Wants, needs and must haves. (1 Viewer)

[Dawnbreak]

I was reading a very interesting letter in this months MMM regarding the title wants needs and must haves. It has got me thinking, as we are still doing our homework on our first motorhome....and I read that it takes 2 or 3 changes before one gets the layout they require right. How on earth does one try to get it right first time, or don't you? I mean I know hubby and I won't be able to chop and change, so getting it near as darn right first time is very very important to us, hence us taking a long time. The letter did point out a couple of things to us which we hadn't thought of before. So questions being....

which are your personal wants/needs/must haves.....

have you got them?

do you want them?

would you change your motorhome to get them?

or doesn;t the perfick motorhome exist?

Very interested in all answers but maybe specifically from couples, wants/needs/must haves.....

have a great Sunday funsters, look forward to hearing from you.x

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Find a van you fancy and spend some time in it without being hassled.

Think about all the scenarios, cooking, eating, sleeping, relaxing.

Peter

 

[hilldweller]

or doesn;t the perfick motorhome exist?

No. It is totally impossible. It's one mass of compromises with two extremes.

At one end we want something the size of a Smart so we can park anywhere and it costs nothing to run. At the other end we want something the size of a double decker, with the bedroom/sauna/pool on top and the lounge dining below with a garage for the Smart, this won't fit in half the places we want to go and normal folk could cannot afford to run it.

Somewhere in between is what we all have to settle for.

We are 2.5 years into our first MH. We got lucky. Our only regret is limited lounging space, everything else is spot on.

Maybe the rule of three is more a case of by the third one you realise perfection is impossible and stop moaning and get on with it.

I think the bed governs everything. Start there. We are on top of the cab, massive comfortable bed, leaves maximum space for living in. Some people can't cope with a ladder so then the choice splits into two - fixed bed, half your space gone, make up bed every night and have good living space.

Just keep sitting in them, taking pictures, pretend you are on holiday do everything you would do on holiday ( within reason ).

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[hilldweller]

Find a van you fancy and spend some time in it without being hassled.
Think about all the scenarios, cooking, eating, sleeping, relaxing.
Peter

I wonder where they would find such a dealer near to them. Good honest dealers are a bit thin on the ground. They might be lucky. I'd be looking for one that gave good free advice on line and even discounts to FUNsters.

 

[DESCO]

Best advice go and look at as many vans as possible, sit in them imagine yourself using them, what do you intend doing touring or semi static EHU or not.
Would suggest going to shows, try and talk to people camping there, they will give you an opinion on their van.
In most cases the van will pick you, you will know what is right for you, don't rush your choice, that I think is when most mistakes are made, also don't try keeping up with any one else.
I could suggest many vans, but they are my choice not yours .

Best of luck keep looking.


Dave :thumb:

 

[imprint]

Mountain Man, as I've written here before, JohnsCross behave exactly as he said .... and they did not sell us a Motorhome.

To refresh others, we played it straight by saying, as was true, that we were not yet buying and knew nothing about MHs. To start with, we let the chap we saw at Johns Cross ask the questions. He then showed us round a variety of vans, going through the pros and cons with us.

Almost the best bit of advice was "Get an interior with which you're comfortable. All modern vans work, they're much of a muchness to drive or to be a passenger - none will be as good as your car - but you'll spend a lot of time inside, and you can't just change the decor. You must get that right."

We've long been impressed by Peter's lads and lasses in the camping department, but at that time had never heard of Peter. If he can trust his salesmen to give this sort of advice, he can continue to have our trade.

When we eventually found a van privately, they were not put out, but could not manage to meet the price we negotiated... bu there were no hard feelings on either side.The van was identical to the one we'd been shown.

We've met other dealers since, without actually needing their services, but the general impression remains, that instead of falling between car-dealers and estate agents, the MH traders seem to stand out.

Hope that's not tempting providence ...

