Very disappointed 2018 Classic 33

[brick1]

I should add that our dealer, Southland RV did a fantastic job in prepping and walk-thru of our new Airstream. We spent almost a full day going through everything. We operated every system, switch and button.
brick

[xtcbike]

Yes Woodland in Grand Rapids Mi. The oldest dealership in the country I believe.

[jcanavera]

Interesting in reading Consumer Reports regarding new automobile and truck reliability that based on surveys, the weak point driving most warranty work in new vehicles is the electronics. We can drive these vehicles 200,000+ miles without a lick, but the cameras, abs systems, power equipment, and other creature comforts drive the dealers nuts.

I remember a Chevy dealer who ended up spending 20+hours of warranty labor trying to find the reason for a malfunctioning drivers side door mirror switch failure. Problem was in a wiring bundle that was as thick as my thumb that had bad wire. Dealer shook his head on that one because the repairs were based on the flat rate book. Dealer and mechanics lost a lot of money on that one. Wiring bundle was in a under dash area that was was unprotected and subject to foot impact from the driver.

Airstream QC takes a hit as we see these new creature comforts roll out in the new trailers. I've bought a few autos and trucks at the end of or well into several years of production of a specific model. Buyers of those first and second year technologies pay the price as the manufacturer works out the bugs, and the service people get up to speed on the technology.

I got my slide out Classic 4 years after the initial production of this feature. Airstream made a lot of adjustments and repairs on the gasket systems on those first two model years. It today, 15 years after I bought it, Is still a wonderfully functional system, repair free. I have to thank the early adopters who flushed out the initial design issues.

Jack

[mammothmama]

Originally Posted by HUSK N TUSK

The first thing I did when I bought my Airstream was remove all the dealer stickers, Thor stickers, and all the warning stickers all over. Those things look horrible. Just the actual Airstream and model badges remain.

Hi, Jack. The one on the back doesn't bother me too much but the one next to the door is annoying. We were talking yesterday about taking them off. I wasn't sure how to take them off without damaging the film/area underneath. Suggestions?

[rmkrum]

Plastic single edge razor blades to peel the sticker, followed by “Rapid Remover” to get the adhesive off. Both available on Amazon...

Buy lots of the plastic razor blades, you will go through many of them, but they are cheap. Get the ones with a sharp taper edge, not the dull ones.

[HUSK N TUSK]

Originally Posted by mammothmama

Hi, Jack. The one on the back doesn't bother me too much but the one next to the door is annoying. We were talking yesterday about taking them off. I wasn't sure how to take them off without damaging the film/area underneath. Suggestions?

I didn't use any plastic razor blades or strong chemicals/removers that could damage or soften the clearcoat.

I peeled the stickers/labels off with my fingernails...slowly. To remove the sticky adhesive still left on the clearcoat, I polished that off with "Nu-Finish" in the orange bottle available everywhere (but cheapest at WalMart). Nu-Finish removes old sticker adhesive almost immediately while protecting, polishing, and shining the surface underneath. Amazing stuff.

[tojimmiller]

If your talking
About the dealer in woodland. That might be California and if so, he is a family small dealer selling only Airstream’s from his ranch. Does a terrific job and his service is outstanding. JIm

[mammothmama]

Originally Posted by GM Airstream

Would that be Woodland... in Grand Rapids, MI... if so wow I bought my first AS from them back in 1973...

They took the time to set up the trailer and run it for almost a week before we took it.. and even then they went from the outside front to back and inside showing how everything worked and what to do...

They even helped stock it for the road...

I remember 'em fondly and will never forget how helpful they were...

The adventure contenues

Yes! Grand Rapids~ Family owned by a dad and his sons. Huge garage full of vintage rehabs in the works (so fun to see these works in progress!), lovely showroom, great staff and fantastic service. They did stock it with necessities, gave me a thorough tour/orientation (5 hours!, helped me hitch, gave me some driving lessons. Handed me the key to the building so we could spend the night in the garage since most campgrounds were still closed for winter. Amazing adventure.

