Score another one for shoddy workmanship from Airstream..

[Gene]

MSL makes a lot of common points and one is that his dealer couldn’t or wouldn’t fix things. The “quality” of the dealer network is questionable.

The dealer we bought it from dented the rear lower panel by driving another trailer into it. Somehow they put a dent in the side too. They fixed the first and ended up sending me $1,500 for the side dent. They offered to replace the side panel, about a $4K job, but I would not let them near the trailer again. Before that I listened to the warranty employee talking to the company about warranty repairs. She was apologetic about asking and made a really poor case for the repairs. I guess Airstream pays the dealers less for warranty repairs than customers do for the repairs.

We took the trailer for repairs to Airstream. The service center did a very good job and for a few things they didn’t charge me. It was a 1,400 mile trip to Jackson Center however, so we incorporated that trip into our wanderings. Whenever I asked the service center people why the factory couldn’t do a good job, they just smiled and changed the subject. I asked the company president (same guy now too I think) whether the service center and factory communicated, he said they did. I asked him if they had a quality control guy. He said yes. I didn’t believe him.

Thor, the Airstream owner, makes mediocre RV’s and rakes in tons of money. Why should they change? The industry is consolidating and quality is dropping—that has become the American Way. If the Japanese or S. Koreans get into this business, it will take decades, but they will dominate and companies like Thor will be the GM of the future.

After the warranty was over, I fixed things myself. I finally stopped the incessant leaks and fixed many screws that loosened, latchs that broke, replaced the cheap converter, added solar (Lew Farber did that for us) and after about 4 years things most things were fixed.

[John Ware]

MSL,
I had a 2018 22' Sport and I think the a/c was made by Pratt & Whitney. That and the single axle were my only complaints with it.

[PB_NB]

We were very excited to get our new 2019 Sport a few years ago. We immediately noticed a bunch of issues when we got it home. Over the past few years we have been making it better and fixing up the annoying things like leaks and fitment issues.

Now it looks like our bench is coming away from the wall. I was expecting this to happen as it did with other trailers. I may just disconnect the connection entirely and leave it off. There is just too much flex in the trailer to attempt to pin a wooden bench to the floor and to the wall. Something has to give and it turns out to be the little fasteners

It does seem like the quality control is missing and this appears to go way back based on this thread.

I just noticed my skylight getting dirty and even after I cleaned it. It looks like the outer layer is not caulked other than in the corners so it has been open for 3 years and collecting dirt between the inner and outer layers. I like the skylight and will enjoy it more once I clean it and fully caulk it. It is these little things that really get me.

I ask myself if they just ran out of caulking or ran out of time before lunch and then forgot to return to the task at hand??

It would be better to hand us a box of parts and an empty shell and let us put these trailers together (the IKEA model ).

We do like our trailer and will continue to tweak it and make it better. It is a love hate thing for us!

[85MH325]

Well, I FINALLY got the new fan installed. At least the roof part and got it sealed up. I had to fabricate new shims out of Nevr-Rot, and had to re-install the new fan basically the jury-rigged way Airstream did it because they didn't make a proper base that fit the van for it. At least the shims won't rot now. 3/4 of a tube of Dicor and hopefully it's weather sealed.

I'll wire it up tomorrow and cut and install the garnish. I'm done for the night. This has been THE most difficult Fanatastic Fan R&R I've ever done.

[Richard59]

In response to the poor fan installation. AS builds a great product. Then they needlessly compromise it by doing poorly a half a dozen of the same small things over and over for the past few decades. The fan installs are one of those things. The fan is installed in a hole cut in the roof between, but not connected to any ribs. So, over time the roof sags just a few mm so water collects around it and just enough gets past the caulking to rot the wood and rust the screws. There should be an aluminum frame around all roof openings that ties the opening back to the ribs. Not sure why AS has not learned that. Would you put a skylight in your house roof by just cutting a hole and dropping it in?
Still, a great product just slow to learn.

[MSL]

85MH325:
I agree completely with you regarding the fact Airstream is selling more than ever, so why change? Dollars are the only thing that will make them change (bad design and workmanship).

John Ware:
I agree with you as well; I wish the air conditioner were different, and, if I had done more research, I might have looked for a 2-axle trailer, which would have necessitated a larger TV which I didn't want at the time ... now, not such a big issue to me. Who knows, maybe in another life ...

Mark