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[VMax666]

Go to the NEC 23-28 Feb, collect loads of brochures,have a look in every one that is somewhere near your budget if you have one, or in the size range and then ask the questions on here that will inevitably come to mind when you get home.
I thought I had to have a fixed bed and garage but soon lost interest when I sat in the most uncomfortable seats in the half dinette compromise that it entailed as I wanted a sub 6m van. An A class with a drop down bed was my solution but that may not suit your needs.
VMax

 

[Loujess]

Hi Dawnbreak

I can only tell you of our experience. We bought a Hymer this time last year and I was just so carried away with the thought of MHing and we got a really good deal buying from ebay, which is taking a big chance. After quite a bit of travelling last year, I realised that we had nowhere to really relax after a day out in the sun. There was no lounging area. Also, we slept over the cab which was massive but hubby struggled getting down the ladder (we're not so young). Anyway, we started looking around at different ones in the autumn and found the ideal one at Marquis in Preston. They have branches all over the country and were really helpful. The one we liked was in Plymouth and they arranged for it to be brought up for us to look at and I loved it from the start. We got more for our first one in px that we had paid and the new one has a u-shaped lounge (massive and we will sleep there) and also a full sized cooker/grill/hob and a full sized fridge. The Hymer only had two rings and that was your lot. They do say that 80% change their MH in the first year and we proved that right. This is only my experience and you must do your own research.

Ivy

 

[purdo4]

Finding the right Motorhome

We bought 2 Motorhomes before we found our perfect one.We had a bed above the cab in the first one.I got very claustophobic in that one.Second one,hubby wanted a fixed bed,which was great,meant we could just fall into bed when we wanted to,but left very little space to relax in.This 3rd one has the best of everything we need.We have a large u shaped lounge which either serves as two single beds, or will make a hugh Queen size bed.Lots of cupboard space, 4 burners on the cooker,large fridge and it has a bed over the cab for the Grandchildren.We bought a Bessacarr E725 and we are having such a great time with it.On hindsight we should have bought this one first and saved ourselves a lot of money.We also have a large Awning that fixes over the van,so we can leave it standing alone when we take the van off site.With our two dogs, Brett an American Cocker Spaniel and Kiesha an Akita of 6 months old,we are very happy bunnies

Maureen x

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[Loujess]

I'm going to the NEC show this week, staying over on Wednesday night. Is anyone else going? (Yes I know the Newark show is more popular but its just a thought)

Ivy

 

[sedge]

We knew what we didn't want - ie a corridor with an end kitchen. We had managed to realise that a fixed bed wasn't for us. Also we only wanted two seats with seatbelts (because ' sorry we can't take any grandchildren away with us' LOL)

The vans with Lutons (over cab) beds seemed a lot more spacious. Although allegedly only the over cab has a higher roof, they do feel a lot lighter inside. We didn't need a 'garage', a bike rack or a towbar, we didn't need 14 bunk beds, we didn't need an all singing all dancing 48" flatscreen telly, we didn't need a telly actually. It needed to be short enough to get it on the drive and get either of our cars past it. It needed to have sufficient space in the lounge area for two people to recline gracefully whilst reading their books and enough length in the settees to actually inspect the inside of our eyelids without the other one of us having to be uncomfortable or move for the others feet or head and for both the snoozers not to be folded into a letter C for the next week.

Bathroom had to be big enough to swing a kitten (LOL - you do have to be realistic !) shower must NOT be claustrophobic when all screens shut. Wanted an oven as well as as many hobs rings as poss - we want to use ours in inclement weather as well as red-hot.

Are there sufficient lockers and a wardrobe?

Is it a sensibly sized fridge? - I don't want one as big as I have at home - why would I?

Do we like to be comfortable - Yes. Do we actually wish to replicate the features of our home in our holiday palace? - No. We want it to be sufficiently different to demonstrate that we are on our holly days! And improvisation/ingenuity/craftiness have not failed us before on camping, caravanning and other self-catering holidays.

Any criticisms of No 1 Van? - Yes - the cab seats aren't all that comfy on our bums as it happens. A tad on the 'firm' side. But then we never complain we actually ache or anything - although we did whinge a bit about our buttocks the first 10 days we used it, after that it never seemed as bad?

I didn't know if I wanted to sleep up a ladder or not, we do have the option of making up the lounge area bed if we want, we'd always had to do that in the caravan anyway. I fell off the ladder once, and so did Pete. So neither of us needs to do it again cos we've already done it, LOL.

