Tell me please.....why and what enticed you to buy a motorhome in the end. (1 Viewer)

[Dawnbreak]

Hi, haven't posted on here for months...but lurking on and off. Hubby and I are still a long way off from maybe purchasing a motorhome....we are both pleased it is taking a time, as generally reading it seems that most folks take 18 months to a year before they dive in. We go from 90% sure to 50/50....we weigh up the arguments for and against. The fors being freedom for as and when holidays etc....the against being the £'s spent to purchase one as opposed to the number of holidays we would have over the next say 4 years if we didn't purchase. The cost of insurance and keeping it etc......we are starting to take on the thought that it will become a hobby, and hubby is already thinking of ways to change the driveway and making it theftproof. Friends of ours have had one for a time, but not used it since October last year and their next time away will be April....so its been stored up for 6 months.....thats a long time for it to be sitting there unused. Me and hubby intend to go away all year round.....especially as he will be retired and we have the time and inclination. We are going to go to a couple of shows this year and really look and take in everything.......I suppose when the time comes I'm sure we will take the plunge....so would love to hear your stories of when and why you purchased your motorhome.

 

[hilldweller]

most folks take 18 months to a year before they dive in.

Really ?

Took us 18 days.

What's wrong with these people ?

Within 18 months of thinking "that's a good idea" we'd bought one and done UK, Europe, Africa.

Italy next stop.

 

[Lincolnshire Rover]

We had had enough of messing with airports early flights long delays etc and always said if we won the lottery we would buy a motorhome and set off to Europe!!!
We did not win the lottery but almost as good as we both retired on 9th Dec 2006 and also picked up our 1st motorhome on the same day a Compass 115 having both drawn the 25% tax free lump from our pensions to pay for it which we had ordered at the NEC show in October getting a good deal as a 1st time buyer without a trade in .
We are now starting our 4th year and have upgraded to a bigger Motorhome we cannot wait until the spring to get back to Europe for our 4th year of touring abroad as an example last year we went to Europe mainly France five times a total of 12 weeks via Eurotunnel for a total cost from leaving home to return home of just under £1600 as good as that also when you buy your motorhome its not dead money it will always have a good value if you take care of it , its like getting married if you wait until you can afford it you never will , money is worthless at the moment so you might as well enjoy it you are a long time gone live for to-day you never know whats ahead of you:thumb::thumb:

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[Brisey]

We discussed purchasing a motorhome one weekend. Visited a dealer the following weekend, found a van we both liked and could afford. Left a deposit there and then, went home wondering if we had made a mistake. 5 years later we both still agree that it was the best thing we have done. Have visited France, Belgium, Germany and toured around the UK, we have enjoyed every minute of it.:thumb:
Next stop Italy :thumb:
Still plenty of time to get your motorhome and join us on the Italian Job.

 

[ourcampersbeentrashed]

we bought ours because I "inherited" my nieces dog and we would not put animals into kennels.

We havent looked back since. We can go away any time of year. We have far more holidays that we used to as the money stretches further.

We can go away at extremely short notice or plan, or on the spur of the moment - its up to us - we are not reliant on anyone else.

We dont have to plan where we are going - especially out of season - just jump in, go and end up wherever.

When you book hotels etc you go by the brochure or recommendation - if you get a bad one you are stuck there, whereas with a motorhome you just unhook and go somewhere else knowing you havent lost a fortune.

You dont have to wait on delayed flights or worry about holiday companies going bust and ending up being stranded somewhere.

We have gained friends through both motorhome fun and the sites we have stayed on and this is priceless.

 

[SteveandSue]

Why ?

We were reccomended by a friend to hire a motorhome when we were visiting New Zealand about 4 years ago.We did for 10 days and then we were hooked.
The following year we hired again to go to Norway and travel the Artic Highway, we returned via Sweden, Germany,Finland, Denmark and Amsterdam we were away for about 3 weeks and covered about 4 thousand miles.
3 moths later we bought our van we have had her 18 months and have covered 11 thousand miles.
We are away most weekends and travel Europe (including the Alps ) on our main holidays.
I would advise you to hire first it gives you the idea which lay out suits you best and if Motorhoming is for you.
Best of luck - Sue :thumb:

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[hilldweller]

We discussed purchasing a motorhome one weekend. Visited a dealer the following weekend, found a van we both liked and could afford. Left a deposit there and then

It's that easy, innit.

