2015 30 ft International CCD poor quality control issues

[xrvr]

I agree with Doug on this. Sometimes I also think AS buyers suffer from buyers remorse.

[dkottum]

I can take it, survived cancer late in life and war early. These guys are small stuff, there are plenty of good folks on this forum.

[PaulnGina]

Originally Posted by dkottum

I can take it, survived cancer late in life and war early. These guys are small stuff, there are plenty of good folks on this forum.

Now that's getting personal and I don't appreciate it.

It was a funny comment. Lighten up.

[AraExpress]

Originally Posted by Moflash

They should have taken care of it when they built it.There is no excuse for sloppy workmanship from a mfg like Airstream.No inspection process in place after final assembly?

In the above instance they should send a truck to pickup this mans trailer and deliver it back to him fixed with a apology gift.

This makes "Made in America" look bad in this day and age.Very sad.

I agree with you. If my new 2015 Airstream arrives in this condition, I will call the factory from the dealership and request that they pick it up, fix it, and deliver it back to me. I am 950 miles from the factory.

[m.hony]

They might do just that. They sent me a $100 gift card.
I agree they should be built better, built they are built better than others and they will fix it.

[m.hony]

Dave Schuman called me and asked me what it would take to make me happy-
I have been asked a couple of times by people at Airstream if I full time in it. Should that matter?

[Airline]

What do the People in Germany,UK,Japan and Austrailia do with these type
of problems with thier brand new Airstreams ?

Just take it back to JC to get things fixed ???

[n2916s]

There are good, conscientious, honest dealerships out there that will attend to warranty issues no questions asked and will pretty much dive into any problem, even on old rigs like mine (it is old enough to be old but not old enough to be Classic...) One is JD Sanders in Alachua. I am sure there are others.

I am certain there has to be someone in Europe with the same business ethics.

To the OP: the bottom line is that for all its possible faults (which are certainly not universal), once the rig is dialed in, it will roll and roll and roll, down generations if cared for.

I was never one of the "cool" kids until I started towing an Airstream. You pull a shiny new one or a really shiny old one through any campground on Earth and you are a rock star. Even mine gets double takes.

M

[rostam]

They seem to have skilled, dedicated people at JC that fix the trailers when you take them there. The questions is: why can't they catch these issues beforehand, and have them fixed by the same skilled, dedicated folks? This looks more like a process issue to me.

[kb0zke]

This seems to be an industry-wide problem. I remember when American cars started going to pot (think gap under the door big enough to put your hand through). Sales of imports soared and sales of domestic models sank. Remember what happened after that? American brands started getting serious about quality, and look at where they are now.

Too bad there aren't the imports to challenge the domestic products. As long as RV manufacturers can sell all the products they can produce, poor quality and all, why should they change? I suspect that if even one manufacturer would decide that they wouldn't allow a coach out the door that wasn't as perfect as humanly possible, the others would have to follow suit. That would at least make sure that the coaches would be in good condition when the transporter picked them up. Then, the factory should PAY dealers to do a thorough PDI, fixing whatever was damaged on the way.

Will this raise the price of those coaches? Maybe. If the manufacturer was really smart they would realize that by NOT raising prices they would soon have a waiting list for their coaches.

I know I'll never be in a position to buy a new coach, so all of this is only an interesting discussion for me. However, I do hope to buy at least one more used coach, and it will be a high quality one. I understand that there is a reason why a used coach is for sale, and it may well be unresolved quality issues, but with the Internet it is less of a problem since there will be discussion about those issues and I can avoid such coaches.

[switz]

I was at the factory every day (2 to 18 JAN 2014) our Classic was on the assembly line. I caught the wrong flooring and lack of backspash in the bathroom while there was time to fix it. I photoed the crossed duct work just before the kichen sink cabinet was installed. There was a lack of heat output in the bedroom on the test night trip and I showed the photo of the problem area to the dealer and he was able to uncross the ducts to a degree.

QC issues were personally shown to the QC supervisor while still five spaces away from the end of the assembly line and followed up by email that day. The issues were still not addressed when the coach arrived at the dealer two weeks later.

Trying to crank out 52 units per week in that small floor space had workers on top of each other and no time to double check their work - thus the power inlet wire torque issue recall in 2014.

The overall unit seems to be structerally sound and finished pretty well (a few runs in the varnish on the hickory cabinets not withstanding). While having the solar system installed, I paid the third party installer (a restorer of vintage Airstreams) to properly repair all the warranty issues.

These houses on wheels will potentially have every issue a fixed home can have made more probable by bouncing down the road.

We love our Airstream warts and all.

It will certainly last longer than I will at age 70.

[Slympicins]

All RV's are more or less rolling earthquakes. Great forum here and I thank you for all the responses. As for the QC from most dealers, the majority are trying to push out units as fast as they can to keep the profit margin up. There are a few dealers that take pride in every sale that make and make sure every unit is perfect when it's hooked up behind your TV. As for salesman, well...they are just that. Kinda like a good lawyer. I have been talking to a salesman that believes he is the second coming of all salesman. Im holding off till we can narrow down who, what, where and when we find the right dealer.

