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Looking to buy my first motorhome- advice PLEASE

ITairgun

ITairgun

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Hi

Is there any experienced Motorhome owners on here?

‘The family’ has decided that we need a Motorhome in our lives, so we’ve stared doing some research as I’ve never owned one before.

Believe it or not I’ve EVEN agreed to sell one of my airguns so funds can be used as a part deposit towards the purchase (crazy I know )

Due to the restricted budget (Around £17K) it would be an oldish van preferably with no more then 55K miles.

We’ve found our preferred layout (fixed double bed at the back) with minimum 3 berth

I’ve been told that prices on second hand have gone up quite a lot from covid. According to my local dealer a drop in price reflected by lower demand has just started so wondering if we should wait a little longer or just go for it now?

As again we don’t have much experience/knowledge would you recommend buying from a dealer rather then a private seller?

Any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated 😊
 
It really depends on what you're planning to do with the motorhome...
We had a very large but cheapest one that could on paper sleep 7 but strangely could only transport 5 legally. 😂
More seriously, how much comfort are you expecting?
Where did you plan to keep it when not in use?
Do you plan on travelling abroad?
You can forget about camping wild in the British Isles except for Scotland 👍👍👍.

Main worry with motorhomes is they are mostly diesel powered and this going to get phased out for normal joes in the coming years.
Try and be more specific about your expectations.
 
Layout and seat belts is important factor some will say 4berth but only have 2 travelling seats so depending on size of family make sure theres enough,
If you have kids as you mentioned 'the family ' space is the thing to be looking at and seperate lounge area as it's not always sunny and kids get bored ,
Damp is usually the main culprit so make sure the checks have been done and signed .

But for the budget you have everything will be a compromise and you will be surprised at what you dont get for your money ,
Even van self builds are asking stupid prices so wrong time to buy if you are after a bargain
But if you must I would definitely use a trader with good track record and warranty , there's lots of scammers in this market see it everyday on fb groups so due diligence is needed .
Other than the usual checks in buying an older van there's running costs and now ulez to consider,

Maybe hire one for a week break see if its something you would enjoy before splashing the hard earned
Though the good thing is you can usually sell them after a 12 month ownership for same money you paid
 
JacquesC said:
It really depends on what you're planning to do with the motorhome...
We had a very large but cheapest one that could on paper sleep 7 but strangely could only transport 5 legally. 😂
More seriously, how much comfort are you expecting?
Where did you plan to keep it when not in use?
Do you plan on travelling abroad?
You can forget about camping wild in the British Isles except for Scotland 👍👍👍.

Main worry with motorhomes is they are mostly diesel powered and this going to get phased out for normal joes in the coming years.
Try and be more specific about your expectations.
Click to expand...
Hi

Thanks for your reply

As per confort the preferred layout would be the double fixed bed at the back, kitchen an oven & large the fridge/freezer (preferably but not essential), dinette at the front (behind driver & passenger seats) 4 belted seat belts would also be favorable.

Only 2 of us would be mainly using on trips out but would like to have the option to take the two nephews out occasionally/when possible.

The plan is to have plenty of trips around Europe as both myself & wife have families living in Italy & Germany.
 
Dad&lads said:
Layout and seat belts is important factor some will say 4berth but only have 2 travelling seats so depending on size of family make sure theres enough,
If you have kids as you mentioned 'the family ' space is the thing to be looking at and seperate lounge area as it's not always sunny and kids get bored ,
Damp is usually the main culprit so make sure the checks have been done and signed .

But for the budget you have everything will be a compromise and you will be surprised at what you dont get for your money ,
Even van self builds are asking stupid prices so wrong time to buy if you are after a bargain
But if you must I would definitely use a trader with good track record and warranty , there's lots of scammers in this market see it everyday on fb groups so due diligence is needed .
Other than the usual checks in buying an older van there's running costs and now ulez to consider,

Maybe hire one for a week break see if its something you would enjoy before splashing the hard earned
Though the good thing is you can usually sell them after a 12 month ownership for same money you paid
Click to expand...
Great advice there, many thanks 😊
 
I hired one for a week in Norway, probably the wrong place to drive a big vehicle with its mountain roads but we survived and enjoyed ourselves. Hiring first to ‘get a feel’ is a good idea. Only advice is not to get one with the double bed over the driver’s position. Climbing into and out if that was a Royal PITA. Your budget sounds limiting, be careful.
 
Inca said:
I hired one for a week in Norway, probably the wrong place to drive a big vehicle with its mountain roads but we survived and enjoyed ourselves. Hiring first to ‘get a feel’ is a good idea. Only advice is not to get one with the double bed over the driver’s position. Climbing into and out if that was a Royal PITA. Your budget sounds limiting, be careful.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestions 😊
 
JacquesC said:
It really depends on what you're planning to do with the motorhome...
We had a very large but cheapest one that could on paper sleep 7 but strangely could only transport 5 legally. 😂
More seriously, how much comfort are you expecting?
Where did you plan to keep it when not in use?
Do you plan on travelling abroad?
You can forget about camping wild in the British Isles except for Scotland 👍👍👍.

Main worry with motorhomes is they are mostly diesel powered and this going to get phased out for normal joes in the coming years.
Try and be more specific about your expectations.
Click to expand...
And Dartmoor?
 
You won’t get much for £17k 😳 I paid £26k for my 2007 model in 2018 / 19 and sold it a year later for the same money now the same model is going for 30k+,I only used it 4 times in 1yr so it was a big chunk of money sitting on my drive but I still wanted one so decided to build my own,I bought a ULEZ Compliant MK8 Transit in 2020 for 11.5k and spent about 7k converting it,I have a cooker and sink,Pull out double bed,Flushing toilet and shower,Solar power,240v,Hot water system and a diesel heater which is about all I need
3a467b02-ee9d-4897-9fc8-d1783c282d47.webp
 
I can't believe I'm joining this thread about mobile road chicanes, however is a camper van the best idea? Wouldn't a caravan be better / cheaper and then you can use the towing car as a normal car?

I ask because instead converting our Landcruiser to enable camping and hence compromise it, we bought a camping trailer.

211a42ef-82cf-49a0-abb6-3857b5b3904c.webp


63292ae4-0a7c-4434-9dec-8575494f1aa8.webp
 
Nords said:
I can't believe I'm joining this thread about mobile road chicanes, however is a camper van the best idea? Wouldn't a caravan be better / cheaper and then you can use the towing car as a normal car?

I ask because instead converting our Landcruiser to enable camping and hence compromise it, we bought a camping trailer.

View attachment 282969

View attachment 282970
Click to expand...
Great piece of kit that 👌

Unfortunately a caravan wouldn’t suit our needs. It mostly be used for continental driving trips, not sitting in the same place for more then two days.

Then there’s the price of exchanging our current cars as both unfortunately cannot be fitted with a towbar & not planning to exchange them anytime soon so if we had everything up the motorhome would be the better option
 
Chandelierman said:
You won’t get much for £17k 😳 I paid £26k for my 2007 model in 2018 / 19 and sold it a year later for the same money now the same model is going for 30k+,I only used it 4 times in 1yr so it was a big chunk of money sitting on my drive but I still wanted one so decided to build my own,I bought a ULEZ Compliant MK8 Transit in 2020 for 11.5k and spent about 7k converting it,I have a cooker and sink,Pull out double bed,Flushing toilet and shower,Solar power,240v,Hot water system and a diesel heater which is about all I need View attachment 282961
Click to expand...
Wow? More expensive then when it was new!

We really are living crazy times…who would ever had knew that a Motorhome could be classed as an asset 🙃
 
Build your own 👍 I started off with a basic H2L3 Transit,You can get a L4 model which is longer and a H3 which is 8” higher,3 birth is easily achievable,I am looking to buy a minibus and convert that in the near future.
First thing I did was fit some windows so it gave some light and looked less “van like”
IMG_8532.webp
IMG_8531.webp
 

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