Frankia

Cowie

Guest
Thinking of changing my Autosleeper Gloucester for a i640 sd Frankia. Would any members recommend this motorhome.
 
We had a 2010 Mercedes based Frankia i7400BD (transverse double over large garage) for over 6 years. We bought it 3 months old with less than 1000 miles on the clock and sold it with over 30000 miles on it. It was a really well built van and I would not hesitate to recommend Frankia.
As far as I can recall we had the following issues with it:
Mercedes side - stone damaged radiator which needed replacing, turbo feed pipe detached (simple jubilee clip job to fix)
Frankia side - both electric heating elements on Truma 6E burnt out but boiler removed fairly easily through locker door access, both drain down taps needed replacing, near side mirror broke loose but fixed with a bit of Sugru!, gas regulator needed replacing, vertical strip “mood lighting” bulbs burnt through Perspex cover but replacement sent free of charge by Frankia.
The only reason we sold it was we wanted to get a smaller van - replaced with a Hymer 570mli with which we are equally pleased.
Tony
 
We had a 2010 Mercedes based Frankia i7400BD (transverse double over large garage) for over 6 years. We bought it 3 months old with less than 1000 miles on the clock and sold it with over 30000 miles on it. It was a really well built van and I would not hesitate to recommend Frankia.
As far as I can recall we had the following issues with it:
Mercedes side - stone damaged radiator which needed replacing, turbo feed pipe detached (simple jubilee clip job to fix)
Frankia side - both electric heating elements on Truma 6E burnt out but boiler removed fairly easily through locker door access, both drain down taps needed replacing, near side mirror broke loose but fixed with a bit of Sugru!, gas regulator needed replacing, vertical strip “mood lighting” bulbs burnt through Perspex cover but replacement sent free of charge by Frankia.
The only reason we sold it was we wanted to get a smaller van - replaced with a Hymer 570mli with which we are equally pleased.
Tony
Thankyou Tony for replying back to me. Saw this Frankia model at the Birmingham show,liked the layout and wanted a smaller van. The one we have is 7.29 metres this van is 6.5 metres. Bit worried now with all the faults you incurred as we’ve had no major problems with the Autosleeper since we bought it new. It would be a new van we’d be ordering. Thanks again,Cowie
 
What major faults

Those listed could happen to any camper

By the way the drain down valves on these vintage Frankia’s can easily be fixed by dismantling valve and replacing perished o ring Just push out retaining pin and lift out body ( with system drained)
 
My original post was intended to demonstrate how good the Frankia was but you seem to think those faults are serious enough for you not to proceed with the purchase. The only directly Frankia related fault in my opinion was the melted light cover - Frankia accepted full responsibility for this and the fittings modified and cover replaced free of charge. All other problems were either my fault (broken radiator, broken mirror) or could happen to any camper. You must be one of the few people who have not had a regulator fail. In fact the good thing about the Frankia is that all the faults were easily fixable. The only job requiring a dealer was the heating elements in the Truma and even this job was easy as no part of the camper had to be dismantled to remove the boiler.
The Mercedes side was equally good - the only major problem was the damaged radiator which was my fault for pulling too far into the rough verge at speed to avoid an overtaking car.
Don’t let me put you off buying the Frankia please.
 
Frankia, Pilote and Bavaria are all made on the same production line.
Many of the spares you might need are common to all three vans.
We visited the factory last year before buying our Pilote.
 
I wasn’t aware Frankia’s were made in same factory as Pilote and Bavaria’s

I know they are all owned by the one company but always thought Frankia’s were only made at
Marktschorgast in Germany​
 
My i680 edg is now 2 1/2 years old and I would recommend one. A few minor faults but all sorted. Mine is on the fiat 4.5 ton with auto
 

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