# calling Rapido and Hymer owners



## duds

having bougth and had problems with brand new Autocruise and Autosleeper motorhomes in the last few years I am wondering do the French and German makes have poor quality fittings and finish as well or have I been unlucky with my British made vans? Do warranty claims not often occur on new Rapido or Hymer etc vans ?

I am thinking next time I may buy non British in the hope of spendning less time at the dealers having faults put right in ordinary use.


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes

duds said:


> having bougth and had problems with brand new Autocruise and Autosleeper motorhomes in the last few years I am wondering do the French and German makes have poor quality fittings and finish as well or have I been unlucky with my British made vans? Do warranty claims not often occur on new Rapido or Hymer etc vans ?
> 
> I am thinking next time I may buy non British in the hope of spendning less time at the dealers having faults put right in ordinary use.


Hi,

As you are in East Sussex why not pop in and have a look and compare, I have pre-owned Rapidos and Hymers plus the new Hobby range are ariving.

I do tend to agree that the furnishings (cabinet work) on german and french vans looks a lot better and is of better quality but then you also pay more!

Peter


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## autostratus

Peter

The most important question raised by Duds was probably:-
Do warranty claims not often occur on new Rapido or Hymer etc vans ? 

What's your experience with regard to that?


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## duds

I need feedback from customers having bought a German or French van in last 2 years to comment. I know what the finish appears to be by viewing recently at the shows.


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## Bob45

I bought my 2005 Hymer 655 SL second hand in Germany 3 years ago. I had the tap in the bathroom replaced under warranty in the first year and apart from an issue with the Mercedes diesel injectors everthing is fine. 
The inside still looks brand new with all catches and fittings working perfectly.
A friend of mine has a new Italian M/H which has needed almost every catch replacinso you get what you pay for.
best of luck.

Bob


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## javea

I have bougt two Hymers from Germany, one from the factory and another from a dealer, never had a problem with either of them, unlike a Compass and Pilote previously.


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## Cherekee

Hi Duds,

I am very happy with my Rapido. I have done a bit of DIY on bits and bobs to really finish to my standard. As I use in the winter its surprising the number of holes that the draft can get in. Rattley cupboards etc.

The roof aerial gasket is a known problem. It decays so remove and fill with black silocon to seal. 

Otherwise a very nicely finished van. No warranty work required which was not able to be sorted by me in 5 mins.

Alan


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## colpot

We have had our 2005 Rapido for nearly a year now and are impressed with the standard of fittings. We have had a replacement showertray as the orginal had a crack in it which the dealer did try to put right but it went again. Since then we are more than happy with it.
We also had an older Hymer and in between a Swift. The only issues with the Swift were the step which kept stopping working - eventually cured when a faulty connection was found under the bonnet, and the fact that it wasnt made to use in the winter.


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## OldWomble

We have had 3 Hymer motorhomes and an Autocruise (Impala) motor caravan. We have not had any problems with any of the Hymers other than base vehicle faults. The Autocruise, well please don't set me off on that one! Never again would I buy a British motor caravan. The Hymers are far superior in both quality of fittings and build.


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## telll

Very happy with my 2005 Rapido, had it just over two years now and have looked at others but nothing has tempted us yet.

telll


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## meavy

*2001 reg Hymer - very few and only minor problems*

Hi Duds,

We bought our 544k camp swing diesel 2.8 with 35K on the clolck Hymer from Brownhills Preston. The interior 'woodwork' looks absolutely immaculate - pretty well as if it had just come out of the factory. Looks and feels quality. We've had it a month now.

On handover a couple of problems were put right immediately. Like the back step needed a new cog and the cab heating needed regulating. In the past month we've found a couple of minor problems, like a light fitting dangling from its wires. We've booked into Preston to have this fixed in the next 10 days or so.

We were told on handover that there was no service history. Nothing. But the MH felt good and we completed the sale.

Since, we've found a good clutch of MOT's, servicing invoices etc. Reading them, it's clear that the 5th gear mechanisim needed replacing at some stage and that's about it. Just habitation services which cost little as clearly little needed to be done. Oil and filter changes. We learn that the exhaust is slightly corroded so will watch for that at our next service.

We've replaced the carpets (cost £95) And that's about it.

Of course, we hope the MH will remain hassle free and now we've joined the Forum, feel that we'll get help if we need it.

We paid £20k for the MH - we knew exactly what we wanted though, and reserved it sight unseen as soon as the 'coming soon' appeared on the website and before it had hit the forecourt.

Hope this helps.


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## H1-GBV

Things can change with time, so this post may not help much. Our Rapido is 8 years old now (4th owner) and has 45k on the clock.

