Nigel Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Just thought i would say hello. I own a 2007 Rapido 9087 DF which i bought from a dealer at a show last sept. Still have yet to sort out water level panel fault among other things that had not been checked properly. As soon as they got my money they were not interested and told me to find and take it to a local repair centre to get it fixed on the warranty despite this and other faults not rectified when i drove 225 miles for collection. I think this will be the first and last time i buy from a dealer. So i am now looking for recomendations for a good honest repairer in the Devon/Cornwall area. Any suggestions would be welcome. Cheers Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazy Baby Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Hi Nigel. Am fancying an A Class Rapido to replace our 7 year old coachbuilt. Did you purchase from a Rapido dealer or another? As we are thinking of buying new sometime this year any "beware of this dealer" alert will be useful! Also how do you find the Rapido in general? Well made? What faults have developed within 2 years of new? Sorry can't help you re repairers - live in snowy Sheffield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hymer C 9. Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Hi Nigel and welcome to the forum, hope you get your can sorted out ready for the spring when you should have your problems sorted and be ready to enjoy your motorhome. Carol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter42 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Nigel - 2010-01-11 2:09 PM So i am now looking for recomendations for a good honest repairer in the Devon/Cornwall area. Any suggestions would be welcome. Cheers Nigel Welcome Nigel. Depends on where you are in the Peninsula, but I suggest contacting Onsite Caravan Services on 07814 461044. Simon, the owner, is very knowledgeable and will travel within an hour or so from Plymouth. However, he is a very busy chap, which is a recommendation in its self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Welcome to the forum Nigel. Don't expect too much from your water level gauge as none of 'em work that well and you are better served by getting to know how much the tank holds and how long a full tank will last in normal use and then simply filling up before the last day. It would be good to know who the unhelpful dealer is although actually naming it may well result in the thread being removed by the moderators for legal reasons so a cryptic description of the location should help to avoid that issue. Are you being a bit unfair to said dealer as surely referring you to a local repairer should be doing you a favour in that it not only saves you miles of travel but will help you to get to know your local workshop ready for future problems if they occur. That said there is no excuse for sloppy preparation but all dealers and garages all well capable of that and it seems to be par for the course these days! These people at Scorrier, Redruth used to be good when it was run by Paul and his brother but I don't know about now as I have not lived there for several years. http://www.coachcraftandleisure.co.uk/ who used to trade under Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delfin Driver Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Hello Hazy Baby, We are the very proud owners of a 2009 Rapido 707F. We have been very pleased with the quality of this van and it suits us perfectly. As you can see we did own a Burstner Delfin, another great van. We purchased our Rapido from Martin at Wokingham Motorhomes and we cannot speak too highly of the service we have received from this dealership. The PDI was very good and the handover was personal and thorough. Martin is extremely knowledgeable about Rapido vans, having been a dealer of this marque for many years, and is the person to talk to. We also feel we were given an honest exchange for our Delfin. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazy Baby Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Thanks for this info Colin. We are were tempted by the 707 but need four berths for grandchildren's occasional use so think the drop down bed for them in the A Class 903 suits us better. We can't accommodate a van longer than 6m so its the 703, 707 or 903 if we stick with the Rapido range. At the mo we haven't really heard a bad word against them! Wokingham is a long way from us but would be worth the journey if the service is better than our nearest dealer - Brownhills!!!! P.S.probably any more views re Rapido need to be on a new thread so we don't move away from the original request! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Thanks for all your thoughts. We have used the motorhome a few times now and have been pleased with the function and build quality. It drives very well, this being the 3.0 fiat with the 6 speed box and cruise control (first one i've had with c/c fitted and it does make a big difference to economy and ease of driving). Re the water guage, i know you can normally manage but it does not give any warning of how low you are from 30% it just runs out. we wild camp a lot and with the tank being fitted in the double floor it is hard to manually check. Although the dealer is a long way away from me when i went to their premises for a test drive and a second look i then discovered that the payload that i was told was "over 900kgs !" was in fact (empty on a weighbridge) 320kgs !!. As the payload was one of the important factors for the purchase i was not best pleased. I told them unless this could be sorted then the deal was off. Their solution was to fit extra air suspension. So after them ordering a kit for a fiat chassis then discovering that the Rapido is in fact an alko chassis and this kit will not not fit, it was then another two weeks while this was sorted. ( this also sprung a leak 3 days after i got home so i repaired this as well, air pipe connection loose and going down overnight!)I was told in the meantime that everything else was checked and finished (solar panel and bike rack fitted). So after a month they called to say it was ready and they would deliver it to me if it would be easier but i said i would rather collect it so i could check everything. It was then during the handover that i discovered that the solar panel regulater was not working (once home i checked the wiring and found it was incorrectly wired! it now works fine) and the clock, battery voltages,water levels on the panal also did not work properly.I obtained a copy of the pdi sheet and the fitter had written "water level guage not working properly" and after that it said "told James (sales manager) he said it's fine. After 4.5 hours i finally said that if they supply parts i will fit them as i needed to get home. so i paid the balance and left. two weeks later the panel arrived so i fitted it and it cured some faults but not all. I did not recieve any follow up calls but rang them to let them know. I then recieved a call from someone in the workshop to say that James says that you will have to bring it back or take it to a repairer near you and use the warranty. Now i know this sounds like a bit of a farce but when you spend this kind of money (i could have bought a brand new c-class for the same amount) i expect the vehicle to be in tip top working order ( as was the Adria i part exchanged) and it would also have been nice to have been offered some financial compension for my trouble. All in all it is a super motorhome spoiled by a dealer with poor customer service. Sorry for waffling on, i'm quite a cheerful chap really... :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I don't think that simply adding airbags to the suspension will legally increase your payload? What counts legally is what the maximum vehicle plated weight label says and if you are check weighed and found to be over this limit the doo dah hits the fan as you will either get fined or - if you are lucky - get told to lose some weight - which may or may not be convenient - before being allowed to continue. The only legal way as far as I know is to have uprated suspension supplied and fitted by an authorised fitter and the vehicle re-plated? It sounds as if the dealer - or at least the salesman - is an expert in bovine excrement! I wonder who and where the dealer is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrocker Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Also be aware that the weight of the air suspension components will reduce your payload even more!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Tracker - 2010-01-12 12:21 PM I don't think that simply adding airbags to the suspension will legally increase your payload? What counts legally is what the maximum vehicle plated weight label says and if you are check weighed and found to be over this limit the doo dah hits the fan as you will either get fined or - if you are lucky - get told to lose some weight - which may or may not be convenient - before being allowed to continue. The only legal way as far as I know is to have uprated suspension supplied and fitted by an authorised fitter and the vehicle re-plated? It sounds as if the dealer - or at least the salesman - is an expert in bovine excrement! I wonder who and where the dealer is? That's my next step, There is a company called SV tech that deal with replating. On some motorhomes they can upgrade you to 3850kg without seeing your motorhome by just filling out a form and paying your fee as most motorhomes were regisered as 3500kg for licence reasons. The system that i have fitted is a recognised one that will allow me to increase my payload to a more acceptable level. And as for the dealer as you say you cannot name and shame, but lets just say that they are in the southeast and if you remember a programme with Elsa the lion in you will get their name by rearranging the words in the title ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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