Damaged airstream flying cloud

[Klmiller14]

Hey guys I am looking for some input. I came across a 2015 airstream flying cloud for $10,000. It does have damage and looks like it was potentially in a roll over. The owners do have an airstream excel included to provide parts. I am curious as to what labor/parts might entail to fix this. I am ok with dents just wouldn’t want it to leak.

I have included the listing details as well as pictures.

2015 Airstream Flying Cloud 23 ft
This camper is damaged and needs repaired. It has a salvage title. It is a 23 foot trailer with the bed in the back.

Included in the purchase is a 30 foot Airstream Excella that has severe burn damage to the back half. This can be used for parts to help fix the Flying Cloud. The excella does not come with a title and is for parts only. But it is towable.
Also included are some parts I have for the repair including the front corner windows, a new step, and one rock guard.

Contact me if you would like more pictures, or pictures of the excella.

[s1000pre]

Not sure what to tell you. This looks like a complete rebuild. My guess is the awning is jacked up as well. You will have a hard time getting that door to seal. Frame is probably bent. The Excella isn’t going to help you. If it were two FC 23’s you might have something. I wouldn’t touch it.

[panamerican]

It's worth more scrap at this point. I saw pic two and thought...maybe, then read it was rolled and looked at the other pics.

I agree with s1000pre- this looks like a shell off rebuild. Labor and parts will easily cost as much as a non-damaged pre-owned.

Not sure I myself would want to take on a project like this because IMHO, there's no money to be saved. Wealth of experience, but no savings in terms of greenbacks...plus a salvaged title most likely, which may bring insurance complications.

That 30' Excella will most likely be vastly different than the 2015 and though you might be able to mate them into a hybrid, the reality is it will not match and will look like a Frankenstream.

[azflycaster]

The trailer was most likely totaled by the insurance company and sold at a salvage auction for much less than they are selling it for now. They are then offered for sale with ads that say how easy it is to fix and Airstream has all the parts to make it as good as new.

The insurance company totaled it because the repair cost exceeded the value of the unit.

[kittmaster]

That trailer needs to be parted and retired.....That will never be right...hard pass....there are plenty of good trailers used that can be had for the time and cost it will be to repair that trailer.

[Belegedhel]

Anything is possible with time and money. In this case, it would be a lot of both. If repairing this trailer were easy, or even cost effective, the previous owner would have done it. My guess is that this seller is buying shiny junk at insurance auctions and then turning around and selling it again as "rebuildable." Clearly they don't know much about the differences between models and years of manufacture, or they wouldn't have even suggested using the Excella as a parts donor.

As to the comment that dents don't bother you, you just don't want leaks, well these trailers (really, any trailer) will develop plenty of leaks even without being rolled. The beauty/value in these trailers is heavily dependent on aesthetics, so even though you don't think dents would bother you, every time you look at them, you will consider getting them fixed, and resale value will not improve.

good luck!

[GetawA-S]

Do you want a trailer you can enjoy? Buy one of the other several thousand similar copies.
Are you on a mission to save one of these alluring but damaged material things? Find someone who will return your affection.
Do you think you have found a potential bargain? My teacher wife told her students, “Number one rule of Econ, if it seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is!”
Some combination of the above? Sleep on it. For at least thirty nights. If the trailer is still there, the price will be lower. Probably much lower!

[Foiled Again]

ERG. Just speculating without doing the historical fact checking..... the 23 footer looks to be a wide-body 8.5 feet across. The seller didn't mention what year the Excella was, but it is almost certainly 8.0 feet wide. Excella name was changed to Classic and I think that happened near 2000 when the wide-body was introduced.

The shape of the curve also changed when the wide-body was introduced. On current models the Sport (and units built for Europe) are 7.5 feet across, in 2005 units 22 ft. And shorter were 8.0 feet across and those 25 ft. And longer were 8.5 ft. Wide-body...

And the curved segments on the sides are identical at all three widths. The flat center panel comes in three different widths... and the letters AIRSTREAM are really crammed tight on a sport. learn to spot that. I thought that 23's would still be 8 ft, but have never looked at a newer one since 2012.

[kscherzi]

Don't buy it. That is unless you can live with these two hulks cluttering your yard for the next decade. The Excella is to the Flying Cloud as a Fiat is to a Malibu. There's a reason the insurance companies totalled those trailers. The cost to repair, even valuing your own time at $0, will probably far exceed whatever it might be worth.

[Foiled Again]

For anyone interested in rebuilding/salvaging an Airstream, it can be a beautiful thing - but for most people it takes years and buckets full of money. ALL trailer and RV (motorized) sales are through the roof, but even before Covid mother majority of them get used a few times then become 'yard art". In another year there may be lots of good almost unused Airstreams for sale.

The original poster here should be happy to learn that he is not too far from.the factory.... and there is an Airstream only campground in Kentucky. Meet and greet people who have been there, done that and are aging out of their trailers. Wait until you see a good used one.

[LNBright]

With that much damage, it'd be cheaper to just buy one w/o damage.

