Why an Airstream?

[dkottum]

And when they break (they all do) they are worth fixing.

[Wingeezer]

..... and people will actually ask you "Do they still make those?!

[martian]

Marcin,

I recently purchased a new Airstream Flying Cloud after owning two fiberglass clad trailers. The Airstream is well designed and definitely of higher quality. But as noted by others its not perfect and I've needed some minor warranty work. I can tell you that the Airstream pulls like a dream getting you there safer at less cost (better gas mileage). My tow vehicle is a Sequoia with the same engine as yours.

Now is a good time to buy new in my view because dealers are discounting the MSRP. I'll leave it to you to negotiate the price but double digit discounts are out there now.

Welcome to the Forum and wish you the best in your trailer quest.

[Wayward]

Originally Posted by Marcin

I am not sure why (except to be a part of the culture) should one spend the extra money to purchase an AS? Could you please provide me with some objective reasons. Thank you for your help. M

I've been sitting here trying to come up with one or two. Sorry, can't come up with a single objective one.

Here are a few things you might make into rows on the spread sheet. Then ask the folks here what dollar amount they'd put in the Airstream column.....

- The smile on your face every time you look in the rearview mirror
- A trailer that takes on the color and hues of the world around it - of the sunset, the beach, the sky and the mountains, wherever you park it.
- Not having to say longingly, "damn I wish I'd bought the Airstream" every time you pass one on the highway.
- Campfire reflecting off the aluminum skin on a chilly night.
- The look, feel and sound of that heavy handcrafted aluminum,door.
- Curved curves
- Equally adept at a romantic mountain weekend as it is a family vacation to Dollywood.
- Pictures of you and your kids camping with the shiny Airstream.
- Watching your kids show their kids those pictures 30 years from now, remembering how cool a time they had camping .
- Art you can live in.
- Glow of the interior aluminum skin as the morning sun streams through the port hole windows.
- A trailer that goes just as well with Merlot and Filet Mignon as with beer n' brats.
- Someone coming up and saying "I didn't know they made those anymore"
- Stopping to look back over your shoulder every time you walk away from the rig.

[Zia]

Beside an Icon and folks any where admire the bullet. Its aerodynamic shape, low center of gravity and light weight makes it unique which translate into ease of towability, low milleage and safer trailer
Can't justify the price, but if you can efford it then why not

[Cantrell]

Someone I know (who will remain nameless because he is related to me) lost control of his few year old box trailer while coming out of the mountains of South Carolina on an interstate. The tow vehicle went left into the wide, grassy median at interstate speed. The trailer disconnected from the tow vehicle in the median. The tv went across the other side of the interstate and plowed into an oak tree. The box trailer, now on its own, airborne, and left to the merciless forces of physics, twirled in the air and landed on the interstate on the oncoming traffic side and basically shattered (for lack of a better word). There was little left but a mangled frame and thousands of chunks of wood, pressboard, and plastic. The tow truck company used a snow shovel to scrape much of this trailer into a pile. Luckily, no one in the tow vehicle was seriously injured and no one was in the opposing lane at the time. Quite lucky all around. I saw the pictures of the scene at the interstate and the pile of wreckage at the junkyard. It was sad.

I don't know how Keystones are built specifically, but many box trailers are 2x2 wood sticks stapled together with some kind of covering on the exterior and interior. They don't hold up well in stressful situations like I described above. It has always puzzled me that people will pay big money for an rv with bones of wood but wouldn't give a car with bones of wood a second glance.

My point is that SAFETY is another reason to choose an Airstream. Not only do they have a lower center of gravity than most box trailers but the curved shape allows air to flow around them in a stable manner giving you very predictable towing characteristics. It would be my contention that the accident above could have been avoided altogether had he been towing an Airstream.

If the accident did occur with an Airtsream in place of the box trailer, the Airstream would have undoubtedly still been in one piece. Crumpled certainly but in one piece.

