Buying A New Motorhome - Discontinued Model? Advice Needed! (1 Viewer)

marchie

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We have never owned a motorhome so have no experience of our own. We want to move from touring caravans to a motorhome so that we can be quicker setting up, quicker packing down, possibly a little quicker on the road, and able to take holidays of 7 or 8 weeks in Europe, Summer & Winter in sensible comfort, but without gizmos galore or shiny kit syndrome. Going for a new motorhome so that we will know how it's been treated from Day 1, and we hope that it will be reliable enough for us not to need to trade in/up in our dotage [unless we fall prey to the shiny kit yearning].

We plan to live simply, and are happy to buy a 5.99m motorhome for the two of us, with an oven, a windout canopy, solar panel and twin reversing camera plus a sensible garage area for 2 standard bikes + 2 chairs & picnic table for eating under the canopy.

We have found online a Sunlight T60 Active that is new and it seems to meet our needs and has a decent 700+kg payload. I can't however see any mention of the T60 in the Product Range Brochure, and the Dealer's adverts refers to a 7 year water ingress warranty, rather than the usual 10 years. We've not gone beyond casual enquiry at this stage but there is a Deal to be had.

My questions: If the T60 is obsolete stock, will I be hammered on the price if we ever need to p/ex it? Has anyone purchased an 'end of range' m/home , and did it prove a good way to go from the financial angle? Are there any other aspects we should consider?

We hope to sell our Gobur Folding Caravan on Monday afternoon, so I'm being cautious until I know whether the sale will proceed and how much deposit we can commit safely. I'd prefer not to talk to the Dealer again until I know that we are in a position to talk firmly about buying.

All/any advice would be welcome!

Steve & Elaine
 

bigtwin

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There are so many MH brands each with a multitude of model variants so I don’t think that your fear about an end of line model is anything to be worried about.

Ian
 
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Stonemags76

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We had a Bessacar E630 as our first Motorhome. As far as I know they were only made for a year! We never had problems with parts, & easily part exchanged it when the time came. Buy what suits you!

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If it's the van you want, then go for it. Models change all the time, so I don't think that it's being 'end of range' will make any difference to re-sale value. If it's the right van, then you may be keeping it for many years, so it's the 'enjoyment value' which is important.

Are you sure that the 'usual warranty' is 10 years? I believe length of warranty varies between manufacturers. Our Hymer has a 6-year water ingress warranty.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you many happy years of motor homing.
 
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Looks good except for transverse bed
Where do you fit the TV?
Is there an oven/grill?

<Broken link removed>

I would have the T66

<Broken link removed>
 
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suavecarve

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and able to take holidays of 7 or 8 weeks in Europe, Summer & Winter in sensible comfort,
As per the comments of everyone else I wouldnt be concerned with your main concern.

Thought about buying abroad ? Likely to be better value if you can abide LHD

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marchie

marchie

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If it's the van you want, then go for it. Models change all the time, so I don't think that it's being 'end of range' will make any difference to re-sale value. If it's the right van, then you may be keeping it for many years, so it's the 'enjoyment value' which is important.

Are you sure that the 'usual warranty' is 10 years? I believe length of warranty varies between manufacturers. Our Hymer has a 6-year water ingress warranty.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you many happy years of motor homing.
Thanks very much, bellabee. I did say I had no experience [case for the defence here!], but pretty much every new m/home we've seen details of has had a 10 yr warranty, and a couple of others have been 2018 onwards unregistered vehicles and the warranty minus the yr of manufacture seems to indicate a 10 yr ingress, so I was putting 2+2 together butfailing to get 4 as the answer ... Oops.
Does show that I do need advice, though! Thanks again.

Steve & Elaine
 
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DuxDeluxe

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Thanks very much, bellabee. I did say I had no experience [case for the defence here!], but pretty much every new m/home we've seen details of has had a 10 yr warranty, and a couple of others have been 2018 onwards unregistered vehicles and the warranty minus the yr of manufacture seems to indicate a 10 yr ingress, so I was putting 2+2 together butfailing to get 4 as the answer ... Oops.
Does show that I do need advice, though! Thanks again.

