What would you choose? (1 Viewer)

[jessthedog]

I've been doing loads of research of the type of motorhome that I think would suit us.
Been to a few dealers, missed out on a couple of vans that had already been sold, went to the NEC and came very very close to buying a New Moblivetta, but the chassis was the light one, and I'm glad, I didn't succumb to it in the end.
i've found the choice and info on british sites not as good as the German site mobile.ed, which gives a lot more info.

Most of the British sites you have to contact them to find out the weights!

My preference is for an A class, I don't want to worry about weight issues, so something over 4 Tonne. MGVW. I'm not bothered about LHD coz we will be going to the Continent a lot.

The set ups are similar, small lounge at front, with drop down bed with a transverse/split singles(double) or queen over rear garage.
Some make huge dining tables, that don't split or fold, which I find bizarre.
I do love the sliding/folding table on the Frankia though.

They are all up for similar money, and mileage a few thousand either way.

Question: What one would you choose and why?

No.1
2012 Carthago C Tourer 143. Ducato 2.3 131 P.S Manual

No. 2 2010 Frankia 6800BK Mercedes 190 P.S Auto, single rear axle.

No.3 2011 Hymer B578 Ducato manual 2.3 131 P.S

No.4 2010 Neismann Arto 64 Ducato 3.0 158 P.S Auto

No. 5 2010 Rapido 992 MH Mercedes 163 P.S Auto on a twin rear wheel chassis

 

[suavecarve]

1 or 3 on first look because you can get a motorbike in the back

 

[CWH]

Personally would no longer look at a manual

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[SandraL]

Check back axle weight, only last one is twin wheel. Our van was 2400kg on back axle and this was not enough so had to upgrade. Also I would prefer rear wheel drive. As always will be a compromise though for what best suits you.

 

[bigtree]

No. 2 But then I'm biased.
The 190 engine is a peach,effortless power and so quiet.

 

[jessthedog]

No. 2 But then I'm biased.View attachment 138518

Looks like a cracking motor. Shame I can't afford something like it.

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[DavidG58]

Looks like a cracking motor. Shame I can't afford something like it.

just to be clear here are you researching or dreaming?

my choice every time would be rear wheel drive with auto gear box

some your picks still look pretty lightweight from the photos at least

 

[lorger]

I think going on pics alone is hard, I think from the pics they all look good but what about cost are they all the same. Also have to consider if any has extras fitted and if so do you really want them, if you dont want the extras then they're worthless.

Good luck

 

[jessthedog]

just to be clear here are you researching or dreaming?

my choice every time would be rear wheel drive with auto gear box

some your picks still look pretty lightweight from the photos at least

Thanks, all research David. . I stopped looking for a while, coz it was driving me mad, but I dream of new shiny ones.

The Frankia that bigtree has looks fantastic and l think a bit over my price range?
Though I was going to spend £69K on a new one!, which was nearly £20K over what I originally planned to spend.
All 5 are within the range of £50-55K

What do you mean by lightweight?
All 5 of them are 4 tonne or over, the Rapido which has twin rear axles on a 5 tonne chassis. Hymer/Carthago are 4.25T and Niesmann at 4 tonne.

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[DavidG58]

as has been added, it is really hard to tell by photo alone unless you know your models very well (and I don't)

I was mortified when I weighed my 8m Hymer on twin axle Mercedes chassis, that I always thought had a massive payload at GVW 5ton, but weighed in without wife and quite a bit of 'stuff' still not in at over 5t, had to uprate to 5.5t

 

[jessthedog]

as has been added, it is really hard to tell by photo alone unless you know your models very well (and I don't)

I was mortified when I weighed my 8m Hymer on twin axle Mercedes chassis, that I always thought had a massive payload at GVW 5ton, but weighed in without wife and quite a bit of 'stuff' still not in at over 5t, had to uprate to 5.5t

It seems like a lottery, this motorhome game! Well it is, if you want to stay legal. Thanks for your input.

 

[bigtree]

I was going to PM you but I'am blocked.

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[jessthedog]

Ha ha. Keep up the research.
Thanks for the advice. Im going away in May, so will have one by then, right or wrong

 

[PhilG]

look past the LED's and bling and write a list .. stuff you MUST have... stuff you would like.

If you havent had one before, you wont know, but only you can make that list.

For me it was big lounge, big garage, Tag Axle for weight, did not care about anything else.

 

[jessthedog]

look past the LED's and bling and write a list .. stuff you MUST have... stuff you would like.

If you havent had one before, you wont know, but only you can make that list.

For me it was big lounge, big garage, Tag Axle for weight, did not care about anything else.

