In for a penny in for a pound !! (1 Viewer)

[autoquestnewbie]

Hello one and all,

Firstly i would like to give you alittle on my camping history. As a child i went camping in a tent with my grandparents every summer holiday and have extremley fond memories of our adventures. Since then i went camping once with 2 old friends at the age of 19 to which the tent fell down ripped and flooded during the first and only night. Since then my camping career has been on hold.

12 years on.........

Since the arrival of my son (currently aged 8 months) we have been delibarating the best and most practical form of taking ourvacations.... to date this year we have looked at:-

A cruise
A villa
2 weeks all inclusive in majorca
A trip to america
and various cottages around the Uk

Following a visit to friends in wales on august bank holiday we had our eyes opened to the world of motorhomes. Where we had the fortune to look around, a Hymer a class an autotrail c class and a day van. All in 4 days. THIS gave us the bug.

Since.our visit we have been to a motorhome show and trawled the internet for hours.

At this point we still have not spent a night in or even driven a motorhome.

To cut a long story short on friday we are going to pick up a 64 plate autoquest 180 wuth only 1200 miles on the clock. The motorhome chosen is no doubt our suited model with the u shaped rear lounge etc.

My Questions as follows:-

Is there a checklist i can buy to tick items of to ensure they work prior to purchase?

Is there anything in particular i should look for on this model i.e known faults, common problems?

Is there anyone near or in surrounding counties that owns an autoquest 180 or similar elddis model? Is this person going touring in the next few weeks in the surrounding counties? Would this person be happy to meet a true novice on site and show them around the 180 showing me how things work etc... this would be rewarded with a tipple of that persons choice.

I have oots more questions so if anyone does feel they have time to respond or help be prepared for lots and lots of questions.....

I will leave the post at this for now.

Thanks in advance

Autoquestnewbie

 

[bryandh]

Good luck ....... With all of that!!!!

Bryan

 

[Red Dragon]

I wish you all the best in finding someone to familiarise you to the Elddis but first

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[jollyrodger]

Hi and welcome to the club you will soon pick it all up its not rocket science ,but never offer free tipples on here you'll have a long line wanting to tell you about getting gassed and how to discharge your grey / black waste

 

[autoquestnewbie]

Lol tha ks but the tipple would only be poured in person....

 

[Southdowners]

Hello and welcome from a relatively new motor homer!

I would think that a lot of what you need to know will be covered at handover. Its wise to stay at a site fairly close to the dealership for a day or two so that if anything goes wrong or fails to work you can pop back easily to get it fixed.

Driving the vehicle is easy and most things are easy to get the hang of.

Hope you enjoy your vehicle as much as we do ours!

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[autoquestnewbie]

Its not being ourchased from a dealer its a private sale..... the previous owners bought it with no experince and do not enjoy motorhoming. Hemce there knowledge is limited. !!

 

[grasscutter]

Are you buying from a dealer ? If so they should do a full handover.
Ask them to show you.
How to fill water.
Empty toilet.
Turn on gas.
Use heating and hot water.
Cooker operation
How to use TV etc.
Main control panel and functions.
Where battery's and fuses are.
How to make up beds
Hopefully others will add to this.
Always worth recording the handover with a phone or iPad, if not then making notes as you go.
Good luck and have lots of great adventures.

Ok now seen its not a dealer. Hopefully they should still know the above items.

 

[autoquestnewbie]

Grass cutter thanks for the points....

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[scousebird]

Go to a local site and try everything. Take your smartphone/tablet with you and if there's something you're not sure about ask on here but ................ you need to pay your £10 subscription cos you've only got 1 free post left!

 

[injebreck99]

Ask for a complete novice guide to your motor home from the seller, take a video camera or I phone recording of the handover, you can then review the instructions later on if necessary. Oh, and welcome.,

 

[Dave K]

Good luck with your new motorhome, because you're buying privately and you won't have the experience of a handover I'm just wondering if there is a dealership nearby that sells Elddis motor homes, just thinking you could pay a visit on the pretence that you're interested in buying one and get the salesman to run through a few things with you, I don't suppose it necessarily needs to be an Elddis dealership, you'll get the basics from any dealership, good luck!

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[autoquestnewbie]

Dave i like your style.... my type of thinking.... hopefully my £10.00 payment will go through and you will all hear from me soon..... thanyou everyone.

 

[lorger]

Hi and welcome to fun, our first MH was an autoquest 130 so not the same layout but same make, we like you bought it private with only 1000 miles on the clock.
Ask the owner loads of questions I'm sure they'll do their best to help find they know how to work thinks.
One think to remember although it's only 1 year old check for any damage and damp if possible as they might be selling due to a fault and not the reason they gave. Also make sure you do a HPI check on it as not everyone buys a MH without finance, if they do owe money on it don't panic it's not a major issue just find out how much and who the company is and pay them this part of the money you can do this over the phone when your at the sellers house.
Ask them to fill it with water and show you all taps working on 240 and 12V, check the cooker and heating all work.

Good luck the Elldis might not be the best van on the road but you will be more than happy with it, we kept ours for 4 years with no issues.

 

[parknride]

Hi, all been said really. Good idea to record Q&A's on mobile phone at handover.

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[Just smiffy]

I can hear some Alarm bells in the distance....
Is there not anyone (friend or someone) that you can talk to about this motorhome before hand..?

I don't want to put a damper on your excitement but please do all the checks you can do before handing any money over....

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

I can hear some Alarm bells in the distance....

I don't want to put a damper on your excitement but please do all the checks you can do before handing any money over....

My thoughts as well. Check carefully that your purchase will be yours to keep before paying your money.
Even if the seller is no expert with everything, a genuine seller should have a basic knowledge to show you the essentials like gas, water, waste and loo. As for the detail there should be the original folder with the handbook and instruction manuals for all the appliances.
I hope it all goes well for you.

 

[FIDGET]

Hi & Welcome from the Isle of Wight,
Ann & Terry + ASBO the dog
If you were over here I'd pop along & give some help, not that I have an Autoquest,
I,m sure someone locally will be along shortly.

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[Momo]

Hi Autoquestnewbie and welcome to the Fun!

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

The easiest way to try your new van out will be on the drive,as we did .in the event of anything going wrong you have the safety net of the house.
Enjoy your van.


Vlad

 

[chaser]

My thoughts as well. Check carefully that your purchase will be yours to keep before paying your money.
Even if the seller is no expert with everything, a genuine seller should have a basic knowledge to show you the essentials like gas, water, waste and loo. As for the detail there should be the original folder with the handbook and instruction manuals for all the appliances.
I hope it all goes well for you.

I know everyone thinks I'm a miserable old bugger always on the downside, but I think you have rushed into this too quick, hope you don't turn out like the ones who are selling it and get fed up after one outing and try to sell it on , have you checked for damp or other stuff , is it the right layout? Sorry to put a wet blanket on your adventure but unless you have money to spare and you can afford to lose some , I would think very hard and get loads of checks done before parting with your hard earned.
Good luck with it all the same

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[Just smiffy]

He got it last Friday and we haven't heard how he got on ..? Let's hope it all went well...

 

[movan]

Yes, hope he comes back and joins. He received a friendly welcome and advice and so would be nice to hear the outcome.... Are you there @autoquestnewbie