RoadVitals

1997 Airstream XC Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
1
Latest Jan 4, 2006
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
2
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Jan 4, 2006

What this page shows

Our database holds 1 NHTSA owner-reported complaint for the 1997 Airstream XC. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–1 of 1

Other / unspecified
Filed Jan 4, 2006
Crash reportedFire reported2 injuries reported

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED AN AFTER MARKET TRAILER HITCH WAS PURCHASED. THE HITCH WAS INSTALLED ON A 2003 FORD EXTENDED VAN AND WAS ATTACHED TO A 1997 AIRSTREAM TRAVEL TRAILER THAT WAS 34 FEET LONG AND EIGHT AND HALF FEET WIDE. THE HITCH WAS SUPPOSE TO ALLOW THE TOW VEHICLE TO CONTROL THE DIRECTION OF THE TRAILER. HOWEVER, AN INNER PIECE OF THE HITCH FAILED. THE HITCH HAS A SPRING BAR ACCOMPANIED BY A GREASE ZERK. THE GREASE ZERK IS A HOLLOW BAR-LIKE HOUSING ABOUT THE LENGTH OF THE HUMAN FINGER THAT HAS A KNOB ON TOP. THE GREASE ZERK'S KNOB BROKE OFF AND ALLOWED THE TRAILER TO SWAY BACK AND FORTH ON THE HIGHWAY. THE HITCH CAME APART , AND DUE TO THE UNCONTROLLABLE SWAYING, THE CONTACT LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, RESULTING IN A CRASH. AFTER COLLIDING WITH A GUARD RAIL THE LOCK PIN PULLED LOOSE FROM THE HITCH AND THE TRAILER SEPARATED FROM THE VEHICLE. THE TRAILER STOPPED BY ITSELF WITH AN EMERGENCY BRAKING DEVICE. THE VEHICLE ROLLED AND CAME TO A STOP UPSIDE DOWN ALONG THE ROAD SIDE. ONCE THE VEHICLE STOPPED A FIRE ERUPTED FROM THE BATTERY COMPARTMENT AREA WHILE THE PASSENGERS WERE STILL INSIDE. THE PASSENGERS ESCAPED WITH MINOR INJURIES. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE. A POLICE REPORT WAS TAKEN AT THE SCENE. BOTH THE VEHICLE AND TRAILER WERE DETERMINED TOTALED BY THE INSURANCE ADJUSTOR. *AK

NHTSA ID
10146880
Incident
Mar 21, 2005

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .