I am a Newbie

[D M Miller]

I put down on my profile that my Airstream is a 1972 Ambassador, but that really is what my father and mother owned. He was a teacher, and as a family we went tent camping every summer for months at a time. He finally could afford a travel trailer, and got a Scotty after I graduated from high school. But his dream was always to own an Airstream.

Finally he retired, sold the house, and bought a brand new 1972 Airstream Ambassador in Lansing, Michigan. The price was $10,752.72. I have the original MSRP sheet, and the base price was $9,395.00.

My parents moved into the Airstream and traveled around the country full time, living aboard from early 1972 until late 1978. They loved the lifestyle, and I never heard him complain about the quality of the trailer. Whenever something went wrong, he took the trailer to an Airstream dealer and got prompt service.

My dad kept a detailed log of his travels and expenses. Many campgrounds back then cost $3 or $4 per day for full hookup. Some were higher, up to $9 per day. When poor health finally caused him to hang it up in 1978, he had put 37,521 miles on the trailer.

Sadly, he put it up for sale on consignment for $6,000 with an Airstream dealer in Florida who sold it and didn't give my dad the money. My dad was pretty well house bound by then with his illness, so I tried to get the money for him. I had the choice of putting the dealer in jail or working out a payment plan. He agreed to a payment plan, then promptly went bankrupt, and there went my opportunity to put him in the tank.

I've been wanting to get a smaller Airstream, but I've been concerned about some of the quality issues that have been discussed on these forums. I don't remember my dad ever complaining about quality. Once in awhile something would break, but that seemed to be a rare thing.

So I'm debating now: should I buy a new one or a used one? And if a used one, how far back do you have to go to find that quality my dad loved so much?

[LucaBluPlus2]

That was a very nice story, thanks for sharing.

I can only speak about newer trailers as we acquired a 2014 Flying Cloud 25fb early in May. An Airstream was always a dream so we did not look at other brands. I too was concerned about some of the issues I have read about. I did not want problems with such a large investment as I had a somewhat reluctant husband and needed to "sell" him a bit on how GREAT is was going to be.

Turns out I was right! (Phewww) after taking delivery and spending about ten nights testing everything, the only issue is that one of our three stove burners doesn't seem to want to do its job. In other words, it won't light. No big deal and we are very happy with the quality of our new shiny trailer.

I say you should go for it!

[D M Miller]

Carrie: thanks for your input. I'm glad it's working out for you. My dad had typical problems over the several years he owned his, but none of them were serious - like leaks!

[polarlyse]

My vote is for a lightly used, properly stored, older couple ( no kids ), no pets unit. Yes they are out there. You may need to expand your search a bit and be prepared to drive to make your inspections. Beware of internet deals that " sound too good to be true" trust me, THEY ARE. Both of our AS's have been bought used. First one a 1985 and purchased from a stranger worked out nicely for 4 years. As claimed, all systems worked. I did need to do some repairs and maintenance but nothing not expected. Our second, and current, one was purchased from a friend and literally as close to new as you can get with a 10 year old Airstream. So do your searching and you will know it when you find it.

[Flying Gypsies]

in 2011, we bought an almost brand new 2006 Classic 31 and WE LOVE IT! Agree with Polarlyse on the lightly used. We recently retired and have been living in our Airstream for the past month- there is nothing else I could want or need. All traveling homes will eventually have issues requiring maintenance, but we have friends who bought brand new white square boxes or $250,000+ motorhomes that had issues right off the lot- they have never loved their units like we love our Airstream. And the Airstream community is not to be taken lightly- you will get help here whenever you ask....Look around for the right one and go for it!