I had to smear some glue along the edge of the bathroom vanity trim (wood to plywood with laminate top) because they were slowly seperating, due to my vigorous washing techniques. Apart from that, we would be hard-pressed to say "it's like new" but it's certainly not showing much in the way of wear & tear (a few threads loose on the drivers seat, possibly 4 very minor indentations on the worksurface where things have banged down heavily, the black "felt" liner on the sliding driver's window started rucking-back about a year ago, stopping the window from closing properly, but another touch of glue seems to have solved that).

As I said, things may have gone down hill since 2002, but I would have no hesitation buying something like this again. When we tour dealers, Rapidos leap out at us as the only things we like, but we will stick with what we have.

HTH - Gordon


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## clive1821

Yep aggreed.... and go directley to the factory and stear away from the dealers.. just a wast of time in my view...


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## geraldandannie

Although not a Hymer or Rapido, but passes your "not British" test, I can say that our Chausson has been excellent for us, without any warranty work required in 12,000 miles and nearly 3 years.

Peter (John's Cross) said that you have to pay for the quality, but TBH the price of the British vans is very high now. Yes, if you want top of the range Hymer, you have to pay £100k or maybe more, but size-for-size and layout-for-layout, continental vans compare very favourably.

Gerald


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes

H1-GBV said:


> Things can change with time, so this post may not help much. Our Rapido is 8 years old now (4th owner) and has 45k on the clock.
> 
> I had to smear some glue along the edge of the bathroom vanity trim (wood to plywood with laminate top) because they were slowly seperating,
> 
> HTH - Gordon


A tip, before you try using glue, get some brown paper or similiar, place over offending area and apply a hot iron pressing hard and it should reactivate old seal.

Worked on my boats furniture edges.

Peter


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## Seeker

Have only had one van - our 2003 Hymer B564, bought privately when two years old. It has now done around 50,000 miles. On the Fiat chassis we have only had the well-known fifth gear failure.

As regards the habitation I think all manufacturers have the same basic problem to overcome: the conflict between the importance of using light materials and the need for robustness in use.

Thus we have found a number of things have needed fixing or strengthening over the five years we have had it:

1. shelf fixings too flimsy and needing realignment (bad workmanship this)
2. some door catches needing realignment
3. TV shelf needing additional strengthening after a roadhump caused cracking
4. the watersealing of one of the underslung storage compartments needed beefing up
5. fly netting coming adrift on the door and rear fanlight
6. larger concertina blinds proving difficult to open and close without skilled coaxing
7. external light over steps - impossible to replace a failed bulb without stripping the glued rain hood off (it's not been done!)
8. retaining press-stud straps on wardrobe doors too stiff to be practical - replaced with Velcro strips
9. shower tray cracked in use - a big job replacing this
10. hob windshield came unstuck
11. a couple of the over-cab bed privacy curtain runners broke in use
12. the front end fabric over-cab bed privacy shield does not stay put in its retainers
13. cracks appearing in the plastic door liners where they act as the striker plate for the door locks
14. utensils bounce out of the cutlery drawer and disappear down the back
15. the foam inside one headrest began to break up
16. the spring return on the table leg has weakened so the leg does not go flat against the top when making the bed up
17. fuel filler cap locking mechanism failed
18. retainer clips on gas door and habitation door eroded so as to become ineffective
19. one of the water draining cocks failed 

All of these issues have been dealt with by me as DIY maintenance and improvement items so apart from the shower tray most have been no big deal - but worth looking closely at the detailing of new vans.

As regards new vans we have seen at shows we worry that manufacturers are increasingly adding flimsy fittings to give the appearance of luxury when many users would prefer greater robustness to permit use on rougher roads and for wild camping.

There also seems to be a trend toward lower ground clearance which is a very bad thing when going over farm tracks or up and down steeper slopes.

Harry


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## carol

duds

I have owned two Hymers, and we now have a Rapido 2008 7090 Auto Maxi and until the end of July we had had no problems whatsoever, except a table that kept sliding but that was easily fixed.

We had problems with the Camos but that was purely because we purchased ours new in Germany and they had set it up for Astra 1 not 2, even though they told us they had done it, but that is NOT Rapido's fault.

We have just had a water tank split, you can read the thread in the Rapido forum, and you will also see I have just added a new post to say they have pulled their fingers out for us.

We have been booked since January to go on the tunnel on 1st September and this split occurred at end of July, but the factory had literally closed on the Friday (this was the Monday) for a month, and only opened yesterday. 

