Review: Carado T449

Can an ex-rental motorhome continue to provide years and many kilometres of hassle-free mobile living after it migrates from the public sector into private ownership? Of course, it can, says MCD’s Paul Owen.

Take this 2019 Carado T449 that has travelled approximately 120,000km and is one of several impeccably cared for ex-rentals available from Wilderness Motorhomes. It recently completed its full service on the company’s rental fleet.

There’s still plenty of life left in this comfortable and well-made German 7.43-metre motorhome, and years of freshening and pampering between journeys have left it looking spick and span.

Offering a seamless combination of comfort and practicality, Carado is a prestige German brand, designed and manufactured with an emphasis on quality manufacturing and thoughtful design.

Having recently spent some time overviewing the Carado T447 in its ex-rental form, although outwardly similar, the Carado T449 does present some different interior options. This is particularly true when it comes to the layout of the rear bedroom, which has an easy-to-access queen island bed and ample storage.

Watching the weight

Designed to cater for four people, and with the 360kg payload in mind, Carado has opted for manual operation of the drop-down double bed. This can be deployed from above the front lounge area. Thanks to well-engineered pulleys and counterweights, it’s an easy task to raise and lower the 1.95×1.4-metre bed, as gravity assists in both directions. Using an electric motor to do this same task would have added a bit more mass, and the weight saving can be added to accessories and items you wish to store in the generous T449 garage.

The island bed at the rear of the Carado T449 (which differentiates from the T447 twin-single rear bedroom) is a smidge larger than the drop-down bed up front, measuring 1.95×1.48 metres. As you can see, the Carado T449 can genuinely accommodate four fully-grown humans, plus comes with four seatbelts ready to secure two passengers on the front-facing lounge bench for travel, as well as the pair travelling first-class up front.

Build details

Built on a Fiat Ducato base, as a 2019 model, this Carado T449 has a 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine driving the front wheels via a centrifugal clutch and a six-speed gearbox that has been robotised by servomotors to provide automatic gear ratio changes.

The advantage of this powertrain versus a more conventional torque converter-equipped automatic gearbox is its lower mass, which allows the T449 to comply with the rules of Warrant of Fitness (WoF) testing instead of the far more stringent Certificate of Fitness (CoF) regime. This is a definite bonus for those looking at purchasing a motorhome where simplicity and ease of testing are a priority.

To sum up: a WoF check on a vehicle of this age must be done annually and normally costs around $75, while a CoF test must be passed every six months and costs nearly $200. Having a motorhome that complies with WoF testing not only reduces the cost of ownership but also saves time. A CoF test represents a far deeper dive into the fitness of a vehicle and must be booked beforehand like a long appointment at the hairdresser. Some heavy transport fleet managers plan for an entire day of downtime whenever one of their vehicles is due for a CoF test. WoF tests can usually be done far more casually by simply showing up at the testing station in barbershop fashion.

The cutoff point between whether a vehicle needs to meet WoF or CoF standards is that the latter rules apply when the vehicle is over 3500kg. With a Gross Vehicle Mass (tare weight plus payload) of 3500kg, the Carado T449 fortunately just squeaks into WoF testing territory as the tare (unladen) weight is 3140kg and there’s a 360kg payload.

Like all vehicles made by mainstream automotive brands, the Fiat was developed and engineered by members of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

While most of us know the SAE mostly for its standardisation of the size of nuts and bolts vehicles use, the SAE has developed hundreds of other standards that automotive manufacturers voluntarily adhere to.

According to the SAE, a commercial vehicle like the Ducato cab/chassis this Carado is built upon should be capable of travelling at least 400,000km before critical components begin to wear out, provided the servicing schedule is faithfully followed. To them, this Ducato’s current serviceability is at a level akin to that of young adulthood.

A quality legacy

Then there’s the remainder of the motorhome build to consider. Carado is the more affordable brand of the mighty Erwin Hymer Group (EHG), sharing both the group’s German DNA and dedication to quality materials, build methods, and strategies with other EHG brands such as Bürstner and HYMER.

This combination of value and the input of a high level of Teutonic design and engineering expertise has made Carado a favourite choice of both private buyers and rental companies alike. Carado isn’t just the best-selling brand within the group, it’s the market leader of all continental European motorhome manufacturers.

All the amenities

In terms of utilities, all Carados come with a Truma Combi 6E gas boiler/heater to warm the cabin and hot water. This draws energy from the pair of bottles (one 9kg, one 4kg) located in the gas locker, which also fires up the triple gas hobs located in the kitchen and can run the 167-litre fridge/freezer of the T449 when parked away from mains hookup. The Dometic unit provides 138 litres of refrigerated storage and a 29-litre freezer compartment. It can operate on either 240 volts when available or draw a 12-volt supply from the domestic batteries.

Also, a 12-volt supply is on demand via twin 95Ah deep-cycle domestic batteries. This powers up the many well-placed LED lights around the cabin, as well as supplying all four strategically placed USB ports. Like other Carados, the T449 comes with an RCD-equipped power lead to safely plug into the national grid, sending 240-volt power to the several New Zealand-spec sockets located around the cabin and trickle-charging the domestic batteries ready for the next spot of freedom camping. The three-pin sockets can also be used for low-demand recharging of devices and the occasional kettle boiling as Wilderness fit an inverter to all of their motorhomes prior to sale.

On the water front, the Carado T449 has a 122-litre freshwater reservoir and a 92-litre greywater tank, which collects any flow from the shower cubicle and generously sized stainless-steel sink. While talking kitchen things, there’s a nice stack of soft-close drawers and an L-shaped prep bench, which can have its area extended by utilising the gas hob and sink covers. This ensures plenty of prep space for group meals.

When it comes to laying out the personal grooming/comfort areas, Carado likes to keep things separate from the shower cubicle so that the water splash is well-contained. In the T449, the shower and the toilet/washroom each have their own area on either side of the motorhome, and the walls of the shower cubicle completely fold away when not required, giving the rear island bedroom an enlarged sense of space. The water-collecting base of the shower embedded in the floor is the only clue that there even is a shower facility inside the T449 when the walls are folded against the inner sidewall and secured for rattle-free travel. They can quickly be folded out and put together again when it’s time to spruce up. Other bathroom features include a roof vent with a screen and blind, a generously sized mirror, a flushing toilet, and a clever flexible towel rail with a pair of adjustable hooks.

Enjoying the drive

Whatever the passenger makeup, trips aboard the HMS Carado T449 will be pleasant, thanks to the refined ride quality of the suspension and the generally hushed noise levels of the cabin. The hydraulically assisted steering wheel of the 2019 Ducato also delivers more tactile feedback than the electrically assisted wheel of later models, better connecting the driver to the road.

Meanwhile, Wilderness adds its own touches to the Carado models they sell. In addition to the electrical, gas, and self-containment certification they complete, the Carado T449 has a ‘starter pack’ of extra features fitted that includes full gas bottles, fresh and greywater hoses, spare keys (if available), a power cable, a reversing camera, internet readiness, an inverter, a 19-inch LED HD TV,
a bike rack mount, and a full tank of diesel.

Touches like this make it obvious why Wilderness has a strong base of return customers and a loyal following.

Wilderness second-hand models are sold with a minimum of five months’ worth of WoF/CoF compliance, 1000km of road user charges, five months of registration, and electrical WoF and self-containment certification for the next 12 months. Used Carados such as this one are sold with a three-month warranty on both the chassis and the motorhome fit-out.