[Brooksjaso]

I purchased a 2018 22fb sport in October of 2017. It had a laundry list of issues in the first three months, most I fixed myself. Decided, despite losing a large chunk of cash, to trade it in on a 2018 Classic 30. I am trying real hard to love Airstream, but warranty work for younger working professionals like myself is impossible to get done because there is no one in Nashville TN authorized to work on an Airstream, and I just don’t have time to haul it three hours to the closest dealer, wait for a few days for repair, and then haul it back home. I totally get it if you retired, but I am not. Anyway, I waited four months for delivery because of manufacturing delays. It delivered last Saturday. Within the first 10 hours of use I discovered a severely cracked black pvc pipe under the bathroom sink just after the white trap. So you can’t use the sink in the bathroom unless you want water in the cabinets and on the floor. But it doesn’t matter because there is not hot water as the Alde system failed on the same day with a overheat fail red error code. I don’t expect everything to be perfect, but Airstream is the Farari of campers, and the cost is similar. There is no way Farari would expect their warranty customers to work on the car nor would they find it acceptable that an owner living in a city like Nashville TN would have to drive 3 hours to get warranty work done. And guess what, there are a lot more Aistream trailers on the road than Farari. Again, I am trying to love my Airstream trailer, but I do not have time to haul it 3 hours the day after I got it for repairs. I will try to dig into the Alde system myself, and probably just pay someone local to repair the plumbing, but this is not what I paid 150K for. If I wanted a restoration project, I would have purchased one.

[kendrick.l.j]

B - wait, really? You admit you had previously owned a new AS that had a long punch list, then went back...lost money on a trade-in, to get a newer, bigger, more complicated AS and now you’re not happy. imagine that. And you didn’t know that there wasn’t an Airstream dealer town? Seriously?
I got over blaming every one else for decisions I make decades ago. I admit had a very bumpy start with my Classic, but I was totally new to the whole RV life, I was doing this on my own and I was in way over my head. I did my share of complaining the first week but within a month or two I got busy fixing what I could fix, learning what I could learn, learning to do myself with the help of the wonderful folks on this forum I got myself up and running without a single trip back to a dealers lot. I tried very hard to become active contributing member in the test group, I tried to find a solution instead of just complaining.
I am not familiar with what a farari is but Ferrari doesn’t have dealers in very city. They do have their own set of fun to deal with issues, just like Maserati. You can not possibly compare AS to either of the cars. If you had ever owned one you would learn very quickly they are a PITA to own.
So it boils down to this, fix it yourself or drag it back to the factory and let them fix it. At least Jackson Center is closer than Italy and you have have a 2 year warranty.

[DeltaRon]

Please don’t respond to this thread anymore. You are really annoying and haven’t a clue to what responsible QC is all about.

[GMFL]

I’d be happy to trade you my problem free 23D for your 33 classic if that will help you out any.
Never mind the 23D guys would disown me.

[kendrick.l.j]

Wow, like...no. I totally understand QC and I also understand unrealistic expectations by grown men who refuse to heed warning ahead of time. There are literally 100’s of post regarding the level of QC, or lack there of at JC. This is not a new topic. Some of those issues are valid some are not. What you want me to do is agree with you, that probably won’t happen. You want to hear sympathy and oh, poor you, how awful for you. You were warned prior to your delivery that the projection TV had issues. Major issues and you didn’t listen. You seem want to use this forum as your own personal soapbox as to how horrible AS is, that, IMO is not very productive. Furthermore, if you really want to elevate the level of QC at AS, then direct your concern to HQ. You didn’t listen to the warnings of your fellow Classic owners, why would anyone else do differently?

[Gamehawkers]

Originally Posted by DeltaRon

Heard from JC this morning. Best they can do is August for warranty service. Now I’m really upset. Trading up to Classic 33 is biggest mistake I ever made. Poor or no QC and now AS won’t even stand behind their product.

DeltaRon,
I feel your frustration and pain. I have a 2016 Classic 30 that took TWO YEARS of service visits to correct all the problems. Some small, some bigger than others. The list is too long to get into at this point.
However, the good news is The dealership stood behind the product.
They did fix all the issues eventually and I am very grateful to have a fully functional travel trailer now. It is hard to spend so much and have your summer travel season shot to hell.
For many of us this purchase represents a dream fulfilled at great sacrifice. We hope to make some great memories with our children or grandchildren and only have a few years when they still want to hang with us and not their stupid phones.
Perhaps you can rent one for this summer trip while yours is being repaired.
It would be really nice if Airstream considered having a few loaner trailers for these circumstances.
I wish I could transport my 90 year old Father to the Airstream plant. He is still sharp as a tack.
He was a quality control production engineer in the aerospace industry. If his quality control practices were faulty, things tended to explode.
Working with military munitions makes you very detail oriented and safety conscious!
I have no doubt he could spend a week diagnosing issues and straightening out the quality control process.
I know that there are quality control people that are out there with the personal drive and integrity to turn this trend around if Airstream will bite the bullet and revamp some of its practices even if that means listening to some uncomfortable truths. In the long run the Airstream brand will benefit immensely by adopting aggressive it does not leave the plant unless it is as close to perfect as can be accomplished.

