2014 Rapido 790DF

The owner says it's a fixed plastic seat, so it doesn't raise or fold up. He's never checked whether it can be taken out, but he doesn't think it can be removed without at least leaving holes. So it isn't really something that could be moved across to another shower.

The owner says the motorhome is plated at 3,500kg, which is what the V5 shows. It was originally built with a 3,650kg maximum, and he had it downplated to 3,500kg. The photo of the old 3,650kg plate is in the advert so buyers can see it was built for the higher weight. The owner says it could be uprated back to 3,650kg if the buyer's licence allows.

The owner has found his weighbridge receipt. The motorhome weighed 3,460kg fully laden for a trip, with a full tank of fuel, about 50 litres of fresh water, everything packed for the trip, the owner on board and his 25kg dog. After that he took out things like the standard wheel-changing jack and tools, and he never usually travelled with much fresh water or a full tank. (We've already passed on the downplating history: it was bought new from the dealer, who arranged the downplating with Rapido in France, and Rapido sent the new plate before he collected it.)

One more thing from the owner on the official mass in running order figure. The certificate from the dealer still hasn't come through. The dealer has told him it's in French and shows a gross weight of 3,500kg. In the owner's view, the factory figure isn't really a useful guide any more. Over the years he has made a number of changes that added or took away weight, and he says the only reliable way to know is to weigh the motorhome and then track what you add or take out. He did exactly that, and he kept a spreadsheet of the changes. His weighbridge figure is still the best real-world guide. He also says that a buyer with a C1 licence could take it heavier. In his experience an extra 150kg is almost a given, and maybe 350kg through an uprating specialist, possibly with a rear suspension upgrade.

The owner says that in June 2023 a little water got in through a leak in the sealant around the roof light over the shower. Wokingham Motorhomes, the supplying dealer, took the roof light out and dried everything thoroughly over about a week. They then refitted and resealed the roof light, and as a precaution they also redid the sealant around all the other roof openings. A professional habitation checker has inspected the motorhome very recently and found no sign of damp anywhere: not in the roof, not inside, and not in the floors or underside.

The owner has answered all three questions. 1) It wasn't Wokingham. The recent detailed habitation check was done yesterday by a mobile habitation check company. Another party arranged and paid for it, so the owner doesn't have a copy of the written report. The engineer was there for about three hours and talked him through everything he found. 2) There's no staining or any other visible sign of the old leak or the repair anywhere. 3) His last routine habitation check was done at CCM last October, when the MOT was done. On the detailed check yesterday, the engineer pointed out two things that need doing: a new LPG gas control valve and rubber gas pipes, and a new fire extinguisher, because the current one expired in 2023. The engineer said a lot of people now fit a newer type of extinguisher and/or a fire blanket instead of a like-for-like replacement. The owner is happy to talk through what the engineer told him in more detail.