New Member New Motorhome :) (1 Viewer)

Anthony496

Free Member
Jul 18, 2015
131
175
West Midlands
Funster No
37,203
MH
Coach built
Exp
I'm a newbie
Hi everyone, just introducing myself and my family... my wife Louise (33) our 3 kids ( 1 month, 4 , 8) and myself Anthony (34) today we took the plunge and bought our first motorhome. Having looked at several we settled on the new bessacarr 496 from lowdhams, was impressed with the basic specification we added only a DVD TV and 4 bike carrier. The van arrives in september but with work and other commitments we won't be using it till October.

We have camped a lot in the past (my wife was a duke of Edinburgh Assessor so she's had her fair share) and after hiring a bessacarr e695 last year we decided that buying our own was a good choice.

We traveled abroad 4 times last year Tenerife, Los Angeles, skiathos and Spain and out of all the holidays the motorhome was the most relaxed and the kids favourite (mine too)

Hopefully I will be able to pick people's brains on good sites for kids in devon Cornwall and Wales. We will stick to the uk for the first year and venture into France when confident that we have shook the van down and know what's what.

Hopefully we will see a few fellow motorhome owners out and about :)

Cheers


Anthony
 

jollyrodger

LIFE MEMBER
Oct 1, 2012
6,264
26,386
Devon/Cornwall
Funster No
23,107
MH
'Obby
Exp
Since 1968'ish
smiley-41.jpg
Hi from Devon enjoy all your adventures
Bon travels
 
Feb 24, 2013
12,991
101,173
Bolsover, Derbyshire
Funster No
24,833
MH
Hymer S800
Exp
not long enough
we added only a DVD TV and 4 bike carrier. :)

Cheers


Anthony

Welcome Anthony

Lets start you off in the deep end, have you done a payload check?

That bike rack fully loaded may mean you need to leave the kids at home :D:D

I hope not, but seriously worth a double check

First of many newbie things to 'cope' with, the salesman will let you fit it, then leave you to find out if you really have the capacity :)

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Feb 24, 2013
12,991
101,173
Bolsover, Derbyshire
Funster No
24,833
MH
Hymer S800
Exp
not long enough
sorry to do this, but this might be really serious

out of interest went to look at the spec for this MH, it weighs 4250 kg

is that what you have ordered, have you got the correct licence, with you quoting your age I don't think you will have the entitlement us oldies have ref weight you can drive

always presuming you are not a HGV driver

I do hope this is not going to cause you any concern :)

on a positive note to end, it appears to have a 900kg payload, keep the kids on a diet you should be OK (y)
 

lorger

LIFE MEMBER
Jul 11, 2008
9,632
90,362
Dumfries
Funster No
3,262
MH
Knaus Sun 650MEG
Exp
2007
Hi and welcome, congrats on your new toy the family will love it.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
Anthony496

Anthony496

Free Member
Jul 18, 2015
131
175
West Midlands
Funster No
37,203
MH
Coach built
Exp
I'm a newbie
Hi guys thanks for the replies, indeed I have had to pass the class 2 (now catigory c) I only missed the entitlement by 6 months! I went for the catigory c as it was the same price as the 7.5t upgrade!

I wasn't pleased having also done my bike licence means I've done the theory and hazard perception 3 times but I wanted to stay inside the law. I have to admit I didn't know anything about this until two years ago and previously had towed my rib on a braked trailer using an Audi Q7 ( train weight over 4 tons). it was only reading a similar forum post on the ribnet website I realised I didn't have the entitlement!

Anthony

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Carol

LIFE MEMBER
Oct 2, 2007
14,044
111,473
North Wales.
Funster No
519
MH
A class
Exp
18 years s Motorhome (33years caravans)
Hi Welcome to fun, sounds as if you are on the right track, but if you have not already I would seriously think about a trip to @eddievanbitz and get a good invertor and Solar panels fitted will give you so much more freedom if you intend sticking with that Motorhome for a while. :welc:
 

Popeye

Deceased RIP
Sep 5, 2011
7,926
86,461
edge of New Forest
Funster No
18,072
MH
Frankia Platin Plus
Exp
On and off since 1983
Anthony you are :welc: and I notice we have a lot of members from the West Mids, what is it about the West Mids that makes you want to get away......only joking.

When I was your age my two boys voted for our first Motor Home following two fairly exotic family fly/hotel holidays, I believe it is the excitement of exploring and discovery and the fact that each day can be different.

Both of them now are your age and both have VW T4's and love them.
 

cruiser

LIFE MEMBER
Sep 12, 2012
4,209
4,929
northampton
Funster No
22,870
MH
coach built elddis 400
Exp
since 1978
well done that man. at least you have done the right thing. passed the test. and then joined the best club. welcome to the house of fun(y)(y)
 
OP
OP
Anthony496

Anthony496

Free Member
Jul 18, 2015
131
175
West Midlands
Funster No
37,203
MH
Coach built
Exp
I'm a newbie
Thanks everyone for the lovely welcome! I know what you mean about getting no away form the Midlands! Lol although I only live 10 mins from Kingsbury I've head good things about it might shake the van down there for a night or two!

On the solar panel front I will be looking to fit one to charge the battery's when in storage can anyone recommend a size ? I've seen 100watt ones for around £170 on eBay but I'm worried they are like most things on eBay (made from play doh)!

I will be looking for storage in the midlands I'm from Sutton Coldfield so some where local if anyone has any recommendations. Done the usual Google search but the two that are closest are full which is a shame.

