After over two years of waiting (including 8 months where Rapido would not take our order) on December 1 2023 we finally drove our new Rapido v68 panel van from Dicksons of Perth.
First let’s get Dicksons of Perth out of the way.
Throughout the long wait Tim Dickson was excellent. Attentive to our needs, and the many changes I made throughout that long wait. Whenever he received an email from Rapido he forwarded it to me. I have nothing but praise for him throughout that period. But the handover was almost non existent, with Tim saying that I knew more about the van than him. Also I assumed that they would supply a new mains cable, as my two previous dealers did, but none was forthcoming, so I had to hold on to my existing mains lead.
Soon after getting the van we had a leak in the cupboard next to the tv.
I only noticed this after David (wildebus) had ran a cable for the
solar through a gland fitted by Rapido. Dicksons stated that this was the cause of the leak, but I was not convinced. Anyway a few days later the leak was still present. It turned out they had exposed a porous cable cover on the roof to the Wi-Fi aerial. This became saturated and water was transferred through the gland and down into the cupboard. This had been the cause of the leak, and not David’s cable, which bye the way did not enter the cupboard, only the Wi-Fi cable did. But unbelievably they insisted that David’s cable was the cause of the original leak. Well David’s cable remains as it was, and I have since installed four
solar panels, and not a drop of water has entered the cupboard.
Why can they simply not accept they erred eludes me. I have no problems with people making honest mistakes, so long as they acknowledge them. But to be fair Keith at their service centre had been really good, it’s just a shame that this happened. We now have no leaks.
Rapido honoured their original price which saved me over £5000, even though the contract allowed them to increase. I think that was very decent of them. Also this is my third van, and their standards of workmanship are much better than my first two vans. Also there after sales service seems excellent. I had two faulty lights and within two weeks they had sent them to Dicksons who then sent them to me, for me to instal. Very impressed with this.
We went from a Roller Team Pegaso A class to this van, and I won’t say there are things about the Pegaso I don’t miss. Obviously the space we had was great, and the large panoramic window was fabulous. But what I don’t miss is the fact that everything in a A class is specific to it. A new windscreen would have cost over £4000 and taken weeks to come from Italy. A new mirror £850 and again weeks to arrive. I had issues with the van were both Fiat and Roller team stated this was not their problem. With the new van I don’t have as many off these issues.
The new van is much easier to drive, and with the new Auto box and the 180 engine it’s also much smoother, quieter, responsive, and more fuel efficient than the Pegaso. Also the sleeping arrangements with fixed longitudinal rear beds is way better than the over cab pull down bed we had in the Pegaso. And it’s not just a bedroom, it’s a reading room, tv room, and if I fancy a quick nap after a long drive it’s much better. Also there’s a blind which separates the lounge from the bedroom if one of us fancies a nap. The beds can also be swung up and secured to the side giving a large area for bikes etc when travelling. There’s even a small wardrobe in the bedroom. The beds have memory foam mattresses, and are very comfortable. The garage is more than adequate. It has a board one quarter of the way up this helps with storage. The gas locker door is at the rear, unlike some which are off to the side meaning you have to remove stuff to access the cylinders.
So I decided on the Rapido V68.
Most if the vans I looked at, failed my basic requirements, with tiny fridges, no oven, small water capacity, small gas cylinders, etc. I had decided on the continental layout, so anything with a rear lounge, or the toilet right behind the drivers seat were non starters. I eventually narrowed it down to the Rapido V68, or the Adria 640 SLB. Both were great vans, but the Adria lacked certain things I wanted like air suspension, large gas capacity, no separation between lounge and bedroom, and it was roughly £5000 more expensive. I looked at Globecar, Malibu, Adria, Chausson, Burstner, Hymer, and Roller team. It took me several months of looking at vans to finally decide on the Rapido.
The van takes 2x13kg cylinders, and has duo control with crash sensor, 110lL water, 130L fridge, oven/grill. I was amazed that anyone would design a van with a 40L water tank, or a gas locker so small it only took sub 6kg cylinders.
On the Fiat side I had ordered the 160bhp engine then Fiat stopped doing it, so I went for their 180bhp, they had reduced the price substantially, and it was only slightly more expensive than the 160bhp. I also wanted air suspension, auto wipers and headlights, some of their safety features, and their all black pack, which included alloys, led lights, black skid plate, and directional fog lights. And their new 9 speed auto box is way better than the comfort matic it replaced.
I decided against the skyview, I thought it to expensive at £1260, and with two large lounge windows, a large roof light, and all of the cab windows a luxury I could do without, and it removed 20kg from the payload to boot. And with a payload of only 415kg on the basic model, that was worth taking into consideration.
The kitchen as you would expect on a PVC is small with the usual 2 burner hob, and a small oven. There are two drawers and a pull out larder unit. They benefit from central locking . There is also one of only two mains sockets, and a 12v socket above the top drawer on the face of the unit. We added a double socket under the bench seat.
The toilet shower area is of the duo space type, with a swing wall. When the wall is moved to the left you have a fully lined shower room, with duckboard. The shower is fine, but I am not so keen on the toilet. But I have to remind myself this is a PVC and not an A class. For me the toilet is my least favourite part of the new van. The sink is tiny, I only wash my hands in it, I use the kitchen sink to wash my face and to shave instead.
The van came with two 100 AH lead batteries, but I immediately replaced them with two 103 AH lithium batteries with blutooth
battery management, and heaters. These batteries are a game changer, I have more power than I can use even in winter months. I have fitted four
solar panels totalling 330W. David later installed a
victron 1200w
inverter. During the summer months even when using the
inverter, my
battery capacity never went below 80%. But one issue did create issues the smart alternator. I have found even with a
victron 30A B2B in winter months it struggles to keep the batteries fully charged when running the fridge on auto. In warmer months it’s fine. This situation is manageable though, and does not present any serious issues.
What do I like about the van. First and foremost the fixed rear longitudinal beds. I used to think this was a poor use of space preferring drop down beds, but I love simply going to bed at night, or for a nap if I feel tired. I love reading on the bed, and in the morning we can swing the tv round and watch it then.
The lounge although small is cosy, and the tv is much closer and lower than our previous tv, which is better for viewing. The kitchen is well thought out which maximises the workspace, and the central locking is a handy thing to have. The Rapido build quality is excellent, everything feels solid and well put together. For a small van it’s got a large 130L absorption fridge. We incredibly have more storage space than we did in our A class, something we never expected. The Truma diesel combi is excellent, can be a tad noisy at the start, but it seems to run for hours and use hardly any diesel.
What don’t I like. Well the toilet is cramped, this is my biggest compromise. But the swing door creates a shower which is better than I thought possible in a PVC. The van is much narrower than the A class, this means that if someone is standing in the passageway they have to move into the toilet to allow you past. The oven is the drawer replacement type, which is small, but I don’t see how they could have improved this with a larger oven. There is a cupboard in the bedroom, but it’s very small. You cannot hang anything up properly in it, but again this all comes down to the size of the van. The skylights are the push type rather than the wind open type. I would have preferred the wind open type.
Would I recommend this van. If you are thinking of a PVC yes I would.
But this all comes down to personal choice.
One word of warning. I had a problem with the installed Nordelectronica 40W B2B. I should have got Dicksons to deal with it, but I had a
victron B2B installed instead. When I contacted Dicksons looking for a replacement, they stated as I had the work carried out elsewhere Rapido would not accept the claim. I had intended to recoup some of my money by selling the replacement. But I much prefer
Victron gear, do at least I feel content about this.
So looking forward to another winters travels.
