My experience...

[Bambi_Bandit]

Howdy folks,

As many of you all may know, about a month ago, I was set to purchase a 19' CDD. At that time, many of you provided me with a generous amount of info and pointers to do for the final walk-though, as well as advise on how to deal with a minor window frame alignment issue. Well, today, I've finally got some time to put some thoughts down to hopefully can benefit the next "newbie" in my shoes.

First off, let me inform you all of the conclusion to the window fram issue as discussed here:

http://www.airforums.com/foru...ighlight=window

The dealer agreed to give me a further discount) equivalent of a free Equalizer and Prodigy controller, and I bought the unit. After talking to many of you, as well as the factory, I understand that the window is fine, only the interior frame is mounted crooked, but can be corrected by removing the existing frame rings and installing a frame ring that has a wider "lip" to compensate for any trimming needed to straighten the placement.

Second, my overall experience with the dealer:

Completely horrible, and what makes it worse, it's only bad after you've had some time to review it and think about it again.

Salesman rushed us in the whole process, and really didn't take the time to explain all the workings as I would expect for a newbie. Didn't have the answers to questions, and when the final "sign here on this form stating that I showed you all items are working", it was already filled out and told us that "I verified everything in the pre delivery inspection, so we don’t need to do this again".

Equalizer hitch was installed incorrectly both on my tow vehicle as well as on the AS itself. Brackets were upside down on the AS, and the hitch on the tow vehicle was not adjusted. Sway bars were not parallel to the ground, but rather pointed downwards. (This was my fist trailer, and I didn't know all this was wrong until I brought it in to another dealer for some AS warranty work). Thank God I didn't go any long distance trips or have an emergency maneuver!

Tanks monitors were not calibrated, plumbing leaked, brakes were intermittent, etc, etc... All of which I did not know until AFTER I had signed and left.

Of course, soon as paperwork was signed, trailer hooked up and I began to pull away, the gate was closed behind me, as I was the last to leave on that Saturday.

So, in order to keep this post from becoming a soapbox for my rants and raves, let me get to the point that hopefully helps the next newbie out.

1. Take delivery on a weekday, when full service staff is at the dealership. Don’t pick it up on a Saturday when no service or limited service hours are there.
2. Go early - once they open, so any issues can be addressed by not only the salesperson, but by the service tech, or preferably, the service manager.
3. Camp at the dealer for the 1st night, or if that is not possible as in my dealer's case, camp near them to discover what is not working, or what items you don't understand so you can list these out thought the night and address them in the morning.
4. Don't have the dealer fill your fresh water tank, unless you are present to actually watch them go though the sanitizing process. Otherwise, a full tank of fresh water on a unit that has not been properly sanitized just gives you more work to do when you get it home.
5. If the dealer gives or offers you a "starter kit" containing fresh water hose, sewer, tank enzymes, etc, ask to look at it first to determine the quality of the hardware, and the compatibility of the enzymes to your tanks/sensors. More often than not, the quality of these items is less than par, and can be used for a few weekends before they begin to deteriorate. Some chemicals are better for certain tanks/sensors...
6. If possible, ask for a "store credit" instead of the starter kit. Once you find out how much "credit" it's really worth, you'll understand the differences in price vs. quality.
7. Ask to watch them check the torque on the lug nuts. Do not take their word.... Check the air pressure yourself. Double checking work on safety critical items is critical. Also check the pressure of the spare tire. It would be a good learning experience for newbie’s anyways. You'll learn exactly how to get to it, and how difficult it is to check the tire pressure on the spare really is.
8. Get to meet the sales manager and service manager. A quick handshake and some small talk might be sufficient to figure out their experience level and work ethics. Getting to know them also allows for an escalation point of contact if you ever need it.
9. If you already know what hitch / brake controller you are going to get (from the dealer at the time for AS purchase) get the literature and install guide prior to picking up your unit. Most of it can be found on the web, or a call to the manufacturer directly will have it sent or faxed to you. Talk to them specifically about your tow vehicle - you'd be surprised at how much info or quirks they might know about it, thus giving you pointers or recommendations / additional equipment / modifications that would be needed specific to your trailer and tow vehicle combination. I guarantee you the dealer, even though a "licensed reseller" of their product, will not know the specifics as well as the manufacturer does.
10. Bring a camera or camcorder, as well as a notebook. Document how something works, and what needs fixing or adjustment.
11. If the unit is hooked up to shore power during your delivery inspection, ask to disconnect it to cycle the fridge onto propane to verify working order.
12. Open all the access panels (i.e. fridge, furnace, water heater, etc.) I found paper tags attached next to ignition points, and manuals from the manufacture folded and tucked/stuffed into any crack and crevice. Definitely a potential fire hazard.
13. I don’t know about classics or safari models, but on international CCD's wires/wiring harnesses run in between the outer aluminum and inner aluminum skin. Find the locations of the harnesses where they enter into the interior (i.e. 19' closet, and behind the stereo) and check the rubber grommets are there, or in place. I found all of my grommets off the skin, allowing my wires to rub directly on the rough cut opening... not good on a vehicle that vibrates when traveling!
14. Have the AS hooked up to your tow vehicle before signing papers, and get a feel for the hook up and unhook process and procedures. Drive it around and be with them when they adjust the controller.
15. Most of all, take your time. Take all the time and ask all the questions that ever come to you. If at any time you feel they are rushing you, or you feel you are getting a less than adequate answer, be prepared to walk away. My wife really initiated the purchase of our AS, and I know it showed. Her excitement was seen by the salesperson, and was taken advantage of... He could tell that I had my reservations on many of his responses to my questions, so he played off of my wife's excitement instead, He could tell that I could say no to him and walk away from the deal, but it would be harder for me to say no to the wife.

