Back From Jackson Center!

[TheDuke]

I came home last Friday after spending a week at JC getting several "warranty" issues addressed and a few "custom touches" while I was there. First I just want to say that everyone there treated me very well during my stay. Brad, Chris and Steve in the front office. Jim the "master wood craftsman," wild Bill and Kevin the shop foreman. I apologize in advance because I know that I left some people out. I had several issues, mostly easy fixes. The main ones were a water leak, entry door, noisy range hood, noisy bedroom heat pump, all of which seem to be fixed. A few custom touches that I had added turned out to be a little more involved than we expected, but all in all everything went well. I also took the Factory tour and got to see the new expansion, also got to meet a couple of employees. A long week but I think we have everything taken care of for now, unless I decide to make some more changes?

[Boogieshoes]

So....even The Duke saw the advantage of being a Pilgrim once in a while!

Glad it went well; looking forward to making that pilgrimage as well some day soon; ours is due out of production in 27 days, not that we are counting...

[TheDuke]

Originally Posted by Boogieshoes

So....even The Duke saw the advantage of being a Pilgrim once in a while!

Glad it went well; looking forward to making that pilgrimage as well some day soon; ours is due out of production in 27 days, not that we are counting...

Whoa there pilgrim, take er easy. Yes I did. I wanted to get all of the warranty issues that I had found so far, fixed before I put her up for the winter. Hopefully this way she will be ready to roll come spring. I do feel that I had more than my share for a trailer that cost nearly $135,000.00. I had some discussions about this with several people while in JC. IMHO the emphasis has been on increasing production, rather than QC! Just my two cents worth. The service center is way behind and I saw a lot of new trailers in there for warranty issues, which I personally don't think is good.

[AWCHIEF]

Originally Posted by Boogieshoes

So....even The Duke saw the advantage of being a Pilgrim once in a while!

Glad it went well; looking forward to making that pilgrimage as well some day soon; ours is due out of production in 27 days, not that we are counting...

Are you going to go up and watch it come off the line? They can set that up for you if interested. Two couples were up doing that when I visited to have some work done. Both were taking delivery at Airstreams dealership about 50 miles away.

[martian]

Hmmm, so I'm wondering if the manufacturing side of Airstream would let the new trailer owner do his/her own quality inspection as the unit is coming off the production line? Anybody know the answer, just curious?

[AWCHIEF]

Originally Posted by martian

Hmmm, so I'm wondering if the manufacturing side of Airstream would let the new trailer owner do his/her own quality inspection as the unit is coming off the production line? Anybody know the answer, just curious?

Interesting thought. Never hurt to ask. But I would not expect much of a positive response as trailer technically does not belong to you at that point. At least it would give you a start on a punch list for your dealership service department.

[Guyel]

John,
Glad you got everything fixed to your satisfaction and back home eating your wife's cooking. We got back to our cabin in Ellijay two days ago and we were happy with the service we got at Jackson Center also. Guy & Peggy -the folks parked next to you at JC.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

Interesting thought. Never hurt to ask. But I would not expect much of a positive response as trailer technically does not belong to you at that point. At least it would give you a start on a punch list for your dealership service department.

I agree with the comment regarding quality issues. We bought a new 28' Int. In 2012 and traded it for 30' in 2013. Both new units.
Both units had a problem with the Shower Door falling down. I liked at the 2015 models and they have the same door. These doors will all fall down sooner or later and yet they continue installing them.
I also had problems on both units with the Good Year Marathon Tires and they keep installing those as well. The kind of money they charge for these units this shouldn't be.

[m.hony]

I wonder if they would still be the best service center ever if there were less quality control issues...
It is unfair for the service center to have to be a liaison between disgruntled customers and a factory with poor quality control, but they are the best at it...

[Jaxon]

Originally Posted by TheDuke

IMHO the emphasis has been on increasing production, rather than QC! Just my two cents worth. The service center is way behind and I saw a lot of new trailers in there for warranty issues, which I personally don't think is good.

.
Seems Thor has different priorities with their Airbabies.

We’ve had 5 Airstreams, 2 new (an ’03 International and a ’05 Classic). The last three have been two vintage (a ’77 International and a ’67 Safari) and one “gently used” (an ’08 Classic 34 slide). Will never buy new again - we’ve had about the same level of off-time due to repairs with our vintage trailers as with the new ones... naw, I take that back. Much less off-time with the used trailers than new...

When we bought the ’03 and ’05, I thought they were expensive then - certainly more so than SOB’s but the current prices are ridiculous especially given the QC hasn’t improved one iota. I read of the same issues now with AS problems as I did back then... if their problem back in ’03 and ’05 was “trying to keep up with production” as they say it is now, wouldn’t you think they could have done something about that in the intervening 12 years...? It’s a corporate culture thing...