Anthony
 

Ja63

Free Member
Jun 28, 2015
85
191
Cannock
Funster No
36,973
MH
Swift Bolero Black Ed
Exp
None except for one weeks hire
Hi Anthony & Louise

We live in Cheslyn Hay.....not too far from you....and we also just bought our first Moho from Lowdhams. We actually reserved it at the Stafford Show a couple of weeks ago, it was their demo model so we were able to have it almost straight away which is good because neither of us is patient enough to wait ages for delivery!! It's a Swift Bolero 712 sb Black Edition and we had our trial/first night out in it last Saturday, just us two and our two little dogs (kids are 23 and 18 so don't come away with us now - although on seeing the motorhome for the first time on Sunday seemed to be planning to come with us next time for 'yet another final family holiday together')

Hope you enjoy your lovely motorhome, your kids will love it I'm sure.....we hired one for a week when our girls were 9 and 4 and toured Scotland. One of our best holidays, the adventure, the freedom, we just loved it. They used to love sitting at the dinette drawing, colouring and watching their favourite Disney videos, made the journeys pass quickly without them constantly saying 'are we there yet!!'

I must admit that we have tired of flying, being herded around like cattle, and we loved touring France by car a couple of years ago, the only downside to it was the hassle of finding hotels every night so having a motorhome means we can avoid flying and hotels....brilliant! We are planning a 10 day trip through France and possibly into Spain over Christmas and New Year. Already booked in at the vets this Friday to get the dogs pet passports sorted.

Maybe we'll pass each other on our local roads as we set off on our travels

Jacky & Colin

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Jan 28, 2008
10,104
18,259
Dovercourt, Harwich, UK
Funster No
1,353
MH
Renalt burstner
Exp
7 years campers before that
ive always bought panels from ebay and have had no problems with them the price you quoted seems high for a panel only#
you will also need a battery master or similar if you want to charge the vehicle battery as well as the leisure unless you wire through existing electroblock and this has the capability to do both
 

Brian and Jo

LIFE MEMBER
Sep 24, 2007
3,002
6,447
oswestry,shropshire
Funster No
368
MH
A-Class N+B Arto 88F
Exp
Been motorhoming for 15yrs.had an American RV for 7yrs,Now got a Niesmann Bischoff Arto 88F
Hi there and welcome to MHF(y)
Brian & Jo

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
Anthony496

Anthony496

Free Member
Jul 18, 2015
131
175
West Midlands
Funster No
37,203
MH
Coach built
Exp
I'm a newbie
Hi Anthony & Louise

We live in Cheslyn Hay.....not too far from you....and we also just bought our first Moho from Lowdhams. We actually reserved it at the Stafford Show a couple of weeks ago, it was their demo model so we were able to have it almost straight away which is good because neither of us is patient enough to wait ages for delivery!! It's a Swift Bolero 712 sb Black Edition and we had our trial/first night out in it last Saturday, just us two and our two little dogs (kids are 23 and 18 so don't come away with us now - although on seeing the motorhome for the first time on Sunday seemed to be planning to come with us next time for 'yet another final family holiday together')

Hope you enjoy your lovely motorhome, your kids will love it I'm sure.....we hired one for a week when our girls were 9 and 4 and toured Scotland. One of our best holidays, the adventure, the freedom, we just loved it. They used to love sitting at the dinette drawing, colouring and watching their favourite Disney videos, made the journeys pass quickly without them constantly saying 'are we there yet!!'

I must admit that we have tired of flying, being herded around like cattle, and we loved touring France by car a couple of years ago, the only downside to it was the hassle of finding hotels every night so having a motorhome means we can avoid flying and hotels....brilliant! We are planning a 10 day trip through France and possibly into Spain over Christmas and New Year. Already booked in at the vets this Friday to get the dogs pet passports sorted.

Maybe we'll pass each other on our local roads as we set off on our travels

Jacky & Colin


Thanks jacky and Colin we will keep an eye out for you ! Lovey MoHo by the way I really love the back edition the alloys set it off beautifully!

Thank you for the warm welcome everyone I'm sure we will fit in well on the forum :)
 
OP
OP
Anthony496

Anthony496

Free Member
Jul 18, 2015
131
175
West Midlands
Funster No
37,203
MH
Coach built
Exp
I'm a newbie
ive always bought panels from ebay and have had no problems with them the price you quoted seems high for a panel only#
you will also need a battery master or similar if you want to charge the vehicle battery as well as the leisure unless you wire through existing electroblock and this has the capability to do both

Thanks for the reply that price included the charger and associated cables and mounts, is this a job for the DIYer or should I look at taking it to a specialist?
 
Nov 2, 2014
1,083
1,009
somerset
Funster No
34,099
MH
coachbuilt
Exp
2011
Hi i have a e745 just had solar panel and battery master fitted at vanbitz well pleased, you can stay on vanbitz site overnight for free , bye the way welcome regards steve

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
Anthony496

Anthony496

Free Member
Jul 18, 2015
131
175
West Midlands
Funster No
37,203
MH
Coach built
Exp
I'm a newbie
Hi i have a e745 just had solar panel and battery master fitted at vanbitz well pleased, you can stay on vanbitz site overnight for free , bye the way welcome regards steve
Thanks Steve will look into that if you don't mind me asking what did you pay for supply and fit?

Cheers


Anthony
 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Funsters who are viewing this thread

Back
Top