Pre Delivery Inspection

[scarletbison]

We are getting closer to picking up our 2014.5 AI. To that end can anyone recommend a Pre-Delivery Inspection set of questions or form?

SB from my IPhone

[lewster]

Originally Posted by scarletbison

We are getting closer to picking up our 2014.5 AI. To that end can anyone recommend a Pre-Delivery Inspection set of questions or form?

SB from my IPhone

Your dealer 'should' have one to present to you prior to you paying the balance for your purchase. Review it very carefully before completing your purchase!!!

When I purchased my new '06 19CCD in Dec. '05, I was presented with a PDI list that was completely filled in. Only problem was that the 'tech' who was to have performed the PDI only checked the boxes without doing anything.

How did I know....you might ask? Well, the first indication was the components that were checked as operating properly, items like outside TV, inside TV, microwave, inverter..... were all items THAT WERE NOT PRESENT IN MY LITTLE TRAILER!!!! And there was no LP in the tanks, dead batteries and no water in the fresh tank, so how could any of the related devices be properly checked?

Needless to say that the owner of said dealership and I have more than a few words about their delivery process and the delivery condition of my trailer. The 'tech' was also demoted to lot boy!!! The dealership also paid me (as a Certified Master RV Tech) to correct everything that I found lacking so that it was fixed to my satisfaction.

Be careful out there!!!!!

[73shark]

If you can get a copy of the Airstream Owner's Manual (may be available on-line), it would help familiarize you to the various systems so you could ask questions. Have them do a thorough walk-thru and show you how to operate each system and then let you do it.

If the RV has been sitting inside for an extended period w/o shore power, there's a good chance that the house batteries are toast. Insist that they remove and bench test. They are expensive.

There is also a new Kindle book on Amazon: Airstream Interstate 3500 Motorhome by Rich Luhr. It is an easy read and gives a good, basic understanding on the RV.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by scarletbison

We are getting closer to picking up our 2014.5 AI. To that end can anyone recommend a Pre-Delivery Inspection set of questions or form?

SB from my IPhone

Lewster's reply is great in scoping out the extent of what can happen in the way of misrepresentations.

Honestly, if I were in the position of buying a new AI, I would say to heck with RTFM and to heck with seller representations. We bought ours less than 2 months ago and by virtue of our newbie status, we now realize that we went about it all wrong. If I were doing it over again, whether with a new or used AI, I would find myself an experienced existing owner and ask them to help me vet the thing. These are extremely complicated, expensive vehicles with a great deal of infrastructure hidden from direct buyer inspection. The AI community ethic is strong, we are finding out. People would offer their empirical wisdom if requested. Pay it forward.

Conversely, if you cannot find an existing owner in your area who would be willing to throw in their two cents, then I would hire a professional inspector who is not associated with the seller. But you should make sure that the inspector knows the Interstate (not just generic RVs). We hired a third party that was well-rated on the internet to inspect our lightly-used AI, and they may indeed have had certain mechanical competencies, but they did not know the AI from a hole in the ground, and they missed THREE major functional issues.

[joemikeb]

Originally Posted by 73shark

There is also a new Kindle book on Amazon: Airstream Interstate 3500 Motorhome by Rich Luhr. It is an easy read and gives a good, basic understanding on the RV.

It is also available as an iBook from the Apple iBook store for $9.99.

[Ron_CA]

Dealer will do the PDI and then do an orientation with you.

Just make sure that they show you how to operate everything that you can think of. As others have suggested read through the Airstream online Owners Manual which will spark more food for thought. Don't be afraid to ask multiple times until you understand. Then what ever it is that they forgot to go over, come back here, do a search or start a new thread to ask your question.

You still won't understand everything until you get out and use your Interstate, then things will start to get clearer. I went through the process of dumping the gray tank, starting the water heater and furnace right in my driveway. Turn on the inverter, watch a DVD, try out the stereo and navigation etc.

[lewster]

If you have a 'smart' phone, be sure to take a video when you get your walk-thru so you won't have to rely on your memory after it's over and you have full possession of your new coach.

Another good way to get fully oriented is to spend a day or two at a campground near the dealer and use everything in the coach while there. Keep detailed lists of anything that fails to function properly and also things that you thought you knew how to operate but really didn't fully grasp them.

This way you are still near the dealer and can have all of your concerns completely addressed before you head home.

