Still undecided pvc or coach build small van (5 Viewers)

[klaatu]

We’re long terming/full timing in the van in my avatar, and it has very little storage. We just don’t have many possessions now, and we’re learning to manage with what we have.

 

[fairford rambler]

Complicated!
I think it's the cost mainly. Also time frame -we want to get going after Xmas hopefully. I think our budget puts us firmly in the second hand market. Also been warned off new due to 'new' glitches.
Also while I'd love the convenience of the back going into two couches and opening the back door I'd be worried I wouldn't sleep well on thin couch cushions and would want a topper but then there's nowhere to store it. Happy to go with higher fixed bed over thru garage but haven't found one in a narrow van in our price range
(Expected we'd be looking at 3-5 yrs old vehicles)

Hello Jac, no I'm not falling for hi this time. You are right you can only spend what you have a budget for. But there are two schools of thought on new and second hand.

For.Buying a new vehicle gives you peace of mind with what is a minimum parts and labour warranty of 3 years, be it on a Peugeot base or I would imaging any manufacturers base. If it goes wrong just take it in any where in UK or Europe and get it done under warranty no charge. The finished product internally would most likely have 5 years warranty and as stated before the same would apply. This means no worries. A motorhome or PVC is a big investment and you want pleasure not pain. If you by new you know what you have bought and obviously will look after it and keep it for years after. By the way Peugeot do a mechanical insurance policy for the base vehicle when it reaches three years old. Of course you have to pay for it but at £300 for an extra 2 years you have more peace of mind and nothing is going to bite you. My Peugeot 3008 is now three years old and I have just taken this policy out myself. I did so because we are keeping it as it's only done 6,000 miles in 3 years so would be foolish to give it away for peanuts just for the sake of a newer vehicle.

Against. Although cheaper if 3-5 years old you are buying a product where the base warranty has expired and the internal finished product warranty is about to do the same. You are on your own when it comes down to forking out any big bills and they can be horrendous. You also know nothing about the vehicle previous history and you could be buying trouble that someone else has cast off. I find that if you like something you tend to keep it at our age. I am going to give you an instance of what I just said. Two years ago my neighbor and friend bought a second hand Hymer Star Edition 2013 model 34,000 on clock, he paid good money for it as well. He goes off every winter to Spain and Portugal and on his first trip abroad the auto gearbox failed £3.500 to get it fixed abroad. On his way back home the heating failed this was another £1800 to replace the boiler. Now his solar and electrics are giving him problems and that will be more diagnostic time and money. None of this is/ was covered by warranty as out of date. In my case I always buy new and get any problems sorted out hassle free. Ok, and I o understand that you could quite easily by second hand and have a problem free life. But you only have to look on the forums to see people desperate for advice because the are out of warranty.

Any way Jac, please don't look upon this as being patronizing it is not meant too be. Hope to have a good chat with you in August 2018 at Lymington rally and will show you the van.

 

[Jac Sprat]

Thanks Fairford rambler. That gives me food for thought.

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[fairford rambler]

Hello Jac, no I'm not falling for hi this time. You are right you can only spend what you have a budget for. But there are two schools of thought on new and second hand.

For.Buying a new vehicle gives you peace of mind with what is a minimum parts and labour warranty of 3 years, be it on a Peugeot base or I would imaging any manufacturers base. If it goes wrong just take it in any where in UK or Europe and get it done under warranty no charge. The finished product internally would most likely have 5 years warranty and as stated before the same would apply. This means no worries. A motorhome or PVC is a big investment and you want pleasure not pain. If you by new you know what you have bought and obviously will look after it and keep it for years after. By the way Peugeot do a mechanical insurance policy for the base vehicle when it reaches three years old. Of course you have to pay for it but at £300 for an extra 2 years you have more peace of mind and nothing is going to bite you. My Peugeot 3008 is now three years old and I have just taken this policy out myself. I did so because we are keeping it as it's only done 6,000 miles in 3 years so would be foolish to give it away for peanuts just for the sake of a newer vehicle.

