Airstream Anguish… Is it contagious?

[Wandering Sagebrush]

An interesting article…

https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-service-centers-readers-speak-out-1154/

[RodgerS]

Four years ago when I was considering buying an RV (I bought a certified gyroplane instead two years ago for the price of a gas Newmar motorhome), Before I bought my plane I spent a lot of time/two years in a lot of trailer and motorhome forums talking with owners and learning through the vicarious experience of others rather suffering the realities by just jumping in. I remember someone accusing me of being a procrastinator and encouraging me to just do it. Well, anyway....bygones.

What the writer talks about is barely submerging below the surface of what I learned from others.  The upshot was I went out and got an rv maintenance license and an RV electrical specialist license, then put about six months into working at rv dealerships to gain hands-on experience. To cut to the chase, I did that because I had concluded that it was a favorable proposition to 1) do as much of the work for myself as possible, and 2) to focus on quality based on the experience of owner/forum members.

Then I ran across a YouTube video of a gyroplane and bought my gyro. Now that I am divorced and have a girlfriend in Thailand, I am considering buying an Ollie. So if I follow through and buy an Ollie this year, it won't be because I went to an RV show and fell in love with a cute floor plan, or decided to be an early adopter. 

I consider the Ollie to be the kind of trailer a mechanic would buy who actually wants to enjoy traveling. Thumbs up. 

[MAX Burner]

31 minutes ago, RodgerS said:

I consider the Ollie to be the kind of trailer a mechanic would buy who actually wants to enjoy traveling. Thumbs up. 

Concur 100%, Rodger.  

Whether working on an Oliver yourself or choosing to have a trained RV technician perform the effort, the Oliver meets a wide range of owner expectations due, IMO, to its superior design, quality materials/systems, and overall "fun factor".  Like many owners, we've transitioned to Olivers from the Aluminum Cloud RV community and have never regretted it for a second.  Ollie falls into a category similar to the sailboat and GA aircraft owners enjoy - which is basically an overall product quality that is not shared by the "SOB" RV market enjoys as described in the article @Wandering Sagebrush recently posted.

If you like traveling with a peace of mind that yields a confidence that you'll get there without worrying about what going to fail next, an Oliver may be perfect solution.  Sure, the big Tiffins, Newmars and Provosts may meet that confidence level, but at what price point?  What style of camping?  More systems - greater probability for failure over time.  The OTT keeps systems fairly straight forward to operate, troubleshoot, and repair - not so with what we consider the "General RV Community" of stick-builts.

FYI:  We've logged north of 5k miles since JAN in our 7 year-old rig without (knock on wood) an issue... just say'n.

Additionally, the OTT community on social media is unusually supportive of owners' questions, issues, and trouble shooting efforts.  A real family atmosphere and we're proud to be a part of it.  Not so true with other brands.

So, keep us posted on your path to acquiring what we consider the penultimate in RV'ing, at least for our style of camping and traveling.

TWO thumbs up from us, brother!

Cheers!

[Mike and Carol]

9 hours ago, RodgerS said:

I consider the Ollie to be the kind of trailer a mechanic would buy who actually wants to enjoy traveling. Thumbs up. 

I admire those that can do most or all of the work on their Oliver.  I’ve learned how to do a lot over the years, mostly from knowledgeable friends and owners who were willing to take the time to help and explain (in person, over the phone, in emails, etc).  It makes a huge difference when traveling to have confidence in your abilities to fix issues while on the road.  The Oliver community excels at helping other owners and sharing information.  This latest surge for ALCAN springs is just one example.  Lew and the crew at ALCAN are impressed with the Oliver community!  Mike

[RodgerS]

MAX, Your comment about how previous "SOB" RV market owners (for example the Aluminum Cloud community)  transitioned to the Ollie is an astute observation and sounds spot on.  

Right,  the GA (General Aviation) community has issues itself, but basically pilots don't like engines and planes FAILING in mid-air (on the road so to speak).  Many, if not most GA deaths seem to me to be primarily judgment issues that pilots make before or during flights. And yes, some fall apart in mid-air, but minimal in comparison to judgment. 

I discovered the Ollie riding along on the backs of the experiences of other non-Ollie owners. Plus with the backroom conversations of the mechanics and my experiences working with them. Piece of Shizz was a common mechanical term (not spelled with zz) applied to non-Ollie trailers. 

The only thought I would add as to price point is that it is all relative. The Ollie has a high price point as a trailer. My gyroplane has a high price point as a certified gyro, and the Newmars also have appropriate high price points for a quality motorhome that has to be built like a commercial truck to carry the living quarters. It just is an issue of matching your usage needs to your pocket book. 

The one advantage of buying a used quality rv  is it will often still be better than a lower quality new rv IMHO.  The new lower quality RVs have already started falling apart just being traveled to the RV show (as I observed). 

Edited April 29 by RodgerS

[rideandfly]

We purchased our LE2 Ollie used eight years ago with no regrets.

We used to let Oliver do some of the maintenance since they were only a day trip from home, plus we enjoy camping in TN, too. We plan to do most of the maintenance on Ollie in the future except for fiberglass and welding repairs. We had aluminum welding done by a local race car shop recently and with a large lake close by, there are plenty of quality boat maintenance facilities for fiberglass repairs.

This forum is a valuable resource for repair and upgrade information, too.  Many valuable post have been made here that are needed for current and future Ollie owners making DIY repairs or learning more about one of the best campers ever built!