Best Opinions on Damage

[alumdreams]

We are a bit heart broken right now. Our 2016 Flying Cloud was struck yesterday by a car on the drivers side leaving this long gash. For those better versed in Airstream construction, is this a repairable injury or should we start preparing ourselves for the worst?
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[uncle_bob]

Hi

It's all repairable. The gotcha is that it's not exactly cheap to repair. There's multiple bits and pieces busted so it's not obvious how many thousands of dollars it'll cost. Hopefully the car driver's insurance will be footing the bill !!!!

Opinions differ on where to get stuff like this fixed. The most common answer seems to be to take a trip back to the factory to get it done. They generally can give you an estimate if you send them good pictures of the damage.

Bob

[pcskier]

You didn't mention if the offending driver stuck around, or if it was a hit/run, etc? All fixable, but it's going to be expensive. Hopefully it's the other guy's insurance and not yours.

[alumdreams]

Yeah, he had insurance and we have comprehensive insurance. Financially we should be good. Just didn’t know if this would be called a total loss or not. Thanks for the info.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by alumdreams

Yeah, he had insurance and we have comprehensive insurance. Financially we should be good. Just didn’t know if this would be called a total loss or not. Thanks for the info.

As said, all repairable, but I'd guess 15 to 20k.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by alumdreams

Yeah, he had insurance and we have comprehensive insurance. Financially we should be good. Just didn’t know if this would be called a total loss or not. Thanks for the info.

Hi

No, most certainly not a total loss, doubly so if it's on somebody else's insurance. The only weird case is older trailers on your own policy and you find out you picked the wrong policy / company. Yours it not an older trailer.

Get the pictures off to JC and start the estimate process. They can make it all as good as new. The way an AS is made, everything is replaceable / repairable.

Be sure to consider the costs of getting things to / from JC. This sort of thing never happens when you are in central Ohio . Even if you tow it up and back yourself, you still have mileage costs, as well as lodging / food. At least some of that should be covered by the insurance.

Make *very* sure the trailer is road safe before you head that way. If it's not road safe, then you have a two step repair process, or a "haul it on a flatbed" kind of thing.

Bob

[bjmiess]

Boy do I know how you feel! We just had a similar thing with our 2015 Classic. It just makes you sick when this happens! We got one estimate back from Jackson Center that they did from photos I sent them. It was $26,000. I think it may be higher than that in the end once they see it in person and check it out more. Good luck with your's. We are mostly sad that our whole camping season may be ruined. It can take a long time to get the repairs done I am told.

[rwsjms7]

Really sorry to hear!! This is our first season with our FC 30 and it is constantly on my mind.

No matter how careful you are, you can't control everything.

I do what I can and leave the rest to Him.

[OTRA15]

Good advice so far. One recommendation is to document everything well, use email, and include your local insurance agent in the loop. We were rear-ended a couple of years ago, and our agent was instrumental in saving us thousands of dollars.

Good luck,

Peter

[TBRich]

As others have said...totally repairable and once completely you will never know it happened.

By the way, you may feel sick about it, but you'd feel a WHOLE lot sicker if you had caused it, trust me. But even in that case insurance will cover the work.

The work must be done at a shop that is skilled at this type of repair. If you can't find that locally, there is always Jackson Center. We are lucky to have a local shop that can do this kind of repair.

Keep breathing...this can be managed.

And good luck!

[baldbrian]

My 2014 25 Ft Flying Cloud was side swiped by a driver that fell asleep at the wheel. It took the winter to repair but is immaculate now. Choose a good dealer and it will be as good as new.