Steve & Elaine
You are in the right place for advice. As the others have stated, an obsolete model will not matter at the end of the day when you sell. Sunlight is (I think) a sub brand of Detlheffs which is a Hymer company so you will have no worries at all with bits and bobs. Above all, enjoy the new van - you WILL have problems unless you are very lucky and 99% of them will be minor niggles unless you are very unlucky. These things are hand built so expect squeaks and rattles and a bit of off fitment sometimes
 
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marchie

marchie

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As per the comments of everyone else I wouldnt be concerned with your main concern.

Thought about buying abroad ? Likely to be better value if you can abide LHD
First time I hired a LHD car, I did my usual trick of a slow'ish approach to the traffic island, judged I had just enough time to beat the taxi safely, so went for the change down to 3rd, reaching down with my left hand to do so ... engine speed down to 8rpm when the taxi driver shared some thoughts in Portugese.

Then compounded my error by dropping family at the beach while I drove off to find parking space. No problem, and, being a gentleman, I volunteered to walk back up the hill to the Parking at 'home time' to save the family having to climb the hill in the heat. Unlocked the car, jumped in the seat and had mental block for 2 seconds wondering where the steering wheel had gone and then wondering why all those shoes 7 sandals were lying in the footwell ...

Nobody noticed [much] as I slunk round to the driver's side ...

Happy with RHD in France & Spain because, to me, that is the right way to be on the wrong side of the road! I'm probably not safe to be let out without supervision, but Elaine will be in the Passenger seat :unsure: :LOL:

Steve & Elaine

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suavecarve

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First time I hired a LHD car, I did my usual trick of a slow'ish approach to the traffic island, judged I had just enough time to beat the taxi safely, so went for the change down to 3rd, reaching down with my left hand to do so ... engine speed down to 8rpm when the taxi driver shared some thoughts in Portugese.

Then compounded my error by dropping family at the beach while I drove off to find parking space. No problem, and, being a gentleman, I volunteered to walk back up the hill to the Parking at 'home time' to save the family having to climb the hill in the heat. Unlocked the car, jumped in the seat and had mental block for 2 seconds wondering where the steering wheel had gone and then wondering why all those shoes 7 sandals were lying in the footwell ...

Nobody noticed [much] as I slunk round to the driver's side ...

Happy with RHD in France & Spain because, to me, that is the right way to be on the wrong side of the road! I'm probably not safe to be let out without supervision, but Elaine will be in the Passenger seat :unsure: :LOL:

Steve & Elaine
That ll learn you for trying to be kind and thoughtful !
 
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marchie

marchie

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Looks good except for transverse bed
Where do you fit the TV?
Is there an oven/grill?

<Broken link removed>

I would have the T66

<Broken link removed>
Transverse bed is OK, had them in Gobur & Swifty caravans; at our age, it's '1 out all out' for 3am Roll Call for the bathroom.

Don't bother with telly, if there's something we want to watch, we go racy and buy a small beer at the bar!

Oven & Hob installed, good fridge and only a wee lump for driving/parking/payload maximisation etc. And I MAY get Elaine to drive! Thinks she's forgiven me for my ill advised comment when she missed a gearchange when collecting me from hospital after my hip replacement. We were 3 miles+ from home at the time and she replied calmly, 'In a moment, we shall see how far you can walk on those new crutches ...'

There are times when grovelling is the only option, and this was one of them. Still get reminded of the exchange periodically :rolleyes: :LOL:

Steve
 
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marchie

marchie

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Thanks to everyone for the advice and reassurance; much appreciated! Just need to wait to see if Gobby the Gobur sells on Monday and then we can get stuck in!

Steve & Elaine
 
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68c

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Could get pretty cold sleeping next to the rear doors. I would keep a sheet of one inch Celotex insulation, perhaps slipped into a duvet cover to prop up by the doors at night. Stored flat on the bed in the day so you can still see out the back windows when driving.

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