Our CCV Experience
Over the past few years there has been several discussions about bad experiences with the CCV top, both the customer service and quality. Most of the threads, talk about bad experiences, and there are several upset people out there. I understand that if you received poor service or a bad quality product, it is upsetting as these tops are a lot of money. There are also a few threads that document a good experience. I decided I would comment on our experience, for good or bad.
We put down the down payment for our top back in December with a February completion date. The early communication with CCV was mixed. I sent a few emails that were never answered, and a few calls that were never returned. But when Eva called she got right through or the call was soon returned. So I left the communication up to her. After our order was placed, we did get good response by either phone or email.
We dropped off the van two weeks ago. No issues or problems. Amber at CCV was very accommodating as she showed us around the shop and we discussed the pop top build. We were only there for about an hour. We left the keys and got an Uber ride to the airport.
I had asked Amber to email a few pictures of the construction so I could understand how the top was attached to the top. She was pretty good at sending a few updates.
This last weekend, two weeks after dropping the van off we flew back to Denver and arrived at CCV around 11:00 am as planned. The van was not fully finished. This was a little disappointing as we wanted to get an early start back to home. They said the fiberglass top was delayed by the vendor, but they should be done in a few hours. I work in manufacturing so I understand that things don’t always go as planned. We walked down the street and ate lunch at a great Mexican restaurant.
When we got back to the CCV shop, Derek was doing a last vacuum and clean-up of the van. They took us through a quick orientation of the pop top and we were on our way.
With regards to service, I would give them 7 out of 10. Since they were a little late, they could have sent a text or email letting us know. But 7 is not too bad since I only give a 9 or 10 for exceptional service.
I have only spent a little time with the pop top, but the quality looks pretty good. I can't find anything specific that is worth complaining about. The canvas top is not wrinkle-free as it goes around the top, but I think that is the nature of a pop top, and this is better than others I have seen. So far, I have not seen anything else that I would be worried about.
The design also looks good. There are a lot of things to like about the CCV over the Sportsmobile that are documented in other discussions in this forum. This is what lead us to the CCV top. We really like the high top with the big windows and the wide bed. We also like the storage above the cab. We got the high-top so Eva can stand with the top down. At 5'-10" I can almost stand up. The electric top and LCD lights on a dimmer are also nice. Nothing real negative.
I noticed that the actuators have some side-to-side movement as they lift the top. Given that they will only see 1-200 cycles per year, I don't see that will be a big issue. I would also expect the sliding mechanism to have some type of lubricant. It looks like they just float in the unistrut. I may look to see how I can put a UHMW sliding block in to reduce the friction. I will need to look at it closer. I think the pivot bolts in the lifting arms may now be shoulder bolts, rather than a threaded bolt. Another thread had shown the problem with plain threaded bolts. I need to take a closer look and change them out if they are the threaded bolts.
I have only cycled the top 8-10 times, so I don’t know if there will be future problems. I will give an update in the future after more experience. Overall, everything has met our expectations. We knew they did not have the best customer service, but we liked the form and function of the pop top. After some long term use I hope we will still feel the same.
We still have not spent the night in the top. We had planned to sleep in the van on the way home, but I could not convince Eva to sleep in an un-insulated van with no heat in the middle of Wyoming. With wind chill, the temperature was forecasted to be -20. We decided to stay in a hotel in Laramie.
The rest of the way home was 300 miles of stronger than normal Wyoming wind. Fortunately the road was mostly clear of snow, but there were areas of white-out conditions and winds with gusts up to 60 mph. We did not have any problems and only say one truck off the road.
Next weekend we are off to warmer California to Agile Off-road for our 4x4 conversion and Aluminess front and rear bumpers. We will also have the new wheels and KO2 tires on. I can’t wait to see the finished van. It will also be warm enough to spend a couple of nights in the van.
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