ride not 10 miles from my house I saw an Airstream in a field with a for sale sign.It was a little rougher than I wanted, but the price was right and I didn't have to make a long recovery trip. Moral of the story, don't give up your search cause you never know where you will find your dream trailer.

RG Coleman · 06-17-2010, 07:15 PM

Five minutes. Saw it in the Spring 2007 Design Within Reach catalog and picked up the phone to put money down to hold it at the dealership...they were going fast!

Jezibels · 06-17-2010, 08:50 PM

Searched every single day for just over one year!

InsideOut · 06-17-2010, 08:54 PM

...as a matter of fact, the only two "for sale" trailers we ever looked at we bought!*

Shari

*Note to self...don't go to "just look" at any more "for sale" trailers...

Henny · 06-18-2010, 12:31 PM

Twelve years of ho-humming about what type of campmobile would best suit our needs.
Five of those years stopping at every Airstream dealership we came across. Bingo! We loved the 20' Safari layout. Large enough to be comfortable, small enough to make our inevitable U-turns.
Four years serious discussions - every one ending with "20' Safari Airstream".
Two months of searching every source available before we found the Pony Keg. Had to drive to Florida, but we enjoyed every mile.
Diane

AtomicKiwi · 06-18-2010, 01:07 PM

I think I have the Silver Fever.

I can't stop thinking of Airstreams. All I've been doing at work all week is looking them... Constantly checking eBay Motors, the classifieds, Craigslist. And I keep finding promising-looking Airstreams for sale in my area that are in my budget, and when I contact the seller, they tell me someone's already put a reserve on it! Is everyone else out there doing the same thing as me?

Why is it so hard to even get to the "going to look at it" stage? Everyone keeps beating me to it!

Sav'h Steve · 06-18-2010, 02:15 PM

My daughter told me about mine. But the seller wanted to sell old Lincoln and trailer as a Package - and with a price that would SCARE OFF anybody!!

I called and went 200 miles to visit. He was not able to use after a bad car accident and he was getting too old. But I spent a fair amount of time with him developing a relationship so that he would feel his *baby* would be in good hands.

Tried using the NADA price to get a better deal and he finally came down some, but said if any lower, he'd rather keep it. He had someone else in mind to sell the Town Car.

I came out with a recent coach that didn't need the extensive work that my gutted '63 Globetrotter needed. And it was much bigger. Only drawback was it's twins, but I have recently converted to a queen.

This was the first one that I really looked at but it was in pretty good shape.

Steve

**Stefrobrts** · 06-18-2010, 02:20 PM

This time of year, springtime, everyone is dying to get out and enjoy the weather, there is no 'going to look at it' phase with Airstreams. It's very competitive to get your hands on one, especially if you're looking for a smaller one, which are very popular! If you wait until fall the market won't be as competitive. People will have said, ok, that's our last summer, lets put it up for sale. Buyers won't necessarily be thinking about camping. That's the time to shop around. But in the spring, if you go see something you like, you'd better jump on it!

Our second Airstream was a Bambi we saw for sale 6 hours away, called as soon as the ad came out and said we were coming up to buy it, sight unseen. Drove the 6 hours and the guy said he'd had a bunch of other calls who wanted it sight unseen, but we'd called first so he was a decent guy and held it for us - which I was grateful for because that was a long drive! But what a crazy thing to do, go spend a few thousand dollars without even had a look at it! Worked out though, it was a nice little trailer, just needed some TLC.

I have to say, our Caravel was kind of a fluke - we put up a wanted ad. The guy called us, we ran down and looked at it, he was asking more than we had wanted to spend but he showed us all the appliances working, so we shook on it right then and there. I thought I had probably overspent a bit, and a couple years later we had replaced half the floor, the axle, and most of the appliances. But you know what? It was still a good deal. I love that trailer!