new or used motorhomes ? (1 Viewer)

[JimboT]

We have recently bought a motorhome and a few of our friends are now interested in getting one.
The question is would you buy new £40,000 ~ £50,000 or buy used for that budget.
We bought used because we did not know 100% what we wanted.
They are looking for 4 berth machines.
They seem to think i am an expert only been away three times two days max.
Jim

 

[injebreck99]

You now know more than you did before, and probably more than them!

 

[chaser]

I'd buy used at half or even a quarter of that

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[lesleyjean]

Definitely USED every time.


You can do exactly the same things in a used motorhome as you can do in a new motorhome.

Older Motorhomes are built better.

 

[Chockswahay]

It's all a matter of budget and personal choice

 

[hilldweller]

Used.

Let someone else take The Big Hit and fix all The Faults.

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[Forestboy]

Definitely used for us even if we won a million on the lotto.
We've had new and used and older m/homes are so much better built then new ones. In fact we sold a new m/home, had it less than a year and bought the one we have now which was 8 years old when we bought it. There is no comparison in the quality this is streets ahead of the new one. We sold because we were very disappointed with the quality not for financial reasons. Admittedly we did go from a American RV to a German so you would expect better quality but even so we made a conscious decision to go older to get the quality and have not regretted it once, probably best decision we've made motorhome wise.

 

[TheBig1]

buy a new motorhome and you lose 20% or 25% of its value just driving it home. there are always very low mileage vans available sold on by people who bought in error etc

my advice to anyone who hasnt motorhomed before is to rent one for a week or buy a cheap older van first to experience the lifestyle. its not for everyone and can be a lot of money wasted if it doesnt suit you. if you buy the right second hand van privately you would hopefully lose very little if you sold it on a few months later. thats what a great many australian and south african visitors do. buy a van second hand experience europe and sell on before going home, makes a cheap holiday and a great experience. just wish it was as easy and cheap the other way round.

 

[Gizmouk]

We bought our "new" motorhome a couple of months ago.
The previous owner, who bought it new, must have ticked just about every option box on the order form. Lucky for us, they only did 1160 miles in it during the 3 years they owned it :thumb:

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[Phill D]

there are good deals for used vans about or even end of season new vans.

the ONLY prob with buying used is that if you want a specific layout on a specific van then you may not find it.
we bought new the last van as it was end of season and that years van got £7k of the price and there was 7 miles on the clock.:thumb: had it 3 years and sold it for £2k less than paid for it, that dont happen often.

this time we wanted an ADRIA and a specific layout ,,,, no chance used oh: so new it was.

but the best value for your buck is used. but theres a lot of shopping to do ( as you know ) and .... layout that suits you is everything:thumb:

 

[Coolbeanz]

Definitely used for us even if we won a million on the lotto.
We've had new and used and older m/homes are so much better built then new ones. In fact we sold a new m/home, had it less than a year and bought the one we have now which was 8 years old when we bought it. There is no comparison in the quality this is streets ahead of the new one. We sold because we were very disappointed with the quality not for financial reasons. Admittedly we did go from a American RV to a German so you would expect better quality but even so we made a conscious decision to go older to get the quality and have not regretted it once, probably best decision we've made motorhome wise.

That's interesting as we viewed a 2012 Bessacar on Saturday and then a 2004 A class Hymer and much to our surprise we fell in love with the Hymer. It seemed superior in every way but we were a bit worried about buying a vehicle that old. Having done lots more research this week we are no longer concerned that the Hymer is too old and think we are actually getting far more for our money and it will not devalue as quickly either. Fingers crossed the test drive goes well this Saturday and we get to part with our money

 

[Bellini]

For your budget, used every time. :thumb:

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[Spenders]

New or used?

From my own albeit limited experience, and from the posts I've seen on here, I'd go for buying used every time.

It seems to me that all motorhomes have some sort of issues when they are new.... that the first owner has to sort out. Why be that person if you don't have to? If you have the budget then buy one between 1-2 years old... young enough to be fresh, new and modern but old enough for the first owner to have sorted out the faults.

I can also see the argument for older as in better build quality but that doesn't sway me quite as much (says he with an '06 Autotrail!)

Simon

 

[Minxy]

Used if they can get what they want. We bought our Accent in August 2012 - it has only got around 1000m on the clock and was just over 2 months old, the previous owner had bought it then found his Mum didn't like the transverse bed layout so he changed to a French bed layout for her ... it cost him £44k, it cost us just under £40k so nearly 10% cheaper for what was in effect a virtually new van ... and we got a very good PX deal too! :thumb:

 

[Granjan]

With that budget I'd buy SH, you can get a lorra lorra motorhome for your money with a lot of Dosh off and just a few miles on the clock.....just keep a bit in reserve in case you have any problems. Probably ask a few dealers to keep an eye out for what you want and be patient..... its all a game!

You can always get new upholstery if the basics are tidy.

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[funflair]

Hi

It is nice to have new and we always buy cars new, but saying that when we bought our first motorhome we were not 100% sure what was right for us so we decided to try it out with a used one bought privately. We liked the N&B Flair at well over £150k which is silly money, so we bought a 2006 model for £50k to try it out with a view to buying something new when we were a bit more clued up.

Now we are just going to keep what we have and I keep adding bits to it with the cash we have saved, jacks, solar panels, inverter, coffee machine, microwave etc etc, and we still have £100k in the bank towards another one day.

Would we ever buy new, not sure, quite possibly not.

