Any CCD years better than others?

[Mackhopp]

Hello all,

I'm setting my sights on a slightly used 25' or 28' CCD. Would anyone have any thoughts on whether to steer clear of a particular year, or is it pretty much general knowledge that they're all equally well-made?

Any info would be appreciated,

Cheers,
Michelle

[Toasty's Dad]

Hi Michelle,

From the reading I've done on threads here tracking model year quality, it seems to be all over the map within the model years. For example, people had all sorts of problems early in production of my model year, 2004, but things seemed to improve later in that model year.

It also seems that quality can be wildly consistent coach-to-coach during any production timeframe timeframe.

I'd guess, tho I'm no statistician, that sample sizes here are probably too small to reach valid conclusions.

Finally, people on these forums have vastly different expectations from one another, and one person's "unacceptable" is another's "so what".

For every used CCD I was gonna go look at however, I'd search through its year's quality thread, and question/inspect the problem areas that seem most serious and to pop up most often for that model in that year.

Jon

[KIMILI]

Finally, people on these forums have vastly different expectations from one another, and one person's "unacceptable" is another's "so what.

Absolutely!!

We have a 25 CCD and have gone to extreme lengths to repair EVERYTHING we were not satisfied with from the factory. Some may call us picky but when we're out on the road we want everything to run as smooth as possible.

A used 25 is a great bargain, especially if you buy from an experienced owner. More often than not, they will have perfected their unit and improved it to your advantage.

Nevertheless, always make sure you check it out well before paying because as stated before "one person's "unacceptable" is another's "so what."

good luck!

[Mackhopp]

Thanks - I'll be keeping my eyes wide open during my search. It's good to know though that there's no red flags on a particular model/year (excessive recalls, etc...).

As stated in another thread I spent my lunch hour today going over a new 25' CCD at my local dealer's location and it was total heaven.

Will most likely be looking in the U.S. for a slightly used one and using Escrow.com as an intermediary.

Thanks again!

Cheers,
Michelle

[cosmotini]

Something to be aware of:

The 2004 28' CCD's have a combination grey/black tank, not separate tanks. This has never been an issue for us but I know this would be a deal-breaker for some people.

[nangoff]

My best advise is to buy a trailer from someone who could afford to own one. The correct previous owner will have lots of documentation where either he or the factory did good maintenance / upgrade work.

If it looks to be jerry rigged and the guy lives in a shoe, I'd move on.

[nangoff]

I have a CCD 28 with a combo grey and black water tank. I should say I HAD one, I took it to the factory and for ~$850 I had it replaced with individual tanks.

There are significant problems with a combo tank (learned from experience).

IF, and its a big IF, you have a "NO FUSS FLUSH" flushing system you will a) not be able to keep the water jets clean and 2) it is not sized adequately to clean a 80 gallon tank and 3) unless you have a 1/2 hour at a dump station to flush your tank (given that there is fresh water at the dump station) you'll end up putting away a smelly, non flushed dump hose.

It IS a deal buster, it was made only one year by Airstream, and I can't imagine how this design got out of the factory. We were fools to buy one like this: happily our design allowed for a reasonably easy retrofit and we had the extra funds to do it. Do not buy any RV with a combo tank.

[Mackhopp]

Well, it looks as though it'll be a "new" 2005 25' for me from a dealer's lot in the U.S., loaded with nice extras and significantly less $$ than up here in Canada. My local dealer could only go down to a certain price for a 2006, without those options (some of which I couldn't do without and would have had to get them afterwards), and it was still a good $13,000 more than what we're getting for the 2005.

So basically the bottom line is that we're happy, the dealer's probably ecstatic he's getting it off the lot, and we will soon be bonafide Airstreamers.

Nerve-wracking times. Whew! Now to plan our first outing.....

Thanks for all the advice,

Cheers,
Michelle

[nangoff]

Good for you, you'll love it not the least of which is joining the WBCCI club and traveling cheaply.

GG

[Mackhopp]

Well, did end up purchasing the 2005 from the dealer in Delaware.

So far, so good - not perfect of course, but good. The black tank indicator is shot, but the dealer gave us a new sensor. I've read that the sensors don't work that well for anyone, so it's not a huge issue.

Electrical issues though. We have a service appointment down the road (busy time of year now) so we'll see what's up with that.

But all in all we're happy.

Very cool looking unit. Have ended up using the little flip-down table thing in the bed area as a holder for a laptop so the kids can wind down and watch movies at night before bedtime while the adults can sit by the fire and do a similar parental wind-down. Works well for everyone! Cocktails anyone?!

Cheers!
Michelle

[Pahaska]

Having owned a 2003 (built in 202) International that introduced the current laminated cabenetry along with the CCD, I would want to stay away from the first couple of years of the CCD.International builds. Airstream was learning to do the new cabinetry and there were plenty of glitches.

I have owned 3 recent Airstreams and the quality has steadily improved with time.