Re: [VAL] Airstream Unfriendly

["Charlie/Betty Burke" <cbburke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ok, now I have to chime in. Airstream carries parts, not many but some, 
that go back to the sixties. They still make sheet metal back to 1969. 
And many, many parts for the 70's, 80's and 90's.

The challenge to a dealer parts person is the reference books for 
finding and identifying the right part. Airstream had one book that 
covered up to 1987. Without that book a dealer is pretty much in the 
dark. Airstream really didn't put together a decent parts book until 
1998. And of course if the dealer wants to try and guess he has to pay 
for the part and shipping and if it's wrong he then has to request 
permission to ship it back for credit, a process which ties up dealer 
assets for 2.3 months.

But to qualify that, their efforts no matter what one might think was so 
far ahead of virtually all the RV industry. Most RV manufacturers even 
to this day do not have a parts book. The dealer has to order the what 
ya call it next to the thingamajig.

At this point I don't know if Airstream will ever reprint that old book, 
but until they do the dealer network will struggle.

Charlie
Been there, done that