Hi All
I’m new to the forum and indeed to motorhoming, since I don’t have one yet!
So I could do with a bit of advice from more experienced owners, please..
We have about £20k to spend on a secondhand motorhome, which is a heck of a lot of money to me, but clearly doesn’t go that far with motorhomes as I’m finding out. I’m in no major rush as I want to get it right, so am doing as much research as I can to reduce my chances of buying a dud.
I’ve tried to list a few of our main requirements and some of the m/h’s I like the look of but would like some advice on any obvious m/h’s I haven’t included or whether I should be wary of some of the ones I have (replacement parts problems, quality flaws, etc). So here goes..
My main criteria (I think!)
1. No wood! In my price range it’s likely to be over 10yrs old, so I want to avoid m/h’s with wood in the construction as moisture will get in, eventually. Especially living in sunny Cornwall!
2. Only needs to be 2 berth
3. Less than 6m long and ideally less than 3500kg. (Driveway storage, practicality and French town restrictions on weight)
4. Decent sized living area. (Two long bench seats perfect)
5. Full sized double bed. Happy to make it up daily or a pull-down type. Over cab type would be too claustrophobic though. Panel vans seem too short or too narrow.
6. Somewhere to store a mattress topper if using the living area as a bed
7. Well screwed together as rattles will infuriate my wife (I have a Defender so can deal with noise!)
8. Basic kitchen is fine. Gas hob and microwave/grill suitable.
The main problem seems to be combining a good sized living area with my preference for avoiding wood in the construction. I may be worrying too much about wooden frames, but as I work in engineering I know that suitable aluminium box section/tubing is pretty cheap (< £5/metre) and is very easy to work with, so I’m loathed to gamble with British manufacturers preference for wooden structures - irrespective of the “21st century aerospace bonding techniques” commonly marketed. (conveniently omitting to mention the 19th century cart horse technology it’s covering up!!)
I’ve therefore been looking at the following, but could do with a few more options since there are very few of these about:
- small A Class Hymers (Like B544) and Frankia’s I600 but they are very expensive or old and hard to find.
- Dethleffs globebus T3 2 berth, probably too new yet for my price range. I assume its Aluminium/GRP and closed cell foam construction?
I like the Autotrail Tracker size, layout, etc so something like that without the wooden structure..
Other than the above I’m struggling. Has anyone got any other suggestions? What are Pilote, Adria m/h’s made from and is the quality good? (ie: on a par or better than Autotrail/Auto Sleeper as a minimum I suppose – although obviously all subjective)
Any help/advice would be much appreciated, even if it’s “give up and buy a better tent”!
I’m new to the forum and indeed to motorhoming, since I don’t have one yet!
So I could do with a bit of advice from more experienced owners, please..We have about £20k to spend on a secondhand motorhome, which is a heck of a lot of money to me, but clearly doesn’t go that far with motorhomes as I’m finding out. I’m in no major rush as I want to get it right, so am doing as much research as I can to reduce my chances of buying a dud.
I’ve tried to list a few of our main requirements and some of the m/h’s I like the look of but would like some advice on any obvious m/h’s I haven’t included or whether I should be wary of some of the ones I have (replacement parts problems, quality flaws, etc). So here goes..
My main criteria (I think!)
1. No wood! In my price range it’s likely to be over 10yrs old, so I want to avoid m/h’s with wood in the construction as moisture will get in, eventually. Especially living in sunny Cornwall!
2. Only needs to be 2 berth
3. Less than 6m long and ideally less than 3500kg. (Driveway storage, practicality and French town restrictions on weight)
4. Decent sized living area. (Two long bench seats perfect)
5. Full sized double bed. Happy to make it up daily or a pull-down type. Over cab type would be too claustrophobic though. Panel vans seem too short or too narrow.
6. Somewhere to store a mattress topper if using the living area as a bed
7. Well screwed together as rattles will infuriate my wife (I have a Defender so can deal with noise!)
8. Basic kitchen is fine. Gas hob and microwave/grill suitable.
The main problem seems to be combining a good sized living area with my preference for avoiding wood in the construction. I may be worrying too much about wooden frames, but as I work in engineering I know that suitable aluminium box section/tubing is pretty cheap (< £5/metre) and is very easy to work with, so I’m loathed to gamble with British manufacturers preference for wooden structures - irrespective of the “21st century aerospace bonding techniques” commonly marketed. (conveniently omitting to mention the 19th century cart horse technology it’s covering up!!)
I’ve therefore been looking at the following, but could do with a few more options since there are very few of these about:
- small A Class Hymers (Like B544) and Frankia’s I600 but they are very expensive or old and hard to find.
- Dethleffs globebus T3 2 berth, probably too new yet for my price range. I assume its Aluminium/GRP and closed cell foam construction?
I like the Autotrail Tracker size, layout, etc so something like that without the wooden structure..
Other than the above I’m struggling. Has anyone got any other suggestions? What are Pilote, Adria m/h’s made from and is the quality good? (ie: on a par or better than Autotrail/Auto Sleeper as a minimum I suppose – although obviously all subjective)
Any help/advice would be much appreciated, even if it’s “give up and buy a better tent”!
- from another Funster in Cornwall - whereabouts are you?
