Sloppy Airstream dealer

[leedav]

Ugh. Dewinterizing. Unit was at the dealer this fall to try to find a problem with the water pump running intermittently with no demand. Picked up the trailer with 6.5v battery in spite of me making them write down on the work order to use the battery disconnect. The plug was out of the water heater, the electric hot water was on and probably now fried. The bypass was not bypassed. The drain cocks were left open. I hope I’ll find some antifreeze in the plumbing at least after I try putting water in a second time. Update. Yup. No antifreeze

[Fungus]

Originally Posted by leedav

Ugh. Dewinterizing. Unit was at the dealer this fall to try to find a problem with the water pump running intermittently with no demand. Picked up the trailer with 6.5v battery in spite of me making them write down on the work order to use the battery disconnect. The plug was out of the water heater, the electric hot water was on and probably now fried. The bypass was not bypassed. The drain cocks were left open. I hope I’ll find some antifreeze in the plumbing at least after I try putting water in a second time. Update. Yup. No antifreeze

We leave the drain cocks open and the WH plug out. No anti-freeze, too. Just blow the lines with compressed air until no mist. It's survived extended 3*F temps and week-long below-freezing temps.

[leedav]

Originally Posted by Fungus

We leave the drain cocks open and the WH plug out. No anti-freeze, too. Just blow the lines with compressed air until no mist. It's survived extended 3*F temps and week-long below-freezing temps.

We have ants here that crawl into anything wet. The teakettle for example. Which is inexplicable because all it does here is rain. Also at least some of the lines were full of water

[Gene]

There have been reports that one or more dealers in the northwest US are to be avoided. Unfortunately they are not the only dealers to avoid.

[ITSNO60]

Seems like it's the way of the world now. There is very little I have done by others yet I find myself finishing or correcting what I paid to have done more often than not. I guess most people probably don't even know they got shoddy work till something goes wrong.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by ITSNO60

Seems like it's the way of the world now. There is very little I have done by others yet I find myself finishing or correcting what I paid to have done more often than not. I guess most people probably don't even know they got shoddy work till something goes wrong.

I do the same. Besides that fact I want to save money, I can fix things better many times than so called professionals.

[Ray Eklund]

"Ignorance is not bliss means being unaware of unpleasant facts and negative events is actually detrimental to our person wellbeing."

"A person who does not know about a problem does not worry about it. He/She never keeps up with the news or cares..."

We have all been disappointed with Service. Travel Trailers, at first, constantly have problems from loose screws, hardware and non working electrical components. Warranty's are short for a reason. Think about why.

Automobile manufacturers watch ALL Warranty problems and it is a big cost to them. It gets attention immediately. Trailers.... ha ha ha. It costs them, but avoiding to take responsibility is a skill. Money is set aside, but not responsibility, if they can avoid it.

The Airforums offers a wealth of repairing, maintaining and upgrading our trailers. New owners may be shocked to hear this, but you have to learn how to fix your trailer, yourself.

The employee turnover at a RV business is a revolving door of training or getting some employee who moves from boats, autos and to trailers.

Trailers are not built to the same standards of a home. Some homes are built to minimums. The warranty period is short for Trailers, for good reason. They are complicated and many owners cannot maintain minimum problems that occur.

My family depended on ME to fix house problems. They were helpless. I was 14. Learned by doing transferred well into the Airstream myself repair service and upgrades when needed.

Anyone owning a trailer needs to TRY to FIX the problem. If it still does not work, then consider a Dealer. Toss the issue onto the Forum. Excellent source of experienced Airstream individuals repairing their own trailer... properly.

If you are unable to do the repairs yourself, find a 14 year old. Otherwise you will be at the mercy of paying flat rate or high hourly service charges for something you would rather not attempt.

It is a choice. Yourself or Pay the Piper...

Learn to do simple repairs on your own, or expect to get in line and get what you could have done yourself... if you tried.

Buying a well maintained USED Airstream is an excellent option. The owner will demonstrate that everything works, bolts and screws are securing the trailer and demonstrates how everything works.

[leedav]

Yes, I ended up fixing it myself. Replacing a water pump installed by the dealer that failed on the first trip. These guys have broken more than they have fixed, and now that the warranty is done I won’t be back there. It’s not a question of ability. I spent 80 grand on a trailer and I expected the warranty service to be reliable. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.

[Daquenzer]

Yep, if you can avoid going to the dealer do it. I did have to go back to the dealer to repair an awning. But it was so far beyond my ability I just didn’t want to deal with it.

I did notice on a truck a sign for a roving RV repairman in our area. That would be a pretty good deal for someone that was ambitious