Several calls were made and they have a tank on the way to Rapido UK as I type this, and hopefully it will be replaced and checked over on Tuesday next, giving us time to get to the tunnel.

So I can only say, my experiences would give a big thumbs up to Rapido but actually not to Hymer.

Why

Well our Hymer 2002 640B Starline (bought at 9 months old privately in Germany) had the drop down bed go within the warranty period whilst we were in Portugal and we got it fixed luckily having to fly the parts out from the UK (but a few months later and letters and emails we were at the factory in Bad Waldsee and they would not entertain covering the cost.)

So Rapido for me, but I do agree German motorhomes in my mind are superior to the British ones, and in the main are better insulated.

Carol


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## meavy

*2001 reg Hymer - very few and only minor problems*

Hi Duds,

We bought our 544k camp swing diesel 2.8 with 35K on the clolck Hymer from Brownhills Preston. The interior 'woodwork' looks absolutely immaculate - pretty well as if it had just come out of the factory. Looks and feels quality. We've had it a month now.

On handover a couple of problems were put right immediately. Like the back step needed a new cog and the cab heating needed regulating. In the past month we've found a couple of minor problems, like a light fitting dangling from its wires. We've booked into Preston to have this fixed in the next 10 days or so.

We were told on handover that there was no service history. Nothing. But the MH felt good and we completed the sale.

Since, we've found a good clutch of MOT's, servicing invoices etc. Reading them, it's clear that the 5th gear mechanisim needed replacing at some stage and that's about it. Just habitation services which cost little as clearly little needed to be done. Oil and filter changes. We learn that the exhaust is slightly corroded so will watch for that at our next service.

We've replaced the carpets (cost £95) And that's about it.

Of course, we hope the MH will remain hassle free and now we've joined the Forum, feel that we'll get help if we need it.

We paid £20k for the MH - we knew exactly what we wanted though, and reserved it sight unseen as soon as the 'coming soon' appeared on the website and before it had hit the forecourt.

Hope this helps.


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## camoyboy

After 2 Swift Kontiki's which we owned fror 4 years each, we looked to buy a third. We were disappointed by the quality of the 2003 range, the one's we looked at at the shows were falling to pieces on the stands.
We had looked at Hymers but couldn't find a layout we liked that was in our budget, then we found an 8 month old Rapido that we could afford and was the right layout. We owned that MH for 4 years and had no hesitation in buying another. We were so impressed with the first one that we ordered our current one new to our spec, and are intending to keep it for 6 years at least.
We have just covered 15000 miles, and so far we have only suffered a broken locker catch, a new one sent out by the dealer in 24 hours. 
Providing there is a layout to your liking then I would highly recommend a Rapido from Wokingham Motorhomes.
Colin


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## Brock

Bought my 05 plate Hymer 544 A class as new. Since then the following issues have arisen:

1. External locker leak caused by inadequate rubber seal. Door and rubber replaced under warranty. This was within first year. We hadn't noticed.

2. Year 5, schaudt control unit for entrance step failed and needed replacement. We noticed this.

That's it apart from an annual habitation, damp check and base vehicle servicing - the Fiat has been great.

It's worn brilliantly inside, still looks and feels new. You notice the quality of the design as you own it rather than when you first get it.


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## ardgour

We bought our 2003 Hymer second hand from the dealer but had a long talk to the original owners - no significant problems from new apart from a slight leak on a seam that was repaired under warranty (workshop looked it up for us the cost of the work would only have been £360 so it can't have been a big problem).
We had a look at a couple of new Hymers last year but felt the standard of fittings had gone down since ours was made.
Yes we love Hymers but a few years old at least to get the best quality and they seem to last well - have seen some well over 15 years old and still looking good inside. The bonded foam sandwich wall construction seems to be very robust,few problems with water ingress.

Chris


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## 113016

Our first van was a Hymer Camp Swing 594. It was a 2000 model and we purchased it at 3 years of age with about 13K miles on a 2.8TD. 
We kept it for 3 years and nothing dropped off or fell apart and we were very pleased. 
On the strength of that we purchased an exactly three year old 2004 Hymer Tramp with 6K miles on a 2.8JTD and Maxis chassis. She now has 23K miles on her.
This also has served us well and the only defects that we have had is the fresh water pump packed up and was replaced under warranty. 
A Micro switch in the toilet sink basin went faulty. Both of the above parts were not made by Hymer but factory fitted. 
We did have a water pipe come loose and I tightened that up. 
Unfortunately with the base unit (Fiat) we had to replace the ECU and for this I cannot blame Hymer. 
The bottom line is would I buy another Hymer? 
Yes, I most certainly would and it would be my first choice, however I would consider a Rapido (I know French lol) and any other German manufacturer. 
I would not consider in the slightest any UK manufactured vans as I have heard of too many water ingress problems. No disrespect to anyone that has one as this is what makes us all different and it is good that you guys are keeping the UK economy in shape.

footnote. 