I would personally prefer another 6 inches of headroom in the Luton but frankly I've slept so well up there it doesn't really matter. Only thing is, nowhere to put my glasses or glucometer etc, if I need em in the night, I just have to get up instead. I sleep on the outside anyway as I tend to have to get up for the loo more than Pete - so he always shoots up there before me so I have to turn the lights off (he claims it's so he doesn't have to disturb me getting into bed, this is a lie because he never disturbs me when getting up at sparrow-fart!!!) but these are things which are personal to us. Ditto if I want my morning cuppa, have to get up - which is no bad thing to be truthful where I'm concerned!

We have got a microwave which was an unexpected bonus??? But haven't used it that much. We also have one electric ring and 3 gas; this is good on EHU because you don't use all that much gas during the day, no matter how many people you make cups of tea or coffee for. 3 rings is more than adequate when we aren't on EHU. We have a steamer. We only ever had 2 in the caravan or when tenting. Grill isn't brilliant for toast (although fine for chops and stuff that takes longer anyway) so we bought a mucho cheapo toaster.

Haven't seen one I'd swap it for yet, bearing in mind what we paid for it. I'm sure if we wanted to double or treble our investment I'd see summat that grabbed me but I don't hanker after anything else. Not at the mo anyway!

I also don't understand the 2 or 3 campers thing. We had the same caravan for 30-odd years. OK it hadn't got a cassette loo or a shower or electric plugs - whatever! but you don't wild camp in a caravan really, do you? And you can use a bucket in a caravan just the same as in a tent (ie in the middle of the night!!!) (and we do own a Porta-Potti as it happens) Who cares? If you haven't got whatever you just make the best of whatever you have got and enjoy it just as much, in this house.

 

[Reetepetite]

We are very happy with our van, and love the layout, we got it right - for us, first time. But not without changing my mind several times! Before buying, I read a lot on the forums and we visited loads of dealers and a couple of shows over about a year but just became more confused. Then I read somewhere, think how you live and relax at home, will you be able do the same in the van? Hubby and I often go to bed at different times and I regularly wake early. I get up, make a cup of tea, sit comfortably and spend time with my lap top surfing. So I wanted to do the same in the van and not disturb DH. The separate dinette and swivel cab seats are a boon, the reverse applies, if one of us wants to go to bed and the other is still watching TV, it's no bother - and no friction. I love our fixed bed, there is a huge amount of storage space underneath which is accessible from inside by lifting the base of the bed - not wasted space at all. The bliss of just being able to fall into bed at the end of a lovely long day is wonderful, and of course you get a good mattress with no joins. The bedding I think must be better for not being stuffed away as well. I will admit the dinette isn't the most comfortable for a long evening, but we always sit on the swivel cab chairs, with our feet up on the bench seats- we are both vertically challenged and it's more than tolerable. When we stepped into the van at the dealers, we knew immediately it was the one. I know we are in the minority, but we lived in our van for 6 weeks outside of our house during building work (in the winter) and both agreed, we wouldn't change it.

I also love it's decent, separate shower!

The other bit of good advice I read and have followed, was to resist buying a lot of accessories until you really know you need them.

Good luck!

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[tucker_j]

We hired twice, one with fixed bed and one with rear lounge - both had overcab beds. Once we decided to buy we'd got four weeks experience of two different layouts and therefore a pretty good idea of what we liked and what we didn't.

Didn't make the search for our perfect van any quicker but it saved us making any expensive mistakes before taking the plunge. Of course there are still some compromises to be made as I don't think the 'perfect van' exists.

 

[Stephen & Jeannie]

How much effort does it take to make a bed !!!

Quite simple really !!!
A rear lounge, to look at the view with a large Grouse !!
A descent oven !!
And make sure that the motor home is 50% bigger than your original plans !
My auto trail is the first that I bought, and as a full timer it is just perfik !!!
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

The other bit of good advice I read and have followed, was to resist buying a lot of accessories until you really know you need them.

I'll bear that in mind while I'm at the NEC next Saturday

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[david price]

You will pretty much know when you step inside the motorhome if it is the one for you.
My wife and i will sit in a van and imagine being away,cooking,friends or family that may be with us,being stuck in it all day due to bad weather and you will know yourself if it will work.
We have been in lots of vans that have the wow factor when you step in but after a short while imagining the above realise it would not work for us.
dave