AA inspection result

[Orca Brody]

Hi all. I need a bit of advice if anyone has any. I'm close to buying a 2012 Rapido after agreeing a price I'm happy with. I just had the results of the AA inspection. Can anyone please share they're thoughts on this? I'd be really grateful. For the experts out there, what would you do?

 

[pappajohn]

I've owned to date over 750 vehicles ranging from cars , vans. Campers and motorhomes

An average 23 vehicles per year...

 

[Northernraider]

An average 23 vehicles per year...

Aye and if you consider I only average about 5 a year the last 5 years or so lol I had a lot more than 23 per year for many years. But I generally always had 5 or 6 at any one time.

 

[airwave]

Also your description of what smoke causes and when it happens is not completely correct. For instance, as we are talking about blue smoke in the post, often it will be seals in the turbo that have failed, which isn’t mentioned in your post. A new turbo is £250-£700 and can be fitted in a couple of hours. Blue smoke can also be caused by overfilling the oil or problems with PCV. So blue smoke doesn’t always require rebore or engine replacement.

Actually Andy , you're quite correct . I forgot about the turbine , and yes , you're quite right , it could well be the seals .

Okay hands up here , i'm not completely up todate with this thread . I've not read the full thread and don't keep up with any updates either . So i have no idea , what the current state of play is . To be frank , i'm far too busy , with my own affairs , to get too deeply involved , and this is one of the reasons , i'm only very rarely around , right now .
However , to pop in , and see a post , where someone is being told to ignore what could be a major fault , quite frankly is seriously out of order . My post was aimed more , at those experts , who are giving this , what to my mind is , seriously dodgy information .

And now , i'm gonna be brutal here , this is not the first time i've noticed it , though this is the most serious by far .

 

[Orca Brody]

Time for an update. Last time I posted the fridge freezer had gone kaput. The seller then set about looking for a replacement. I made an offer of a new price with a further discount to cover the replacement of a new fridge that I would sort myself. Something like a Thetford seemed fair as to replace the faulty Dometic with a like for like replacement is near £3k. I was more than happy with the price agreed and we finalised the deal last night. I'm not going to lie, despite my test drives , I really thought I was going to smoke out the motorway on the way home. Happy to say that didn't happen. No smoke at all. It drove fine with no issues.

I did file a complaint with the AA, for the poor service received, which led nowhere. They really didn't care at all. Even taking away the whole blue smoke thing, the service was bad. Surely this thread alone will cost them at least a couple of bookings in the future making even a partial refund to me the right thing to have done. Their response to the complaint was just as bad.

Anyway, happy to draw a line under that and be happy that I've ended up with a quality motorhome that would normally have been outside my budget. There are a few things to do internally, hence the original discount, but they are manageable. Reverse camera to repair, source a new aerial, fix the extractor. That kind of thing. The hab door doesn't seal properly, that is what I'll start with.

Thanks for all the input in the thread, it's been really helpful. You were all on the case as soon as I posted. I received an email yesterday telling me my membership was coming to an end. After all the help and advice I received here, I'll have no doubts about renewing. If, on your future travels, you see a Rapido on the hard shoulder with blue smoke billowing out its backside, just keep driving, I don't want to hear it!

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[Diabalo]

Great, I'm sure you will be able to sort out all the niggles.

 

[PeterCarole29]

Well done

 

[Shrimp]

Glad you went for it, older vans always need something doing to them and if you’re remotely handy with a spanner you should enjoy fixing it up.
Love the photo with attendant smoke!

 

[Puddleduck]

Even new van have niggles. They are complex beasts ... happy travels and if you are ever in this area ( south east Scotland) give us a shout!!

 

[headlight]

Congratulations on the purchase
Before you buy a replacement fridge explain the problem on here in a new thread as it may well be repairable.

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[chaser]

Time for an update. Last time I posted the fridge freezer had gone kaput. The seller then set about looking for a replacement. I made an offer of a new price with a further discount to cover the replacement of a new fridge that I would sort myself. Something like a Thetford seemed fair as to replace the faulty Dometic with a like for like replacement is near £3k. I was more than happy with the price agreed and we finalised the deal last night. I'm not going to lie, despite my test drives , I really thought I was going to smoke out the motorway on the way home. Happy to say that didn't happen. No smoke at all. It drove fine with no issues.

I did file a complaint with the AA, for the poor service received, which led nowhere. They really didn't care at all. Even taking away the whole blue smoke thing, the service was bad. Surely this thread alone will cost them at least a couple of bookings in the future making even a partial refund to me the right thing to have done. Their response to the complaint was just as bad.

