Rapido 9048DF Forums

Cherekee

Good evening all,

I am taking delivery of a new Rapido 9048DF from Highbridgecaravans in September. Have any existing owners any tips or pointers that I should look out for on handover or is it really the best motorhome I could have bought (well thats what the salesman said). And please nobody mention anything about reversing uphill!!!

Cheers Alan

wendick

Alan

Wish I could afford one lucky you, enjoy it even reversing uphill...........who does?

D

amberley

Hi Alan

I took delivery of a 9048df in April, purchased from Caravanes Rapido from Wokingham and I am very pleased with it.
So far I have covered 3000 miles with no problems. Not even any juddering in reverse. It is a 3.0 litre but I have read that it affects all engine sizes. Perhaps I have a good one?
I also believe that unless you want a fixed bed then it is one of the best models to buy.
The only irritating thing I found was that both doors to access the double floor kept moving sideways due to angled gas struts but Caravanes Rapido have pinned the doors and they seem ok now.
You just have to hope that your dealer does a good p.d.i.

Good luck
Dave

Koppersbeat

Hi Alan,
We too have the 9048df and had loads of problems,Friday afternoon job probably.
They are now,hopefully,all sorted thanks to Wokingham Rapido arranging for it to go back to the factory on a transporter after the NEC show in October.We flew out to collect it back in December.
Since then we have had a severe water leak sorted.Wardrobe filling up with water if inclined backwards and under side bench if inclined forward! This was due to the external shower hose being crimped and split.
On our way to Croatia in June the air conditioning packed up whilst travelling through Germany when it was very hot weather.We called in the nearest Fiat garage listed only to find it had transformed into an Aldi supermarket.
The next one was huge and they said they could help but the bonnet was jammed shut.They said we had to first go to a Rapido dealer to sort the bonnet out as Fiat had not made the bonnet because it was an A class!!
My husband finally got the bonnet open himself and the garage
fixed the air con under guarantee.
In spite of all this we love the van.Best of 3 we have had.Very comfortable and great engine.
Enjoy yours Alan you will not be dissapointed.
Helen

Cherekee

Thanks for the reply's so far.

It would seem that neither Highbridgecaravans or Rapido are not too contentious. I look forward to getting mine in September then. I will make sure the PDI is up to scratch as you say. Its a shame you had a couple of problems Helen. Mine has the uprated chassis with the 3.0 ltr engine. I am getting a solar panel/additional battery and gaslow fitted. I think I will fit a Sog to this one too as with the BioMagic I use it should be just about perfect. I will keep you posted should I get problems in the future.

Alan

ColinC

Hi Alan

We bought our 9048df last autumn having done over 55,000 miles in 6 1/2 years in our previous Rapido virtually trouble free. We love the layout and generally find it a relaxed and reasonably economical drive (27mpg if not pushed over 60mph too often) However we have had a few problems (other than the reversing). Ours is the 2.3 engine on the 3500 chassis and we are finding the poor payload a bit restricting - solar panel and second battery not an option unless we abandon taking bikes with us. Something to look out for when you take delivery is the locker covers in the side skirts. First time I drove our van in the wet I discovered that the outside lockers were filling with water. Found that there was approx 5mm gap all round. I have solved the problem myself with some rubber strips; only £10 so easier/cheaper than 260 mile round trip to dealer with diesel the price it is. Also on ours the location of the light fittings is poor but this may have been addressed in this years model?

Colin

Cherekee

Hi all.

Just thought an update and report from my previous posts.

I collected the new van from Highbridge Caravans on the due day which had been booked in July which was a good start. A good pre-flight (well almost) was given by the sales engineer. I then drove from Somerset to Lincolnshire which was also a good way to start running in the new engine. As a first drive of this type (A Class) I was most impressed. With the Fiat 3 ltr and an empty van lack of power was not a consideration to worry about. Due to a family bereavement and business we were not able to have more then a few days use but enough to find out how it all worked and I can report that it was nearly 100% perfect. The only fault's to report were a loose rear speaker wire and the reversing camera monitor needed adjustment as when the bed was dropped down it touched the top of the dash. We popped into Highbridge on the way back to Weymouth on our journey home and got instruction on the correct use of the alarm system (see above). The solar panel with extra battery worked very well and filling the Gaslow was, which has been said many times, easy. It does have the dreaded reversing judder but that seemed easily overcome by driving tecnech but I will advise my local Fiat Dealer and keep my fingure on the pulse.

Altogether a very Happy Chappy with the van and looking forward to many trouble free trips away.

Cheers

Alan