Time for a little more comfort (1 Viewer)

[Aerialmark]

Hi, I just arrived on here looking for a little help and insight into buying our first motorhome. Our budget is relatively small ( around 14 to 15000) we are seasoned campers and have travelled all over Europe in our Land Rover Discovery and roof tent. but as the title says we now want a little more comfort, I will be keeping the car and still camping with friends but just in the UK. I know nothing about motorhomes but hopefully by the time I buy one (around March next year I will know more than I do know and have a better idea of what we want.

 

[gus-lopez]

 

[Howard H]

And

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[Riverbankannie]

 

[TerryL]

Hi @Aerialmark and

Have a good look around and check out some of the threads about first timers, plenty of advice on here. Ask questions but note you are only allowed 5 posts before you need to join as a full member - best £15 you'll ever spend on motorhoming - but you then get full access to the site, including Jim's book Buying a Motorhome, available in the Resources section. That'll get you started.

Then it's time to start doing some research. The most important thing is layout, which means how the way things are laid out in the van suit your way of life. Go visit as many dealers as you can to check out different layouts and imagine yourselves living in it when it's pouring with rain. Is there enough room, what are the sleeping/cooking,washroom arrangements. Practical Motorhome magazine has a guide that shows 28 different layouts so there'll be one to suit you, but it's more usual to find your ideal van on your third purchase unless you're lucky!

But don't worry too much about that as with your budget, once you've decided on a layout, you're going to be looking at older vans and provided you take care they tend to hold their value better than the latest models. There's plenty out there although not necessarily on dealer forecourts so you'll need to take a bit of care when looking at places such as Ebay and Auto Exchange etc. Ask on here before proceeding, you'll get a wealth of experience to guide you. Just a small point, March is a popular time to buy and prices are likely to be higher than at the end of the season.

Good luck with your search and hope to see you on the road!

 

[MyrtleGuru]

A very warm welcome.

When we moved from a tent (first carried by bicycle then by car) to a panel-van-conversion motorhome we found that attending a few motorhome shows was invaluable in seeing what was available and what might suit the kind of places we wanted to go.

The big annual one at the NEC is imminent (oct 16-21) then things go a bit quiet before the spring. But there are plenty of people on here with all kinds of vans that can offer a wealth of experience.

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[ambulancekidd]

 

[Baldeagle7470]

Hi and another you will find all you need here.

 

[davidbaldam]

Hi and welcome to FUN.

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[Aerialmark]

Hi, first of all thankyou for a very warm welcome. Right we have had a look at our first motorhomes at Campbells in Blackburn today. (When it was Reed caravans we bought our first caravan there in 2005) The cheapest MH was £26000 and the most expensive one we were allowed to look in was £52000 and wow how nice it was too. But back the the real world and we have had a chat and decided that instead of going in at £15000 and then wishing we had spent more on a slightly newer one we have decided to invest a little more and spend a little of our kids inheritance. We have now set a target of £20,000 with an upper limit of about 22 or 23,000. We will take some of it on finance. I would hope then we could keep it for quite a few years longer. We would like a fixed bed as with our caravan it was a pain to set it up at night and you couldn't really keep it up during the day as it got in the way. The other alternative we quite liked was the bed over the cab (sorry but I'm not sure of the correct term) I think we would also go for something bigger than a 2 berth as the one we looked at was lovely inside but a little cramped. I can tell this is going to take quite a bit of time to sort out but we will get there. We make our last mortgage payment at the end of this month and that is what has prompted the increase in budget and a little finance. The search will continue (For some time yet !) Thankyou again

 

[Aerialmark]

Just joined, now you are in trouble because hell i can ask some questions !

 

[The Dudess]

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[mikebeaches]

 

[Baileysbus]

 

[Rob Hammond]

Just joined, now you are in trouble because hell i can ask some questions !

That’s what’s the forum is for and welcome,many very experienced people on here

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[irnbru]

 

[StephandJohn]

Welcome and ask away. We all had to do it when buying our first m'home. We've had one for 10 years now but still need to ask for help sometimes.
BTW - the over head bed is just called the overhead cab.

