RoadVitals

1997 Airstream XC Problems

Owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA, grouped by component

Data refreshed

Owner complaintsComplaints 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.
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Latest Jan 4, 2006
Components namedHow many of our component categories appear on at least one report for this model year. One report can name several.
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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.
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What this page shows

Everything below is an owner-reported complaint submitted to NHTSA about the 1997 Airstream XC, grouped by the component NHTSA recorded on the report. These are not confirmed defects, and they are not recalls. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a category with more reports in it is not evidence that a part is defective.

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

Reports by component

Ranked by how many owner reports name each component category

  • Other / unspecified1100.0%

Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.

Each component in detail

What the reports in each category say, in the owners' own words

Other / unspecified

Reports whose component NHTSA recorded as unknown, or that do not map to one of the categories above.

1
report

From owner reports, verbatim

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 · filed Jan 4, 2006

Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.

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.

Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .