Vinnie’s Northbay Airstream finds EasyStart™ 364 “kinder”
Vinnie Lamica is chief cook and bottle washer at Vinnie’s Northbay Airstream Repair, about two hours from San Francisco. That’s no exaggeration, he is a one-man shop who uses a helper just one day a week for jobs requiring four hands! “With me, you get the guy who will work on your RV,” said Lamica. In his “prior life,” he was a Volvo tech specialist sent out to dealers to find and fix difficult-to-diagnose problems and was later employed in Mercedes dealership management. But always, he was an Airstream owner.
Attending rallys, he heard many complaints (even horror stories) centering around customer dissatisfaction with Airstream dealer work. Self-taught, he began fixing his friends’ rigs and moved on to those he found at rallys, eventually starting his business. Vinnie got in with the right people and then sources like the Wally Byam Group, Facebook, Airstream online forums (the Airforum) and Yelp led to organic, grass roots growth of his business. Even the video influencers of ‘Long Long Honeymoon’ are his customers. His reputation is for humility and honesty.
My tag line is “Old-fashioned service on your late model Airstream” said Vinnie. “Customers come to know and trust me because I speak to them openly and honestly and inform them what is happening. I text and send them photos of what I am doing on their Airstream. I was transparent before it was popular.” His interactive formula for old-time repairs must be working. Vinnie is booked out 3 months in advance with little room for emergencies.
“What I like about Micro-Air’s EasyStart 364 is that it is kinder in supplying power to the A/C. The gentle, ramping start that modulates the supplying of power to the windings of the compressor makes sense. It prolongs the life of the A/C units of today, which simple are not what they used to be,” said Lamica. “When I recommend a product, it is because I believe in it.” Lamica went on to say that he is not a “grease in my trailer left behind” and “multiple fixes” repairman. He is open all year, except for an occasional week for vacation.