What?s so special about Airstream trailers?
- Thread starter vito55
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
BinaryBob
Moderator Emeritus
I've read that the quality of their builds is excellent, plus all that exterior aluminum adds up, but the core problem is you are asking for relativity in RV pricing - It doesn't exist.
Why is a tiny class B sprinter Mercedes cost roughly the same as some 38 foot class A's?
Why is a tiny class B sprinter Mercedes cost roughly the same as some 38 foot class A's?
Prior member
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2015
- Posts
- 1,232
I don't like them
Too dark inside and due to the rounded roof and walls there is limited space in the cabinets
A good friend has one, and I much prefer our low end, el cheapo, square one.
Jack L
Too dark inside and due to the rounded roof and walls there is limited space in the cabinets
A good friend has one, and I much prefer our low end, el cheapo, square one.
Jack L
NY_Dutch
Well-known member
I'm not a fan of Airstreams either, but I do appreciate the quality materials and workmanship that goes into them. And the rounded shape easily sheds pretty much anything that drops on it.
Bill N
Well-known member
I owned an Avion, a kissing cousin of the Airstream, and loved it mainly because of the way it towed. It truly felt like there was nothing back there and I was towing it with a station wagon loaded with 4 kids and a German Shepard. I also worked part-time for an Airstream dealer and the quality was definitely the best and the interiors were attractive, well planned and had a lot of innovations. But that was years ago. Sometime in 2015 we went to a local Airstream dealer to look when we contemplated selling off the Class A and going back to a trailer. First let me say that the quality is still there but the inside had no appeal to us because it looked so cold with little to no wood - just aluminum, stainless steel and some sort of wood looking (but not real) wall construction. Now that is not to say it would not appeal to many of today's shoppers but just not to us. Be prepared to choke on price. Nuff said.
Bill
Bill
Rene T
Site Team
How many of you have seen the Airstream Ranch in FL? I drove down I-4 last year and I didn't see it so maybe he lost his battle displaying art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npvEUdStAXc
Update: Anyone looking for a well used RV?
https://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/airstream-ranch-the-rv-stonehenge-of-tampa-bay-is-being-torn-down/2312586
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npvEUdStAXc
Update: Anyone looking for a well used RV?
https://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/airstream-ranch-the-rv-stonehenge-of-tampa-bay-is-being-torn-down/2312586
SeilerBird
Well-known member
Their outrageous price. There is a small amount of people who honestly feel that they can judge the quality of something strictly by looking at the price tag. It costs so much more that it has to be better. There are a lot of photographers, musicians and audiophiles with the exact same attitude. And as WC Fields once said "There is a sucker born every minute." And these people who really believe in the quality/cost relationships are the con man's legal customers.vito55 said:
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sightseers
Guest
The cost just to build a total aluminum structure and body of an Airstream is way more in just materials,
A standard trailer is nothing more than a 2x2 wooden box wrapped with thin fiberglass sheets for walls and a plastic tarp for a roof.
A standard trailer is nothing more than a 2x2 wooden box wrapped with thin fiberglass sheets for walls and a plastic tarp for a roof.
Cooperhawk
Well-known member
We purchased a 1985 345 Turbo Diesel about 23 years ago and owned it for almost twenty years. It was really well made with good quality materials.
For its time it had many innovations as well. Built in blender, mixer, ect. The power head was built into the counter and you just set whatever unit you wanted on it. It also had reels for the electric cord and hose. On the roof was a remote spot light that was pretty handy. It had a central vacuum.
For a unit almost 35 feet long it weighed surprisingly little. Only 16.000 lbs. as opposed to almost 36,000 with our current 36 foot Journey.
It drove very well once the shocks were replaced and often averaged 16 mpg.
The downside was it was a little cramped inside. Like living in an airplane fuselage. There also wasn't much storage.
Another problem was Hail! They do not like hail.
Often people would knock on our door and ask to see the inside. On one occasion we actually set up a sign announcing a time for tours and several folks were there when the time came. I was also stopped at border crossings and all the inspectors wanted was to see inside.
In the end we sold it for what we thought was a lot of money. It cost us very little per year to own it.
One time I towed my classic 74 Corvette on a dolly behind it to a class reunion. That turned a lot of heads.
For its time it had many innovations as well. Built in blender, mixer, ect. The power head was built into the counter and you just set whatever unit you wanted on it. It also had reels for the electric cord and hose. On the roof was a remote spot light that was pretty handy. It had a central vacuum.
For a unit almost 35 feet long it weighed surprisingly little. Only 16.000 lbs. as opposed to almost 36,000 with our current 36 foot Journey.
It drove very well once the shocks were replaced and often averaged 16 mpg.
The downside was it was a little cramped inside. Like living in an airplane fuselage. There also wasn't much storage.
Another problem was Hail! They do not like hail.
Often people would knock on our door and ask to see the inside. On one occasion we actually set up a sign announcing a time for tours and several folks were there when the time came. I was also stopped at border crossings and all the inspectors wanted was to see inside.
In the end we sold it for what we thought was a lot of money. It cost us very little per year to own it.
One time I towed my classic 74 Corvette on a dolly behind it to a class reunion. That turned a lot of heads.
