Looking to buy first motor home

[RichardHippo]

Hi
I’ve just joined the forum and we are looking to buy our first motor home budget £30 to £40k having just retired
There are just the two of us plus our two dogs.
Our travel plans are mainly uk based but may get brave in the future
Based on advice thus far we think we are looking for something like:
4 birth or bigger
Autotrail brand being uk based
Two fixed single beds
Garage area for storage
Mileage under 20k ish
A unit that has had extras already added

We would really appreciate any advice and guidance / things to look out for etc as we have it all to learn lol
Thanks in advance

 

[stevewagner]

Welcome to the mad house. I've retired today but been a motorhome owner for 40+ years. Not a good time to be buying as prices have soared. Don't know where you live but British Car Auctions have a motorhome auction on Monday with quire a few nice vans. Whatever you buy I would recommend you buy a damp meter and test everywhere inside including cupboards and lockers. Autotrail have had some issues with water ingress with some of their later models so be careful. I would consider all motorhomes European and English. You will probably find that you go through a few vans before you find the one that meets most of your needs - I'm on number 18.
Best of luck.

 

[David and Sally]

 

[wiljoy]

I would highly recommend that you hire and try before you buy. The experience of trying a van will steer you in the direction suited to your requirements. Better to make sure rather than possibly buying the wrong van.
Good luck in your search but be careful as there are a lot of wrecks out there at the moment.

 

[Spriddler]

Welcome to Fun.
View as many as you can. This isn't so easy now with this year's rush to own a motorhome. Many dealers have a stock shortage.
Watch out for the fairly common scams on the auction websites with fraudulent sellers using snipped photos of m/hs that they don't own.
Have a look at The Motorhome Buyers Guide in the Resources section.

Check the MOT history of any that interest you by entering the reg'n number in the link below.

Check the MOT history of a vehicle

Check the MOT history of a vehicle from 2005 onwards, including if it passed or failed, its mileage and why it failed, download MOT test certificate

www.gov.uk

A 4 berth or larger m/h might weigh over 3500kg which will require you to have the C1 driving licence category.

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[gus-lopez]

 

[suavecarve]

Hi and welcome.

£30-40K purchase would mean that absolutely shed loads of advice for the joining fee of about £15 on here is a bargain as it allows you to use the search facility where you might be able to view the complete history of many vans as well as loads more advice about weight and licences or generators or solar or lpg or towing an a frame etc etc.

Best of luck

 

[U.Toadifact]

Also recommend trying before buying. Either test drive as many as possible or hire. Mrs T and I were totalyy convinced we wanted a coach built, but eventually fell in love with a PVC. Plenty big enough for we two. (Although no dogs).

 

[RichardHippo]

Hi
Yes we have done this and learnt much from it thanks

 

[Jamesh]

How many berths is Tam's motorhome????

Just a thought...

Cheers James

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[davidbaldam]

Hi and welcome to FUN.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Hi and welcome

a huge question and not one you want to get wrong.

Initially, I would visit one of the bigger dealers and have a wander around as there is a lot of variety, first the actual size of the van, A class, C class or PVC, then, do you actually need four berths, as it can make a huge difference to the amount of space you have inside, would you prefer a front or rear lounge, front lounges make it lighter inside, will you want to cook inside the van, some vans don't have a proper oven will you want to wild camp now and then, will you want to tow anything, what about TV etc.

If you can, make a list of how you might use it we will be able to help more.

 

[Jonno1103]

Hi
I’ve just joined the forum and we are looking to buy our first motor home budget £30 to £40k having just retired
There are just the two of us plus our two dogs.
Our travel plans are mainly uk based but may get brave in the future
Based on advice thus far we think we are looking for something like:
4 birth or bigger
Autotrail brand being uk based
Two fixed single beds
Garage area for storage
Mileage under 20k ish
A unit that has had extras already added

We would really appreciate any advice and guidance / things to look out for etc as we have it all to learn lol
Thanks in advance

I'd suggest looking at a 2011 -12 Autotrail Savannah. You'll never find one with an under 20k mileage as these moho's are well loved with the majority of owners being mature & sensible.

The Savannah is fully loaded anyway so there's not much in terms of extras that can be fitted to them.

Have a look at this one which is a typical example with an extra leisure battery and rear air suspension fitted.


Broken Link Removed

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I hate Motorhome depot, they give you as little info as possible so that you have to contact them, and as a seller, they add £3k to the price making it a harder sell, I know as we have been a buyer and a seller with them, but never again.