And of course, check these forums to see if your question has already been asked, or post a new question. The experience base of this forum is amazing.

Overall, I am at part to blame for my experience at this dealership. I should have walked, but did not. Emotions and excitement swept us away. I did not post the name of this dealership, but, if anyone does want to know more details, please PM me. (lets just say "Remeber the {insert name of mission in the Republic of Texas that fell to Mexican General Santa Ana}"

Aside from my less than stellar experience at this dealership, I would like to say that after 3 weekends in the little "Bambi Bandit" My wife, our 2 dogs, and I are having a blast. It's been a learning curve, but worth it all. Life is too short to dwell on items that no longer effect me.

Rgds

Kevin

[ardenrj]

Wow sorry to hear about all your problems. I also recently purchased a 19' CCD Bambi in Calif. and had a much better dealer experience. It was also my first trailer. Dealer threw in an EAZ Lift hitch which I guess is not the best but it seems ok to me. I bouight a REESE anti sway bar also. Towing with F 150 5.4 V8. Out twice now and love it. Some times when I'm towing it I forget it back there and have to watch my speed. Real glad I got an AS other than any other brand.

[M&M CAPECOD]

Kevin,

Sorry to hear of your troubles with the purchase of your AS. I hope it doesn't tarnish your feelings about your new CCD. Having just purchased our AS this past Labor Day we feel very grateful that the PO had taken the time, almost the whole day to walk us through our trailer and all of its workings. He even made a call to the truck manufacturer to get specifics on installing the break controller in our new truck (which he did for us). He made arrangements for us to stay in a campground about 15 minutes from his home. Walked us through hitching up with the Hensley and came with us to the campground to help us set up that night. The next morning he was back at the campsite to help us break camp. He called us a couple nights later to make sure everything was going o.k. on our way home (900 mile trip). He was by far the most informative and generous person we have met in our travels with our new/used Airstream but not unlike many of the Airstreamers we've met since then. We feel very fortunate that this was our first experience.

You have written an excellent check list for all of us to use in the future, whether you're buying new or used. It's unbelievable the amount of info you learn in the first few weeks, if only we could have that knowledge before we buy. I think you've helped a great deal with that. Thanks again.

Mary

[Pahaska]

I have bought 2 Airstreams a litle closer to Austin and have had good experience with the dealer both times. In fact, my trailer is there today because the air conditioner got stuck in heat pump mode (in 95-degree temps, no less). They didn't have a 13.5 with a heat pump in stock, so I'll get the trailer back Wednesday.

I can't say much about the walkthroughs since these Airstreams are my 4th and 5th travel trailers. With a very few exceptions, such as my first introduction to the ZipDee awning and a few hidden items such as the cable connection on my Classic, I knew as much or more than the tech giving me the walkthrough.

One little-used resource is the local WBCCI unit. Most of us are retired and have time to spare. Collectively, our unit has over 300 years of experience with Airstreams and members are more than happy to help a novice. Fifteen of us showed up to support the Buda dealer's open house Saturday by talking to prospects from the owner's perspective.

Your comment about picking up the trailer early in the day, midweek, is right on the mark.

[Melissa]

Kevin

Great tips I wished I’d found prior to picking up our 19' Bambi CCD on Friday. The Bambi went back to the dealership yesterday to correct a brake problem but upon pick up I will definitely check some things that weren’t discussed during the original walk through - such as the wiring harnesses between the aluminum and checking torque on lug nuts, tire pressure, etc. Although I feel the walk through was fairly complete, I don’t remember any discussion on sanitizing the fresh water tanks. What is your suggestion?

Melissa

[Bambi_Bandit]

Melissa,

The Manual of the AS has a section on Sanitizing. Basicaly, take your fresh water capacity (in gallons) and mulitply that by 0.13, this will tell you how much bleach you need to mix with that water. Pour that ammount of bleach into a container of water, mix it up, and pour it into your fresh tank, then fill your tank with water. Turn on your water pump and turn on all the faucets until you can smell the bleach water come through. On our CCDs, we have single lever faucets, so try to run the lever in both hot and cold directions, and finaly midway for a "warm" setting. Shut off your faucets and let it sit for a few hours. Once thats done, drain everything and flush with fresh water.

Dont forget to drain your hot water heater too, before your flush, otherwise you'll think you've flushed the bleach all out and the nextime you use your hot water, it will have bleach in it.

Have Fun with our new 19'. I know my wife and our 2 dogs are having a blast. We're trying to take advantage of the great fall weather in Texas right now, but we can only do so during the weekends, since we still both work.

Being that we are both newbies, I think we did a good choice with the 19' as our first AS. It's simple enough to learn, and I think will give us the good foundation of what to do and not do if we ever move up in size.

We drove to FL last year, on the way to Key West... We thought about doing it again sometime next year. Maybe by then, you'll have figured out some good sites to set camp in , and we can have a "Bambi Meet"

Kevin

[Melissa]

I do remember reading about the bleach now that you mentioned it - good tip on draining hot water heater; I’d hate to get out of the shower one morning with beached hair! We camped at Ft. Desoto Park here in the St. Petersburg area on our fist trip out. It was beautiful and a very nice experience for our first outing. We don’t have any camping gear yet. Looking forward to really outfitting the Bambi when she gets back home. The only draw back to Ft. Desoto: they don’t allow dogs and we had our German Shepard with us.

My husband’s job is very flexible and we can just about take off at a drop of a hat. He has a brother that lives in Allen, TX and we plan to make a trip to your neck of the woods some time in the near future. Maybe our Bambis and pups can get together for playtime - if we don’t see before then.