Want to buy Motorhome - where do I start?

muckety

Advice much appreciated.... we are keen to purchase something suitable for 2 adults and 3 children (2 not so small...) but have no experience or knowledge of what to look for! Where is the best place to start? Motorhome dealers? Also, we anticipate using it mainly in Ireland but hopefully to take it to France 1ce per year. Would we be best to stick with RH drive? Looking forward to hearing from experienced enthusiasts!

peasant

The most important thing about a motorhome is that the "living space" design and layout works for you and yours.

Don't be fooled by glitzy surfaces and gizmos, rather have a critical eye on space and its utilisation.

Go to a motorhome dealer with a large choice of models or an exhibition, if you can find one and look at as many layouts as you can.

Pack all five of you in there ...and then imagine crap weather and cranky children .
Are there big enough beds for everybody, how much building and climbing all over each other has to be performed until everybody gets a place to sleep?
How many people have to be up / out of the way in order to cook or access the bathroom?

Only then, when you have an idea what kind of layout works for you, can you start searching in earnest and begin to narrow it down.


RHD / LHD is also a matter of budget. Fine, if you're buying brandnew, you can spec RHD.
But on the secondhand market, a lot of models are imports and LHD anyway.

stapeler

We have 2 kids and have outgrown a four berth Hymer (currently on adverts) and upgraded to a Benimar 6 berth.
Main reasons for upgrading was space, Brekfast time was a challange as bed had to be turned into a table first thing each morning.
The Hymer had a 2.0TD and I felt a 2.8TD was better for Europe and long distances.
I'd suggest a six berth to give yourselves a little extra space. I also prefer bunk beds as it creates more storage area when travelling. Left hand drive never seemed to bother me in this country and is very handy in Europe.

I'm tempted to contradict Peasant (sorry) and suggest leaving the kids at home when making you're final decistion.

Malta1

Hi

I have recently bought my first van. When we were looking around we dropped into loads of places to get a good idea of what our ideal van would be. Also spoke to lots of people about their own van to see what the pros and cons are for the different lay outs.

I eventually bought private.......it was an add on car zone which can be found at http://cars.rte.ie/usedcars/ and click on the motorhome link (Admin if it is not allowed to stick in a web address like this, please feel free to remove)

We bought a 7 bert (2 fixed bunks) 2 over cab, 2 on dining table (if you can fit them - 1 is realistic) and one on the couch. Therefore if it is just the family on board, we do not have any making/collapsing of furniture to go to be or get breakfast

As for packing everybody in in crap weather........dont know if I could handle that:eek:

LHD vs RHD.......ours is LHD and it is no problem......infact LHD on smaller roads might be an advantage because you know exactly how close you are to the ditch when you are meeting oncomming traffic:D

muckety

Thanks for the advice so far ! What about make/models? I see a lot of the motorhomes advertised are based on Fiat, some on Ford Transit etc. Is there a mechanical reason why one engine/chassis is better than another? And what about the manufacturer of the body - any come more recommended than another?

peasant

For years Fiat were market leader as the base vehicle for motorhomes, simply due to the fact that they supplied their chassis cabs at a very competetive price.

They're not bad though. The engines are decent and have good reliability and from 1991 onwards Fiat had fully galvanised bodies as well, which helps on a long life vehicle such as a motorhome. Some gearboxes can be a bit weak (especially the 5th gear) but overall they're not too bad.

Don't know enough about Transits to really comment, but apparently noise and comfort is better in the Fiat cab.

On new models Ford have started some aggressive marketing and are trying to push Fiat out, so a lot of new motorhomes can now be had on Transit bases.

The major advantage of the transit is that on some variants you can also get it in RWD, Fiats are always FWD.

The bigger and heavier the motorhome you're considering, the more you should look for RWD, especially if there is a long overhang and a lot of weight in the back. It just gives better stability and driving characteristics but most importantly (for steep hills, driveways and soggy campsites ) much better traction.

As for the body ...all motorhomes are handmade on production lines, most of them (these days) at a fair rate and under time and cost pressure.

Premium manufacturers may use better materials, but wherever people screw things together, mistakes are made.

In other words, inspect the invidual vehicle as good as you can, don't just go by the name.

Don't be fooled by fancy curved woods and shiny fabrics alone. Take a good look at mundane details like hinges, taps, pipes, electrical installations etc.

Personally I'd rather buy a less "flash" vehicle with fewer, good quality components than something glitzy where bits break off as soon as you look at them.

Equipment is virtually the same throughout all manufacturers ...Thetford toilets, Truma (Alde, Dometic) heating, SMEV (Dometic) cookers, Electrolux (Dometic) fridges ...these are all tried and tested and largely reliable.

Another sign of quality are the windows. Try and avoid the cheapo ones that are just hinged at the top outside, get good, framed ones with integrated blinds and fly nets and solid catches.

The most important thing when buying a camper (new or used) is that it is sealed properly and not leaking anywhere.
Have the dealer carry out a moisture test and measurement in your presence.
Make sure they check all the nooks and crannies.
If they don't know what you're talking about ...best walk away.
Even new campers have been known to leak straight from the factory ..so don't let them fob you off.

jmg1414

Hello there

We are wanting a motorhome. Rather fancy a 1990,s Hymer but our main concern is seat belts...We will want to take our two small grandchildren away for the odd weekend and I now believe that all car seats must face forward and be restrained with a diagonal seatbelt not a lap belt...how do you others do this and what vehicles allow for this..some seem to have side bench seats..some a dinette..but is this dinette suitable...comments gratefully received...

peasant

Seat belts are a bit of an issue on older vans.

Side facing seats (as in seats to be used during travel) have only been made illegal since the beginning of this year (that's on new models only, existing ones can still be used, which I wouldn't advise) and only front facing seats have to be equipped with three point belts (don't know exactly since when, but not too long ago) while rear facing seats can still be equipped with lap belts only.

On older vans you will very rarely find three point seat belts on any seat.

Putting a seat belt into a van necessitates that a steel under-construction is installed and securely fixed to the vehicle chassis, on which the belts then are mounted.

Some manufactures tried to save money as long as they could and only put in the base fixings for lapbelts.

Upgraded steel constructions for three point belts are available as aftermarket components, but fitting and upholstering would best be discussed with the dealer beforehand as sizes can vary and secure mounting points also have to be present, as the wooden floor alone in some vans might not support the structure in case of a crash.

Here's a picture of what I'm talking about:

Malta1

Seatbelts were a huge issue for use and a number of vehicles were discounted based on the fact that there were no belts in the back. Some sellers offered to retro-fit the belts but my guess is that it is a fairly major job.
Our vehicle has 2 "3-point belts" and 2 "lap belts". We travel with 2 child seats and we have the option of securing them with either 3-point or lap belts. The down side of child seats is that we have to remove the table in the back to fit the seats when we travel......not a huge issue but just something else that has to be strapped down

Another thing that I noticed when I was looking to purchase was the head support that is provided to the rear facing passangers was poor. Some of the head rests are mounted on a very light sheet of ply-wood.....not sure how they would hold in a "head on" crash. To be fair, this is not always the case and some have reinforced bars joing the head rest and the chassis