What to check when buying 2nd hand motorhome

kelbal

Hi,
I'm in the market for buying a 2nd hand motorhome - something in the region of 10 years old, 6 berth. Just looking for some advice on what to look out for when inspecting ones I go to see - everything from under the bonnet, to the bodywork, to appliances.
We'll need 3-point belts on the rear facing seats, most have only lap belts, so we'll probably have to get a registered fitter to install these too. Has anyone done this, if so what did it cost?

thanks

Phelim

killalanerr

my tips are 1, decide on your budget,(then double it ) start to look at vans within your budget their is some super value out their at the moment. 2, layout ,have a look at loads of vans and try and find the best layout that would suit you and 3, damp if you suspect the van has a damp problem turn and walk away and dont look back,this link will get you going http://www.motorhomechooser.co.uk/used-motorhome-buyingtips.php
with regards the seat-belts i would say most 10year old vans will have 3 point belts ,do a search on here their some good old threads on this subject,all the best with your search

kelbal

great, thanks. I've made lots of calls. The group of 4 seats behind the driver - the forward facing seats have 3 point belts and the rear facing seats only have lap belts - and the insurance policy I have lined up doesn't cover kids in lap belts, I'd imagine all policies are like this. So I'll have to get some work done to upgrade these belts on whatever one I get. Company called Parfit in Swords seem to be a good company for this.

Malta1

kelbal wrote: »

Hi,
We'll need 3-point belts on the rear facing seats, most have only lap belts, so we'll probably have to get a registered fitter to install these too. Has anyone done this, if so what did it cost?

thanks

Phelim

I would imagine that you will struggle to get 3 point belts on the rear facing seats. We were in the same boat as we have 4 kid seats on our van.......solution....source 2 kid seats that can be fitted with lap belts.....we have them and everything is totally legal but more importantly totally safe

kelbal

Thanks Malta1. These kids seats that are using rear-facing lap belts - I'm guessing they're the big chunky seats that the child is in from roughly 6/8 months until they're about 3/4 years old? They're strapped onto the seat and then have their own harness built in. That's fine for now, but when the young ones grow out of that seat the next step is the booster seat that uses the normal vehicle belt - then we're stuck.
Am I correct?
Thanks

Malta1

Hi

They are relatively slim-lined but they do have 5 point harness'. Not sure of the weight range but our 6 yr old is still well within the manuf specified weight range. In the car he uses a 3 point harness in a high backed "booster seat" but on the van he has no problem with a 5 point rear facing seat.....suppose he has no choice if he want to travel with us

WildWater

Hi Phelim,
Re: General advice on what to look out for see this thread. I wrote a rather detailed post that you may find interesting.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=7206802


We have 3 kids. In the rear of our camper, the forward facing seats are 3 point belts and the rear facing seats are lap belts. (Our van is 5 years old.) We are content with this setup and there is certainly no issue with respect to insurance. Our lad sits in his high back booster seat with the lap belt secured. Unless, I start reversing like a lunatic then the lap belt is reasonably safe.

I think you will find it virtually impossible to find a 10 year old van with rear facing 3 point belts (but I could be wrong). Retro fitting will most likely necessitate the temporary removal of the seat to weld/bolt a frame to the chassis to support the 3-point belt. The seat would then have to be reinstalled and 'adjusted' to fit around the new frame. So all in all not a simple job. Additionally, as far as I know standard 3-point belts do not work in rear facing positions. I assume there is a different design of 3-point belt for rear facing seats. (Again I'm open to correction.)

Anyway best of luck with your search. Ours is certainly the best thing we ever bought.

Wildwater

kelbal

Thanks for advice. Had a look at car seats in Argos catalog. The chunky seat for younger kids is reffered to as Group 1. The slim booster seat which uses car seatbelt is group 2-3. But there's a class inbetween these, class 1-2-3 its reffered to - takes kids up to 12years supposedly, its permanently strapped into seat and has its own straps. If I can find one that a lap belt will secure properly, thats the way to go.
BTW, got a price for fitting full 3 point belts - €300 each before VAT - fairly pricey!

kelbal

WildWater - your link doesn't work, can you have a look? Thanks again

WildWater

Ok not sure what that didn't work but here is what I wrote in that thread


Hi
You haven't given us you specific details but having recently purchased here is my advice. We have three young kids so some of the advice is tailored to that. It is also tailored to a coach build rather than a conversion.

We spent a long time thinking about different campers. I recommend that you think long and hard about the various issues. This thread is great lots of great advice buried in the threads. I spent many many many hours on donedeal looking a different campers, layouts etc and thinking about how they would suit us. Review etc can sometimes be found by simply typing the model of the camper + review into Google. Motorhomefacts is also quite good.

Anyway, the bottom line is compromise - you wont get the perfect camper so the best you can do is to get the best camper for you. So you need to think about your usage pattern. What is right for me is not necessarily right for you even if the numbers using the van were the same.

So initially two key issues are 1) Identifying the right type of camper for you (this is mainly about layout) and 2) having decided your type then it is about buying the right camper for you. So this is about budget, year, milage, extras etc.

