First motorhome (1 Viewer)

[Saltrock]

Our dream of owning a motor home is going to happen in the next year. We have a budget of £40,000 and we kinda know what layout will work for us and our doggie but we are unsure which type of van to go for. This is my first post on here and would be grateful for any advice.
We can buy a new or nearly new van for our budget but would be a basic model. Or we could by a van about 5 years old but a better van.
Do motorhomes depreciate the same or would a better quality van keep their value more than budget vans?

 

[irnbru]

Welcome to Fun
Go see quite a few and read up on a short list.

 

[ambulancekidd]

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[Howard H]

And

 

[pappajohn]

The advantage of buying one a couple of years old is most of the teething problems have been sorted and of course it will be cheaper.
Once a new one has your name on the log book it's lost money, even before you drive it out of the dealers.

 

[PP Bear]

Hi and welcome

It's good to hear from us all about what's best, but the only way will be to try them all and see and that way you'll get it right. I spent 2 years looking for MY perfect motorhome, it wouldn't be perfect for everyone, but it is for me and I brought one that was 5 years old and a private sale and got a lot for my money.

After 2 trips to the NEC and sitting in EVERY motorhome on show, I wanted a fixed double at the rear, with the overcab bed for storage or guests/family. I never realised how useful and important the overcab was until I'd had it a while. I knew I wanted a motorhome with one, but the storage they offer is second to none. I could never now go for one that doesn't have that.

I took notes and when I finally spent my pennies on my home, it had the fixed rear double, overcab double and 2 sofa seats facing each other that easily sat 6 and could also become a bed.

I also wanted a separate shower that worked really well, with good reasonable fresh and grey water tanks. I wanted a separate toilet and I wanted a solar panel. I also wanted 2 long sofas that converted to a bed. It had to have a reverse camera, a microwave, a decent kitchen that had a sink AND a draining board (most don't I'm afraid) and a decent oven, hob and grill (again lots don't).

I wanted the external BBQ and shower points and an awning. I also wanted alloy wheels and a tow bar. All a big ask, but that's what I wanted and that's what I found. Get yourself to a show, or a meet and talk to everyone, they'll be happy to show you around their motorhomes, as we're that kind of people, as it's really the only way you'll find what you need and then you can decide if you want a new one or look for a secondhand one, which is what I did and was very happy with the money I spent.

I haven't regretted any of it and love that I now have a motorhome and can't describe how much fun they are to own. They're not cheap as there's maint costs, insurance and repairs etc and then the money to keep it in good working order, but all in all, it's worth every penny.

Happy motorhoming

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[Burgo]

We were in the same quandary but eventually decided we didn't want to get anything too old as everything we saw started to fall into pre Euro6 engines/ Halogen rather than Led lighting / getting a little tatty / only a stealer rather than manufacturers warranty / etc territory - and we wanted an island bed and there were less of these in older vans. To cut a long story short we bit the bullet and went the lower spec / newer model route thinking that we can always up spec / improve as we go along. Each to their own...

 

[davidbaldam]

Hi and welcome to FUN.

 

[WillH]

It's all about layout, layout, and layout. Buy used (thus fixed) .

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[Speve]

Hello and welcome have you thought about buying in Europe it’s a cheaper place and better spec for your money of course it would be LHD. But if you are planning to travel on the continent it’s great and very easy to drive in UK. Link Removed is a good place to start.

 

[funflair]

Hi and Welcome

So @Saltrock what is your ideal layout?

Go for a quality used is my advice buy at 5 or 6 years old and it won't go down much.

Personally I am not convinced that the continent is the cheapest place for used van now, either that or ours is worth more than we paid for it 6 years ago

Martin

 

[TUCANO]

and
If it was me buying I would go along the second hand route, I have bought new in the past and have since bought second hand.
Get yourself along to a show and a dealer or three and thoroughly investigate the layouts you prefer and try them for size, have a pretend shower, visit to the loo etc and don't be rushed by any salesman.
Also, enjoy the search but don't rush into it, the hunt is only the beginning of the fun.
Norman.

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[vin0114]

Welcome to FUN and good luck with tour search

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

We were looking at quality (Autosleeper) 4/5 years old for quite some time, then diesel emissions hit the news big time and politicians saying how bad older diesel engines are, so we decided (rightly or wrongly) that a van (engine) of that age could be our financial downfall. So we decided on a new van (Elddis Accordo Prestige 105) which we could get for the same price as an older Autosleeper but we would get an Euro6 engine and a 10 year water ingress warranty. Otherwise it would have been a older Autosleeper for us.

 

[Minxy]

Hi - welcome to the fun house!

Before you go anywhere near a MH first sit down and decide HOW you're use it, eg:

• will you wild camp/use aires or stay on sites and have other forms of transport to get around?
• will you want to drive it to/from places you want to visit?
• will you want to visit out of the way places that only smaller and/or narrower ones can get to?
• will you have long holidays in it or just short ones?

Answering these types of question will help you decide on whether you want a coachbuilt, A-class, or camper van type vehicle, once you know this you can then look for those which offer layout you want, then you'll see if your budget is better spent on new, nearly new, or a few years old.

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[Al-Di]

 

[Popeye]

If you do all that above you'll be 80 years old and still not made up your mind.

I bought new, to our exacting spec after buying a used one 3 years earlier and then discovering things that we could improve upon.
Many of the new vans are not of the same high quality that they used to be. Compare the Hymer Duomobile starting around £105,000, not as well built as a three year older model.

Mine is up around £160,000 new now and whilst that is a lot of money I haven't regretted it yet.

Just buy one and discover why most folk tell you they get it right on their third van.

Oh and........................................

 

[ymfb]

The third van was us to a T, although we haven’t used it much yet.

My opinion is that you need the biggest you are happy/confident to drive, the position/location and type of bed is the next.

In our situation, married couple, having a rear bed allows one of you to go to bed whilst the other stays up.

Go to shows, dealers etc and be open minded, we bought a PVC, not what we set out to get, but it was the best for us.

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[Rolyan]

Our dream of owning a motor home is going to happen in the next year. We have a budget of £40,000 and we kinda know what layout will work for us and our doggie but we are unsure which type of van to go for. This is my first post on here and would be grateful for any advice.
We can buy a new or nearly new van for our budget but would be a basic model. Or we could by a van about 5 years old but a better van.
Do motorhomes depreciate the same or would a better quality van keep their value more than budget vans?

The biggest depreciation will be in the first few years, so from a financial point of view, a nearly new offers better '£ value' than a brand new one. However, when you talk about 'basic', 'better', that has so many different meanings.

If it was me, if I knew exactly the type, make and model I wanted, I would pick a higher spec used one over a brand new lower spec one. Even if I had enough to buy a brand new one, I would still be sorely tempted to buy the same model used. However, what I definitely wouldn't do is compromise on what I wanted, just to buy new. So using cars as an example, I would buy a used Ford Focus XL with aircon and traction control, over a brand new Ford Focus X without aircon or traction control. But if I really wanted a Ford Focus but could only afford a used one, I wouldn't buy a Toyota Yaris simply because I could afford a new one.

We knew exactkly what we wanted (layout, size, type, access etc.), having driven camper vans in NZ and South America, so we searched for quite some time, and worked out what our budget could get. We saw lots, were let down several times (poor condition, not as described, no longer for sale etc.) before falling on exactly the used one we wanted, at the right price, fully serviced, great condition, low mileage, full warranty, etc etc etc.

Enjoy the search and apologies if I've confused you!