I used to fiddle around w/ older Land Rovers, mostly Series, but a few early Discoveries, knew my way around the older Range Rover Classics... fella hunted me down, had heard that I was a Rover guy... Had a P38 Rangie that he'd picked up: fella was in the habit of buying BMW's and MB's, repairing the power window switches or whatever was was awry, buffing them up and cleaning the interior, then selling them at a tidy profit, thought he was going to do that w/ the Rangie... it had the usual issue w/ the power octopus harness, thought I'd do a bit of research. Turned out, if he GAVE it to me, I couldn't have gotten it back on the road for less than twice what it would've cost to just go buy one that was running. Sometimes, the best thing to do is walk away.

I don't think you can get that one useable for less than $30k. I think you'd be more than that into it before you'd really want to use it. I think you'd be far better off to take the money you'd put into it, and the money that it would cost, and put it towards something that doesn't require so much work.

Good luck with what you decide....

[panamerican]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

ERG. Just speculating without doing the historical fact checking..... the 23 footer looks to be a wide-body 8.5 feet across. The seller didn't mention what year the Excella was, but it is almost certainly 8.0 feet wide. Excella name was changed to Classic and I think that happened near 2000 when the wide-body was introduced.

The shape of the curve also changed when the wide-body was introduced. On current models the Sport (and units built for Europe) are 7.5 feet across, in 2005 units 22 ft. And shorter were 8.0 feet across and those 25 ft. And longer were 8.5 ft. Wide-body...

And the curved segments on the sides are identical at all three widths. The flat center panel comes in three different widths... and the letters AIRSTREAM are really crammed tight on a sport. learn to spot that. I thought that 23's would still be 8 ft, but have never looked at a newer one since 2012.

25' is where the wide body starts IIRC.....

I agree with everything that has been said. I still say both can be mated together with some time, money and effort-- if you want to have a Frankenstream...sure would be one of a kind...prob not something that can be insured very easily or a possible future claim, but one of a kind for sure.

[fotoman1527]

Originally Posted by s1000pre

Not sure what to tell you. This looks like a complete rebuild. My guess is the awning is jacked up as well. You will have a hard time getting that door to seal. Frame is probably bent. The Excella isn’t going to help you. If it were two FC 23’s you might have something. I wouldn’t touch it.

So well said! It’s much more likely than not to have more problems than you think, and some may be practically unsolvable.

[Starlight Mike]

Very simple, don't even think about it!!

[uncle_bob]

Hi

You will only know how much needs to be fixed once you are done with all the repairs *and* have tracked down the last (of many) leaks.

You *can* build an Airstream from scratch, simply buying raw metal and doing all the rest yourself. It will take you a decade or more to do. You will spend far more than the cost of a new trailer. You will buy a *lot* of gear that you never will use on any project ever again.

Fixing this trailer isn't quite as bad as doing it from scratch. However it's getting close.

Fixing those dents in those panels ... not so much. You will need to buy new panels. Straightening out the damage to the frame parts the panels sit on, again not so much. You will need to replace some of them.

Is there damage to the steel frame under the trailer? If it was rolled, there may be. Pulling it out and getting it welded / rebuilt ... not cheap or easy.

Are the axles / brakes / hubs / wheels ok after the disaster? Often they aren't. Again something that gets into replace rather than repair.

Can you grab some of this stuff off of the (much) older trailer? Sure, I'd bet you will find at least 3% of the parts you need that way. Anything big .... not so much.

This is not a project that goes well outdoors. You need someplace that's big enough to hold the shell and the frame once they are pulled apart. If the other trailer is getting torn apart as well, you need room for it. That's one mighty big space to dedicate to this.

So let's say you forge ahead and after 4 years of hard work you have spent $40,000 rebuilding this trailer. You now go to the insurance folks. You want insurance on your baby before you risk it on the road. Unless your insurance company is very unusual, they will look at that salvage title and not issue the policy you are looking for.

Run, don't walk away from this "deal".

Bob

[kidjedi]

Originally Posted by Klmiller14

I am curious as to what labor/parts might entail to fix this. I am ok with dents just wouldn’t want it to leak.

From all these responses, you are probably starting to get an idea of what the collective opinion is.

Your statement quoted above leads me to believe you are thinking about hiring someone else to do the work. If that is the case, you will be way upside down on this build before it's finished (likely getting close to the cost of a brand new, albeit smaller, Airstream). If you were doing the work yourself and had plenty of time, I'd say go for it. Know this though: the panels from the two trailers won't mate, so it's likely that none of the curved pieces are compatible. You can use some of the aluminum, but there will be a lot of cutting and bending, and the bending is extremely difficult work.

This "project" would likely be around $40k (and that would be an extremely conservative number to include labor). Look in the for sale section and you will see that even in these pandemic-inflated times, $40k will get you a really nice used trailer ready to camp.

[PatLee]

I would be shocked if it didn't leak like a sieve.

[smithcreek]

I have a Porsche Cayenne for sale that was in a rollover accident, but don't worry, I'll throw in a totaled '72 Dodge Dart Swinger you can use for parts to fix the Porsche.

[Mx468]

I wouldn’t walk away but run away from this!!!

[n2916s]

No, no, no, nopedy no.