Against. Although cheaper if 3-5 years old you are buying a product where the base warranty has expired and the internal finished product warranty is about to do the same. You are on your own when it comes down to forking out any big bills and they can be horrendous. You also know nothing about the vehicle previous history and you could be buying trouble that someone else has cast off. I find that if you like something you tend to keep it at our age. I am going to give you an instance of what I just said. Two years ago my neighbor and friend bought a second hand Hymer Star Edition 2013 model 34,000 on clock, he paid good money for it as well. He goes off every winter to Spain and Portugal and on his first trip abroad the auto gearbox failed £3.500 to get it fixed abroad. On his way back home the heating failed this was another £1800 to replace the boiler. Now his solar and electrics are giving him problems and that will be more diagnostic time and money. None of this is/ was covered by warranty as out of date. In my case I always buy new and get any problems sorted out hassle free. Ok, and I o understand that you could quite easily by second hand and have a problem free life. But you only have to look on the forums to see people desperate for advice because the are out of warranty.

Any way Jac, please don't look upon this as being patronizing it is not meant too be. Hope to have a good chat with you in August 2018 at Lymington rally and will show you the van.

Vegetarian, I hope

 

[Minxy]

For.Buying a new vehicle gives you peace of mind with what is a minimum parts and labour warranty of 3 years, be it on a Peugeot base or I would imaging any manufacturers base. If it goes wrong just take it in any where in UK or Europe and get it done under warranty no charge. The finished product internally would most likely have 5 years warranty and as stated before the same would apply. This means no worries.

I'm not aware of any MH/camper that has a 5 year warranty on the 'internals' at all, not even on the externals! It also depends where the vehicle is manufactured, for example those made abroad often only have a 2 year base and/or internals warranty.

As for no worries ... I wish it was that simple! Theoretically getting stuff sorted under warranty should be easy peasy but it isn't as many of us with new or nearly new ones have found.

Two years ago my neighbor and friend bought a second hand Hymer Star Edition 2013 model 34,000 on clock, he paid good money for it as well. He goes off every winter to Spain and Portugal and on his first trip abroad the auto gearbox failed £3.500 to get it fixed abroad. On his way back home the heating failed this was another £1800 to replace the boiler. Now his solar and electrics are giving him problems and that will be more diagnostic time and money.

But to be fair that could happen even if he'd bought a new one and it went out of warranty. At least buying a good used one would allow you to keep some money back to pay for any future repairs etc, if you've spent it all on buying a brand new one for a heck of a lot more then you don't have the money in the pot.

Not saying that I, or you, are right, just giving another angle on this.

 

[pixer]

We have a hymer 408c which is similar to the brevio and love it. Loads of storage 6 m long and only 2.15m wide transverse rear bed which you pull down - regularly carry 2 bikes in back and inflatable canoe. Some versions have more of a make up bed but not ours

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[pixer]

Hi
Yes that is same as Burstner Brevio T600 I think. Burstner owned by Hymer and come off same factory line. The Hymer and Brevio width I think is quoted as 2.10 m in brochure. Hymer no longer do this range. Now only available as Burstner Brevio and I think they have increased length to 6.5m in the latest version. I have Brevio T640 same length as standard Ducato van (6.38m) 2.10m wide. Two single beds one each side or very large double. I carry a motor scooter in it under the beds. The advantage being the weght is directly over the rear axle. Weighed mine full up with stuff, scooter and 2 people before trip , empty waste tank and full water tank and extra 20l water. Still had over 200kg payload left.

 

[Mr Colpot]

If you have room on the roof (and height is not an issue) you could always fit a top box? Ours came fitted with one and I use it for the outside chairs which was one of my main concerns when looking to downsize. We have replaced one of the rear lounge cushions with a bespoke mattress as Mrs Colpot has particular requirements for sleeping and I could see myself being able to long term in the van if I ever get the chance to retire.

 

[fairford rambler]

I'm not aware of any MH/camper that has a 5 year warranty on the 'internals' at all, not even on the externals! It also depends where the vehicle is manufactured, for example those made abroad often only have a 2 year base and/or internals warranty.

As for no worries ... I wish it was that simple! Theoretically getting stuff sorted under warranty should be easy peasy but it isn't as many of us with new or nearly new ones have found.


But to be fair that could happen even if he'd bought a new one and it went out of warranty. At least buying a good used one would allow you to keep some money back to pay for any future repairs etc, if you've spent it all on buying a brand new one for a heck of a lot more then you don't have the money in the pot.

Not saying that I, or you, are right, just giving another angle on this.

