Rapido or Auto trail ???

Cannot believe shiftZZ is still making his mind up lol.Come on Dave wake up.
 
We love our '02 Autotrail Scout, but wouldn't trust a new one
 
Old autotrail - 2003 and love it! Think it essentially depends on what you want - layout wise - from the home as that essentially is what you live with day to day and night to night! The rest you deal with cos you just love the lifestyle you get

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Definitely Rapido
Is the one you are considering Mercedes Base with possibly the 2.7 litre engine, if it is the engine is indestructable and will be very reliable and being rear wheel drive ideal for towing. Build quality of Rapido is excellent.

spongy
 
Without question RAPIDO...we've had our 9048df for 4years...brilliant build quality and excellent all round.
 
It's great to get advice, but it's your pennies that you are spending :)

It's ok telling you what we think, buy this, get that, I brought this but get that, but you need to get to a meet and look and see, chat to the owners, get to a show, get to lots of shows. I spent a long long time looking for what I wanted and after looking at all the different layouts etc, I had changed my mind midway :)

Also got my ideal motorhome for me first time, which is unusual as they say you'll not get the perfect one straight away, but I did and I love it :)

Just be sure to make the right decision as £10's of £1000's is an expensive mistake to live with :)

My friend just got himself an Autotrail 634U and the entire family love it. I've an Autotrail Dakota and love it too. Horses for courses fellow Funster :)
 
spongy said:
Definitely Rapido
Is the one you are considering Mercedes Base with possibly the 2.7 litre engine, if it is the engine is indestructable and will be very reliable and being rear wheel drive ideal for towing. Build quality of Rapido is excellent.

spongy
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yes spongy it has the merc 2.7 litre
 
Thanks for all the comments :)
Sorry i didn't reply earlier as i wasn't aware you had to pay :oops:
We picked the autotrail & rapido as they was two we liked out of a small selection we have viewed.
If anybody as any suggestions of other makes and models they would be most welcome.

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chippy63 said:
I don.t know about the autotrail, but the rapido 986m only has two belted seats, even though is a four berth
thats why we did not buy one when we were looking, bought a Rapido 941M instead :D:D.

last van was a rapido also.
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we only need two belted seats as there are only two of us ;)
 
I've just traded my Autotrail Frontiere Navajo for a Hymer Exsis i688.

Had Navajo from new in 2012. Had more trips to dealer for warranty work than trips away. Would never buy another! Very bad build quality!

Love the Hymer though ...... :inlove:
 
RS SPIKE said:
Thanks for all the comments :)
Sorry i didn't reply earlier as i wasn't aware you had to pay :oops:
We picked the autotrail & rapido as they was two we liked out of a small selection we have viewed.
If anybody as any suggestions of other makes and models they would be most welcome.
Click to expand...
Best £10 you spent this year
 
RS SPIKE said:
Thanks for all the comments :)
Sorry i didn't reply earlier as i wasn't aware you had to pay :oops:
We picked the autotrail & rapido as they was two we liked out of a small selection we have viewed.
If anybody as any suggestions of other makes and models they would be most welcome.
Click to expand...

Dethleffs and Pilote as well as Hymer - a huge choice.


Oh, had better mention Burstner as well...... Or the Burstner liberation front will put out a contract. Or get me collar felt by BD......

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Last edited:
You know!
You jokers have really made old ShiftZZ day, he'll be still flying around the Rafters:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
there's a 986 at South Herefordshire Garage (2004) £30k...........are they really worth that much?
 
Bought a 2011 Autotrail Tracker EKS at Lincoln arriving this Saturday so I can't fully comment on a van I've not lived in yet only to say I was impressed with the build quality from what I've seen and time will tell. I have owned British made motorhomes in the past and a couple made abroad but not a Rapido as yet so I am unable to compare. Payload is something that I will check next week when fully loaded on the nearest weigh bridge.

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Can't fault our autotrail chieftain, masses of storage & carrying capacity.
Also we don't need to be 7 feet tall to put things in the oven, we found most eu vans had ovens very high up,and most did'nt have an oven.
 
