Rapido 710f views and inf'o please

[Guest peter]

Hi, I am buying a Rapido 710f and am wondering if anyone has or has had one. Any problems? was it good? what's the weight and payload and gross train weight. I know I should have found all this out already, but we got such a good deal at Brownhills and it was getting late so bought it anyway as another buyer was hovering around ready to move in. Your views and info' will be appreciated. We don't pick it up untill 14/7 by the way.

[Derek Uzzell]

I've got French Rapido brochures that cover from 2001 model-year onwards. These reveal that the 710F came with several motor and/or chassis options so the overall weight, payload and (presumably) the train weight can vary. If you know which year 710F you are buying and the size of motor it has, then I should be able to help (though not with the train weight). Most 710Fs are likely to have been built on a 3400kg chassis and a 2003 model, with Fiat's 2.3JTD motor, will have a 'useful payload' (ie. the weight available to include all accessories, passengers (excluding the driver) and luggage) of around 550kg. Easiest thing if you want weight-limit data for your new 'van would be to ask Brownhills to tell you what's on the vehicle's VIN-plate. A 710F owner (Keith T) has contributed to the forum in the past and, if you SEARCH on "710F" and "All posts" you will pick up his postings.

[Guest peter]

Thanks for the info' it's a 1999 model with the 2.8 Turbo engine.

[Derek Uzzell]

OK. Auto-Trail's brochure for their motorhomes based on current Fiat chassis gives a Gross Train Weight (GTW) of 5200kg for a whole range of vehicles with different motors and wheelbases. So an educated guess for a 710F's GTW would be 5200kg. Anyway, it should be at least 5000kg. General comments... Rapido has always had a good reputation for build quality, use of top-notch materials (particularly the GRP body-panels) and sensible design. The 710F was produced from 1999 to 2004 (model years) and embodied an internal layout that was (and still is) quite rare for Continental European motorhomes - the caravan-style rear U-lounge. Even more unusual was the fitting of a transverse pull-down bed mounted at roof-level just behind the cab. Below this bed was a pair of narrow-ish inwards-facing side-seats that could be linked to form a 2nd transverse single bed. With the lower seats joined and the upper bed lowered a sleeping environment was produced ideal for two children and Rapido highlighted this feature in their 710F marketing. However, it's worth mentioning that no security-belted seats were provided except the two in the cab. If one wanted to leave the rear bed permanently made up then a large specially-shaped table was available that went between the front side-seats and, with the cab seats turned inwards, allowed 4 people to dine (albeit not particularly comfortably I suspect!) Mid-located bathroom, good sized for a smallish motorhome, with a practical showering area. Small kitchen 'bloc' with limited worktop-area and integrated fridge. (Fitting an oven would have reduced kitchen storage space significantly.) Usual heating equipment with gas-fuelled Truma S3002 blown-air convector unit and separate Truma water boiler. Large water tanks (140 litres/fresh, 110 litres/waste). Despite being built on Fiat's 3700mm long wheelbase chassis a 710F is compact. The 1999 model would be 5.75m long and 2.61m high, and unusually narrow at 2.11m wide. The standard motor then would have been a 1.9TD with a 2.8TD as an option. As yours has the big motor there's a possibility the chassis is the 3500kg version. On road performance should be excellent. I was going to conclude by saying "When you collect the Rapido make sure that all the paperwork checks out OK and that all the bits-and-bobs on the vehicle work properly". Then, having read your posting of July 6, I realised I would be preaching to the converted!!! Best of luck.

[Guest peter]

Thanks very much for your detailed information Dereck. It looks like I've made a good choice this time. I wanted a Rapido to start with but without selling my boat couldn't afford one until this one came along. As there are only two of us using it the seatbelts aren't a problem. It comes with the large as well as the smaller front table as well. Brownhills are fitting a 3.5 Mtr awning as part of the deal as well. All I need to do now is fit a satelite dish and towbar and we will be well setup. The previous owners didn't have a television arial fitted would you believe, so that's one less hole in the roof to worry about. Thanks again.

