OK, the next person that we made contact with was Mark Evans,
The Airstream Guy.
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| Photo by Vaughan Wingfield |
Mark is an Airstream collector. He has a bunch of really lovely trailers, all pre-1970s - he likes 'em old.
Mark has made a fulltime gig - nay an artform - out of helping people find an Airstream trailer in the USA.
Step 1 - Searching
He has a million contacts and knows all the right places to hunt down exactly the trailer that you are looking for. He scours local classifieds listings all over The States that you would never think to consult.
Step 2 - Inspecting
Once he has found some candidates that you like, he can go out and inspect them for you. Mark knows all the things to look for in an inspection: soft floor spots, sagging rear-end, signs of leakage and rust in the subframe. The kind of stuff that us normal folks wouldn't even know to look for, let alone what it looks like if / when we do find it.
Mark inspected one for us and took a bunch of photos while we were searching. He made a 400km side trip while picking up a trailer for another client. This was invaluable.
Step 3 - Purchasing
When you decide on the right one, Mark can negotiate and execute the purchase for you. Some US sellers are wary of dealing with people overseas or on the internet and fear scams (possibly rightly) and will only deal with a US resident and sometimes only in person with cash. Mark can do this for you too.
Step 4 - Repairs / Modifications / Polishing
If needed, mark can tow your trailer back to his workshop and perform modifications or repairs. If your trailer needs an axle replaced or something else fixed in the running gear to make it safe and secure for transport and towing, it might make more sense to do this before it ships to Australia where the cost of parts, shipping and repairs is quite prohibitive. Mark is based in Kansas, right in the middle of the country so he is centrally located for any of these inspection or towing gigs.
Step 5 - Transport and Shipping
Mark can find you a great shipping deal and organise all the arrangements to deliver the trailer to your port in Australia. This includes overland US transport to get the trailer to port from his place or from the seller. Mark understands how all this stuff works - there are tiny little details that I had no idea about, such as ensuring that one key is mailed to me and another is left hidden on the outside of the locked trailer so that customs at either side can be told where to find it if an inspection is required. You do not want a window broken by a customs agent - You've seen those TSA "patdown" videos, officials at international borders aren't gentle!
Mark approaches this stuff with a level of professionalism and passion that you are unlikely to find elsewhere. He is responsive, answering emails quickly and even taking calls at all hours. And for us, this was the most valuable part of his contribution, just filling in crucial gaps in our understanding - things that could have been really costly had we not got the right advice in a timely manner from somebody who was being paid to keep our interests in mind, as opposed to just someone on a forum who has no such motivation. It is really handy to know that you can just call him up and say "Hey Mark, I've spoken to this seller and the trailer seems great but can you have a chat with him?". Mark will call and shoot back an email summarising the key points, setting your (control freak) mind at rest.
And Mark is a lovely warm guy, there is not a hint arrogance in his dealing with you as you come up to speed or with the sellers. The latter is very important as gently facilitating the sale is a delicate art in many instances. Mark offered to host us next time we are in The States, he is just a great guy, you get the picture.
Of course, Mark charges for this professional service and I can say that it was worth every penny. As I've said before, you can (probably) do much of this yourself but you just don't know what you don't know. The thousand or so dollars that you spend with Mark (a small part of your overall purchase and import budget) is easily saved in the following ways:
1. Getting the best shipping deal,
2. Acquiring a more sound trailer that requires less repair and renovation when you get it home,
3. Allowing you to spend more of your day working on your day job (and earning an income) rather than managing overseas activities, and
4. Giving you better peace of mind and allowing you to sleep at night - actually, you ain't gonna sleep better, you're so excited about this process once it gets going, you'll be on the forums 'till the wee hours.
So, everyone.... Mark - The Airstream Guy.
Website:
www.airstreamguy.com
