(To) Buy a new airstream

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by SilverRanger

He also paid cash for everything. He would bring what he wanted to spend, and would slide it across the table, and told them to take it or leave it. This was before dealer financing became popular.

Probably also before the Feds started investigating you for RICO violations just for drawing that much cash out of the bank.

[SilverRanger]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Probably also before the Feds started investigating you for RICO violations just for drawing that much cash out of the bank.

My grandfather made a lot of his money by making good whiskey, and didn't keep much of his money in banks, and that was back when you could get a good truck for $7,000.

[BAB]

I've had my 2012 Intl for 10 months. Lots of good info on this thread. Like Doug, I elected to order my trailer with exactly what I wanted. Nobody wandered through it after it arrived from JC. Only the guys who did final checks and cleaned it. I was fortunate that I could just write a check for it, so there was never an issue with financing charges, etc. AND, I suspect I could probably have saved myself some money if I was willing to roam to NJ or FL and compete dealerships. For me, it came down to the Price=Value equation. I opt for VALUE every time, and I include the relationship with the dealer as part of this value. Additionally, given the economic issues in each of our neighborhoods, I place value on supporting people who live where I do. This means local jobs. So, I bought from Out-of-Doors Mart in Colfax, NC. They've been around a very long time. I feel certain I could have saved some money if it was just about the price. After almost a year now, I can tell you I have zero regrets with my decision. Everyone has to do this on their own and live with their decision on a purchase of this magnitude. But think about what Oscar Wilde said, "cynics know the price of everything and the value of nothing." Wise words in my book!

[dkottum]

Yes, we too could have saved ($1,000) in NJ or FL but the trip would cost that.

We also like the idea of good dealer relationships, however I was greatly disappointed with a service manager at the local dealer on my first inquiry recently. Not happy at all (he said adjustments, leaks, seals, corrosion are only covered 90 days from purchase date), we are taking a trip east and will make a stop at Jackson Center on the way. They were much more accommodating. I have a door out of adjustment that is allowing a small leak.

You might clear that up with your local dealer before you buy.

doug k

[JackDog]

I just purchased a 2013 16' Sport (first one delivered in So Cal) from my local Airstream dealer. I special ordered the trailer because I wanted a certain color interior and options and wanted the 2013 due to the bathroom door location change.

They knocked $4k off the MSRP and gave me discounts on some custom after sales work and threw in the microwave no charge

Oh and I was able to get a 5.6% interest rate!

Could I have gotten more off sticker? Possibly, but I've learned the price you pay isn't everything. I have developed a positive and trusting relationship with the dealer and I have the comfort knowing if and when I go back for service I know I'll be treated well.

Bo and the staff at South West Coaches we're top drawer.

Jack Dog
in So Cal

[StreamNTyme]

I wish we had a dealer within a few miles, unfortunately the closest is a very long drive, hundreds of miles away.

[drew05]

StreamNTyme, me too...

[Scott J-24]

Originally Posted by JackDog

I just purchased a 2013 16' Sport (first one delivered in So Cal) from my local Airstream dealer. I special ordered the trailer because I wanted a certain color interior and options and wanted the 2013 due to the bathroom door location change.

They knocked $4k off the MSRP and gave me discounts on some custom after sales work and threw in the microwave no charge

Oh and I was able to get a 5.6% interest rate!

Could I have gotten more off sticker? Possibly, but I've learned the price you pay isn't everything. I have developed a positive and trusting relationship with the dealer and I have the comfort knowing if and when I go back for service I know I'll be treated well.

Bo and the staff at South West Coaches we're top drawer.

Jack Dog
in So Cal

We got our AS directly from the PO who purchased it new in New Mexico. We have taken it to Southwest Coaches (our local dealer) for routine service and a couple of repairs. The whole staff have always treated us as if we were the original owner who had purchased it directly from them. We really like Juston (their Service Mgr) and the great customer service he and his team have given us. When I took it in for a door lock I broke (while trying to fix it myself) and for a minor leak they traced to a small crack in the air conditioner's drip pan, Justin and his team came up with low cost solutions to permanently correct these problems without having to just replace the damaged hardware for with new parts that would have cost me lots more $$$$. We are glad to have them as our local dealer and service center.

[GettinAway]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Depends. If you tell them about the trade before they've even quoted a price, they'll say, "Well, with your trade, we can offer this price…" and you actually have no idea what, if anything, they're offering as trade-in value. Could be nothing at all. If they quote an initial price, with trade-in, that's 10% off MSRP, chances are that if you walked in the door with no trade-in at all, they'd still have opened the negotiation at 10% off MSRP. In such a case, you'd have literally given away your trade-in for free.

