Hello and advice request (1 Viewer)

[Nipper]

Hello, I am a nervous potential motorhomer who has hired in the past and now am on the brink of buying for myself and spouse. Have hired in the past and been thinking of buying for about 3 years. Have been to rallies and shows and narrowed things down to a small used motorhome - Autosleeper, Autocruise or IH all of which we have looked at. My request is for any experience/advice that would help us in the last round of decisions. Many thanks for any help you can give and nice to be part of your community, Nipper

 

[froghopper]

need help ??

Hi and a very big wellcome to you, you are now amongst friends, people that know things,, never what YOU wanted to know,, but you cant have it all,,, if you have the time, go to the shows,, look on ebay ,, lots of ideas,, or start all us mad people off by saying,,,,,, we are x number of people, we want a small , low, cheap, 12 bearth, model, would like a hot tub, forget the slide outs,, you need one that stretches out from 12 feet on road, to 50 feet long on site,, must have enough power on board to light up blackpool, a washing machine etc,, you get the idea,,, bet there is a funster at this moment telling you where to go !!!!!!!! or even trying to make one,, either way,,,
i shall now sit back and wait,,, not long now,,,, i feel someone is about to tell me where to go,,,,,, OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH dear,, there,??? are you sure,,, O K ,,, byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ,,,

 

[DESCO]

Hi Nipper

You are now at the hardest part, you have done the spade work, it is now a question of choice.
I normally find when in this position that sitting in the vans, thinking on how you are going to use it EHU, sites, wild camping, mainly touring, or partially static the van makes the decision for me, it seems to say I'm the one.
By using this method have not made an error yet maybe we have been lucky, but it seems to work.

Best of luck in your choice.

Sorry forgot to say WELCOME to MH Fun just noticed this is your first post


Dave :thumb::thumb:

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[hilldweller]

people that know things,, never what YOU wanted to know

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

They've only just joined, they're supposed to find that out for themselves.

But they'll need to ask a bit more in depth questions before anyone can give them advice.

I'd never heard of an IH brand, until now. Good website. Looks stylish.

OK, I'll venture a bit of advice - BEWARE STYLE. It seems to me we are now in an age of style is everything and I've seen some really daft layouts in the name of style. Like ovens you go on hands and knees to load. Microwaves needing a ladder.

Look for good load capacity and how long you think it will last.

 

[gogocrosby]

You may have heard the expression to make your bed so lie in it. Litterally I'd advise you to do this in any van you continplate buying, we wasted the best part of a season and lost thousands of pounds when we found that our 'ideal' van was a pain in the back.

 

[finby]

We made the mistake of underestimating the "loungeability" of our 1st van and paid the price. You'd be surprised at how much time you spend in the van, especially if the weather is bad.
Long settees are a good idea for sprawling out watching TV.
We have an overcab bed which is left ready, so there is no faffing about with the settees when bedtime comes (in any event I retire before the wife, so the overcab is handy from the point of view of one person wanting to sleep whilst the other stays "downstairs" ).
Our next van will have a fixed bed, as fumbling about in the middle of the night with the ladder (the call of nature) can be a pain.
Certainly we will have a bigger bathroom, as ours is just big enough to have a shower in, but its compactness means its only used on rare occassions.
I totally agree with Hilldweller ref microwaves at head height (who ever thought that was a good idea needs help!).

So, my considerations for buying a van would be:
Lounge.
Bed.
Bathroom.
Hope its been a bit of a help.

Martin

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[Carol]

Welcome, my advice is to spend some time in the van you are thinking of buying (on your own) not with the salesman, see what the bed is like the eating arrangements, the toilet will they suit you, then where will you carry your chairs barbeque etc, then make the decision on which feels right for your needs. Happy hunting.

 

[Wyaye wires]

We bought what we thought was our ideal layout and within 3 months traded it in for a new one with fixed bed and more practical layout for us.

As you have rented before you should have an idea of which layout is most practical for you and if you are buying second hand ensure that there is no damp problem and all the equipment is in sound working order.