[overlander63]

When I do an orientation of a new owner, we spend up to 2 hours going over EVERYTHING. Pay attention, you WILL be tested at the end. Everybody has to learn to roll out and in the awning, connect all the hoses and electric cord, and hot to hook up the hitch. Everybody over 18 with a drivers license at the very least drives around the block, even if they plan on never towing. Everybody learns how to swap out LP bottles and dump tanks, and everybody learns how to convert the dinette to a bed.
Not every dealership is this thorough, but I believe the extra time at the beginning helps minimize rookie mistakes, and less time spent by the service department after the sale correcting the consequences of those mistakes.

[jerhofer]

Originally Posted by lewster

Another good way to get fully oriented is to spend a day or two at a campground near the dealer and use everything in the coach while there. Keep detailed lists of anything that fails to function properly and also things that you thought you knew how to operate but really didn't fully grasp them.

This way you are still near the dealer and can have all of your concerns completely addressed before you head home.

The dealer where we bought our used 2013 AI from gives their customers five free days of camping in either of their two RV parks and a $100 gift certificate for their parts department. We have used up four of those five days and answered many of our questions there. We did have a concern and, as stated above, it was very handy being at the dealership to answer that concern.

And the $100 came in handy for buying items likes the fresh water hose, leveling blocks, etc. They also spent two hours with us going over everything. The awning was extended, we hooked up the power line, started the generator, etc. It was very helpful.

We also had a new truck battery installed when it was discovered that the original battery would no longer hold a charge. This required sending one of their guys about 30 miles away to pick up the battery at a local Mercedes dealer during our two hour training session so we could still take delivery that afternoon. They were very accommodating then and have been since then as well.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by scarletbison

We are getting closer to picking up our 2014.5 AI. To that end can anyone recommend a Pre-Delivery Inspection set of questions or form?

There are two divergent schools of thought on PDIs. Just to clarify, these are things checked by or under the direct supervision of You the Future Owner. The two schools of thought are:

1) PDIs are critical because you have more leverage with the dealer than you will later, and you may find problems serious enough to decline to accept the RV at all.

2) PDIs don't matter much because you'll be back for warranty work anyway.

The main problem with performing a thorough PDI and insisting that the dealer correct problems before taking delivery is that in practice you'll have to reschedule delivery for another day if there's any real work to be done. If you've negotiated hard or if you have a trade there is a possibility that the dealer may decide you're too much trouble and use your refusal to accept delivery as an opportunity to walk away from the deal.

[Frank&Mike]

Originally Posted by scarletbison

We are getting closer to picking up our 2014.5 AI. To that end can anyone recommend a Pre-Delivery Inspection set of questions or form?

SB from my IPhone

I'm going to be using this one next week.

[toskeysam]

Jammer...if there is a problem serious enough to delay acceptance...I would walk away from the deal. There are too many other options to hang it all on one selection. Admittedly, when I was looking, I did not really know what those options were...or what they meant as far as support after the sale.

[73shark]

I seriously doubt the dealer would take the vehicle back since he doesn't want it sitting on his lot with his money invested in it very long.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by 73shark

I seriously doubt the dealer would take the vehicle back since he doesn't want it sitting on his lot with his money invested in it very long.

I don't think he would have a choice, because if it wasn't sale-ready (failed the inspection) then he has misrepresented it, and that's grounds for fraud charges.

[73shark]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

I don't think he would have a choice, because if it wasn't sale-ready (failed the inspection) then he has misrepresented it, and that's grounds for fraud charges.

I thought what the OP was implying was that the dealer would just walk away from the deal in spite, not out of concern for selling a bad unit. But then my interpretation could be wrong.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by overlander63

... Pay attention, you WILL be tested at the end. ... Not every dealership is this thorough, but I believe the extra time at the beginning helps minimize rookie mistakes, and less time spent by the service department after the sale correcting the consequences of those mistakes.

Point of both humor and perspective on this issue of learning curve... when we bought our AI in late September, we were amazed at how much there was to learn and (most importantly) how non-intuitive a lot of it was. Quite quickly, I gave up on trying to RTFM and trying to memorize everything and I simply resorted to a Sharpie and masking tape.

I thought maybe this was over-the-top dorky until, in speaking with a friend whose humongous Class A was about four times the cost of our Interstate, she said she keeps a home-made laminated punch list of reminders next to her steering wheel.

She paid much more for her RV than we paid for our house, and yet nobody makes this process the slightest bit easier. Whether by tape or by strategically-placed notes, a lot of us need to compensate for this ourselves. Pity they can't make the vehicles naturally more ergonomic, but of course we have competing interests. Their goal is to sell RVs and to cover their butts in the process. Our goal is to actually operate them.