[Mel B]

Check where Brownhills are fitting the awning - not as daft as it sounds, we have a Rapido 709F with a 3.0m awning which is fine, but someone else who also has a 709F only has a 2.5m awning which is not fitted quite as well as ours adn has caused problems with the door catching on the support bars. Other than that, the 710F is a very nice van, we considered it when we were in the market for a new van but wanted the shorter length and a fixed bed that you get with a 709F. We've had our van for 3 years and 2 months now and are extremely happy with it, all the cupboard still close as they should, blinds are fine, all the catches still work etc, the finish is still as good as ever - we've done just shy of 19K miles in it and have lively dogs. With having dogs we have always kept the original seats/upholstery covered with purpose made covers to protect them so they are still 'as new' in our van so I can't comment on how well this would stand up if they weren't protected but if the rest is anything to go by, it should be good as well. You can become a WORM too if you want! Mel B

[Guest peter]

Thanks for that Mel I will check the awning fixing out. They are fitting a 3.5 Mtr one so should clear the door. What does becoming a WORM entail.

[Derek Uzzell]

Peter: You might be intrigued to learn that my own motorhome has neither TV aerial (satellite or otherwise), awning or tow-bar. No bike-rack either, but it has got lots of lightness and payload. A small front and large rear table were standard on the 710F (both were involved in the bed-making), but there was also a big, peculiar-shaped front-table option where the table extended between the cab-seats, Very odd looking.

[Derek Uzzell]

Peter: In my reply to Adrian's "Tyres" inquiry of 7/7 I touched on tyre life-span. Later on I remembered that your Rapido was a 1999 model, which made me wonder whether any of its tyres were still original. MOT-testing includes a visual check of the condition of a vehicle's tyres but their age is not taken into account. Because motorhomes often cover low annual mileages it's quite common to find 'vans with tyres that sail through the MOT but are really getting on in years. When this subject was discussed on this forum some time ago (data now gone) I believe received wisdom was that it was a reasonable plan to discard a tyre when it reached 7 years of age irrespective of its visual condition, tread depth or the mileage covered. When tyres have plenty of tread-depth and have received the inevitable lick of glossy black make-up that motor traders adore (and I detest) it's easy to assume they are new. This may, or may not be true and it would be sensible to check. A tyre's date of manufacture can usually be discerned from a short data-section on the tyre's side-wall that begins with the 3 letters "DOT". The DOT indicator will be followed by 8 to 13 characters ending in a 3-figure or 4-figure group. 3-figure groups relate to tyres made before year 2000, with the first 2 figures showing the week (1 to 52) when the tyre was manufactured and the 3rd figure the year. A small, inconspicuous 'left-pointing' triangle after the 3rd figure indicates manufacture in the 1990s (so 149 + triangle = 14th week of 1999). No triangle means the tyre was made in the 1980s. 4-figure groups normally relate to Year-2000-onwards tyres and are read similarly, with the final 2 figures relating to the year (so 2302 = 23rd week of 2002). Failure to find the "DOT" data-section means that Sod's Law is in force and it's on the inwards-facing side of the wheel! If you do find original tyres on your 710F then (obviously) it will be up to you whether you retain or replace them. Anyway, it's something you might want to investigate.

[Guest peter]

Thank's for the tyre info' Derek but it has done 65000 miles and has good tread, so I can assume they have been changed. Unless they were exceptionally hard wearing.

[Derek Uzzell]

Might be worth you checking the condition of the tyre on the spare-wheel (and that there is a spare-wheel!!!) when you get the opportunity.

[Guest peter]

Good idea, I never considered that. Just shows you, you really need to make a checklist to go through before handing over your hard earned. Because one things for sure, you will have a much harder time getting things sorted once you've caughed up.