Worst case, the dream flounders, you sell up and it's cost a few thousand but if you can't stand that then you can't afford one in the first place. Before anyone comes back with "you must have more money than sense to make that stupid comment", the simple fact is it will cost a few thousands a year to enjoy it especially with present fuel costs.

Olde Farte wanders off into the distance singing "juste one cornetto, from Italy....." which shows how he's cracking up because Italy is the one place you'll not buy a cornetto.

 

[laneside]

laneside

Hi

We have been there and done that.

We started with a caravan and enjoyed that and then changed our mind between a MH and a new caravan and we must have switched sides about fifty times.

I think our last caravan trip to France was the final clincher as it is so MH friendly.

I agree about the additional expense incurred but if like us you are coming up to retirement age then get out there and enjoy because sure as heck your kids will if you do not.

The one thing we have noticed since retiring the winters seem to be longer and colder so next year will head off sun seeking.

My only advice would be to spend as much time as possible looking at as many lay outs as possible and spend time in them to see if you can live with the layout.

If then you are like us you may have to make a little compromise, we had to forgo the fixed bed for a smaller MH and find it has many advantages when nipping to the shops or slotting into a parking place on the beach roadside.

Our only advice is get out there and enjoy it and stick around on here for plenty of good advice and a little of the other. it is not a pracitise run time runs away too quickly.

All the very best

Lynda and Alan

 

[froghopper]

how did u decide

well we acted very fast, saw it , likes it went for it, never planned or took time, got carried away with excitment , climbed all over, felt it, sat and admired it,, oh how happy we were,,, but then back to reality,, divorced now,,, the motor home, oh took forever to decide,, but just follow your dreams and gut feeling,, get the best you can afford, no good having a palace on the drive, better a van and mattress you use and enjoy,,,, so many vans, like us, all different,,, good luck,,

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[Mr Colpot]

We were looking for a c*r*van, but then found even the lightest one that suited us meant we would have to change the Car. So we spent the money we would have spent on the c*r*van on a second hand Hymer. We are on our third Motorhome in a couple of years and wished we had done it years ago.
We are away most weekends even if its only for one night, and plan 3 visits to Europe this year. My personal advice is Just Do It!

 

[PamandKeith]

We were caravanners until 1997. We always talked about changing to a motorhome when we retired. Then in 1997 my mother-in-law died suddenly from a stroke and that changed our way of thinking. Why wait until retirement, you never know what's round the corner. So within a couple of weeks of her death we became proud owners of our first motorhome, an Autohomes Bedouin.

Nearly four years after we both retired, we still said it was the best thing we had ever done.

Pam

 

[Dawnbreak]

Thank you all for your replies, they have been very interesting and informative, especially Mr. Lincolnshire....."money is worthless knowadays".........and that has been part of the thought process. Hubby puts in his notice to retire this Christmas or just after, has to give 3 months. Retirement and funds and living, am sure that there are lots of folks out there that can understand where we're coming from. Saw a funny the other day which said......Retirement...."whole of the man, half the income"oh:
We have fallen for the Swift Sundance range as one thing we do know is, we will buy knew, and before anyone shouts....your mad!!!.......we have been in sat, rummaged, laid, moved around in lots of 2nd hand ones over the last few months.....they just don't do it for us....have looked into financial savings etc but still come back to new.
:thumb: Thanks again for taking the time to reply, much appreciated.

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[hilldweller]

...your mad!!!.......

Unless you wait until judder free ones are rolling off the assembly line but that could be another year.

Remember, you might not get it right first time so buying new would be madder than mad.

 

[Dawnbreak]

I know...you've told me before....and then some

 

[hilldweller]

I know...you've told me before....and then some

I like people who pay attention !

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[Dawnbreak]

You're sooooo funny!

 

[Jaws]

After donkeys years of being pestered I finally succumbed.