Even if you treat the trade-in as part of the purchase rather than a separate negotiation, at the very least let them put a price on the table for the purchase first, before you ask them how much more they'll take off with the trade-in.

GettinAway, you may have done exactly that. I'm not trying to criticize your negotiating skills; they're probably better than mine. I'm just using your post as a springboard to offer advice to others looking to buy new.

Best time to buy a car or a trailer, is when you can walk away from any counter offer. I've walked out of a lot of places.
All I was saying is, the difference figure is the difference figure. No matter how you arrive at it.
We saved a little over $7K by looking around. Found exactly what we wanted.
Some dealers are just a lot more hungry than others. Ten years from now that $7K will be worth even more. The trailer,, not so much..

[SafariSS]

You guys with good dealers be thankful. I live outside Houston Texas (large city right?) and we can't keep a dealer for longer than 3 months. I guess Airstreams are a tough sale to a non enthusiast looking to buy just cheap.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by SafariSS

You guys with good dealers be thankful. I live outside Houston Texas (large city right?) and we can't keep a dealer for longer than 3 months. I guess Airstreams are a tough sale to a non enthusiast looking to buy just cheap.

Residents (denizens?) of the Gulf Coast seem to prefer fifth-wheels to any other kind of trailer. I guess pull-behind travel trailers evoke flashbacks to FEMA trailers.

[JackDog]

S/W used to be at Travel Land down in Irvine, CA for years and just recently relocated to Corona due to the Irvine Company finally deciding to build a office complex on the site next to the 5 fwy.

I work at the toll roads and for the past ten years would stop in from time to time to get my "Airstream" fix. When it finally came time to get one I think Bo and S/W wanted me to get an AS more than I did.

Being out in Corona is only about 20 miles from my house in Orange so if I need follow up service it isn't a big problem.

Your'e right about their service staff. They installed the porch light off the Safari on the side next to the door and the factory switch inside that it looks like a factory install and now I have both lights.

We've been having high temps and humidity here in So Cal so I spent the last few nights in the Sport and getting familiar with all the features. I have to say lying in bed with the A/C on and watching a DVD on the flat screen is a far cry from my days of tent camping.

Jack Dog
in So Cal

[JCEaton]

Having just bought a '12 I would concur with a lot of folks that dealer service is key. We live in MD but bought up in NJ. The nearby (VA) dealer is not really concerned with our warranty issues. Earliest they can fit us in their schedule is September (over a month away.) Colonial up in NJ will take it tomorrow. Unfortunately Colonial is a one way 5 hour tow. Colonial agreed over the phone that the issues were warranty, the dealer in VA said they would decide that once they saw it. To be fair, it would be a bit of work on something they made no money on, so I understand the reluctance. However, I don't appreciate the run around they gave my wife when she called. Probably will go to NJ just because of that. Question is when...lots of camping to be done soon, and it is hard to do without the trailer. Talking to the folks in Ohio now to see what can be done. Definitely friendly service there.
The issues: 1. Black water tank TLI is inoperative. (I put half of the potable water tank in it with no rise. Which assumes, of course that the PW TLI is accurate...but it was a good number of gallons anyway. 2. Either the PW TLI or the grey water TLI is grossly inaccurate. Without hooking up city water, and just running off the tank, the PW tank read half full while the grey water read that it was about to overflow. Since the tanks are similarly sized, either one or the other is wrong (or both). My intention was to fill 5 gal buckets in the shower than dump them down the drain to measure both, however problem 3 intervened... 3. The fittings on the water filter leak..or I should say spray. Badly. Probably about 1/8 gal a minute badly. And no, tightening them will not help. The female screw fittings are not the source of the leak, but the swivel ball of the swivel portion of the fittings on both ends (yes, both fittings) are the sources of the leak. Two bad fittings indicates either poor design, poor fitting quality control, or that the fittings were swiveled beyond their design limits causing seals to break. Either way, the whole setup is a series of disasters waiting to happen so I just want it out of our trailer, in order to go back to simple piping. I'll hang a filter outside the trailer (with a second pressure reg valve) where it can cover the whole trailer, anyway. 4. Two rivets, one on either side of the door, have sheared off inside. Which either indicates that the riveter was having a bad day and was ready to go home at that point, or the trailer is not flexing properly around the door. I have not looked closely enough at the design to verify, but I am assuming that the door frame is supposed to have some "give" to it, to avoid having the door frame form a hard stress point. IE, stress waves are supposed to flow around the door which is "floating" slightly in the shell. If only one portion is firmly in place (over tightened?) than that point concentrates stress, which is relieved by shearing rivets so that the skin can flex. Someone who has pulled the door off would be able to answer that. As it is under warranty, I have no intention of doing so.
In spite of all that (id'd in about three days of camping), I still love the trailer. I have had far more problems with new houses...and new ships. I just wish I was closer to the dealer to work out the "shake down" issues. (Marine engineering background, if you have not guessed.). Goo luck, and hope to see you out there!

