Swift Rio 340

UFO

UFO

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Anyone got, or had, one of these Swift Rio 340. I am instersted in your experience, what is like to live in, what it is like to drive?

What I like
  • Compact coachbuilt, Fiat low-line chassis, 6.4m long, 2.26m wide, height 2.78m
  • Good size kitchen area - 110-litre fridge, grill, hob with 3 gas rings and 1 electric hotplate and a microwave
  • Opening rear tailgate, with an electric step, provides a sun shade and brings the outdoors indoors a bit llke the sliding side door of a campervan
  • Seatbelts and beds for 4
  • The end lounge settees make up into a 1.93 x 1.27m double. Above this is a 1.83 x 1.2m drop-down bed, which has two positions, with a slide-out access step for the lower position and a ladder for the higher position
  • End lounge is usable during the day, with the upper bed raised - although headroom is limited, in addition to the front dinete
Some cons
  • Manufactured from 2015 until 2018, so there are not many around on the used market
  • Payload 535 kg, not great but ok
  • Limited storage (no garage)
  • Toilet / shower room is compact
  • 2 x 7kg gas cylinders (would prefer refillable but this can be retrofitted)
  • Small, 75ah, leisure battery under the driver's seat so limited scope for extra batteries. Most on the used market have a solar panel.
thank you
 
@UFO
I nearly bought a nearly new Rio second hand in 2018.
It was based iirc on a near identical other brand van but I can’t remember whose.
I loved the rear hatchback concept, the layout and the electric drop down bed but being a Swift the poor build quality was quite evident, lots of the sticky back plastic trims were peeling off edge banding failing etc easy enough to fix though.
The production run was very limited, check spares availability of the unique rear hatch and insurance cost first.
If the hatch isn’t available an insurer could write a van like this off after just a minor bump!

The hatch is big and flexes slightly so on a much older vehicle I would also pay close attention to the door seals make sure still water tight etc.

The bed is the popular project 2000 unit, at the time lots of these vans were having warranty work done as the bed limit switches could be troublesome so if it goes up and down properly that’s probably sorted.

Ultimately I just couldn’t justify the price nor the limited payload and decided to keep my money in my ISA and go the PHGV self build route instead!
 
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Swift are well known for poor build quality, water leaks etc, chap i know works some weekends in a caravan sales yard and says steer well clear.
 
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looks an interesting concept - with such a limited run of 3 years it would not have appeared very successful or popular, which would be the first concern (could be hard to sell on if/when you want to change?).
The comment "End lounge is usable during the day, with the upper bed raised - although headroom is limited, in addition to the front dinette" - is telling. Limited headroom sounds like it could be a pain. Maybe suitable for children only back there? I wonder how usable the lower beds are with the main bed dropped down? Seems that rear space is pretty well best as a storage area - albeit a very useful one with that big opening hatch - so in many ways a nice big garage.

More batteries could maybe go under the rear bench seats if not taken up by water tanks? just because they have fitted a 75Ah battery under a front seat doesn't mean you have to stay in the same location - and even if you do, you can get bigger than that for sure. Supposedly a forum member has over 400Ah of Lithium under his Ducato drivers seat! (I think 200Ah is more doable though).

Looks like a great little van for someone or a couple into outdoor sports - Biking, Kayaking, etc, where they can get their gear stowed safely inside and accessed really easily.
 
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Only thing I have to say about Swifts is unrepeatable. I complained about build quality on a new Bolero and got banned from their website. You used to have to put a VIN number and Reg Number in to be a member so they were checking who was who. Glad to see the back of it after 3 years. Certainly crap British workmanship at its finest.
 
Thank you, useful comments.

We have not looked at the van yet, hope to do so next week. I have my doubts about the useability of the double deck double beds. No good if you are claustrophobic! In the marketing blurb it is referred to as a double berth / occasional 4 berth. There must be a reason why they were only made between 2015 and 2018.
 
By what I've seen and looked at on newer vans the build quality of Swift is no worse than any of the so called quality vans, they all seem very poor now.
 
Fazerloz said:
By what I've seen and looked at on newer vans the build quality of Swift is no worse than any of the so called quality vans, they all seem very poor now.
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If you are going to buy something buy German. At least they use screws to hold them together rather than crap glue.
 
We couldn't get rid of our Swift Bessacar 2016 fast enough, great layout, crap build quality. There was so much wrong with it but the worse was the noisy ride, from cab skylight making a loud farting noise at speeds greater than 50mph, a loud squeaking from plastic trims/panels, jarring bangs on the slightest pothole, all despite fitting air suspension, oven door that had a 1cm gap at bottom edge., damp after 18 months. There was more but hopefully you get the picture. And yes, tyre pressures and wrapping things up made no difference.
 
We had a look at the £100,000 Swift that was on display at Brownhills. Everything was fine until SWMBO stood on a hatch in the floor. They had cut a hole in the floor and then stapled plastic L shaped edging to the side of the hatch and put it back in the hole. Needless to say the staples were not strong enough to hold the weight of someone standing on it. All the manufacturers make stupid mistakes its not just the UK version. Our Carthago has a few design issues that have been corrected over time but nothing like the crap that is turned out by Swift, Bailey and Autotrail. The Bolero we had new from Swift had the door frame glued to the paneling. The problem was that the panel it was glued to was thin ply with a paper look like wood finish. The glue held but the paper gave way so the doorframe came loose.
 
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£100,000 New Swift Motorhome at Brownhills and this holds the front bed up to stop it dropping while driving. Now that's what you call crap. Its not even stitched its just got a staple through it and the screw has caught the threads in the webbing. Its not surprising that the UK manufacturers have such an appalling reputation.
 
We bought a Swift Compact C404 last year - now 2 years old. Looks great but build quality is crap and I really wish I'd just done a self build. We're just making the most of it
 
RichardP said:
We bought a Swift Compact C404 last year - now 2 years old. Looks great but build quality is crap and I really wish I'd just done a self build. We're just making the most of it
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It's annoying when you are really looking forward to something and finish up disappointed especially when they cost so much. The Bolero we had was trouble from the word go. It was leaking water out of the tank when we went to collect it. The guy who did the PDI must have done it with his eyes shut.
 
For the sake of balance, we bought our '18 plate Wildax in 2020 and have been quite satisfied with the build quality. Not perfect but, now coming up to six years, it's still looking and performing well. We've done loads of little 'improvements' to suit our own needs but that's no reflection on the original build.
 
wildebus said:
2nd hand probably the best way to go :) all the delivery issues fixed (I would hope!) and ready to use.
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Ours was 2nd hand (just) when we bought it so some foibles had been resolved. But the list of crazy impractical design points is incredible. I've just moved the water tank underneath rather than hogging one of the prime internal storage spots. The gas regulator is in the way when you fit the gas bottle. Tiny lockers. Loads of lighting - but not where you need it. Rubbish door catches etc etc. The replacement model is well over 70K - and worth about half that.
 
We have been very pleased with ours. A few bits needed attention but on the whole its a good layout with bags of heated storage space under the floors and a massive garage. Always amazed me that the UK manufacturers never seemed to like garages. Our Bolero had a massive end bathroom which was a bit of a waste considering how little time you spend in the bathroom. The UK manufacturers would rather add all the bells and whistles and the much publicised UK spec which includes a hob with a useless electric ring. You can certainly see why people head for the German brands after sampling the homebred versions.
 
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