Martin

 

[haganap]

I have a used van, it is our third van... We love it because our buying experience enabled us to make sure we ticked every single box.

I have the possibility of a new job and should I decide to take it and the huge pay rise that goes with it, I will think of buying our next van (a hobby 750) brand new. Taking the hit or not is neither here or there, it's a case of knowing exactly what we want through experience.

We love our current van though and would have to be peeled away from it kicking and screaming....

But we love the hobby too and if we can afford it why not, :thumb:


Although I doubt we will

 

[errpaul]

It's all down to personal choice and what you can afford and what important to you.
You can get some very well looked after used vans that appear to be new. It is nice to be the only ones to have slept in the bed, used the bathroom etc etc, and you can choose everything as you want it. But you have to be prepared to take a huge hit on the value.......if you know what you want and plan to keep it many years then that's fine.
Or, you could be like a mate who has a ridiculous amount of money.....so much so that he went to Germany to pick up his brand new merc (car) from the factory...met the man that put together and signed the engine etc etc......drive it home........kept it in the garage for a year or so and sold it having driven it just that one time, losing tens of thousands!

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[treetops1]

I would advise used but only when you are happy with the layout, spend as much as you can afford for a bit of quality.

 

[Ed Excel]

New or 'pre owned', my mantra has always been 'sit in as many MHs as you can'. One day you won't want to leave.

 

[JimboT]

Looks like used getting the thumbs up.
Thanks
Jim
PS need to get them to register on here!

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[Terry]

New or used ? it's layout that's important :thumb: Research and hire to see what they like then weigh up cost of new as to used.Sometimes with a discount you can get new what some want for used.All depends on van available and prices Did I mention LAYOUT?
terry

 

[beachcaster]

There are many advantages to buying a low milage well kept second hand motorhome...2/3 years old... apart from just cost saving.
There are so many small faults with all new vehicles.........manufacturers/dealers checking is apalling......so let someone else sort out the inevitable niggles.

Condition is often as good as new.......and the mechanical side of things are likely to be perfect.

barry

 

[womblevra]

I have a used van, it is our third van... We love it because our buying experience enabled us to make sure we ticked every single box.

I have the possibility of a new job and should I decide to take it and the huge pay rise that goes with it, I will think of buying our next van (a hobby 750) brand new. Taking the hit or not is neither here or there, it's a case of knowing exactly what we want through experience.

We love our current van though and would have to be peeled away from it kicking and screaming....

But we love the hobby too and if we can afford it why not, :thumb:


Although I doubt we will

Don`t think Hobby do the 750 anymore:Blush:

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[Allanm]

We've had 3 used vans since 1990 ish with a long gap before we bought our current van. We had a very good idea what we wanted, what we didn't want and what we could do without.
We then went an sat in as many vans as we could, both new and used.
Our intention was to spend up to £30K on a used one, but nothing we saw gave us the right feeling or had the right layout, or if it had the right layout, there was something else wrong that we couldn't live with, our it was just too expensive or too big.
We knew whatever we bought would be a compromise in some way, but when Mrs A sat in the van we now have, we were convinced that it was the right one. :hug:
It was a lot more than our original budget, but, Mrs A had her pension lump sum and we dug into that and got a few grand off the window price.
Sure, there have been a few niggles, even a well sorted used van is going to produce some for its new owner, but they were all minor and we love the van.
Since buying it, we have also looked at others and still not found one we would rather have.

My advice would be to take your time, sit in as many vans as you can and read up on everything you can find about users experiences.

Would I buy new again? Sure, but we intend to keep this one till we wear it out.

Allan

 

[maz]

I will think of buying our next van (a hobby 750) brand new.

Hobby stopped making the 750 in 2012 - no replacement tag axle in their 2013 range. Went from classic curved wall designs to gangsta vans too.

You might still manage to pick up an unregistered 750 for a good price, Paul, but they'll be few and far between. Mine is two years older than plated - and, as you know, I've had a few niggles with it (mainly the water system) - but overall it's a lovely van and the layout is spot on for me.

 

[hdvrod]

Having been a member on here for couple of years now,and reflecting on the numerous posts of peoples experiences with their motorhomes,the actual cost of the MH seems to have no direct influence on their satisfaction and enjoyment of the vehicle.Seems you can spend £50000 plus and have terrible experience with faults etc,or £15000 and be perfectly happy! In our particular case our MH a (1997 compass clipper on a merc sprinter chassis 2.9t diesel with 31000 on the clock when we bought it) cost £13000 3 years ago,we since have added another 16000 miles.We have toured France Spain and Portugal so far.The fun we have had in it has had no relation to the price,would we have a better time in a £50000 MH? definitely not! Not unsurprisingly with a vehicle 16 years old we have a had a couple of fairly minor mechanical problems,total cost over the 3 years to put right including complete renewal of the brake lines around £1000.We had a leaking roof ( tiny crack which I couldn't find until I was putting on 4 coats of Rubber RV paint over the whole roof, slight overkill but peace of mind.) also had leak coming in from join along the side of the MH which I fixed.To sum up we have been lucky,but if I was starting from scratch think my advise would be to buy a reasonably cheap MH, use it for a season to find out what you like and what you dont, then sell it on ( your loss if any should be minimal) and use the experience you have gathered to good use when choosing the "Keeper".As for us if we suddenly came into some spare cash and could upgrade to something more expensive;Would we? Don't think we would! What we have does everything we want.Cant ask more than that.

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