Cooperhawk
Well-known member
sightseers said:
Yes, that is correct. Ours was thousands of rivets which required two men to install. One inside and one outside. The entire framework was aluminum ribbing with coated aluminum skin on the inside. The newer units are using a lot of glue and a lot fewer rivets.
Cooperhawk
Well-known member
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sightseers
Guest
any RV that comes with a Zip-DEE awning is a better made RV.
Optimistic Paranoid
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2013
- Posts
- 355
I'm sure part of it is the mythos that comes with it. The owner of the company, Wally Byam not only owned and used one himself, he organized caravans of Airstreams that crossed continents and visited exotic lands. They crossed Africa in 1959 on the Capetown to Cairo caravan, and in Egypt, the king himself came out to meet them. Eat your heart out, Winnebago!
https://www.airstream.com/why-airstream/freedom/caravans/
https://expeditionportal.com/capetown-to-cairo-an-airstream-caravan-takes-on-africa/
https://www.airstream.com/why-airstream/freedom/caravans/
https://expeditionportal.com/capetown-to-cairo-an-airstream-caravan-takes-on-africa/
AStravelers
Well-known member
Airstreams are fine for a very expensive vacation trailer. You also get to make the very important statement: "I own an Airstream." For long therm use, I wouldn't have one. Very little outside storage. Inside upper cabinet storage is also limited by the curve of the roof.
However if you love them, then that is fine.
There are a number of quality trailers & motorhomes, both wood and aluminum framing. Not all others are Junk.
However if you love them, then that is fine.
There are a number of quality trailers & motorhomes, both wood and aluminum framing. Not all others are Junk.
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sightseers
Guest
Any structure framed with wood.... should not be bouncing down a road.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Many of the comments here are seem to be along the lines of "I don't like them", but that wasn't the question. Obviously the people who DO buy them must like them, whether because of their mystique or actual features and construction. Airstreams are designed and built with a spare no expense attitude, resulting in a choice of materials, components, chassis and running gear that puts it well above typical travel trailers costing 1/4 to 1/2 as much. If you look at an Airstream and only see a trailer with a high price tag, my advice is Do Not Buy.
Even the little Sport model has aircraft-grade riveted aluminum siding, a robust chassis, Ultraleather upholstery throughout, top quality flooring and paneling, Moen plumbing fixtures, stainless steel sinks, probelelss (external sensor) tank monitors, heated underbelly, 80W solar system, AGM battery, rear camera system, and other nice features. PLUS a 3 year warranty and 3 years of Coach-Net roadside service included. Larger models have inverters as standard equipment, big Samsung tvs, surround system, and similar high end amenities.
If you look at other trailers with similar high end construction and amenities, I think you will find the prices similar to the Airstream. Here are a few:
https://land.olivertraveltrailers.com/fiberglass/travel-trailers-1/
https://horizonsrv.com/
http://www.travelunits.com/
Even the little Sport model has aircraft-grade riveted aluminum siding, a robust chassis, Ultraleather upholstery throughout, top quality flooring and paneling, Moen plumbing fixtures, stainless steel sinks, probelelss (external sensor) tank monitors, heated underbelly, 80W solar system, AGM battery, rear camera system, and other nice features. PLUS a 3 year warranty and 3 years of Coach-Net roadside service included. Larger models have inverters as standard equipment, big Samsung tvs, surround system, and similar high end amenities.
If you look at other trailers with similar high end construction and amenities, I think you will find the prices similar to the Airstream. Here are a few:
https://land.olivertraveltrailers.com/fiberglass/travel-trailers-1/
https://horizonsrv.com/
http://www.travelunits.com/
John From Detroit
Well-known member
camperAL said:
Though that WAS true and the still benefit from that reputation.. I'm not so sure now. They are another THOR product today Like my Intruder.
Airstreams however still are a STATUS symbol due to that reputation (Why do city folks buy a 4WD Denali gas hog to go get groceries with) (sinckers commercical How do you like my new SUV.. Biggest one made.. (Pulls into garage which is about 2 feet too small and knocks the wholer thing down) . Same thing with Air Streams.
Also Airstreams have been featured in a few Movies or TV shows like "America" where who was it. Gordon MacRae (spelling?) and family sold the house, bought an Air stream and hit the road. In one ep it got hit by lightening so insurance paid off )(total loss) they bought it back from junk yard and rebuilt it and continued.
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sightseers
Guest
Time is the true test of quality.
Several years after you've spent all your hard earned money on a travel trailer, will one will have a better resale value ?
The rubber roofed wooden framed Jayco... or the Airstream ?
Good quality products always cost more initially, but you get your money back when you go to sell it.
Several years after you've spent all your hard earned money on a travel trailer, will one will have a better resale value ?
The rubber roofed wooden framed Jayco... or the Airstream ?
Good quality products always cost more initially, but you get your money back when you go to sell it.
Roy M
Well-known member
Wally Byam was a salesman, a promoter. He built a unique high quality product then successfully sold the public on it. The true believers will pay outrageous prices for their staus symbol, my wife's ex ran a storage lot and had Airstreams come in periodically. People were almost beating down the door wanting to buy them, he sold one for $2500 more than the owner was asking. 