I think that the current trend for vans to get larger does create the problem of keeping the weight down with lighter fittings and more importantly lighter wood meaning softer. I think this is where the durability goes out of the window and for that reason I do think that the older vans are better built but don't have all of the all singing, dancing features with all of the look nice to sell trimmings.


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## duds

So the replies on balance so far indicate to me pleasure at the ownership of German and French made vans but maybe the latest versions are not made as they used to be. When will a manufacturer offer a 3 to 5 year habitation guarantee then?


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## Nickmimi

I have had two Rapido's now, the last one for 4 years with no problems on any of them that need to go into a dealer, any minor things i have fixed myself. Not planning to change because the current Van is perfect. (if it isn't broke don't fix it)

The only British Van i have seen that is close to the quality of the European vans is IH Motorhomes this manufacture has an outstanding after-care service along with outstanding quality product. If i were to change vans it would be to and IH Motorhome.

Nick


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## presto

I bought a hymer 544new in 1993 sold it in 96.Since then have had 2 rvs great but not practical a knaus sun ti nice van back to Bclass hymer new last Sept.The quality is top class had to replace the bathroom sink shaded with sun done under warrenty as well as a few bits and bobs no prob.

PRESTO


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## terrydactyl

I have a 2008 Rapido 9048DF. Very pleased with it apart from a few small problems. the handbreak cable was duff from new but that was a Fiat problem, not Rapido. The toilet door handle has sprung a problem and the habitation door locking sometimes doesn't work on the zapper. Otherwise the fit and finish are excellent. We almost live in the can permanently and the upholsery and carpets are holding up well. No problems with the cabinets or latches. The exterior finish is also very good, the fibreglass or whatever seems to be very hard and scratch resistant. Good luck with whatever you decide
Terry


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## duds

The problem as I see it with Rapido or Hymer is that Brownhills are the main dealers in Uk and I do not want to do business with them.


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## 113016

duds said:


> The problem as I see it with Rapido or Hymer is that Brownhills are the main dealers in Uk and I do not want to do business with them.


A couple of different Rapido owners that I know purchased New from Wokingham.


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## carol

Exactly, I would not buy from Brownhills, never bought from them, but had an experience at the NEC which showed me that they were not interested in me buying.

BUT, I do think as Brownhills have several marques (they used to have a lot more, but have lost them due I suspect to their service) they can be used to VIEW the different models, but then buy from your nearest dealer, who may be easier to get to and if a small family firm, is usually better at looking after you.

Hymer I think - pls not I THINK- would like to drop them, but that is only hearsay, and nothing more, I think that perhaps MADISONS (who originally had the marque) sewed up a good contract.

Carol


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## aguilas389

duds said:


> The problem as I see it with Rapido or Hymer is that Brownhills are the main dealers in Uk and I do not want to do business with them.


Neither would we.
Just bought our 2nd Hymer from Germany (size upgrade) and what a fantastic company, nothing is too much trouble and English is spoken.
Even returning after one month of purchase with some minor problems, bonnet catchwas not 100%, nearside wing mirror was electrically intermittent, fridge intermittent on 240.
Everything was put right with a cheerful disposition and apologies, free stay over with services at their premises and the use of a car all thrown in.
We found this company after visiting 7 Hymer dealers during our touring of Germany looking for a B754. Although we would always sing the praise of Hymer in Germany, no other dealer gave the attentiveness and help that we received from Jorg Lundberg and his staff.
Although this is not a dedicated Hymer dealer they had the B754 we looking for and gave us a good deal on our existing B544, then arranged the export plates and paperwork we needed for UK registration. Can't recommend them too highly so if you are thinking of buying in Germany check out this company in Norderstedt which is just above Hamburg.
Their website is www.lundberg.de


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## josieb

Hymer or Rapido, I think both are internally well put together. My first choice was a Hymer but the new version of the model I wanted was hidious. I saw a Rapido and fell in love with the exterior look of the van and found the interior quality excellent albeit I had to make a small compromise on layout.

More important than German or French is who you buy from. I know we all hope to have a trouble free purchase as with everything we buy, but things do go wrong, and I would rather buy from a company that still put their customers first after they have taken their money and are willing to turn out and help even when you are miles away. GOOD service is worth it's weight in gold and after spending a heck of a lot of money I want to know Im not going to have a fight on my hands to get help.[/U]


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