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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / November 2004Airstream Land Yacht
I am thinking of buying an Airstream Land Yacht 395XL. Has anyone had experience with this model? How would you rate it? What were its problems? Will really appreciate some advice. >I am thinking of buying an Airstream Land Yacht 395XL. Has anyone had >experience with this model? How would you rate it? What were its >problems? Airstream Land Yacht has a reputation for producing products with unfixable water leaks. A few years ago, Airstream was bought out by Thor . . . probably the very worst RV manufacturer in the business! They also manufacture Damon products. Before you make a big mistake, read the adventures/horror story of the owner of a new Damon: http://www.woodalls.com/cforum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/14514695.cfm > Airstream Land Yacht has a reputation for producing products with > unfixable water leaks. A few years ago, Airstream was bought out by Thor > . . . probably the very worst RV manufacturer in the business! Not hardly!! Airstream was owned by Beatrice Foods before that. :-( Tom J >> Airstream Land Yacht has a reputation for producing products with >> unfixable water leaks. A few years ago, Airstream was bought out by Thor [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Tom J Uh Tom, not hardly what, Airstream is owned by Thor so is Damon, and Damon is known to be one of the worst products ever produced, and the Land Yacht has been known to be a leaker. The fact that it used to be owned by one of the largest Food manufacturers really has no relevance as it was dumped as just another underperforming asset Wade > >> Airstream Land Yacht has a reputation for producing products with > >> unfixable water leaks. A few years ago, Airstream was bought out by Thor [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Uh Tom, not hardly what, Airstream is owned by Thor so is Damon, and Damon > is known to be one of the worst products ever produced, >>Thor . . . probably the very worst RV manufacturer in the business! That's "hardly what". The facts are, Airstream had far more problems when owned by Beatrice than they had before or since. It seems to me some people can't afford one of the better trailers on the market, so they nit picks to try to make the trailer not look as good to others. Tom J who doesn't own one either, but have many friends that do, with no major problems. >> >> Airstream Land Yacht has a reputation for producing products with >> >> unfixable water leaks. A few years ago, Airstream was bought out by [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > who doesn't own one either, but have many friends that do, with no major > problems. In reality there are 3 Thors in the RV business: 2 actually build RVs and 1 is the parent holding company that owns a number of other RV companies including Airstream and Keystone. The holding company doesn't dictate to the owned companies - they just collect the profits. >> Uh Tom, not hardly what, Airstream is owned by Thor so is Damon, and >> Damon [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > who doesn't own one either, but have many friends that do, with no major > problems. The Airstream trailers are not in question here, they have established themselves rater nicely, what we have been discussing is the Land Yacht that is a Class A motor home, and that particular unit is directly competing with other makes of similar make, and to this day I don't think the bugs have been worked out. Perhaps Thor is unable to produce a quality product when cost is a factor as they do with the trailers a premium prices. Wade > I am thinking of buying an Airstream Land Yacht 395XL. Has anyone had > experience with this model? How would you rate it? What were its > problems? > > Will really appreciate some advice. Unlike most of the respondents here, I own a 2000 Land Yacht. We have had it for 2 years and this is my assessment: there are not that many Airstream dealers around the country. You might want to check and see where the closest authorized dealer is to your location. The coach itself has had almost no problems except the entrance door does not close tight enough to keep it from leaking when going down the road and it squeaks. There was a water leak that I fixed by sealing a seam that they missed at the factory and a few other annoying things. The CAT motor in the 2000 is a good motor but they had a problem with overheating due to having the breather tube exiting before the radiator and clogging it up. The chassis is very good if it's made by Freightliner. But my experience is that Freightliner is not an RV customer oriented company. If you have a problem that Freightliner needs to fix - EVEN IF IT'S UNDER WARRANTEE - be prepared to pay. Been there and done that. What I don't like about the Land Yacht is that it has a lower profile than most other class A's. That means that the storage underneath the coach is less than most other diesel class A's. There is no "pass through" storage, at least in mine. That's really a pain for loading chairs and other stuff. The bottom line is that we really enjoy our Land Yacht and I believe it is a quality built coach. Sure, we've had some problems but who hasn't? When you drive a house down the road there are bound to be some problems. I think if you like the layout and quality compared to others you've compared it against, go for it. I'd probably buy another one. I don't hold Airstream accountable for CAT or Freightliner problems. Jack Jack Thank you for this assessment from personal experience. Not sure how much