It seems that QC nowadays is buying a gently used trailer from a responsible owner who has had all the problems fixed through warranty.

[moxie t. moto]

Originally Posted by martian

Hmmm, so I'm wondering if the manufacturing side of Airstream would let the new trailer owner do his/her own quality inspection as the unit is coming off the production line? Anybody know the answer, just curious?

wish I had been there when ours came off the line! I know I would have done a far better job than the personbeing paid good money to do it.
obviously they were handicapped with vision problems or didn't want to miss coffee break! they will hear about it during alumapalus week while they fix their oversights and mistakes.
when it comes to quality control airstream clearly does not have bragging rights!
but we love our airstream! go figure. wouldn't own anything else.

[glenrms]

Originally Posted by franklyfrank

I agree with the comment regarding quality issues. We bought a new 28' Int. In 2012 and traded it for 30' in 2013. Both new units.
Both units had a problem with the Shower Door falling down. I liked at the 2015 models and they have the same door. These doors will all fall down sooner or later and yet they continue installing them.
I also had problems on both units with the Good Year Marathon Tires and they keep installing those as well. The kind of money they charge for these units this shouldn't be.

I, too, just came back from JC and picked up a new shower door for my 2012 AS. They know about the problem and one tech has made a little acrylic block to put under the door during transport. Unfortunately, it won't stay there. I just finished the new door install and will make some sore of device that will support the door while traveling. It is hard to understand how AS can overlook this critical quality problem. The new door was about $237 and I did the work myself. Goes to show that service is a big profit-maker.

[Minipad]

Originally Posted by glenrms

I, too, just came back from JC and picked up a new shower door for my 2012 AS. They know about the problem and one tech has made a little acrylic block to put under the door during transport. Unfortunately, it won't stay there. I just finished the new door install and will make some sore of device that will support the door while traveling. It is hard to understand how AS can overlook this critical quality problem. The new door was about $237 and I did the work myself. Goes to show that service is a big profit-maker.

I had this problem with my 2013. I didn't want to mess with going to the dealer or JC so I fixed it as follows:

1) Cut a piece of 1/2" white pex to the width of the door opening, from the hinge to the opposite side.

2) Drilled four 1/4" holes through just one side of the pex and all in a line, spaced evenly over the length.

3) Placed the pex across the bottom of the door opening with the holes up and mounted it with some stainless screws by drilling/screwing straight down through the 1/4" holes in the pex.

4) Removed the whimpy piece of weather striping from the bottom of the door.

Now when the door closes, the bottom of the door is entirely supported on the pex. It actually leaks less than it did before (from shower spray or splashing) and after many miles, no more shower door problems. When the door is open, it also is supported by the pex because the pex is placed right up against the hinge pin. The piece of white pex is barely noticeable.

[TheDuke]

Originally Posted by Guyel

John,
Glad you got everything fixed to your satisfaction and back home eating your wife's cooking. We got back to our cabin in Ellijay two days ago and we were happy with the service we got at Jackson Center also. Guy & Peggy -the folks parked next to you at JC.

Well howdy! Everything went well and yes it sure was nice to get back home Friday night. Unfortunately my Wife's Mother passed at 2:00 AM Saturday Morning. It has been a tough time for her. The service was on Monday. How does Guy like his new wheels and tires? Nice talking with you.

[greghoro]

Originally Posted by Minipad

Now when the door closes, the bottom of the door is entirely supported on the pex.

I like this solution, especially the full length support aspect!

I too had the shower door problem and the factory sent me the acrylic block to fix it my self. I couldn't get that to work. However, I was able to facilitate a similar fix using a tubular nylon spacer I purchased from the hardware store, countersunk one end and screwed just under the door hinge. Had to remove the door to replace the long horizontal screws which bend and cause the sagging (they sent me those, too).


Greg

[NY24]

Sadly, too many RV builders (even the high end builders) think of Quality Control ~ Quality Assurance as an afterthought. It ALWAYS costs more, when you don't get things right the first time. Add in the bad will that shoddy work generates among buyers and, you wind up with situation we're currently in. Each issue / problem is actually an instance where an employee needs to be educated / retrained and, until such retraining happens, the employee is likely to continue turning out substandard work. Final inspections need to be much more rigorous than most factories currently do.

Dealer inspections also need to be stepped up BEFORE they present an RV to it's new owner.

[m.hony]

Another reason to hang to the one I've got-
Why go through this again?
I could never afford a new one anyway.
The price has increased 40% since 2013-


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[larryglarson]

Good for you, yes my experiences at Jackson Center are like yours. Hang in there, I am over 2 years into the process, about 5 trips to Jackson Center. My trailer is working good now.

[apanzer]

What is Whit Pex? Were can I purchase some.

[greghoro]

As one of the first things taught in SixSigma class, Quality by inspection is always the most expensive and least effective means.

Quality needs to be designed in, not inspected out.


Greg