I agreed to 'try' out the scene first anyways..
Bought a pile of poo van and a car to pull it

Went away for ONE weekend

Loved it all but hate tugging ( towed other stuff for years )

the week I flogged the caravan I went looking and found our first camper.
That was crap but sold it and made a few bob on it

Next one took nearly 5 days to find and that was absolutely stonking and got me ( us ) totally hooked on the scene

As for buying new ?
I guess if I was massively wealthy and money was completely unimportant I MIGHT consider it, but I fail to see the charm of giving the govt a pot load of my lolly, fail to see the charm of sorting out niggles, and fail to see the charm of running a new motor in !

A unit the is a couple of years old has none of those drawbacks and usually is still like new !

 

[JeanLuc]

We have fallen for the Swift Sundance range as one thing we do know is, we will buy knew, and before anyone shouts....your mad!!!.......we have been in sat, rummaged, laid, moved around in lots of 2nd hand ones over the last few months.....they just don't do it for us....have looked into financial savings etc but still come back to new.

Hi Dawnbreak - I have sent you a private message

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[hilldweller]

You're sooooo funny!

Well better value than the BBC - "I won't say this only once".

And I don't get repeat fees

 

[Wyaye wires]

Wanted one so we could travel with any number of dogs relatively hassle free. Bought an Autotrail Apache U shaped lounge which we thought was ideal until we used it a few times. After 3 months we bought a Cheyenne 696G with a fixed rear bed over the garage. We can now travel with all the dogs and their stuff to the shows and I'm not needing to get the one thing that's at the bottom of the storage locker. So my advice would be try it first just to make sure that the layout you thought was best for you actually is!

 

[sedge]

Took us just over a week from discovering we needed one in the first place.

There we were in France packing the camping gear up to go home. It was half past 9 in the morning. The temp was 30+, the humidity was approx 85% and every time I tried to do owt I went dizzy and nearly fell over.

I made a statement which was, I'm getting too f£$%$ing old for this lark. (I love camping, it's just being too flaming hot in the first place, then having to do summat physical, I can't cope!)

So anyway. Himself said shall we look for a motorhome? And I replied Go on then. We looked at a few s/h as we didn't think we could really afford a decent new one. Now bearing in mind at that moment we owned a caravan we'd had from new 30 years ago, it was very well-used - but I tell you I'd have been ashamed to offer some of those heaps in part-exchange and our old Avondale was in far better condition than some of the stuff we saw. How can people be so careless with their things? - I know 'stuff' happens but you mend it straight away don't you? Not leave it to get worse? Dreadful.

So we looked at new ones. We didn't like quite a few of them - I really couldn't live with anything in orange, far too 1960's, a lot of the upholstery!!! - or want a van laid out like a corridor either. It had to be light wood, that's about all I knew about it. Didn't need a permanent bed/room. Waste of space for a few hours each night - as long as you are physically able. We use the over cab, out of sight out of mind and I don't even have to put a fitted sheet on it or open a locker before using it.

We got an absolutely excellent deal on the one we bought. I knew I wanted this van when I walked into it. So did Pete.

If you find you haven't got summat after you get the van, you go and buy the thing. If you don't go and buy the thing - it just proves you don't need it !!!!!

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[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Some one who shall be nameless and who I am no longer associated with said to me 15 years ago...........

''Would you like to invest in a Motorhome business?'' and like a lamb to the slaughter I agreed.

Peter

 

[david price]

We started with a tent,then trailer tent, carravan back to tent.We are on our third motorhome,upgraded to the one we intend to keep although nearly had to hand back not so long ago.
For us we knew we would not get to use it has much as we would like at this moment.The plan is that in 7 years we will have no committments and will then have six months a year abroad.I will have had all the extras we want and i will still only be 52,wife will be younger.But while we have to watch the pennies at the moment we still get to go away,average 4 weeks abroad plus weekends when not working a couple of years ago we did 12 weeks abroad.Still really enjoy it now,just dont get to use it has much as i would like to but having said that if i died tomorrow it would be knowing we have seen places and things we would not have seen by flying abroad and also met some lovely people,so i would not have any regrets.
Our long termplan is yet to come but if it doesent i have already done and seen so many things.Life is just to short.
Dave

