First Airstream purchase... need purchase tips, please.

[movin-in]

My girl and I are moving out of our 2800 sq ft house and into an Airstream. We are currently in contract on the house and actively shopping for 2006 International or Safari 25-28 ft. Questions:
1. How do we know fair market value? How are prices set?
2. What is the out of state purchase etiquette? There are little to none available in our area.
3. Do we request "systems testing" (water lines, etc)???
4. Are these truly move in ready? Do you have to skirt them in winter (colorado minus 10).

I could go on and on... All seasoned veteran suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Gene]

There are many threads on winter living and you should do a search for them before you going any further. There's a subforum called
Winter Living - Airstream Forums . Check it out.

Airstreams are three season trailers. They are not all that well insulated and have single pane windows. The furnace will use a lot of propane. Although the potable water tank does get some heating from the furnace, at -10˚ it may not be enough and the grey and black water tanks could be problems. Water lines in the walls and in cabinets can freeze too. Below 20˚ you can have problems.

There are four season brands. Arctic Fox is a well known trailer, better insulated and with thermopane windows. There are others also.

Manitou is pretty cold, though Woodland Park would be worse. By the way, Phoenix in summer is too hot and the A/C would run all the time and it still wouldn't be very cool inside.

Gene

[AIR-Quarius]

Welcome welcome WELCOME!!!

[Tyrinius]

Glad to have you with us and you pose some good questions. We recently purchased our 28' Safari and like you there were not many to choose from in our area. We were pretty specific about the floor plan and interior color we wanted, which made our search that much harder. We scoured the internet (ebay, Air Forums, Craigslist, etc.) daily and sometimes hourly. We live in Florida and finally found our AS in Colorado via Craigslist. We were able to find an inspector on this site that visited the AS for us in Colorado. We negotiated the price based on similar models and what we were comfortable with paying.

Once we had a price negotiated, we had the owner take the the trailer to the local dealership and run a full inspection on it. We dealt with the dealership over the phone and I would highly recommend this if at all possible.

After everything was finalized, we had the trailer shipped on a lo-boy trailer to us from Colorado and are so happy with our decision. We were fortunate that the seller works in the shipping industry, but there are many companies out there that can do this. For us it made perfect sense to ship rather that drive out there, take off work for 4-5 days and put the mileage on the AS. I hope this helps, Good Luck!

[LiLNomad]

Originally Posted by Tyrinius

Glad to have you with us and you pose some good questions. We recently purchased our 28' Safari and like you there were not many to choose from in our area. We were pretty specific about the floor plan and interior color we wanted, which made our search that much harder. We scoured the internet (ebay, Air Forums, Craigslist, etc.) daily and sometimes hourly. We live in Florida and finally found our AS in Colorado via Craigslist. We were able to find an inspector on this site that visited the AS for us in Colorado. We negotiated the price based on similar models and what we were comfortable with paying.

Once we had a price negotiated, we had the owner take the the trailer to the local dealership and run a full inspection on it. We dealt with the dealership over the phone and I would highly recommend this if at all possible.

After everything was finalized, we had the trailer shipped on a lo-boy trailer to us from Colorado and are so happy with our decision. We were fortunate that the seller works in the shipping industry, but there are many companies out there that can do this. For us it made perfect sense to ship rather that drive out there, take off work for 4-5 days and put the mileage on the AS. I hope this helps, Good Luck!

Tyrinius,

can you provide info on the trailer shipping?? I might need to go this route also. Also sent you a PM.
Thanks
LilNomad

[fmr.capt.evi]

Hi Movin-in, here's my 2 cents worth, (assuming you're going to live in it):
1) Find an Airstream dealer that you're comfortable with, preferably located in or near an area where you plan to visit frequently.
2) Make every effort to remain loyal to that dealer, for all your Airstreaming needs, beginning with your first purchase. Over time, you will enjoy a mutually respectful and beneficial relationship.
3) Consider ordering your new Airstream; it's worth waiting a few weeks to get exactly what you want.
4) Avoid extreme temperatures; remember, your house has wheels.
5) The 28' floorplan is a great choice for full-time living (just ordered one myself).

Best Wishes as you begin a new chapter in your lives!

[Lani]

Welcome and congrats on your decision. What an adventure! Tyrinius gives excellent advice. We also found our Airstream on Craigslist and knew exactly what we wanted. We had no problems buying out of state (we were in Virginia and the trailer we purchased was in Oregon). Working out the shipping/delivery details can be tricky and possibly expensive but well worth it if you find the exact trailer you want at the right price. (Our method of shipping was probably the "what not to do" method but thankfully worked out really well for us.) Professional delivery is the safest option if you cannot drive to the location to get it yourself.

Check out allofcraigs.com - Search ALL of Craigslist which will search of all of Craigslist and not just specific areas. This is what my husband spent weeks, if not months, doing.


Good luck and keep us posted!

[Tyrinius]

Originally Posted by LiLNomad

Tyrinius,

can you provide info on the trailer shipping?? I might need to go this route also. Also sent you a PM.
Thanks
LilNomad

Got your PM and sent you a reply. Glad to help.

[Tyrinius]

Originally Posted by Lani

Welcome and congrats on your decision. What an adventure! Tyrinius gives excellent advice. We also found our Airstream on Craigslist and knew exactly what we wanted. We had no problems buying out of state (we were in Virginia and the trailer we purchased was in Oregon). Working out the shipping/delivery details can be tricky and possibly expensive but well worth it if you find the exact trailer you want at the right price. (Our method of shipping was probably the "what not to do" method but thankfully worked out really well for us.) Professional delivery is the safest option if you cannot drive to the location to get it yourself.

Check out allofcraigs.com - Search ALL of Craigslist which will search of all of Craigslist and not just specific areas. This is what my husband spent weeks, if not months, doing.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks for the support Lani

Movin-in; during your search you may also find Searchtempest.com helpful as it allows you to search all of Craigslist based on your zip code up to any distance outside of your immediate area. Keep searching!