The semi-monocoque constuction of Airstreams is extremely strong--one reason they hold up for so long.

If for no other reason than safety, I would rather be towing a 20 year old Airstream than a brand new Keystone--which is, in fact, what I do.

Just food for thought.

[Gator113]

I had typed up what I thought might be a fun yet helpful post. It took me about 40 minutes to type and with the accidental hit of one button, POOF.

Oh well. I will leave you with only this.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, Live the life you've imagined."--Henry David Thoreau

There are some folks that think they are alive just because their heart is beating, but some of us need much more.

Best to you....

[greywolf]

I agree with Blakradish. Though an Airstream can last 50 years or more, if you aren't going to use it much then you could afford to replace a cheaper brand every 10-15 years and still come out cheaper over your lifespan.

As far as the "culture" and all that is concerned, I certainly wouldn't recommend buying an Airstream just so you can join the WBCCI. You have to really check out each unit and see if they're people you want to associate with. There's reasons why many choose not to belong to the WBCCI, but that's why there's other options available to asociate with other Airstream owners, the Forum and TAC being just a couple of them.

[AirsDream]

Well, one "answer" comes from watching this little movie:

Airstream, Inc :: Why Buy?

I can't speak for other trailers, but I can tell you that with a properly set up hitch and appropriate weight distribution, mine tows like it's on rails behind me ... and I've had to make a few "exciting" maneuvers over the years that turned out just fine - and not nearly as exciting as they might have been.

Then too, as others have pointed out, there is that "uniqueness" factor. You'll see a lot of white boxes going down the road, but not too many of these shiny bullets. And you'll smile at every one you see.

[snakyjake]

In some light research, it seems one can buy a brand new cheaper & larger trailer and replace it every 10 years with another brand new trailer. After 30 years you'll break even with an Airstream.

Why buy an Airstream? Because some people love the way it's built (like an airplane), Wally Byam, WBCC, icon/vintage, pride of ownership, and easy to tow.

As I've looked to purchase, there seems to be an Airstream cult following like there is for Harley Davidson, just a different generation.

I think for me, the WBCC might be worth it.

[Denis4x4]

Several weeks ago, there were three AS owners in a USFS campground and we were discussing what we would buy to replace our Airstreams. Evergreen was a unanimous choice. Quite frankly, the perceived value of an AS doesn't live up to the price tag in my opinion.

I reread your post and note that you have a 2 year old. I'd try out several different inexpensive units over the next 8 years and make sure that this is a lifestyle you want to persue.

[Gringo]

I'd have to agree with Denis4x4 on that last part. If you haven't yet gone through the early learning curves of camping as a form of vacation, maybe it would make sense to pick up something a lot less money for a year or two, to see if you are cut out for that kind of travel. Not everybody is.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Marcin, you can google to find out somethings. There was and maybe is a website that had reviews, but I haven't looked for a few years and can't find it today. It seems a few of the higher quality manufacturers haven't survived the Great Recession.

There is a company that publishes ratings— Expert RV Ratings & Unbiased RV Reviews I don't know if they are accurate. You have to buy the book. Some review websites seem useless for useful info. For example, this one ( Airstream RV : Airstream Reviews, Prices and Specs ) looks like ads for Airstreams rather than valid reviews.

There are some newer brands that are designed with a lower coefficient of drag than the standard white box. Some are green, some have better floor plans, some have better insulation. Whether they will last will take years to discover. I believe one brand is Evergreen for a green trailer. Arctic Fox is built for cold climates, but good insulation helps in every climate.

This isn't as easy at buying the annual auto edition of Consumer Reports and getting reviews based on years of experience and viewpoints of thousands of customers.

A lot of us believe that if you pay a premium price you should get a premium product and that Airstream has not lived up to its part of the bargain. Nonetheless, few of us are selling them. We fix them, get the warranty repairs, improve them, make them our own. If you are into a design icon that tows easily, it can be a good choice. If I knew in 2007 what I know now, I would have looked for a fairly new used one, or I would have spent more time learning and then looking for that good used one. Now I would also look at some other brands that are advancing the technology, something much less of an option 4 years ago.