Thanks, done all that. Wanted same as you, but not tag axle. So cant have it all.
But compromise is a relevant motorhome word.
I think its harder than buying a house! At least you can knock down walls, put new windows etc, if it dosent suit. A lot of people have said to me, they didnt get the one they wanted until the 3rd one.
I think? I know what I want and i would be happy with any of the 5 really.
Cheers

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[Jagtazman]

As most people say remember layout should be top of your list imho. Took us almost 12 months to decide what we wanted and to find one within budget and good condition

 

[Lenny HB]

IMO Both Frankia & N&B are good well built vans but interiors can be a bit quirky and wouldn't suit us, but does depend on year I've only looked at 2017 ones.
Rapido is Ok but I prefer the better construction methods of the Carthago or Hymer. Carthago slightly better built than Hymer but lounges cramped and shower room poor design.
Not keen on Merc chassis don't like the driving position or soft springing.
On balance I would probably go for the Hymer but I wouldn't buy a manual since having an auto.

As others have said layout is probably the single most important aspect everything else you can live with or modify i.e. if suspension too soft you can fit air assist.
Get the wrong layout and you will soon be changing the van.

 

[PhilG]

Thanks, done all that. Wanted same as you, but not tag axle. So cant have it all.
But compromise is a relevant motorhome word.
I think its harder than buying a house! At least you can knock down walls, put new windows etc, if it dosent suit. A lot of people have said to me, they didnt get the one they wanted until the 3rd one.
I think? I know what I want and i would be happy with any of the 5 really.
Cheers

Obviously your budget makes it harder , because you have one, mine was half that , and so it makes most of the decision harder. Wouldn't buy a Hymer cos they are Fugly , so that helps again, and also had previously had a Euramobil 810 before having to upsize, but now downsizing back , one of those with a garage was the way to go.

Even with that , im not happy with it, garage floor is way too high, and the bed is too low, meaning we are 2 or 3 inches away at least from being big enough to get what I need in there without a struggle, but the flip side of that is when its loaded , it isn't dragging its arse everywhere with stupid low ground clearance( as a lot of modern TAG's do) .

IMO anything with a fixed bed that doesn't have a garage is a total waste of space, you end up with everything crammed in the front , wondering how this thing that is so long , can only have the same amount of room as a SWB PVC.

Why not a TAG, the stability alone makes it a no brainer IMO, yes you have 6 tyres and not 4 , but when you are £50k into it , whats 2 tyres really.

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[Tincataylor]

Unless I've missed something you do not say if you are experienced motor homers or if this is your first van? If the latter may I politely say that you are letting the tail wag the dog. It is the type of travelling you are going to do that drives the correct van rather than the other way round. Someone who is going to head off for Spain for 6 months and stay on the same site for the duration will have a very different requirement than someone who will spend most of their time tootling around the lanes of Cornwall.

The Tincas

 

[funflair]

I wouldn't or couldn't choose for somebody else as we are all so different in our personal preferences, I think many will say we did it it the wrong way round in that I set a few basic requirement (mostly around the chassis) and the layout followed. for the record I wanted RWD so looked at a Rapido but it was on single rear wheels and the garage was'nt massive so I junked that idea plus I always felt that with the Merc chassis I was sat about 4 feet behind the windscreen, ruling out FWD that really only left IVECO or a Transit and we wanted "A class" so the process narrowed itself down to an IVECO which has a more forward driving position than the Merc, We always liked the N+B Flairs that that was it "job done".

Given your choice I would look at the N+B Arto because of how they are built but its FWD so I would look at the Frankia on the Merc but single rear wheels (if you dont do too many fields that would be OK).

But at the end of the day you have to walk into a van and go "this is nice".

Martin

EDIT I should have added that we have a van that I would not want to tootle around the lanes of Cornwall in but would be happy living in.

 

[jessthedog]

Unless I've missed something you do not say if you are experienced motor homers or if this is your first van? If the latter may I politely say that you are letting the tail wag the dog. It is the type of travelling you are going to do that drives the correct van rather than the other way round. Someone who is going to head off for Spain for 6 months and stay on the same site for the duration will have a very different requirement than someone who will spend most of their time tootling around the lanes of Cornwall.

The Tincas

Thanks, We have only hired a van for 2 weeks. So, Yes it will be our first owned motorhome, so completely wet behind the ears Not a lot between them either

I did say at outset that we intend to use it mainly on the Continent, so not worried about a LHD.
Not interested in parking up for 6 months in Spain though.
The idea is to travel around France first, then further a field later. But who knows, we might keep on driving, that's the love of the motorhome.
That's another problem of choosing, I don't want a vehicle too big, that I can't travel around Cornwall, if we so choose.
I know I'm expecting too much, because there is no perfect motorhome out there.