Take a deep breath and go with your gut feeling and happy travelling.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Terry]

hi, one word LAYOUT :thumb:
finby / Martin has found this out
Brian / hilldweller IH are a top end PV converter along side Timberland quite nice but pricey :thumb:
terry

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[robnchris]

new van

Hi,
A big welcome to the website, have to say we have only been here a very short while but have found everyone most friendly and very helpful.

Regards which van to buy, well we would suggest doing what we did, go and look at them all, when you see the right van for you both you will know, it will just feel so comfortable.

We narrowed our field a tad as we only wanted one with an automatic gearbox but were lucky to pick up an Auto-trail on a Mercedes unit that was in immaculate condition.

Hope you enjoy the shopping spree.

Rob and Chris.

 

[Nipper]

Thanks for the serious and fun points - made me smile!

Thanks for your interest in our quest and your points are all really valuable. You made me smile a few times too and that's a bonus when worrying about making mistakes with a lot of money. We are 2+ small dog and have just spent the last 30 minutes showering quantities of mud off him so am wondering if this is a real pain in some of the shower configurations in kotorhomes we have seen e.g. where the whole washroom is a shower in itself. I can see muddy paws up the walls and on the toilet - just have to get in there with him I think! Look forward to any views and thanks again! Lorna

 

[6pm Cowboy]

Some motorhomes have external showerpoints and at first I thought that was plain silly but I guess that they are aimed at washing the dog/wellies etc and may be quite useful/

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[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Hi and welcome to Fun, enjoy:thumb:

You dont say where you are but if you are ever down our way, pop in and have a chat.

Peter

 

[John H]

I've made an extender hose for our shower, i can stick it out of the window and use it that way, great if your covered in sand or mud, and for cleaning the dog.

john

 

[Toffs-G]

We made the mistake of underestimating the "loungeability" of our 1st van and paid the price. You'd be surprised at how much time you spend in the van, especially if the weather is bad.
Long settees are a good idea for sprawling out watching TV.
We have an overcab bed which is left ready, so there is no faffing about with the settees when bedtime comes (in any event I retire before the wife, so the overcab is handy from the point of view of one person wanting to sleep whilst the other stays "downstairs" ).
Our next van will have a fixed bed, as fumbling about in the middle of the night with the ladder (the call of nature) can be a pain.
Certainly we will have a bigger bathroom, as ours is just big enough to have a shower in, but its compactness means its only used on rare occassions.
I totally agree with Hilldweller ref microwaves at head height (who ever thought that was a good idea needs help!).

So, my considerations for buying a van would be:
Lounge.
Bed.
Bathroom.
Hope its been a bit of a help.

Martin

Hi and welcome.

Just want to say i agree with Martin totally especially about the lounging, I love the MH but so wish had more than a dinette for lounging, next time as advised my Martin - Settees!!!!!! and for us swivel seats at the front to make all the more comfortable.

Good luck:thumb:

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[bald eagle]

How nipper and:welcome:

regards
bald eagle:thumb:

 

[GregM]

One thing to check is the payload of the Motorhome. You don't want to get a motorhome and then find you can't take clothes with you because of the weight.

Welcome to the FUN

 

[finby]

As regards the dog cleaning - we usually resort to either a bucket and sponge, or watering can. Its a two man job, but as we have not got the luxury of an external shower point, we make do with the watering can.
Im told that you can get an external shower point fitted, but it might be expensive. Good luck!!

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[Ralph-n-Bev]

Hi,
Welcome to the fun.
Layout , lounging was top of the list for us. If theres only the 2 of you you'll have lots more choice.
Theres 5 of us , 3 kids and 2 dogs!
We managed to get it right 1st time as we were experienced caravaner's.
You've done the right thing by hiring different models, to check layouts.
We've always managed without an external shower point, but if we had one, it would definitely get used.
Bev

 

[froghopper]

as i said at start

hi again, its only me,, well as i said at the start of this,, every body knows something about aomething,, lots of tips, lots to think about and mixed in lots of good honest fun, so reckon you are still back at the same point as when you asked,,, most important thing though is you now have lots of friends, can find out in an instance the answers to anything, and go out there with the deep seated fear that one day,,,, and you will,, meet some of us in person,,,, oh well thats life,,,, and you only have one,,, the very best of luck,, keep chatting it realy does feed our insanity,,, regards , Froghopper:thumb::thumb: