I have discovered if I buy direct from Rhyno or Powertouch (price match the same) I can save £175 against the dealers price where I am buying my new caravan from, BUT which one should I go for - Rhyno 100% british with a lifetime guarantee or Powertouch parts made abroad (China?) and assembled here with a five year guarantee. Is one cosmetically better looking than the other? Your thoughts and experience please.
After sales service from Powrtouch is legendary. It's much of a muchness; what you gain from one you lose from the other. I have had a Powrtouch for a few years, as have several friends and cannot fault it. If you have a weight issue and the Rhyno is lighter then maybe you should consider going that way. I do know that people have upgraded a Powrtouch to a 4 wheel drive version for twin axles without having to replace everything, don't know if that is possible with the Rhyno.
Powrtouch will price match anything, so if you can find a cheaper mover than the Rhyno, Powrtouch could be cheaper again...Take a look at the e-go or towsure varieties.
After my Wife hurt her back earlier this year we had a Rhyno fitted to our GT60 540/6 in August, just before our holiday to France - One of the best moves we have ever made - if you pardon the pun!
We went for the Rhyno mover with the lifetime guarantee to make sure we had plenty of oomph to move the van. it was fitted on the road outside our house in a couple of hours - works fine with an 85amp battery.
We chose Rhyno over Powrtouch for a couple of reasons.
1. Ground clearance - it has better clearance over the Powrtouch
2. Customer attitude - when I contacted Powrtouch they couldn't seem to care about trying for the business - "this is the list price & we will price match if you find a better deal", whereas I had a long chat with the Rhyno guy about his product - offered me the Rhyno or Rhyno lite (both OK for the weight of van)with no hard sell about which one to choose and also said the existing 85amp battery should be OK to use, so again no attempt to get us to buy a higher capacity battery from him.
Negative is the remote looks a bit "strange" but once you are used to it, the buttons make sense
I could say it was all about the Buy British pitch, but this was secondary to getting the right product at the right price.
Admitedly only had it for a short time but very pleased so far
i bought a powrtouch for my van (1500kg). Moves it no worries and i have an 85ah battery too. Paid extra for electric engagement - totally not needed but a nice luxury hehe. When i eventually sell my van i will keep the mover and fit it to another van. It may be heavy but it is very well made.
------------- Why am i doing this instead of camping??!!
The reason that the Rhyno is lighter is that it does not have a Cross Actuating System on it and each side has to be engaged seperately. This also makes it cheaper than most other makes.
as i have said before we a powrtouch and its warranty of 5 years has just finished.the service and the speed of service has been first class in each case.one time delivered a new remote by 24 hour post to keswick site and said send the old one back when you return.
Post last edited on 23/09/2010 22:43:38
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
october 2008 quote from another forum may be old news but not to me.
Qoute
Hi,
As the New Zealand agent for Powrtouch I have obviously an interest in the situation so I copy here the reply I received from Powrtouch in Christchurch UK to the e mail I sent them.
Reply
"Thanks for your recent e:mail. The true picture is....we have been purchased by the owner of Truma, not Truma themselves. This happened over 6 months ago and the decision to go public now was made to reinforce the message that nothing is going to change. Our brand, location, products, market strategies and infrastructure will all remain unaffected. Truma certainly did not promote our product on their stand at the NEC show, in fact we still compete with them directly, particularly when selling into the trade, we have in fact won Truma accounts since we were purchased.
In summary, nothing changes. How are things down in NZ?? ... "
Hope this clears up everyones concerns. end quote
Dave
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
We have a rhyno and to be honest its complete and utter sh*t
Hate it, had 2 fitted on now as the first one the bearings fell apart inside, now the new one is absolute rubbish too, we constantly stalls, takes forever to move our 1500kg van (we we're assured would be fine by rhyno) and does not do what its supposed to do., Having to engage both sides is a pain as ours is now at home and in a tight gap.
If we ever change our van the mover is going with it and i will get either a powrtouch or a e-go one.
If not I may even consider getting the rhyno taken off and buying a decent brand and just take the hit,
Also Rhyno customer service was bad at first til they actually agreed the bearings had gone on the first one as the guy kept telling me it was me doing something wrong. Absolute joke.,
Its also gone rusty now aswell, at only 2 years old
------------- Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
The Powrtouch does not have the cross actuation as standard (the Powrbar)either, but will usually be included if price matched with one that does (make sure to request one when ordering). It costs close to £100 to buy separately. If you can manage without it (ie have space down either side to get to the mover) then you may be better without it as actuating both movers at the same time takes a lot of force. Considering a lot of people get the mover because they are elderly, disabled or generally not fit enough to move the van manually, the cross actuation kind of defeats the object.
Quote: Originally posted by michael on 24/9/2010
takes a lot of force. Considering a lot of people get the mover because they are elderly, disabled
agree we have the full bar across and it is not easy.
I think there is a huge difference between actuating the crossover bar on a motor mover and trying to push a 1000+kg Caravan/FC up a grassy bank on a caravan park.
We have the Truma Mover with Actuating Bar and know the power required to operate it.
Having just bought a FC with no motor mover, we are now looking at the different makes and models of mover before deciding which one to go for.
I was quite taken with the Rhyno until I realised that it had no cross actuation. Okay, at the moment we do not need that but we have been in situations in the past, on CPs where it would have been necessary.
Caravanning/camping for us is all about choice both in where we go and what we can expect when we get there and to spend all that money on a piece of kit that is severely restricted in how you can use it, is just plain daft.
If you need a motor mover to go caravanning, then you need one that will cope with all situations.
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Topic: Which mover - Rhyno or Powertouch