Anyway, happy to draw a line under that and be happy that I've ended up with a quality motorhome that would normally have been outside my budget. There are a few things to do internally, hence the original discount, but they are manageable. Reverse camera to repair, source a new aerial, fix the extractor. That kind of thing. The hab door doesn't seal properly, that is what I'll start with.

Thanks for all the input in the thread, it's been really helpful. You were all on the case as soon as I posted. I received an email yesterday telling me my membership was coming to an end. After all the help and advice I received here, I'll have no doubts about renewing. If, on your future travels, you see a Rapido on the hard shoulder with blue smoke billowing out its backside, just keep driving, I don't want to hear it!

View attachment 717435

Excellent result mate, hope you enjoy it for many a year , looks a smart van, and in the end the aa seem to have done you a favour if you get the price down a bit .
Regarding the fridge, have you looked at compressor fridges, we have one in our van, best thing we bought new for it.

 

[Lenny HB]

Well done.

 

[Just smiffy]

Hope it goes well for you, as said before post up any problems and someone will be able to advise… especially about the fridge it may be a simple fix…

 

[Orca Brody]

Thanks for the replies. Glad I finally got there in the end. Hoping the fridge can be repaired but I'll cope if it can't. . I'll start a new thread on that now. I'm sure there will be other problems unseen at the moment. Thanks for the invite Puddleduck

I did think about a compressor fridge Chaser but would likely need to get solar sorted first.

Thanks again.

 

[bobnick]

Money well spent on Mr AA man.
No harm in saying NO sorry don't want it.

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[bobnick]

How much do the AA charge for such a service?

 

[Orca Brody]

How much do the AA charge for such a service?

Too much. £212 for me. I didn't think much of them. Complete waste of money.

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

Well done sir.
Came good in the end.
Get out and enjoy it now

 

[Northernraider]

Actually Andy , you're quite correct . I forgot about the turbine , and yes , you're quite right , it could well be the seals .

Okay hands up here , i'm not completely up todate with this thread . I've not read the full thread and don't keep up with any updates either . So i have no idea , what the current state of play is . To be frank , i'm far too busy , with my own affairs , to get too deeply involved , and this is one of the reasons , i'm only very rarely around , right now .
However , to pop in , and see a post , where someone is being told to ignore what could be a major fault , quite frankly is seriously out of order . My post was aimed more , at those experts , who are giving this , what to my mind is , seriously dodgy information .

And now , i'm gonna be brutal here , this is not the first time i've noticed it , though this is the most serious by far .

Ah well going by the posts below I'm glad the buyer didn't get put of by the ridiculous over reaction and I'll thought out advice to walk away and in the end secured himself a good deal

 

[Northernraider]

Time for an update. Last time I posted the fridge freezer had gone kaput. The seller then set about looking for a replacement. I made an offer of a new price with a further discount to cover the replacement of a new fridge that I would sort myself. Something like a Thetford seemed fair as to replace the faulty Dometic with a like for like replacement is near £3k. I was more than happy with the price agreed and we finalised the deal last night. I'm not going to lie, despite my test drives , I really thought I was going to smoke out the motorway on the way home. Happy to say that didn't happen. No smoke at all. It drove fine with no issues.

I did file a complaint with the AA, for the poor service received, which led nowhere. They really didn't care at all. Even taking away the whole blue smoke thing, the service was bad. Surely this thread alone will cost them at least a couple of bookings in the future making even a partial refund to me the right thing to have done. Their response to the complaint was just as bad.

Anyway, happy to draw a line under that and be happy that I've ended up with a quality motorhome that would normally have been outside my budget. There are a few things to do internally, hence the original discount, but they are manageable. Reverse camera to repair, source a new aerial, fix the extractor. That kind of thing. The hab door doesn't seal properly, that is what I'll start with.

Thanks for all the input in the thread, it's been really helpful. You were all on the case as soon as I posted. I received an email yesterday telling me my membership was coming to an end. After all the help and advice I received here, I'll have no doubts about renewing. If, on your future travels, you see a Rapido on the hard shoulder with blue smoke billowing out its backside, just keep driving, I don't want to hear it!

View attachment 717435

Good job

I'm glad you were not put off.

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[Orca Brody]

Good job

I'm glad you were not put off.

Thanks. Almost walked but glad I didn't. Thanks for your input in the thread.