Sons First Motorhome

[OutTheOffice]

My 32 year old son and his soon to be new wife have admired our van for some time, and enjoy our tales of adventures abroad. He is about to have an unexpected windfall from work ( lucky lad) and is thinking of buying his first motorhome. I was hoping the funsters would have some thoughts on what to buy, what to look for, where from etc.

He will have a budget of around £25k and whilst he likes VW pop tops has discounted one on the grounds of space ( they have a boarder collie and wont be long before starting a family) useability in the winter and cost --- he thinks he can get better value with a coach built, or certainly less miles on the clock.

They want to use it for their main 2 weeks away and multiple weekends away in north Wales as they are keen climbers. He will be able to store it at work, in a barn.

It seems it might be pot luck as to the quality of the van, in this market. But do some makes age better than others, other than damp what do they need to look for. Private buy or main dealer? They live in Northampton, so White Arches is their local dealer, or Elite Motorhomes.

Thoughts etc appreciated but great to see a youngster wanting to venture into motor homing.

 

[mitzimad]

At the age of van his budget dictates his probably better to find a private sale look for one thats been owned for a while and has some history with it good owners will have details of what theyve done

 

[ChrisSue]

I'm, hopefully, popping i to Elite on Sunday I'll have a browse for him

 

[OutTheOffice]

I'm, hopefully, popping i to Elite on Sunday I'll have a browse for him

Thank you , I have said I will take a trip up to SMC and Brownhills with them. But a local buy would be better.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Why not check out the forum's classifieds - there's a few listed at the budget.

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[TOAD on Tour]

As others have said, I would be inclined to look privately. Use the Dealers to visit and perhaps get an idea of preferred van layouts etc. and then go look on eBay/Autotrader and MHF classifieds etc.

 

[OutTheOffice]

Why not check out the forum's classifieds - there's a few listed at the budget.

Yes you are right, I have looked there are a few, I just wonder whether at that age of van going down a dealer route so you get maybe 6 months warranty is a better plan, so if it does turn out to have issues you have some come back.

 

[TOAD on Tour]

I am not so sure you’d get a thorough warranty on a van that age on that budget, in my limited experience a lot of 2nd hand car/MH warranty’s aren’t really worth the paper they are written on, not sure the big dealers like Brownhills would have much in stock at that price, but could be wrong. We’ve had 4 vans in a relatively short space of time (6 years) 2 private and 2 from a dealer….the 2 from a dealer gave us by far the most problems and we moved both on quite quickly. Granted our current van is not that old and cost (to us) a huge amount, but we got it privately, full service history, mint condition and it’s been by far our best van. Either options come with a certain amount of risk and I’d recommend getting something with as much documented history as possible.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Yes you are right, I have looked there are a few, I just wonder whether at that age of van going down a dealer route so you get maybe 6 months warranty is a better plan, so if it does turn out to have issues you have some come back.

If you get a warranty, you'll being paying for it in the price.
And... getting the dealer to honour that warranty in a timely fashion maybe an issue, a dealer is likely to prioritise revenue generating work.

Maybe keep a buffer, rather than spend up to the budget limit, to pay for any necessary repairs.

 

[OutTheOffice]

If you get a warranty, you'll being paying for it in the price.
And... getting the dealer to honour that warranty in a timely fashion maybe an issue, a dealer is likely to prioritise revenue generating work.

Maybe keep a buffer, rather than spend up to the budget limit, to pay for any necessary repairs.

Thats true what ever the age of the van. The AA used to offer a service where by they would inspect a car before you purchased it, I was wondering if it is worth asking a local mobile Moho repairer to undertake an independent inspection, if the owner / dealer refuses to allow it , that would speak volumes.

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[Langtoftlad]

I think you're in danger of overthinking this.
No van at £25k is going to be perfect.
There will always be some issue or repair or replacement needed.
But they can all be fixed [or lived with].
As long as it doesn't have the biggie - damp/and or rotten bodywork.

Perhaps someone with motorhome experience might accompany you?

 

[Lenny HB]

At that price range I would go for a German van much less chance of water ingress, most other things can be fixed easily.