HIRING A MOTORHOME (1 Viewer)

Big bus man

Free Member
Sep 20, 2015
343
623
Crawley
Funster No
38,634
MH
Coachbuilt
Exp
Since March 2015
Many will have thought about it and many of you will have done it prior to owning yours, a great way to experience the life especially if you currently own a caravan, you will be converted! Because it is reasonably priced it can make a good travelling holiday. Our first hire was a bit scary being so different to a car, it was the thin lanes and the overcab height being the worry, especially as we found out that 'full cover' insurance only covers the vehicle unto 3 metres high, but by the time the week was up it was a breeze so the next time we hired a longer van, again great but twice was enough to make us decide we had to have our own, no way way I going to wait for retirement. We learned a lot from hiring and would advise any prospective buyer to try before you buy.
Did anyone else hire a motorhome before buying their own?
 

Judge Mental

Funster
Deceased RIP
Sep 2, 2009
6,650
5,883
Sarth London
Funster No
8,272
MH
Possl 636 FR panel van
Exp
1994 and beyond...
No but if you don't have a good idea of what you want it can make sense..better then spending bundles on the wrong van that's for sure! Cheaper to hire in Europe though!
 
Sep 22, 2013
200
199
Halifax
Funster No
28,218
MH
Relay self-build
Exp
Trainee MH owner
Agree with the principle completely. We hired before building (rather than buying) our own. I could not imagine spending that amount of money without testing first!

In our case we were testing both whether we would like being in a tin box after 40 years under canvas (only on holidays ;)) and also whether the layout we proposed to build would work. We were fortunate in being able to find a hire vehicle similar to what we were planning to build. We learnt some useful things from the hire and were able to improve our plans as a result.

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T

Tackle man

Deleted User
We didn't hire first. We started by visiting dealers and looking around vans and test driving a few some years ago.
We are on our 3rd motorhome now, A Hymer Exsis i 688 and love it!!
 

DanielFord

Free Member
Jun 1, 2013
3,020
3,086
Funster No
26,287
Yes, we hired many times, and in fact the van we bought is actually one that we had hired! :D
 
Feb 22, 2008
12,258
44,933
Norfolk
Funster No
1,575
MH
Nearly Tugging
Exp
Since 2004
A three week hire in the US resulted in selling our boat and buying our first RV (y)

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Apr 9, 2015
244
303
🇵🇹
Funster No
35,770
MH
PVC
Exp
Every day a schoolday
We had every intention of hiring first and were at one of our local dealers yards to book the holiday hire when we came across "our Betty" - everything fell into place with the layout we wanted, the price and condition (given her age). We haggled for some extras and haven't looked back since. Neither of us have had Motorhomes or caravans before but we did spend a lot of time thinking about what we really wanted before we jumped in at the proverbial deep end!
 
Jan 10, 2013
5,958
7,354
Near Uttoxeter and Crete
Funster No
24,227
MH
Warwick XL PVC
Exp
Still trucking and learning
We hired at first - I hated it!! 2 years later with husband still wanting a motorhome I gave in and we bought our first van. Now 3 years later, thousands of miles under our (fan :D) belt, we're on our 3rd van and I am totally smitten with the whole motorhomeing lifestyle. Love it! love it!
 

deanroofing

Free Member
Nov 20, 2011
297
253
bedfordshire
Funster No
18,959
MH
coachbuilt
Exp
since 2010
My wife wanted a caravan, the lifestyle never appealed to me at all, so has a compromise l surprised her by hiring a MH, thought show her how crap it is, get it out of her system and move on, l loved it totally different go where you want when you want, so we bought an ex hire of the peeps we hired from, sold that and got another and still loving it, and apparently she told me so.
 
Sep 29, 2012
83
463
Wakefield
Funster No
23,078
MH
Low profile
Exp
2013
Yes we hired twice before buying and it helped us decide what layout we wanted before we bought and we are still on our first van and will probably only change the van when we retire.
Gail

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Adbt

Banned
May 19, 2015
673
1,018
Cheshire
Funster No
36,435
MH
Bailey Approach 740 SE
Exp
2008
We had a Danbury T2 which we part X'ed for the Bailey . We had a Cotswold trip booked but no van ( there was a two week hiatus ) so we hired a MH.
Great experience and learning curve , really helped on the handover of the Bailey as I knew what the tech was talking about !
 

PP Bear

LIFE MEMBER
Apr 5, 2013
7,735
28,126
Kent, UK
Funster No
25,395
MH
Auto Trail Dakota SE
Exp
2012
We hired at first - I hated it!! 2 years later with husband still wanting a motorhome I gave in and we bought our first van. Now 3 years later, thousands of miles under our (fan :D) belt, we're on our 3rd van and I am totally smitten with the whole motorhomeing lifestyle. Love it! love it!
3 vans in 3 years. That's some going, did you not manage to find the right one at first, or just like variety? :)

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T

Tackle man

Deleted User
Good choice... Does it work @
3500? Or are you on heavier chassis
Am on 3500 chassis and have no problem with weight.
I have to admit I haven't weighed each axle yet but total weight with everything we"re likely to take (including condensed Fishing Tackle :D ), is 3410 kg. The Alko chassis lives up to its name and gives an excellent stable drive. (y)

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Sep 22, 2013
200
199
Halifax
Funster No
28,218
MH
Relay self-build
Exp
Trainee MH owner
Since we were contemplating a MH to extend our "camping" season from what was comfortable under canvas (ie usually up to end of September) we hired the first week in December. This enabled us to see what the experience was like in cooler weather and also had the advanatage of being much cheaper.....:D
 
T

Tackle man

Deleted User
Don't know what happened to this post?
My PC threw a wobbly
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Judge Mental

Funster
Deceased RIP
Sep 2, 2009
6,650
5,883
Sarth London
Funster No
8,272
MH
Possl 636 FR panel van
Exp
1994 and beyond...
Am on 3500 chassis and have no problem with weight.
I have to admit I haven't weighed each axle yet but total weight with everything we"re likely to take (including condensed Fishing Tackle :D ), is 3410 kg. The Alko chassis lives up to its name and gives an excellent stable drive. (y)


I'm 3500 as well and manage...most of us do:)

at least you are now out of the UK market:censored:

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KeithChesterfield

Free Member
May 20, 2015
528
1,234
Stand Road Chesterfield
Funster No
36,458
MH
Low Profile
Exp
Since 2010
We hired for about three years before buying.


We hired different lengths of MH, from 5m up to 7.5m and tried different layouts, until we were happy with both layout and size that would suit us.



By the time we bought we were well versed with the 'ins and outs' of Motorhome life and hiring allowed us to learn and experience what we could and couldn't do when part of the Motorhome fraternity.



You won't learn everything by hiring a few times, most of us are still learning and will continue to do so, but you will get enough experience to not make as many mistakes when you eventually buy your own as a total newbie might make.



Best of luck whatever you do.
 

Derbyshire wanderer

LIFE MEMBER
Mar 30, 2014
1,269
2,366
Derbyshire
Funster No
30,753
MH
C class
Exp
15 years
We had a free hire from a customer with a MH hire business. He gave us s Chausson 6 berth that seemed perfect but after the weeks hire we realised the layout was not for us.
Learnt so much in that week to decide on layout and options that the Autotrail we then bought was perfect for us till we fancied an upgrade after 3 years.
Without the hire, I could have easily made a big mistake.

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Lenny HB

LIFE MEMBER
Oct 18, 2007
52,684
147,582
On the coast in West Sussex
Funster No
658
MH
Hymer B678 DL
Exp
Since 2008 & many years tugging
Am on 3500 chassis and have no problem with weight.
I have to admit I haven't weighed each axle yet but total weight with everything we"re likely to take (including condensed Fishing Tackle :D ), is 3410 kg. The Alko chassis lives up to its name and gives an excellent stable drive. (y)
Gave up trying to run our i678 at 3500 and we don't even have an awning, also we are lightweights only 118kg for both of us, so upgraded to 3850.
Still on the limit on the rear axle when we have the 2 x 20lt water containers in the garage full. Not one of Hymer's better design efforts, water tank behind rear axle and only 100 lt.
Next time we change it will be another Hymer maybe a Carthago (going off them at the moment) on at least a 4250 kg chassis.
 

Jabberwocky

Free Member
Aug 14, 2015
178
541
Yeovil
Funster No
37,627
MH
MWB coach build
Exp
I'm a newbie
Looked at hiring, ran a mile when we saw the price, obscenely expensive.

We weren't going to find out in one short trip if MHing was for us and the hire cost was better spent on the old van we bought.
 

Lenny HB

LIFE MEMBER
Oct 18, 2007
52,684
147,582
On the coast in West Sussex
Funster No
658
MH
Hymer B678 DL
Exp
Since 2008 & many years tugging
We hired twice before buying, found out what we could live with and what we could live without. Worth doing even though we had been tuggers for 20 years.

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Jan 10, 2013
5,958
7,354
Near Uttoxeter and Crete
Funster No
24,227
MH
Warwick XL PVC
Exp
Still trucking and learning
3 vans in 3 years. That's some going, did you not manage to find the right one at first, or just like variety? :)
When we bought the 1st van (Autocruise Stardream) we had two dogs so needed as much floor space as possible in a van with the length that we felt comfortable to drive. After driving from the UK to Crete and back in it we were much more confident and decided we wanted fixed beds with the same amount of floor space so we bought a bigger van (Autotrail Savannah). Then after losing both dogs husband decided he wanted an A class and a scooter on the back so we bought our 3rd van (Pilote Explorateur). In summary I suppose our requirements changed along with our confidence.

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