Advice on buying an American C class RV (1 Viewer)

[Travelbug1]

Hi all,
We have decided to sell our European M/H and buy an American C class instead. Limited budget of about £12-£15K and wanting an 8 berth style as we have kids so need bedroom & overcab as well as dinette & sofa as we use M/H a lot and travel into Europe.
We would like advice in buying & owning and information about importing one from the states ourselves, Ford E350 or Fleetwood types.
Many moons ago Old Mo kindly spent time whilst in Devon at Wildman's site explaining about his then RV to my Husband and son and we have finally bitten the bullet and decided that is the way forward, looking forward to hearing everyones' comments.
Travelbug1

 

[trekkin]

Hi

Where to start. Depending on the age of the RV importing yourself may not be worth it, under 10yrs old will incur lots of extra cost in the form of IVA test, but all will attract import duty, Vat, shipping, elec conversion, lighting mods etc. suggest you look to see what is available in the UK first, there are many here. Importing is more beneficial if you intend to use it in the states for 6 months before importing into Europe.

When buying, look look look and look again, there are many good ones out there, but many who believe that the service intervals of 20k miles mean that they can go for numerous years without a service and can be a money pit

My advice, get the layout right, it's a home more than a motor, check service history, ensure everything works, and that it is loved and cared for.

All the RV use common parts, fridges, microwave, furnaces, genset, etc and the base vehicles are all standard and common. Spares and parts for them are readily and easily available and servicing and repair cost will be comparable or less than you are used to. We pay less to service the RV than we get charged for the cars and can get parts and repairs quicker also. So Chevy or ford, petrol, diesel ,slide or non, the choice is there

Have a look around the sister site RVOC.co.uk for other ideas.

Good luck, you can only spend your money once, when it's gone it's gone, they say buy your third RV first to get it right so there is plenty of time, so do not rush

Will try to answer questions where I can
Good luck,

 

[DuxDeluxe]

The above makes a lot of sense

This is just a bump as RV's aren't for us

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[Carol]

Travelbug have you seen Sharon's RV for sale, no idea of the details but coincidence both on the same day

 

[LARRY99]

Hi , we have a c class ( chateau 29r on E450) and as advised before look at as many as you can, You must get the layout right,,,ours can easily sleep 8 ( two above the cab ,two on the foldout settee, two on the drop down dinette, and two on the queen size rear bed ) but it only has seat belts for SEVEN ,,if you can get one like ours with two front slides you should have plenty of room ,,,any questions pm me

 

[Travelbug1]

Thanks all, Larry99 yours sounds exactly what we want, there is only 4 of us so seatbelts for 7 is fine but we have overnight guests sometimes hence wanting more living & bedroom space.
We are experienced with M/H s and caravans having had both for over 14 years and also having had a full size Chevy Surburban and a Ford Explorer on LPG with a Flash lube system are not strangers to American engines. We just wanted to see if there was anything we may not know from experienced RV owners
I feel a C class is better for us as we need the overcab for the children to sleep in!

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[bernardfeay]

Seems a waste to spend money on shipping and import duties rather than value within the vehicle.

 

[Travelbug1]

I think we will be buying in the UK which was my preferred choice so now just need to find some to look at!