[JCEaton]

Quick update--Airstream HQ called me back very quickly after I left a message. Extremely helpful and courteous...and they offered to reimburse me for any costs incurred getting the leak repaired, though they did aak for me to wait to take it to a dealer for the rivets and TLI's. Quite reasonable, actually. I have a shop almost down the street, if I don't jusy take care of it myself. Thanks Airstream!

[Gene]

Glad to see you got some positive response JC. Apparently because there are few Airstream dealers, the Va. dealer can blow you off because they are so busy. Warranty work is profit for them too, so I don't think that you didn't buy it there matters very much. When a dealer's shop is very busy they have to prioritize in some way, however dumb it may be. They could expand their shop, but probably don't want to invest in that. And maybe they treat everyone the same way.

Gene

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Glad to see you got some positive response JC. Apparently because there are few Airstream dealers, the Va. dealer can blow you off because they are so busy. Warranty work is profit for them too, so I don't think that you didn't buy it there matters very much. When a dealer's shop is very busy they have to prioritize in some way, however dumb it may be. They could expand their shop, but probably don't want to invest in that. And maybe they treat everyone the same way.

Gene

I wouldn't be surprised that if Airstream is like the auto manufacturers in my part of the country, the labor rate that Airstream pays is most likely less than what you and I pay. That's part of why I valued that purchase relationship carrying more weight. My dealership is busy also and sometimes we had had to make an appointment for service where the dealer works us into an already fully book schedule.

Jack

[Gene]

Jack, I think you are probably right about the company paying a lower rate than the public is charged, but it is good business for the shop. I think warranty work is the biggest part of a shop's income. I expect their contract as a dealer requires them to schedule anyone who has an Airstream for warranty work in a reasonable time, but it is probable no one checks on that. A busy shop can find plenty of ways to put you off, but I wonder if a busy shop has time to check where you bought it.

The dealer where we bought ours had a backlog for a couple of weeks, but the shop did bad work and the warranty person did an awful job of getting warranty work approved. If there were a rate differential, it would be in the dealer's economic interest to make sure some warranty work was not approved.

Gene

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Jack, I think you are probably right about the company paying a lower rate than the public is charged, but it is good business for the shop. I think warranty work is the biggest part of a shop's income. I expect their contract as a dealer requires them to schedule anyone who has an Airstream for warranty work in a reasonable time, but it is probable no one checks on that. A busy shop can find plenty of ways to put you off, but I wonder if a busy shop has time to check where you bought it.

The dealer where we bought ours had a backlog for a couple of weeks, but the shop did bad work and the warranty person did an awful job of getting warranty work approved. If there were a rate differential, it would be in the dealer's economic interest to make sure some warranty work was not approved.

Gene

I know My dealer's service computers have that info. My dealership sells multiple lines of trailers and has a very good reputation regarding work. I was at a convention once and sat at lunch with a person who worked in a state where the purchase of electric was deregulated. He worked for what you would consider the local company who originally served all customers. His company still had the responsibility of maintaining the local wiring to the home. He told me that while the official line was that all customers get the same level of service when local outages occurred no matter the supplier, he also noted "that we know who our customers are". That told me a lot.....

Jack

[Howard L.]

25% off MSRP is a good start. I would expect to buy the new trailer at 19 to 21% off. I think we signed the papers at 20.5% on our 2012-FC 30 but that was in Aug, just before the 2013s. My main suggestion and caution is to make sure you ask to see the MSRP sticker from Airstream for the unit you are negotiating on. What we found was that discounts were offered by some dealers of 25 and even 30% off MSRP's that were way inflated. See the Airstream #s and then work your 25% from there.

[Dwellstream]

Our dealer provided a VERY brief walk through, provided by the sales person. We are newbies. Is this common?