Damaged motorhome

[7735]

Back in the middle of May my Rapido had an argument with my gatepost, Insurance claim was agreed in less than a week and replacement parts were ordered. After nearly 16 weeks I am still waiting for Rapido to supply them. Needless to say Rapido are now longer on my Christmas card list. I have tried e.mailing Anthony Pfaff who I think is sales coordinator at Rapido, no reply.Would I buy another Rapido NO. They may make a reasonable quality motorhome but their aftersales/ customer service is appalling. My advice to any Rapido owners out there is don’t break it because you will be without your motorhome for months.

 

[TheBig1]

what year is your van and which parts?

 

[davidbaldam]

Email there’re MD with you views. His email address should be on the net somewhere. If I get shoddy service I usually email MD’s it has a surprising calming effect, well for me it does.

 

[TheBig1]

dont forget, they are shut down throughout August for French summer holiday

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Couldn’t it have been patched up to make it usable, if not presentable, until the parts arrived? That would have been my preferred option.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[tofo]

Here is a link sent to my by mr ShiftZZ

Which has been particulaly helpful in many complaints

Link Removed

 

[TheBig1]

if it's the right year, I have a spare rear bumper

 

[7735]

what year is your van and which parts?

It’s a 2008 966m. Several parts, rear corner panel, garage door and frame, lower valance.

 

[7735]

if it's the right year, I have a spare rear bumper

Thanks but rear bumper is ok

 

[7735]

Couldn’t it have been patched up to make it usable, if not presentable, until the parts arrived? That would have been my preferred option.

I have patched it up, not ideal. The thing that peeves me is the shoddy customer service, I could order virtually anything from USA for an RV and get it within 2 weeks.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[TheBig1]

there are several of the plastic panels currently on ebay, even if only for a temporary fix

Rapido Motorhome for sale | eBay

Find great deals on eBay for Rapido Motorhome. Shop with confidence.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Ridgeway]

It’s a 2008 966m. Several parts, rear corner panel, garage door and frame, lower valance.

It's an 11yr old van that they probably made only a few hundred, maybe a couple of 1000 of.

When you balance the age with number of units sold it's amazing these companies can supply unique spare parts at all. I assume these parts will need to be custom made rather than taken off the shelf.

Having said that they should communicate that clearly and say what their lead time is.

 

[PeteH]

Rapido. Are notorious for the length of time they take to supply spares. Took them many weeks to supply a Window catch, which got broken after I was locked out of the Van by the "self Locking" feature. (I now have a "plan B" for if it happens again). However, even the UK agents (Wokingham) struggle with getting parts, and of course the whole of August is a shutdown!.

UK manufacureers are nealry as bad with their spare parts supp;y chain too. Overall I suspect it`s the net result in most cases of the Modern "just in time" philosophy now general in all Manufacturing.

 

[TerryL]

Sadly, most motorhome body parts have a limited run and with the models changing every year I would guess the chances of the manufacturer being able to supply original parts for a vehicle over 10 years old are pretty slim. In all honesty I don't think it's just Rapido - but you would have thought they'd at least respond.

Have you tried some of the "alternate" suppliers, such as O'Leary and the like who buy up old stock?
Also have you considered having the panels repaired/replaced by a competent fibreglass panel builder or maybe a boat-builder? I recall in the past that other Funsters have had remarkable success doing that.

 

[TheBig1]

Rapido used the same back end and parts across multiple models for years

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Podney]

Thanks for the warning Mr spongy. I shall look out for your gatepost and make every effort to avoid it!

 

[PeteH]

Rapido used the same back end and parts across multiple models for years

That is true, the whole backend of my Current 999M is largely the same, except for the location of the Toilet window and height of the back panel, as the previous 7099F

 

[7735]

Sadly, most motorhome body parts have a limited run and with the models changing every year I would guess the chances of the manufacturer being able to supply original parts for a vehicle over 10 years old are pretty slim. In all honesty I don't think it's just Rapido - but you would have thought they'd at least respond.

Have you tried some of the "alternate" suppliers, such as O'Leary and the like who buy up old stock?
Also have you considered having the panels repaired/replaced by a competent fibreglass panel builder or maybe a boat-builder? I recall in the past that other Funsters have had remarkable success doing that.

I think I may have to go down the route of repairing what I’ve got. I’m pretty sure all the parts are repairable.
Spongy

 

[Reallyretired]

I damaged the back end of my Rapido a few years back. 999M. Parts took ages to come and cost a fortune, but they did come eventually.

 

[PeteH]

I think I may have to go down the route of repairing what I’ve got. I’m pretty sure all the parts are repairable.
Spongy

I actually cracked and split the back valance, reversing my small trailer which jackknifed, I repaired it with GRP resisn and mat internally, filled the crack, and used a matching (slightly off white) aerosol paint from a previous job to blend the area, virtually unnoticeable unless you actually knew of it. BTW if you have a sample Some Halfords stores have a matching service, and will make you an aerosol up.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[7735]

It's an 11yr old van that they probably made only a few hundred, maybe a couple of 1000 of.

When you balance the age with number of units sold it's amazing these companies can supply unique spare parts at all. I assume these parts will need to be custom made rather than taken off the shelf.

Having said that they should communicate that clearly and say what their lead time is.

11 years is not old for a motorhome, Rapido made the M model range for 7 or 8 years with about 6 models all using the same body parts. I don’t know how many they made but was probably several thousand. I used to own a 35 year old Merc sports I could get any part in 24 hours. Not that it needed many.
Spongy

 

[TonyEmm]

dont forget, they are shut down throughout August for French summer holiday

I’ve been waiting for a Tee piece for my external BBQ point point, fitted by the dealer 12 weeks ago.... It looks good but I can’t use it! The dealer has said that firstly due to a Covid, and then to the French holidays, they’ve been unable to get ANY spares......

 

[Littlewheels]

Thanks for the warning Mr spongy. I shall look out for your gatepost and make every effort to avoid it!

Considering the amount off damage l reckon that gatepost must have been going at a fair lick

 

[TonyEmm]

dont forget, they are shut down throughout August for French summer holiday

That’s the French way!

 

[604]

Two years ago we had a fridge problem on our Rapido (a bad repair by a UK dealer) just as we were heading to France. When in Northern France I phoned Rapido and was put through to Anthony Pfaff who invited us to come to the factory in a couple of days time. We had a lovely drive down and stayed in a nice campsite in Mayenne along by the river. Anthony looked after us very well the next day whisking our van away to be repaired and by dropping us into town and collecting us later when the van was fully repaired with a full gas check undertaken. Nothing was too much trouble and I have the highest praise for Anthony and Rapido.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pwil6223]

It’s a 2008 966m. Several parts, rear corner panel, garage door and frame, lower valance.

Have you still got any lower valance parts still ?

 

[Lenny HB]

Have you still got any lower valance parts still ?

You won't get a reply he is a deleted user.

 

[pwil6223]

Ok cheers

 

[TheBig1]

Ok cheers

have you seen this?
<Broken link removed>

 

[pwil6223]

Thanks unfortunately different shape
I’ve got 7099f

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}