Buying an airstream

[Treefern111]

Hi.
A long long time ago, I was looking at the original bubbles... but I was only 20 and they were well beyond my grasp. Life happened and then more. And now I have two littles. Little littles. That first early early (47?) bubble owned by the original old Texas couple is long gone, but now camping with two tinies (under 3, alone) is hard and if I’m going to buy a trailer- I’m not buying some hideous newfangled horror show.

So, I’m looking for a bubble (I like the layout best) and I saw one that sold last year with bunk beds. That would be ideal. I’ve been checking out the bambis, and I may settle, but... people are not particularly forthcoming. I thought this was a community (and I recognize it’s a business and the internet is hokey). I am a solo mom who is going to go into debt to do this because classy and history and getting my girls out is important to me. I’m in Canada. Data rates suck, texting is ridiculous and there are no airstreams to be found in the west. I am doing my best to win what works for us.

Is it normal for someone to refuse to email with you? I’ll call, later, but I also want to be able to write all my questions down so I don’t miss any. And not waste either of our time. Because I’m mechanical, but never owned a trailer, I don’t want to come off by phone as a moron. You’re selling on the internet. I’m going to have to come get it. How can I prove I’m not a fake?

Anyhow. I’m hoping some super cool person with a love of history and a good little bubble to sell will come and read my post and want to see my girls enjoy it for the long haul. (I still have my 71 gmc that was my first car.. that I can’t drive with them in car seats ) I’m ok with reno’d (Preferable) or original (happy if its solid)- I would just like one we could go camping in today and be dry and warm. I can fix up over time, if necessary.

Phew.

[Daquenzer]

So what are some things you want to know? If you are looking to buy used there is a used airstream site. The problem is if you live in an isolated area that could be tricky. My suggestion is to make a trip to CanAm, a big Airstream dealer in Canada.

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Used market will always be a travel. May need to go into the states to find the one you want. Is your tow vehicle capable of towing an Airstream?

As far as people not responding to email, I would call and talk to who ever you are emailing and ask them over the phone. You have your email questions written down already, you shouldn’t miss anything.

You can use this board to bounce additional questions off of but as long as it’s a certified airstream dealer, the responses should be credible.

[Belegedhel]

You are looking for a true unicorn (a very rare trailer in an area where rare trailers are not to be found). Realize also that unless the trailer was stored in a climate controlled museum for the last 50 years, no original, unmodified trailer is going to be road worthy, and will instead be a huge refurb project just to make it safe/useable. A trailer that has already been refurbed is not going to seem like a bargain (though, not having to do all the work yourself=priceless). What is your budget for this trailer purchase (+ reno if necessary)?

I find that when selling things on the internet (Craigslist, for example), I too get a lot of emails that stink of some kind of email address harvesting scam, so I ignore many of them. I usually insist in my ads that any emails be accompanied by a phone number just so I can see that the person is (at least appears to be) serious. I usually don't even respond to people who email to say "is it still available?" When you say that people are not "fourthcoming," do you just mean it is hard to get a response, or that they act really guarded?

Further unsolicited advice: buying a trailer is a business transaction. I would caution you to not take it personnally when sellers behave stand-offishly, and not to try to make your interaction with them personal, at least until you have established their acquaintance. One of the classic signs of an internet scam is when you see a trailer (or anything else of large value) advertised for a great price, and then you contact the seller, and find out that the reason for them selling it so cheap is because it belonged to their war-hero son, who died in battle, and now looking at it brings back too many memories, and they just want to get rid of it, and by the way it is in another state, and you need to use eBay escrow services to make the transaction, and scam, scam, scam, scam...

Also, I looked at your other posts, where you were responding to the "threads" that announced the creation of a classified ads (that are now expired). In cases like this, the poster may not even be paying attention to the activity on that "thread," as they are expecting people to respond to the ad, so this could explain why you get no response. You might try sending the seller a PM (private message)--this should result in an email sent directly to them telling them someone is trying to communicate with them on the Airforums. Also, have a look at the seller's profile and how many posts they have made. There are many examples of people who join the Forums just to sell a trailer on the classifieds, and you can see that they have only ever made less than 3 posts. I wouldn't exactly call these folks "part of the community."

good luck!

[PKI]

Spend your next year reading about the AS trailers. Folks here like to share. There is a lot of very helpful information. Take advantage of what you can find. The more you know, the better deal and adventure you will have. Don't fall for the Icon until you understand all the issues that will affect your ownership and use. Bubble - don't burst your bubble. Learn how to keep it fully puffed up.

Good luck with your search. Hope to meet you down the road. Pat

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The amazing thing about Airstreams is that they *can* be on the road 50 years later. That leads to the impression that keeping one in roadworthy shape is the norm. Unless you are in a very dry climate / away from the ocean, it's going to take work. Unless the seals have been redone every few years (that could be 3 or it might be > 5) there will be leaks. When water gets in floor rot can (but isn't always) the result.

Indeed I have met gals who did exactly what you are looking to do with the same sort of trailer. It took them a while to find one and they have done a lot of work on this and that after purchase. It can be done.

In each case, it was a trailer that turned up in an odd place with an unusual history. They spotted it and drove a good long way in a hurry to grab it. I'd suggest there was an element of luck involved as well. From listening to their stories, "making the deal" was a chore in each case.

A further wrinkle to this is that an older trailer can be very difficult to finance. Anything over some magic number (5 ... 7 ... 10) years old becomes an issue for banks. That's true if it is an RV, a boat or even a car. Simply finding someplace that does not have those sort of rules may be very difficult.

Lots of twists and turns ....

Bob