Hi again. My last Bailey 765 had 5 years warranty on everything built on the chassis internally and externally by them!!!!! In fact it could be extended to 7 years at a small cost if required. It did not cover accidental damage caused by a careless owner though, only manufacture faults that might occur. When I sold it the Bailey warranty went with it and I registered it to the new owner. Peace of mind for the new owner as well. Cost me £30 but it helped with the sale.

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[Minxy]

Hi again. My last Bailey 765 had 5 years warranty on everything built on the chassis internally and externally by them!!!!! In fact it could be extended to 7 years at a small cost if required. It did not cover accidental damage caused by a careless owner though, only manufacture faults that might occur. When I sold it the Bailey warranty went with it and I registered it to the new owner. Peace of mind for the new owner as well. Cost me £30 but it helped with the sale.

Not 5 years now though so no point in saying that it's a 'benefit' when buying new:

 

[MR. FUSION]

I'm not aware of any MH/camper that has a 5 year warranty on the 'internals' at all, not even on the externals! It also depends where the vehicle is manufactured, for example those made abroad often only have a 2 year base and/or internals warranty.

As for no worries ... I wish it was that simple! Theoretically getting stuff sorted under warranty should be easy peasy but it isn't as many of us with new or nearly new ones have found.


But to be fair that could happen even if he'd bought a new one and it went out of warranty. At least buying a good used one would allow you to keep some money back to pay for any future repairs etc, if you've spent it all on buying a brand new one for a heck of a lot more then you don't have the money in the pot.

Not saying that I, or you, are right, just giving another angle on this.

I believe some of the internals have a 3 year warranty like Thetford stuff. I think he maybe meant damp warranty, mine is 5 years but I have seen 10.
You are correct, my base FIAT was only warranted for 2 years as it was an import not a UK conversion.

 

[fairford rambler]

Not 5 years now though so no point in saying that it's a 'benefit' when buying new:

Wasn't he the lucky one then he got a bargain! I looked at some other manufactures and they are 3/ 4 or 5 years - so it's nit picking to single out one manufacturer. I see from the new Bailey warranty doc that they have upped from 5 to 6 years the bodywork integrity warranty, so it covers internal damp and with an option for a 10 year upgrade from the 6 years, wow that's even better than the 5 years original. Sad thing is that they only make it 3 now for other internal bits and have upped the transfer fee to £35. Still I'm sure you will agree he did get peace of mind.

ps just a thought and interesting. What is you Globecar warranty, it should be a good one with all that German engineering inside

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[Minxy]

Wasn't he the lucky one then he got a bargain! I looked at some other manufactures and they are 3/ 4 or 5 years - so it's nit picking to single out one manufacturer. I see from the new Bailey warranty doc that they have upped from 5 to 6 years the bodywork integrity warranty, so it covers internal damp and with an option for a 10 year upgrade from the 6 years, wow that's even better than the 5 years original. Sad thing is that they only make it 3 now for other internal bits and have upped the transfer fee to £35. Still I'm sure you will agree he did get peace of mind.

The point I was making is that implying that you can still get a MH with a 5 year 'full' warranty is misleading as you can't AFAIK ... the Bailey warranty on the 'structure' used to actually be 10 years but they reduced it too for some reason and now if you want it you have to pay yearly for it at quite a cost. Perhaps you would like to say which other MH/PVC manufacturer gives a 5 year hab and base warranty as standard? I only replied about the Bailey as that was the one in question ...

ps just a thought and interesting. What is you Globecar warranty, it should be a good one with all that German engineering inside

Globecars have 2 years on base and hab which is standard for a lot of MHs/PVCs built abroad, nothing unusual about that at all and I've never made any claims about German engineering in my posts, so you're mixing me up with other funsters on that front, however compared to lots of other MHs/PVCs, both UK and foreign built, Globecars are well put together IMV.

If I had a MH/PVC built in the UK, eg an Autosleeper, it would have 3 years hab and base comprising of 2 as 'standard' and a 3rd year which is normally covered/arranged by the selling dealer and sometimes isn't as good as the original 2 year but obviously still worth having if you can get it.

 

[pixer]

Have you decided yet? With all this stuff about how long the warranty is, I think I would begin to loose the will to live!
"I've seen the future and I'm not there"