I think I will just go with my gut feeling. It's got me through life this far

Thanks for your input

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[PhilG]

The ' sat miles away from the screen ' thing... I came from a 7.5T Iveco coachbuilt .. the screen felt like it was on the end of your nose..and having no bonnet at all takes some getting used to... all of 2 or 3 trips, and then it goes away, same as switching from driving RH & LHD, once you do it for a bit, its fine.

On the test drive in my Eura, I bloody hated it , it felt underpowered, was a PITA in traffic, and felt too big for the road. even though its the same width across the mirrors as my truck was across the cab , because you are sat back AND inboard .

It would have been easy to dismiss it there and then , but all the other boxes had HUGE ticks in .. low mileage, service history , while not a dealbreaker were too good to pass up , and everything else was bang on , save for a full awning .

I can tell you that 50 miles later when I got it home, all the things I didn't like , were gone, you just get used to it, the drive on motorways was awesome, its fast when you have room and is stable as anything I have ever used.

As was just asked , if this is your first van , then you will get it wrong.

Consider , especially as its winter, renting something for a few days , even if you only go down the road, because you will find out so much you never even considered . And if you spend £1k on 2 or 3 rentals to get the right one , its money well spent.

What we do and where we go made our choice.

 

[jessthedog]

I wouldn't or couldn't choose for somebody else as we are all so different in our personal preferences, I think many will say we did it it the wrong way round in that I set a few basic requirement (mostly around the chassis) and the layout followed. for the record I wanted RWD so looked at a Rapido but it was on single rear wheels and the garage was'nt massive so I junked that idea plus I always felt that with the Merc chassis I was sat about 4 feet behind the windscreen, ruling out FWD that really only left IVECO or a Transit and we wanted "A class" so the process narrowed itself down to an IVECO which has a more forward driving position than the Merc, We always liked the N+B Flairs that that was it "job done".

Given your choice I would look at the N+B Arto because of how they are built but its FWD so I would look at the Frankia on the Merc but single rear wheels (if you dont do too many fields that would be OK).

But at the end of the day you have to walk into a van and go "this is nice".

Martin

Thanks Martin,
One of the reasons of the post, was to try and flesh out, what is the best set up really.
All 5 homes are nice, very similar insides, in size/mileage/price etc.
The chassis are Ducato front wheel drive. 3.0l or 2.3l, or Merc single and twin rear axle with auto box.
I realise it is all down to preference.

Why single single rear wheel axle? dosen't the twin give more stability?

thanks for your input

 

[funflair]

Thanks Martin,
One of the reasons of the post, was to try and flesh out, what is the best set up really.
All 5 homes are nice, very similar insides, in size/mileage/price etc.
The chassis are Ducato front wheel drive. 3.0l or 2.3l, or Merc single and twin rear axle with auto box.
I realise it is all down to preference.

Why single single rear wheel axle? dosen't the twin give more stability?

thanks for your input

I understand that the Ducato FWD are a good drive especially with the 3.0 litre, but I just had a thing about RWD.

The single wheels are on the lighter Merc chassis, the Rapido we looked at wouldnt have had a lot of payload a Rapido M is Merc and MH is Merc heavy chassis so will be twin wheels on the rear axle.

Martin

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[jessthedog]

@PhilG Thanks mate. All good advice and info. We did hire one, just to get the feel of motorhoming, but it wasn't what we would buy, so it helped in that way
Been scared off Tag axles, by reading too much on the Net! Also don't want anything that long.
I've driven trucks so I Know driving an 8m is no different to a 7m.

Thanks for your input.

 

[PhilG]

I don't know what a downside to them is TBH, but I have seen folk say the same ' we don't want anything that long, buy a 7m van, and then stick a rack on the back of it that means its nearly 8 anyway.

I will say that if I was buying again, I wouldn't know what to buy , I do miss my proper workshop in the back though, being able to stand , and get 3 bikes in the back was great , plus all the other stuff, but it was on a 1999 chassis with 395,000 klms on it .. no hope of foreign recovery at any price, so that was the main reason to change, now on one with 30,000 miles , and proper recovery on it.

For some people, storage is their dealbreaker.

 

[Lenny HB]

Wouldn't buy a Hymer cos they are Fugly

????
Do you mean old fuddy duddy?
Depends on layout upholstery, cabinet work etc., Our Excess has a nice bright interior. The new Dynamic Line ( we have ordered one) interior looks similar to a Morello, very bright lots of white.

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[jessthedog]

I don't know what a downside to them is TBH, but I have seen folk say the same ' we don't want anything that long, buy a 7m van, and then stick a rack on the back of it that means its nearly 8 anyway.

Someone said on here recently, that they want all the space and facilities of an A class in a PVC!

Maybe we need the makers of the Transformer toys, to design them.
Cheers