 

[DBK]

Just joined, now you are in trouble because hell i can ask some questions !

Welcome! Have a look in the shop section of the Forum where I think you will find Jim's guide to motorhomes free to download.

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[Xabia]

Just joined, now you are in trouble because hell i can ask some questions !

Welcome to this great forum, ask away as much as you want, someone will be back with an answer to the question.

I am biased towards Hymer as they have proved fault free and the older ones are arguably more solid than the newer ones. If you go for an A Class (body built up from the chassis with large windscreen) you get a very comfortable drop down bed which enables you to have a motorhome of slightly less length than one with a fixed bed. This can be an advantage for manoeuvrability and parking.

 

[Aerialmark]

Thankyou for all the welcomes, I have to say that I quite like the Hymer but my wife and I would still would go for a fixed bed.

 

[Aerialmark]

Welcome! Have a look in the shop section of the Forum where I think you will find Jim's guide to motorhomes free to download.

Most helpful thankyou. I will have a read.

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[davejen]

Thankyou for all the welcomes, I have to say that I quite like the Hymer but my wife and I would still would go for a fixed bed.

Ihave an Autotrail Dakota for sale, see the "For sale" section on here, may be of interest, (has a fixed bed!)
Cheers, Dave

 

[Aerialmark]

Hi Dave its very nice but unfortunately we would not be in a position to buy one until next year. GLWTS

 

[davejen]

Hi Dave its very nice but unfortunately we would not be in a position to buy one until next year. GLWTS

I will let you know if I sell it before you are ready. You are welcome to view if you want to.
Cheers, Dave
ps I am near Penrith

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[tacr2man]

Your budget is well able to get you what you want , and there can be some real bargains out there eg
https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/tam-jade-and-frankys-european-adventure.167315/page-315

 

[Silver-Fox]

 

[Aerialmark]

Hi,For the last couple of weeks we have been looking and have found one we are very interested in. Its a Pilote Pacific 690 Peugeot 2.8HDi. Its a 2001 on a Y reg with 52000 miles. Its up for sale at 17,995 at Motorlands, Lytham St Anns.
What are your thoughts please on this, price, practicality and model in general ? Thanks in advance.

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[Anthea M]

Hi,For the last couple of weeks we have been looking and have found one we are very interested in. Its a Pilote Pacific 690 Peugeot 2.8HDi. Its a 2001 on a Y reg with 52000 miles. Its up for sale at 17,995 at Motorlands, Lytham St Anns.
What are your thoughts please on this, price, practicality and model in general ? Thanks in advance.

Make sure you have an up to date service and habitation history with the van some older vans( and new ones )can suffer from water ingress.

Do try out beds , sitting on toilet! And cooking dining areas take your time don't be pushed by sales person.

We have had 4 vans in 9 years all 2 new hand and various beds ( even hired an overbed cab van but never doing bunk beds again!!) our first was a french fixed bed which had a corner cut off , we had to climb over each other for nocturnal wees the same for 2 transverse beds lovely and big as they run the width of the van but again climbing over became a pain. Now we have twin beds! Not romantic but we do sleep well!

Good luck with your search !
Remember payload as well!

 

[Aerialmark]

Hi, tbh when we had a walk round yesterday the salesmen did not bother us as it was raining and the MH was outside ! The expensive ones were indoors and thats where the sales people were. Hec its a minefield choosing a MH. Also when you say climbing over each other don't forget we have been around Europe a couple of times sleeping in a roof tent. Now that is cosy and you have to have no shame in one of those. Thankyou for your input I will bear it in mind.

 

[Anthea M]

Hi, tbh when we had a walk round yesterday the salesmen did not bother us as it was raining and the MH was outside ! The expensive ones were indoors and thats where the sales people were. Hec its a minefield choosing a MH. Also when you say climbing over each other don't forget we have been around Europe a couple of times sleeping in a roof tent. Now that is cosy and you have to have no shame in one of those. Thankyou for your input I will bear it in mind.

We've done pup tents , frame tents , tent trailers and ,gagool tents and I had had enough of sleeping near the ground and roughing it!!!

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