Considering Airstream

[Gcampers]

Hi! I’m looking for some opinions on purchasing a new airstream. We’ve owned every type of camping equipment, currently own a 26’ Jayco Class A motorhome. I really like the idea of going back to a towable, and want to buy an Airstream for the design, quality, and long term ownership. My question is; how close to MSRP do most Airstreams actually sell for? With other brands of RVs the MSRP is so heavily inflated toy typically end up paying 30-35% less than MSRP. Do most dealers wheel and deal on these, or is it closer to paying MSRP? Before we go shopping for a flying cloud 27FBQ I’d like to know how realistic to be. Thank you!

[Hans627]

Welcome to the forum. It's good to have you with us.

Regarding discounts, there is no hard and fast rule. Are you looking for a 2018 or a 2019? Are you willing to drive across state lines (sometimes multiple state lines) to get a better deal from a volume dealer?

But generally a 15% to 18% discount is doable. Sometimes a little higher at the right dealership with units he wants to move. But a 27' is highly desirable and I would guess a little more difficult to negotiate on.

I hope that helps a bit!

[GMFL]

Being willing to drive distance and leveraging multiple dealers against each other should get you real close to 20% off msrp. Being willing to take what a dealer has will also help.

[Gcampers]

Thank you both for your responses. Seems like there is some wiggle room with these units then, which is positive. I’ve spoken with a few dealers that have said “ airstream doesn’t let us come off the MSRP”. Sounds like the mark up isn’t the same as traditional travel trailers and MH’s. My class A msrp is over 120K, however you can buy the model all day long for 80k. Good to hear there may some leverage with the Airstreams too.

[Gcampers]

15-18% off would be extremely helpful. Thanks for the reply! I would cerrtainly driver across state lines to get a good deal. live in FL, but would even travel to Colinial Airstream in N.J. as they seem to have a huge selection.

[rmkrum]

Personally, any RV or car dealer that tells me "...manufacturer won't let us come down from MSRP..." is going to see me and wife exit laughing, never to return. Politely, that is total BS, uncalled for, and an attempt to jerk you around to pump up their bottom line. My DW's ancestors would disown her if she did not haggle on price of anything expensive she wants to buy. And, the fact is, she usually wins...hands down.

MSRP is defined as Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price, has NO real influence on what the dealer can sell for, and if it did, would be 'price fixing'--which is very illegal in many jurisdictions...

The other game they play is to offer very expensive warranties beyond the manufacturer's normal warranty, sealants, mouse-milk, and other spiffs that add to their profit. Look around the forums for opinions on these offerings. Mine is not only no, but heck no. I'll put the money in the bank for MY use solving these non-issues...

[1Boyscout]

Originally Posted by Gcampers

Hi! I’m looking for some opinions on purchasing a new airstream. We’ve owned every type of camping equipment, currently own a 26’ Jayco Class A motorhome. I really like the idea of going back to a towable, and want to buy an Airstream for the design, quality, and long term ownership. My question is; how close to MSRP do most Airstreams actually sell for? With other brands of RVs the MSRP is so heavily inflated toy typically end up paying 30-35% less than MSRP. Do most dealers wheel and deal on these, or is it closer to paying MSRP? Before we go shopping for a flying cloud 27FBQ I’d like to know how realistic to be. Thank you!

15 -20%. Dont let the name fool you. I had 3 Jayco products, 2 Tt, Cl C. AS is good, but not perfect. I have a 28ft Serenity. Not a good TT In cold weather at all. THE heat pump is only good above 40*. Insulation is minimum. AS is best at towing and mpg.

[KK4YZ]

Originally Posted by 1Boyscout

15 -20%. Dont let the name fool you. I had 3 Jayco products, 2 Tt, Cl C. AS is good, but not perfect. I have a 28ft Serenity. Not a good TT In cold weather at all. THE heat pump is only good above 40*. Insulation is minimum. AS is best at towing and mpg.

I can think of a couple of other AS advantages as well: low CG which contributes to stability, it’s construction provides for ample windows to provide a nice outside view (of course this reduces the overall insulation value), and the WBCCI which affords opportunity for organized caravans and rallies if that’s your thing.

BTW if a dealer tells a lie like “AS doesn’t allow us to go below MSRP” do yourself a favor and take them off your list.

We have found Colonial AS to have good prices and selection and have made the trip twice from GA to buy an AS.

EDIT:
HA. Didn’t notice this is an old thread ��. Let us know how everything worked out.

[Spartanguy]

The best camper I ever owned in terms of reliability was my Jayco 806 pop-up. With the exception of my pop-up every camper I’ve owned has been a pain in the neck in exchange for the joy, my AS however has been just something else as far as being a neck pain and is starting to dig into my joy of ownership hard (see recent posts). It’s like a dream lover who turned out to be not so dreamy, but you spent your life fantasizing so now you’re brainwashed and won’t leave. If I bought new I’d want a warranty I know that much and I wouldn’t be deceived into believing you are getting something of higher quality. I’ll let others advise you on pricing. I may never sell my AS now though because I understand it so well and have cleaned it up so good from the state the factory left it in. I’ve literally been forced to learn so much about it because so many things have gone wrong and when I fix them I know they’re fixed right. Airstream has SIGNIFICANT quality control issues, like their quality control department should be ashamed. Their quality department literally must either be non existent or full of delusion and nepotism or something, serious serious serious quality control issues, something you’d just never see in a company that understands even basic QC/six sigma/lean design. Airstream is no Toyota, it is the falling down nursing home with nurses who smell like cigarette smoke and who don’t respond to your call light dressed in pretty little aluminum Wally makeup. Every wall I remove had factory junk, tape, crud, nails behind the wall, they don’t even respect the buyer enough to clean up their work, it’s like the work of a sloppy craigslist carpenter. It’s a real shame. If the hospital I worked in had 1 % of the quality control breakdowns Airstream does we’d be shut down and that’s no joke. But, I love my freaking Airstream and J. Paul Getty is dead along with his Spartan, so it’s the best I can get. Honestly, shame on Airstream for even trying to sale their products for the prices they list. If a naive buyer bought a $165,000 Classic 33 and found this out the hard way I’m sure there’d be some attorneys involved.