Looking for advice on our first Motorhome

[Ddavies193784]

Hi all.
I’m a newbie and am looking for some advice. My wife and I are looking to buy our first Motorhome for our family (3 kids). We do not have c licences so are limited to the 3.5t limit.
We would need at least a 5 berth and have a budget of about 15k. We have drove to Spain in our car for the last two years and are looking at enjoying a more scenic and leisurely experience.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated and also some clarification about payload of what we could take to ensure we don’t go over the 3.5t would help.

Thanks in advance!

 

[lorger]

Payload is going to be your biggest issue with 5 onboard, it might be worth sitting the test to drive bigger which will open up a whole new world of vans.

Also make sure you get a van with 5 belts and depending kids ages you might need child seats.

 

[HandyAndy]

seconded... Get the C1E test under your belts, a 3.5 tonner is going to be difficult for 5 people

 

[Stealaway]

A caravan could be a better solution with three kids.

 

[Cheshirecat57]

Ditto, get a caravan. “Leisurely” and “ 5 stuffed in a 3.5 tonne MoHo” is an oxymoron

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Mr Beaumont]

How easy is it to sit the test to add c1 to a licence?

 

[mikebeaches]

I reckon, with judicious planning, it might be possible to manage at 3500 kg. You could probably find a small to medium size coach built that weighs in at about 2750 / 2800 kg with driver and 1 passenger, which might provide just about enough payload if your children aren't too big.

Your budget could prove a challenge for a 5 berth with the same number of belted seats.

Good luck with your search in any case.

 

[chenderson1965]

How easy is it to sit the test to add c1 to a licence?

Not too hard, but time consuming - and a bit costly. We’re just doing it for my wife. There are three steps and each has to be completed before you can book the next. First you have to get a set of forms from your local post office. Then;-

1) Book an HGV medical (either at your local GP or one of many who advertise the service). Costs about £50 and you send off the completed medical form to the DVLA.

2) if the DVLA are happy with the medical they will return your licence (ours took about 2 weeks) with provisional C1 entitlement (although weirdly, there’s nothing on it to say this!). You can now book your theory tests at a local test centre (ours had availability within a week). There are two, a multiple choice set of questions and a video based hazard spotting test. You can do them together and it takes a couple of hours. Cost £37. Bear in mind that there’s quite a lot of HGV specific theory to learn so you’ll need some time to do this before the tests.

3) Once you have your theory test you can book yourself in for the practical training and test. Most places do both in a two day intensive at a cost of £500-£700. Not all p,aces have C1 vehicles to practices and test in so it’s worth checking this before you commit.

If all goes well, you can probably get the whole process done in 4-6 weeks but probably more likely to be 2-3 months.

I hope this helps.

Chris

 

[Ddavies193784]

Thank you all so much for your help and advice. One of the reasons of going down the Motorhome route, instead of a caravan, is that the travelling in the cars is a little too stressful for our family (2 autistic children). We are planning a trial run in Easter where we hire a Motorhome for a few days but we are slightly concerned about the weight and payload of the vehicles we could legally use. Is there a list anywhere which shows the the max weight and payload of Motorhomes so we can plan what we and our belongings would potentially weigh.

 

[138go]

All MHs very. Depends who puts them together. You need to ask the payload of the vehicle you want to hire and then get the scales out and start weighing everything you are taking. If you have a C1 licence you can drive over 3500kg if you don’t expect a payload of around 500kg. Add up the kids weight and passenger and anything over 75kg for the driver. 100lts of water weigh 100kg. Food always weighs more than you think.