 

[DandG5515]

We started with a tent, which we still have but only used it twice in the 3 years we have had it. We are away most weekends at sailing events all around the UK and the cost of hotels was getting ridiculous and would only stay for one night to keep the costs down. Started looking at Motorhomes as seeing a lot of our friends with them and how much more easier it was to have one, also the socialising looked fun. So off we went trawling dealerships in Yorkshire, whilst visiting the area, then back down here in Norfolk. Deciding the layout we needed or should I say thought we needed soon went out the window when a couple turned up at Greentrees where we were looking with an L reg Lunar and said "come and look at ours". I fell for it, it was perfect, the layout was completely different to what we thought we should have. I would of bought it there and then but the guy then went on to say what he'd replaced in the van and the list was endless, so needless to say we left it well alone. But it changed our views on layouts and we now have one that suits our needs very well, also bigger than what we intended but we know we will keep it for a lot of years to come. We looked at 100s' over a long period of time because at first it was only a dream but now its reality and we love it because we now just pitch up on a Friday night, no unpacking to do, and your weekend starts immediatly. Also you get to meet some lovely people as we did this last weekend on our very first Funster meet.

Dale

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[Goose]

I think perhaps the most important quality for any prospective motorhome buyer to possess must be a sense of (or longing for) adventure. Second might be a yearning for independence.

The very fact that you're considering a motorhome means you have both. And perhaps the only thing that is giving you doubts is the financial committment.

Some folks are quite happy to sit at home, never leave their immediate environs and simply exist. Others reach a turning point in their lives when they realise the need to explore is overwhelming.

You live in a glorious part of the world. The whole of Europe with all its fabulous sights, history, architecture, civilizations and cultures are at your fingertips. Even more, you have Morocco, Turkey and even Russia available to you as exotic destinations...simply get in your MH and hit the road.

Life can be so terribly short. All of us knows someone who has been cut down in their prime.

"Time waiteth for no man".

Just do it!

 

[hilldweller]

Even more, you have Morocco, Turkey and even Russia
Just do it!

And your place is too big

If you set off for Montreal it's 2290 miles.

Set off from Calais and Moscow is just 1440. About the same as Calais to Morocco.

2290 miles would take you way past Turkey into Iraq, if you are feeling very adventurous.

But to see the foundation for modern civilisation then about 1000 miles takes you from Calais to Rome.

 

[Loujess]

I was made redundant a year before retirement age and one bored day, we went looking at MHs. Impetuous I know, but we came back with a Hymer. Was good for a first van but made us realise the kind of layout we really wanted and traded it in for a 2nd hand (not rich) 8 months later. Sandy (husband) says if he had known it was this good, we'd have had one years ago.

The house will be the kids, the money is ours and if this is how we will spend it, what better way? Booked Sea France ticket today to go away in May but if we don't want to come back after 6 weeks, so what, we can change the return ticket. Where will we go? Haven't the foggiest. Talking about fog, in my opinion, in wintertime here, it is best to do city trips. Who needs to look at the sea in winter, then again at Scarborough a couple of weeks ago, the waves were huge.

I dream about sunshine.

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[Chockswahay]

I think perhaps the most important quality for any prospective motorhome buyer to possess must be a sense of (or longing for) adventure. Second might be a yearning for independence.

The very fact that you're considering a motorhome means you have both. And perhaps the only thing that is giving you doubts is the financial committment.

Some folks are quite happy to sit at home, never leave their immediate environs and simply exist. Others reach a turning point in their lives when they realise the need to explore is overwhelming.

Just found this thread.....................

The quote above just says it all really :thumb:

(aligns with my decision making)

 

[tonka]

Just found this thread.....................

mile:

ONLY TOOK YOU 3 YEARS. !!!!!
This is From 2010.. oh:

 

[old-mo]

ONLY TOOK YOU 3 YEARS. !!!!!
This is From 2010.. oh:

More to the point did they or didn`t they....???

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