stock to put in the other comments because people are prone to flame when they are anonymous. The unit I'm close to buying is a 2001, with about 21,000 miles on it. The own went for a new quad Travel Supreme. I'd be buying it from thinal dealer who has serviced the unit for the previous owner from the beginning. It is immaculate and I'm attracted to the fact that someone else has eaten the depreciation while leaving a very fine machine. Your advice as to service is noted. The dealer is within easy distance. I don't know about a Freightline service center. Must look that up. Spooked a bit by the other notes, has your leakage been confined to the door? Has there been other seams that you have to attend to. Have you had any problems with the roof? Really grateful for your reply especially given that you own one. Regards, David > > I am thinking of buying an Airstream Land Yacht 395XL. Has anyone had > > experience with this model? How would you rate it? What were its [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > Jack >Thank you for this assessment from personal experience. Not sure how >much stock to put in the other comments because people are prone to >flame when they are anonymous. Hey . . . like who the hell is "Jack"? The only singular unknown anonymous entitiy in this NG! Other than "Jack"; I recognize and have known EACH and EVERY other individual respondent to your query for a number of YEARS; and respect their opinons as knowledgeable and vetran RVers. Indeed . . . while they might have presented themselves to you as a newbie, as being merely "anonymous"; for anyone else who has hung out here for the last few years; other than the unknown "Jack"; the remainder or respondents are not at all in any way "anonymous"! In all fairness; you seem to be totally focused upon choosing a path of self-destruction. Duh! I see where birch999@hotmail.com (Stan Birch) contributed a typical irrational rant against stiller_ca@yahoo.com (David), containing no useful information about this subject. Which is to be expected, since he knows nothing of substance about them. David: Birch is wont to rant irrationally from time to time, and in this case he bases his "information" on the totally preposterous idea that because he knows someone who was dissatisfied with an Airstream product, they are all junk. The fact is that while QC has been a bit variable as the company passed through different hands, overall the Airstream product line has been very much the cream of the crop. Pricy and admittedly in a few cases troublesome - but undeniable superior to most rv's. Instead of polling the internet on whether an Airstream Land Yacht is a good rig, you would do well to carefull examine the particular coach you have in mind, looking for evidence of leaks, etc. If you haven't already done so, study the Ratings Book sold by the RV Consumers Group (check the library or spend $100 to buy your own) to learn how to tell the difference between an rv that will suit you and one that won't. Will Sill >Other than "Jack"; I recognize and have known EACH and EVERY other >individual respondent to your query for a number of YEARS; and respect [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >In all fairness; you seem to be totally focused upon choosing a path of >self-destruction. Duh! Just on Airstream generally, I have a 1976 trailer which has held up extremely well However the basic design - the way the different appliances are replaceable, the layout, the ability to repair and upgrade, the documentation - is extra-ordinary. Regrettably, this may not be directly relevent to the Land Yacht. On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 12:50:11 GMT, Will Sill <will@epix.anet> wrote:[snip] >Instead of polling the internet on whether an Airstream Land Yacht is >a good rig, you would do well to carefull examine the particular coach [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >Will Sill > Spooked a bit by the other notes, has your leakage been confined to > the door? Has there been other seams that you have to attend to. Have > you had any problems with the roof? David; The leak was on the roof where the fiberglass met the rubber roof. The joint was not sealed properly. I used a "tape" type sealer and that fixed the problem. The door leaks air while going down the road. It doesn't leak water just makes a lot of noise while traveling. I think that the design of the door is the problem. There is a hinge at the bottom and one about half way up. that leaves the whole top half of the door unsupported and the top of the door is "sucked" out when driving 70 mph. So what I did was put one of those clamps that you normally see on a drill press or in woodworking at the top of the door. It acts as a dead bolt as well as sealing the door very tight. (now we'll hear from dozens of RV's telling me why that's a bad idea...). This is the clamp I used: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39879 Jack I see where "JEB" <berndt at berndtmd dot com> contributed: > The door leaks air while going down the road. It doesn't leak >water just makes a lot of noise while traveling. I think that the design of [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >This is the clamp I used: >http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39879 Here is at least one rv'er who appreciates common-sense approaches to problems. Obviously there are drawbacks to your solution, but it's an elegant way to use what works. You probably would not choose to festoon all your cabinets and fridge doors with the same thing, but I applaud your choice. Will Sill |
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