Motorhome driving course?

Mousy

Mousy

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Sa15 2DG
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Hymer S840 Merc auto
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Since 2013
Right I need to bite the bullet and start driving our motorhome, it's a 7.3 metre long Left hand drive automatic Hymer.
I'm too nervous to just get in it and drive so I'm considering a course.
I've found a CC one near me in April £155 for the day.

Anyone else done one? Or should I look at HGV lesson?

Any advice?

Don't forget we are in South wales and will need something nearish.
 
Shame you are in west wales.
Rick (motor roamin) has an HGV driving school and caters for folks like yourself who need a confidence boost and a few pointers.
hes in Leicester.
i believe the 'club' courses are taken 'off road' (car parks, airfields etc) so no real experience of real time traffic scenarios.
merely manouvering courses...correct road positioning, reversing etc.
 
Do it, once you get the confidence you'll love it..

To do HGV you will need to get a provisional licence which requires a medical etc, so probably a little over the top.

Why not approach a HGV driving school as they may do an hourly rate, and maybe use your own MoHo with their instructor

Adrian
 
We did a course when we set off for our first long trip. Just for the 2 of us as there were none scheduled. The team does courses for CC & CCC but they tailored it for us in our own moho.
We did a little bit on an airfield (so the instructor could see we weren't going to kill him), some country lanes with single-lane sharp S bends, town main roads and narrow town back-streets with cars parked both sides, and a large roundabout onto a dual carriageway. Ours is 7m, right hand drive, automatic. Can't remember what we paid; we had 3 hours between us.
Him Indoors learned the most important thing as far as I'm concerned: SLOW DOWN. Also - if you're on a narrowish road with gritty edges & there's nobody else on the road, drive in the middle out of all the rubbish.
I learned not to be such a scaredy-cat, I can go backwards, and to drive to the outside of a turn.
Other stuff as well of course, but those are the main points I think.
Yes it was expensive, but we both value what we got out of it. (y)
 
Never ever done a course...

Driven since 1973 with C1...

Just got out and done it...

Just about to go from 8.2 metres to 9.0 metres...

Slow and steady, use your mirrors and don't get rattled...

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Did you drive your old one Dawn? this really isn't a lot bigger, it just seems it :)
 
I have a post 97 driving license which meant I didn't have C1. I bought a 4500KG Eura mobil so had to take my C1 test.

I tell you that was the best thing I ever did. I still recommend anyone moving from a car to a MH should take a days HGV training. I thought I was a competent driver but still learnt a lot from that course. For me the awareness of the difference between a car and a large van was an eye opener. But the prize for me was the reversing tuition. I drive solo and don't use reversing cameras. That is down to the HGV training.

I am just about to take my C course/test with Rick and possibly going onto do my C+E after. He is an incredibly helpful guy when it comes to advice on these matters and it may be worth giving him a shout @motor roamin . Not sure if he can do this kind of training etc but worth giving him a shout.
 
Thanks all, no David I didn't drive the last one, the biggest thing I've driven is a people carrier.

I met Motor roaming at Malvern and we did talk about his course but sadly it's too far away.

Really not sure whether to do the CC course or as suggested here find a local HGV driving centre and book some hours with them.
 
Leicester is 4 hours away from us, really want something nearer.

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Biggest thing I had driven before was also a people carrier (VW Caravelle),flew over to Munich and drove an 8m LHD Frankia home to Scotland. I did have a clash of mirrors with an HGV on the way home but no damage done.:oops:
 
What I'm trying to work out, hopefully from Funsters who have driving course experience is which is better value, CC motorhome manovering course or teaching time with HGV trainers.
 
Mousy said:
What I'm trying to work out, hopefully from Funsters who have driving course experience is which is better value, CC motorhome manovering course or teaching time with HGV trainers.
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HGV trainers....they are proffessionals, i suspect the club trainers are just experienced amateurs.
but i could be wrong
 
pappajohn said:
HGV trainers....they are proffessionals, i suspect the club trainers are just experienced amateurs.
but i could be wrong
Click to expand...
The guy we had is a professional HGV trainer who also does caravan & motorhome manoeuvring courses for the clubs - the clubs book group courses at his training centre.
 
Mr Womble did CC caravan course (in a group) & did help but he thinks that an individual professional HGV qualified trainer should be much better. CC club training was good for getting extra discount on our caravan insurance. :)

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I did the CC 1 day caravan course, it was sub contracted to a professional HGV training company... it was very good within the limits of a one day course.
It certainly gave me the confidence that I could hitch up & tug safely.
Other options may, technically, be "better" - but surely if the CC course gives @Mousy the confidence to get behind the wheel of her MH then surely it'll be money well spent?
 
Heck, I wish I'd had some tuition before driving a 28 foot fifth wheel from Rhode Island to California! The first 300 wet miles were the worst! The only advice I was given was on turning "take it wide, take it slow" and " them's take a lot of stoppin' in the wet". Both very true, but ........! I didn't hit anything, job done!
 