1) Type of Van
Layout
This is the big big one. If you have no experience of camper it is going to be very difficult to decide on the best layout for you. The only way to make a decision will be to think long and hard about the type of use that you expect to give it. The basic choice is between a rear u Lounge or Bunks/Bed. One of the interesting things for us was we changed our mind on the best layout for us very near the end of the process. For ages we had been thinking of one type of layout that we were quite certain would suit us. To cut a long story short in the end when we actually imagined ourselves in the van on different types of trips (daytrips, short overnighter, week+) and in different weather we changed our minds on the layout.

U-Lounge
The rear u lounge give you extra living (lounging) space. So the kids could be down the back quietly reading (yeah right ) while the adults get lunch/dinner ready. The big disadvantage of this is having to constantly make and unmake the bed. In essence what the u-lounge gives you is day space. Beds/bunks are beds and therefore that portion of your camper is night space.

The other issue with the u lounge is that they tend to have smaller 'garages'.

Bunks,
Some people say that bunks are great for kids. Triple bunk campers are very rare but they do exist. We considered one. (Spoke to owner on the phone etc). The reason we decided against it was that it didn't really have a garage and we would not be able to manage without a garage. But it would be fab to have a single bed for each child and adult over the cab therefore no problem making up bed etc. So the key tradeoff there was the lack of a garage. So you need to think about it.

The more common bunks arrangement is two across the back or at the side to the rear. Usually the bottom bunk will lift up to give you more garage space. This type of van is popular and you will see lots of different types.

The other arrangement is a double bed at the rear. This arrangement will give you a big comfy bed that doest require a ladder to get into and typically will give you a huge garage but it will compromise the living space somewhat.

Obviously with any of the above you loose the u lounge.

The only way to decide is to evaluate your intended usage pattern and then to go look at lots of campers. Will it be used every weekend for short trips or just on occasions for long trips.

I would also suggest that you try to estimate your need for a 'garage'. For us you would be talking body boards, wet suits, table and chairs, wind break, BBQ, Ground sheet etc etc. There isn't exactly a lot of room in campers for storage so even personal stuff may have to go into the garage (especially if you are going off for 1 - 2 weeks).



2) Buying the right van
Its a buyers market at the moment. I was watching donedeal for ages and while some campers sold reasonably quickly others were literally there for months and months. So dont rush into it. The ball is definitely in the buyer court right now as not many people are in a position to spend so much money on what can only be described as a luxury purchase. Find a 'well priced' camper and haggle like hell (but don't have silly expectations) there are definitely people out there mad keen to improve their financial position by off-load their camper.

Consider all the things you would like on a Camper. Awning, reversing camera, bike rack, ladder, roofbars, swivel seats, electric step etc etc Make out a list and put them in order of importance to you.

Also you need to think about the merits of LHD vrs RHD some people dont care. Some will argue for one over the other. Think about what you want.

Finally, when you identify a serious contender then you need to think about the condition of the both the van and the habitation area. You really have to be careful that you are not buying someone else's problems. Water ingress and dampness are the mortal enemy of the habitation area. And dont forget to check the basic mechanics of the van itself. Of course if you by from a reputable dealer you will have a warranty and greater peace of mind than a private sale.

Last of all, but very importantly, make sure you do a finance check. If its on HP it the bank that owns it NOT the person selling it and NOT the person who buys it! So be careful.

Hope that is of some help. Feel free to ask other questions.
WildWater

berdowd

Hi ...thinking of doing some shopping in Dublin city centre but need to park motorhome/campervan in a safe car parking spot in town to load shopping ...any suggestions where to park safely in town..

meercat

berdowd wrote: »

Hi ...thinking of doing some shopping in Dublin city centre but need to park motorhome/campervan in a safe car parking spot in town to load shopping ...any suggestions where to park safely in town..

welcome to boards berdowd
perhaps start a new thread for this one
dont see many motorhomes in the city centre though
perhaps one of the out of town centres would be better
always see some in liffey valley or the blanchardstown centre
safe travels

HereAndThere

We had lap belts fitted to our rear facing seats in our twelve year old camper.

Has anyone ever looked into getting the isofix solutions fitted?

You see this setup in most modern cars, where the car seat clicks directly into it if i'm not mistaken. Wonder if anyone installs these in Ireland?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isofix

WildWater

HereAndThere wrote: »

We had lap belts fitted to our rear facing seats in our twelve year old camper.

Has anyone ever looked into getting the isofix solutions fitted?

You see this setup in most modern cars, where the car seat clicks directly into it if i'm not mistaken. Wonder if anyone installs these in Ireland?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isofix

No idea if you could get that done. But even if you could it would only work while they are in a car seat with integrated harness. High back boosters and booster cushions don't have a harness so you still need the seat belt. So it has a fairly limited usefulness time span.

HereAndThere

Yeah true, but I wonder if the newer motorhomes are fitting them now as standard?

Found these on ebay ISOFix