[BAB]

I don’t know how anyone can defend delivering ANYTHING that cost $150,000 with the problems DeltaRon has had with a brand new trailer. If I had been the engineer who convinced Airstream that it was time to install the Alde system when it clearly was not ready for prime time in their trailers I would be ashamed. The “All About Alde” thread is a lengthy illustration of “work arounds” by customers because the manufacturer did not do its job, and definitely did not educate their dealer network on how the system functioned. Much less on how to service it. Oh, and a few years ago I bought a brand new ’08 Lamborghini Gallardo. It cost a lot more than my Airstream. Oh, it only needed regular service during the 9 years I owned it. So I find the conversation about cars/trailers and their quality to be specious. Quality is quality, and we know it when we see it.

[Gamehawkers]

Originally Posted by BAB

I don’t know how anyone can defend delivering ANYTHING that cost $150,000 with the problems DeltaRon has had with a brand new trailer. If I had been the engineer who convinced Airstream that it was time to install the Alde system when it clearly was not ready for prime time in their trailers I would be ashamed. The “All About Alde” thread is a lengthy illustration of “work arounds” by customers because the manufacturer did not do its job, and definitely did not educate their dealer network on how the system functioned. Much less on how to service it. Oh, and a few years ago I bought a brand new ’08 Lamborghini Gallardo. It cost a lot more than my Airstream. Oh, it only needed regular service during the 9 years I owned it. So I find the conversation about cars/trailers and their quality to be specious. Quality is quality, and we know it when we see it.

Agreed,

[Gamehawkers]

BAB,
I agree with you completely.
I also think Kendrick was being a bit harsh in his comments. Remember the golden rule and treat everyone with respect and hope it comes back to you

[paiceman]

One of the issues with Airstreams as well as virtually every other RV when comparing to other vehicles is that these are (1) built by hand (2) rolling, bouncing houses moving down the road.

I remember back in 1971 a 30' International my parents purchased, cracked cooper pipes etc. So, it's not right, not what one expects, the products have changed but the issues remain the same. In addition many of the products now being put into Airstreams and other RVs are all made by the same companies as consolidation has been going on and is not full blown. Dometic now owns much of the products in all RVs.

The Alde system has been successfully used in other RVs for a number of years. I do know initially Airstream was not trained properly by Alde and Airstream failed to properly train their dealers, two major mistakes. But, for systems to fail now I find a puzzle as in talking with other owners of the Alde system in different RVs they don't seem to be having as many issues. Same parts and system. Other manufacturers are now starting to use the Alde as when it's working we have not experienced anything better than this system for heating purposes.

Ron, I feel your pain and possibly the selling dealer can "get you in" and get things fixed up for you. Best of luck.

Bud

[LY007]

Originally Posted by DeltaRon

First trip out in new Classic 33.

1. Limited hot water

2. Cold water shower. Water streamed thru glass doors like no glass there. Bathroom floor half covered with water before I noticed.

3. Shower wand has more water coming out of hose than head. Could not tighten enough to stop.

4. New and great projection TV ONLY WORKS WITH OVER THE AIR CHANNELS—-NOT CABLE!

Have left two messages with JC over 4 hrs ago. No response.

Really regret trading up my 2015 FC 28. Called local dealer. We can drop rig off 1 week from now, but no guarantee as to when they’ll get to it.

If that is all that went wrong on your first trip, I would say that you are fantastically lucky. #s two and three are five minute at home fixes that might set you back $5.

[Brooksjaso]

Thanks for valiantly pointing out my misspelling of words. That is really helpful. Maybe you’re right. Maybe Airstream is not for me. See, I am a disabled veteran with two tours in Afghanistan, the second being cut short by injury. And maybe cutting out and replacing a pvc pipe was something I could do at one time, but unfortunately not anymore. My hope was to find help and encouragement in this forum, not ridicule.