We originally were invited to join a friend of ours on a rally for the Airstream Club he belonged to. We had such a good time we ended up tagging along affectionately know as "some other brand" or SOB's because we have a Winnebago motorhome, not an Airstream trailer. We attended many of their rallies, in probably a two year span. Then the club got a new president that wrote us an email, we were officially uninvited as long as we did not have the Airstream brand product. So sorry our fun had come to an abrupt end. My wonderful husband did his research and found that Airstream did make and that would qualify for us to continue to go to the upcoming rallies. Affordability was the next concern. Again Mark did his research for approximately a year and did find a Airstream in our price range that was in great shape, and would fit in our backyard slab to store the rig. We only had 33 ft or so to play with not much wiggle room, yes, yes, yes so said the salesman ( Red flag number 1). Next hurdle, it was in Fort Myers Florida. We talked about it hashed it over, mulled it over and lost sleep over it. Okay, lets just take the plunge, and put down a $2500.00 down payment, with Walt the salesman packed our bags, put the dog in daycare, took a flight to Florida, spent the night at a hotel and waited eagerly first thing in the morning for the salesman to pick us up as promised. No one at 8:00, 8:30 no call back, little known fact is I am the sceptic of our relationship I trust no one my motto is actions speak louder than words, (thank you first husband) then finally 2 hours after promised someone did pick us up. This was a heart in mouth moment, I thought for sure we had fallen for a scam. But finally someone did arrive and we also stopped to pick up another couple that had come from Maine and bought a larger and more expensive motorhome from the same car lot. So back to trust. We walk into the car lot and rush to OUR new motorhome and before even reaching it Marks says it is a 35ft motorhome it says so right on the side of the rig!!!
Bad start right off the bat, with the salesman saying oh no, no, no trying his best to cover the fact with nose to end if you measure and according to guidelines (whose did you say.. Oh that right you didn't!) (Red flag number 2). Well we did pay a downpayment and a flight and a hotel so far, so to back out was an expensive option we choose to pass up. Ok we walk into the rig for the first time and wow pretty impressed nice looking, very pleased...well blinded by the shiny look. We did the walk thru and Walt said yes everything worked yes, yes and yes. Oh yes and there was a panel missing on the outside due to a blown out flat tire, this was promised to be repaired and part had been ordered, had not been done yet. (Red flag number 3). We try to start the generator and it wouldn't because the gas was lower that 1/4 tank and that is true, with most motor homes, easy fix get gas, the ref ridge wasn't cold yet, he just turned it on, well thats feasible, just wait a while, yes, yes, yes it all works. We asked many times what works and what doesn't? So we finalize the paperwork and drive around the corner to the nearest gas station, fill up try to start generator no bueno, no generator. Mind you we are in Florida in early May, 90 degrees and hotter than hell and humidity to feel even hotter. To us Californians feels like 152. The generator is the only way to cool down the whole rig driving during the day as well as at night on the 2300 miles home. We drive right back to dealer and Walt says 4 words "You bought.... AS IS" basically bye bye!!
After finding a RV park staying the night in a hot box, no cold drinks oh did I forget to mention the refrigerator also doesn't work. We had an appointment with a wonderful mechanic ( God bless this man) to fix our generator for just a couple hundred dollars and several hours. Then after many, many other finds of broken items
example the kitchen table flew off its hinges when we drove around a corner, the spare tire broke free from under the motorhome and went rolling and bouncing down the road behind us when we drove down from a gas station exit. I think it was this point I just very blank faced looked at my husband and in monotone said "now what?" We basically decided Walt was so very wrong NOTHING worked. It was 2800 miles in 6 days of very bad weather to arrive home again. Now this is the long story short, we have put in many thousands of dollars into this rig to make it our own and good looking, but we love this motorhome, funny huh?