I have never done a course, either with CC or an HGV school. what training i did get many years ago was from experienced military, police and fire service instructors. most of it on vehicles that handled like ungainly boats on the road
most important advice was to realise a longer, wider, taller and heavier vehicle should not be driven like a car. learn the turning point of the vehicle and think where the corners of the vehicle are and think before you act.
modern vehicles by design are far more user friendly and tolerant to bad driving. this results in sloppy driving technique and bad habits

my advice is get one to one advice and tuition with an instructor with years of experience. Most tuition these days is teaching people how to pass a driving test. not real world experience which gives better confidence
 
Mousy said:
Leicester is 4 hours away from us, really want something nearer.
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I'm sure I remember one school near Culverhouse Cross just west of Cardiff Dawn. I'll phone around tomorrow, see if I can track them down.

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I jumped into an 8.5 ton, 31 ft RV in Canada. Drove through Vancouver on my first day with no real experience of anything bigger than 3.5 tons. As I didn't need a special license in Canada, I just assumed that was because the roads were massive and there were super highways everywhere. The roads are the same size if not smaller then the UK - I kid you not - motorways are single lanes, especially heading up the mountains. I bricked myself the first day, but as has been said before - slowly does it. By the end of our 3.5 weeks and 2000 miles I was reversing into parking spots, 3 (or 9) points turns in small roads (thanks to poor map reading skills) with not too much difficulty.

Take it one step at a time and try not to be phased. Yes it will be different, but the basics are the same and (as I did) use a 'spotter' - just to give you an indication of how you're getting on, especially with width and on tight turns length. Then you can blame them if anything goes wrong ;)
 
Can't help with the courses but well done for wanting to give it a go(y)

All I have noticed is that I use my wing mirrors a lot more than I do driving the car.
 
2 years ago, my company paid for all high mileage drivers (and therefore high risk) to undertake advanced driving course. Wow, what a difference it made, and I am now a much better driver,much more observant and confident, use my side mirrors more etc (even thoughI thought I was alright before.) Much of the same principles apply to m/h driving, and therefore I too am up for undertaking a motorhome course, main concerns being manoeuvring and junction space. Well done to @Mousy for raising this and if anyone knows anyone in Oxfordshire/West Midlands/Cotswolds area let me know. I will watch with interest
 
I did Rick's course last year. I knew about the CC courses but decided I really wanted one to one and a course that was longer that the CC ones. We drove on motorways, through villages and busy towns and then did some reversing practice - highly reommended. I would really recommend that you do a course from an organisation who train HGV drivers. Good luck.
 
Popeye said:
I'm sure I remember one school near Culverhouse Cross just west of Cardiff Dawn. I'll phone around tomorrow, see if I can track them down.
Click to expand...

I think this is the ones I was thinking of, perhaps they've moved.

Big Wheelers (South Wales) Limited
5 Cwrt-y-Parc
Earlswood Road
Cardiff Business Park
Llanishen
Cardiff, CF14 5GH

Amongst their courses they will cover
* Minibus training for teachers
* PCV D1+E trailer towing

so I'm sure they would give you a few hours in your own vehicle.
This is their contact details, drop them an enquiery.....Best of luck Dawn
bigwheelers@btconnect.com

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One other thought, as you know I've ordered a new MoHo and my Jackie is a little tense at driving this slightly larger vehicle, perhaps if time is not pressing you could organise a MoHo Driving Meet, including competitions for the boys reversing 9 metre vans in between soft bollards, that sort of thing.

Get Jim maneuvering with his new van with all the slide outs extended....
 
The firm we used is literally next door to Newark showground
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The instructor is an HGV instructor and a motorhome owner/driver so lots of "tips & wrinkles".

We also found near Daventry
Broken Link Removed
but diamond was a more convenient location for us.
 
Mousy said:
Thanks all, no David I didn't drive the last one, the biggest thing I've driven is a people carrier.
Click to expand...
Just think of it as a big people carrier, I'm not convinced a course will help as you have a LHD A Class learning to position it on the road is the hardest bit, the instructors will be used to instructing people with RHD vans.
My biggest problem was ear ache, 1st day after getting the van on the road we were in France. I kept getting deafened with "your going to hit that kerb" "told you" - best advice get some ear plugs.:)
My wife was very reluctant to drive our A Class final managed to get her in the drivers seat over Christmas she was surprised how easy it was, ours is auto as well makes it so much easier all you need to do is steer it.

One thing I found that made a huge difference to positioning was a small piece of black tape at the bottom of the screen about a foot from the left hand side (need to get the right position by trial & error) I know when this is lined up with a kerb or white line the body of the van is 6-9" away from the line or kerb.
 
:thanks3:

Thanks for all the help fellow Funsters, I'll definitely look into HGV trainers able to teach me in my van.

I will also post when I'm about to go out on the roads so you can all stay home!
Not saying there is anything wrong with my driving but my girlfriends always draw lots to avoid sitting in the front. :Eeek:
 
I would always recomend you use a professional instructor, but we are talking Motorhomes so make sure the company can tailor the course to your needs as you are not taking tuition for a test, also make sure if you are in a LHD their instructors have experience in those vehicles, whilst some off road is fine unless you only want reversing training the majority should be on road.

Hope this helps feel free to call if you need any more info.

Cheers Rick

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