We've owned 3 Autotrails the first one a 2000yr Cheyenne build quality was excellent had the merc 2.7Ltr sprint shift. second truck was a 2008 Arapaho with the 3Ltr manual fiat engine which had been remapped again build quality was very good.
Last year we bought a brand new Apache build quality is dreadful, all looks very nice with the led lighting etc but it's all smoke and mirrors, Cab radio is just awful doesn't work with most of it's functions, internal doors are made from printed cardboard, internal fittings door hooks, cup holders have fallen off, led lights have been changed twice and are about to be changed again, micro wave oven wiring melted the first time it was used, replacement would work 3rd one seems ok.
Habitation entry door frame work has cracked and split at the bottom been waiting 4 months for Dometic to sort it, al in all it has been back for warranty work 4 times in the 16 months we have had it and due to have more warranty work next week.
Our biggest gripe is that when you have a fault Autotrail don't repair the items they have fitted but point you in the direction of the suppliers, i.e. Dometic, Sargent etc. so you now have to do all the chasing around.
Autotrails biggest fault is they use the customer as their quality control department as they surely don't have one of their own

Our next motorhome will definitely NOT be another Autotrail.
 
I am afraid to say we have also been there with AUTOTRAIL had a new Chieftain 2010 lots of problems and found that their customer service was .....................SIMPLY NON EXISTANT !!!!!!!!!
After 18 months we had enough and changed by coincidence to a Rapido had a couple of faults but they were soon rectified.
 
Tackle man said:
I've just traded my Autotrail Frontiere Navajo for a Hymer Exsis i688.

Had Navajo from new in 2012. Had more trips to dealer for warranty work than trips away. Would never buy another! Very bad build quality!

Love the Hymer though ...... :inlove:
Click to expand...

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That sounds just about right. AutoTrail build quality started to seriously go down hill when the Fiat x250 was introduced. My first AT was on a Merc chassis and was perfect. The second brand new one on a Fiat chassis was a dog with water ingress a constant problem. My third was exactly the same but far worse with many trips back to the factory for rectification. It had to go I was sick of it, your health is more important. We now have a 3ltr Comfortmatic IH Tio R which is perfect in every way. No more sponges on wheels.
 
I've had my scout for 6 years. No complaints from me. Never had a rapido so can't coment other than to say the 1001 looks nice.

main thing is layout get that wrong and it costs. Dobt rush there's plenty out there
 
I thought some one should speak up for Autotrail !!! We have a new ((March this year )) Tracker EKS, and have done 5,000 miles already.. All we have had go wrong is waste tank warning system, a peeling decal, radio head unit had a slight fault, and hab door flyscreen string snapped. All rectified under warranty by the dealer no problem.. Yes, it hasn't got a very big payload, but as we are naturists and not 'huge' we have not run out of loading freedom yet.. Runs like a dream, Euro 5 engine gives 28mpg (( in sandals !! )) and we are very happy with it.. And its under 50K..
Good luck with your decision and remember, the layout is the most important part of the equation..
Mitch.
 
jenny and mitch said:
I thought some one should speak up for Autotrail !!! We have a new ((March this year )) Tracker EKS, and have done 5,000 miles already.. All we have had go wrong is waste tank warning system, a peeling decal, radio head unit had a slight fault, and hab door flyscreen string snapped. All rectified under warranty by the dealer no problem.. Yes, it hasn't got a very big payload, but as we are naturists and not 'huge' we have not run out of loading freedom yet.. Runs like a dream, Euro 5 engine gives 28mpg (( in sandals !! )) and we are very happy with it.. And its under 50K..
Good luck with your decision and remember, the layout is the most important part of the equation..
Mitch.
Click to expand...

They've got the message then at last but what about all the previous builds. Maybe I should have waited until 2014 to buy a new one.
 
I also had to make sure the offside rear of the Navajo was jacked up higher so that water wouldn't run into the shower tray from the sink and wash basin!
The waste plumbing is not good!!

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