So, we have had the new Pilote 696D for 11 days now, it took 11 months and 3 weeks from order to collection, no major issues, it needs a new hab door due to a defect in the lamination but that´s in hand, the bathroom lights stay on all the time and the lounge lights don´t work, again, in hand and will be sorted ( Caravan Brockmann nr Munich ).
First impressions with the 9-speed auto, worth selling a kidney for if you had a comformatic before (we did, but had no issues in 98K km).
Collected it on Friday 1st Sept, by Friday evening we were over 300km away in Slovenia, we spent the weekend talking about what we needed to make it wheelchair friendly for herself, then the following Monday to Thursday was spend putting a second floor 13cm higher with space underneath for lightweight ramps plus a few teaks in the bathroom to make a little more space around the toilet.
On the 8th Sept we set off for Lazise on Lago de Garda ( 350km from home ) for the weekend to test the new format, all worked well, just a few tweaks here and there.
The Ducato 140 with the 9-speed is really good and flew (relative term) over the Brenner, I like the stop -start, the gear changes are smooth, the cabin seems to have more space that the previous gen Ducato (2103), and Herself can access the toilet and the coffee machine alone when we are slow moving or in a traffic jam.
Seem to be on about 9.5 to 10 ltrs per 100km, so 28-30 Mpg, that I can live with.
The Hab side is good, obvious production short cuts, the wrong sized countersink for screws, non-recessed hinges and other little things, but nothing to be worried about.
Love the solar, the inverter, and probably even the tv when we can work out how to use the sat dish, not impressed with the Navigation working off Android Auto but we will get the hang of it ( being old and not liking change is the problem).
We are 6.99m and under 3500 kg, we live 10km from the Austrian border, going around is not an option, 99€ for an annual Vignette (Pickl) works for us, with a toll box ( Got the ADAC one ) for everywhere else ( apart from Switzerland)
So 11 days and 1,500 km later, we are very happy.
First impressions with the 9-speed auto, worth selling a kidney for if you had a comformatic before (we did, but had no issues in 98K km).
Collected it on Friday 1st Sept, by Friday evening we were over 300km away in Slovenia, we spent the weekend talking about what we needed to make it wheelchair friendly for herself, then the following Monday to Thursday was spend putting a second floor 13cm higher with space underneath for lightweight ramps plus a few teaks in the bathroom to make a little more space around the toilet.
On the 8th Sept we set off for Lazise on Lago de Garda ( 350km from home ) for the weekend to test the new format, all worked well, just a few tweaks here and there.
The Ducato 140 with the 9-speed is really good and flew (relative term) over the Brenner, I like the stop -start, the gear changes are smooth, the cabin seems to have more space that the previous gen Ducato (2103), and Herself can access the toilet and the coffee machine alone when we are slow moving or in a traffic jam.
Seem to be on about 9.5 to 10 ltrs per 100km, so 28-30 Mpg, that I can live with.
The Hab side is good, obvious production short cuts, the wrong sized countersink for screws, non-recessed hinges and other little things, but nothing to be worried about.
Love the solar, the inverter, and probably even the tv when we can work out how to use the sat dish, not impressed with the Navigation working off Android Auto but we will get the hang of it ( being old and not liking change is the problem).
We are 6.99m and under 3500 kg, we live 10km from the Austrian border, going around is not an option, 99€ for an annual Vignette (Pickl) works for us, with a toll box ( Got the ADAC one ) for everywhere else ( apart from Switzerland)
So 11 days and 1,500 km later, we are very happy.