My wife wanted an Airstream. I wanted to get her what she wanted, but neither of us knew about possible alternatives then. To us functional and attractive design is very important and Airstream does have that type of design. We also like Art Deco and Airstream is somewhat in that tradition.

Gene

Gene and Wingeezer have brought up some very valid points.

As Chas. Brown said..."If I knew then what I know Know"
...I would have seriously looked harder at gently used AS's.

But there are other options out there...

Bob

[Chasmorgan]

An Airstream is just plain Cool!

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Chasmorgan

An Airstream is just plain Cool!

There's a lot to that. A couple of years ago we stopped to change drivers and someone came over to us. He told us he was interested in buying an Airstream and wanted to know how we felt about ours.

We were coming back from JC to get numerous warranty repairs made. I was not happy with the number of things breaking and the hassles involved with it. All I could think of at that moment was: "they look cool".

Wayward's post sums up a lot of the coolness factor too.

To some that is all they need, and it is a lot.

I think a lot of us have mulled over our decisions to buy Airstreams many times. When something was breaking every day in the first year or so, I was beginning to hate the trailer. We discussed whether to sell it, but we would lose too much money doing that. The cool factor certainly was part of our decision to keep it. It is nice to have something special and distinctive. It is also a shame the manufacturer has not been a good steward of the brand because of it's cost cutting efforts and lack of imagination.

A lot is made of how long Airstreams last. Old ones have lasted, but we don't know how long the ones made during cost cutting times will last. We do know many white boxes are crap. To us, a trailer that lasts 50 years means nothing since it will have been sold long before 50 years (the only way I'll be traveling in an Airstream in 50 years is in an urn), but to younger people, it is a consideration (if the newer ones do last). There's something to be said for buying a cheaper trailer to check out this kind of lifestyle, maybe something like a Casita or a hybrid—part hard sided and part popup.

Gene

[fmr.capt.evi]

....don't get me started on the quality of today's urns.

[Skater]

For me, it's the style and the quality.

We recently bought a '95 Airstream. How many other brands would you even CONSIDER something that old?

It comes down to how they're built: Airstream builds the shell, checks for leaks, then installs the interior. Other campers build from the ground up - all of the interior is built on the frame, then the exterior walls are installed, then the ceiling, then they check it for leaks.

My issue with the latter is that now there are interior pieces that basically are stuck in the trailer for the life of the trailer; whereas EVERYTHING can come out of an Airstream, because it all went in through the door. Which one lends itself to better longevity? It seems many trailers are built to be in service for only 10 years or so, then trashed. Airstreams are not.

[Skater]

And, really, what other RV company would do this?

(Dave Schumann "Schu" is Airstream's Customer Relations manager. He went and found the trailer on the line and took some pictures for the buyers since they couldn't get to Jackson Center to see it themselves.)

[Gringo]

cause nobody makes anything better that a normal family can afford?

well, I guess 'normal' is a flexible interpretation, but those big Mogs and stuff are megabucks. That's expedition material. Or for families like the founder of Microsoft who want to go tour some country they own.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Originally Posted by Marcin

Hi to all,

My wife and I (we have a 2 year old daughter) have decided to purchase a travel trailer in order to discover more of the US and Canada. We plan on camping 4 weeks in a year, plus occasional long weekends. We have a 2010 Tundra V8-5.7L. I was researching different trailers online, obviously the AS look great. They are, however, way more expensive than anything else. I can buy a Keystone of the same size as an AS for 1/3 the price. I am not sure why (except to be a part of the culture) should one spend the extra money to purchase an AS? Could you please provide me with some objective reasons. Thank you for your help. M

You can buy a 26 footer with three plasma tv's for less than 15k. If it is about the $ you will never find a justification.