[ghaynes755]

Airline in Europe there is one primary dealer in Germany and another in the UK. Shells are shipped to Roka Werks who outfit the trailer. They also do kitchen/food stand AS's. So in some ways worse than the US where we do have a dealer network. Not sure about the APJ region. You can see the EU trailers at Home: Roka Werk GmbH – Mobile Systeme für die Gastronomie | Imbissanhänger Verkaufsanhänger Grillanhänger Schankwagen Promotionanhänger

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by Slympicins

All RV's are more or less rolling earthquakes. Great forum here and I thank you for all the responses. As for the QC from most dealers, the majority are trying to push out units as fast as they can to keep the profit margin up. There are a few dealers that take pride in every sale that make and make sure every unit is perfect when it's hooked up behind your TV. As for salesman, well...they are just that. Kinda like a good lawyer. I have been talking to a salesman that believes he is the second coming of all salesman. Im holding off till we can narrow down who, what, where and when we find the right dealer.

Dealers, CAR and RV, seem to be just starting to get the power of the online review. Even Colonial gets a few negative ones - but they at least make an effort - and they get a lot of repeat business because of it. "Stupid, Greedy, and self-defeating" isn't a nice profile for a dealer to have, but the ones who let sales people talk to a client who will buy a new $100K RV every 5 to 10 years and who don't get that THAT kind of repeat business is SERIOUS are stupid, greedy and self-defeating.

Here's my CAR dealer story. I've nearly succumbed to temptation again - a GMC 2500 Diesel is calling my name - but the first dealer I visited had 65 Google reviews. 47 of them were from WOMEN who had a bad experience with the dealer - refusing to do warranty work, charging for recall work, taking the car or truck for 2 weeks and NOT doing any work on it... 2 women and all of the reviews from the male customers were 2.5 to 5.0

I was already on the floor when my intuition (B. S. detector) started alarming, then I checked the dealer out online. I'd already been passed to the sales manager since I indicated that I'd be paying cash for a 2015...
He didn't step away when I paused the process and googled his dealership - and tried to tell me that the negatives were all "one crackpot" using multiple names (clearly not the case). I merely walked to the door saying "dead sale walking, kiss my $50K goodbye". Problem is that I checked every other GMC dealer in a 25 mile radius and the results weren't much better... the rest were just missing the male/female bias with crap service being equal opportunity.

There is ONE CHEVY dealer who has a good rep, and who cheerfully does warranty work on GMC trucks, so I guess I'll call them and see if they CAN sell me a GMC Badged truck.

Every business will get a bad review or two - but when they line up 3 or 5 a month and the "good ones" are ... well diametrically opposed to the bad ones and sound like they've been written by a Madison Ave type, well that makes the good ones suspicious too. Oh and don't forget the venerable old BBB reviews either. They report the business' reaction and resolution (and extenuating circumstances (our business got a bad review by a customer whose service was terminated for paying us late - with a bad check.)

Paula

[BAB]

I am most certainly NOT on Airstream's payroll, but I took delivery of a '15 Classic on 30 January. The dealer caught a few minor flaws (primarily some missing screws on the bottom of the front window covering mount. I am perplexed by the window lift knobs that stick out too far and prevent you from easily lowering the window shades. But, that's it. Oh, I have been in/out/up/down and inside everything I can get at and I didn't find any litter, rivet tails, or detritus. Even the roof caulking was done neatly and with care. I expect to have a few issues in the next 2 years, but I had that with my '12 Int'l as well. I am more than impressed with the incredible fit and finish of the cherry cabinetry. Everything fits perfectly....and if you've ever tried to cut and fit wood in an Airstream you know what a challenge that can be.

[Slympicins]

We have a Ford dealership here in town and I have been a dedicated Ford owner for years. I dropped by to look at a new truck and spoken to the salesman. I left shortly thereafter. I walked in the Dodge lot and a shop person saw me looking at a new truck. As he walked by he said if you want to take it for a ride, I can get you the keys. They have been outstanding in every way. I'm now driving my 2nd Ram 2500 crew 4x4 deisel Lariat. If only I could find an Airstream dealer that could come close to that Dodge dealership. Our local dealership is lacking most of that and wants to send their kids to medical school on one deal. Any ideas on a dealership?

[Moflash]

Is Airstream a full Union shop? if so that may explain a few things.

[Slympicins]

Maybe read through this about the UAW and Airstream.
http://openjurist.org/877/f2d/1291/a...elations-board

[AWCHIEF]

That document seems a bit out of date and makes the union bosses seem like a bunch of spoiled brats. Has anything changed? I was under the impression that Airstream is still a non union company by the wishes of the employees.

[Slympicins]

I haven't found anything recent but it appears the UAW was going after that market.
Volkswagon here in Tennessee almost fell to the UAW but the employees fought to keep them out as well.
Go Navy!!!