Which are the best built MHs? (1 Viewer)

[chrisgreen]

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bailey:thumb:
not bentley

 

[ShiftZZ]

oops

:Blush:

 

[chrisgreen]

oops

:Blush:

easy done:thumb:
specsavers?

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[ShiftZZ]

I still stand by my review of Bentley

 

[chrisgreen]

I still stand by my review of Bentley

and your review is an honest one:thumb:
and that's what we need on this thread is honest review's:thumb:
not the review's that consist of,i would only buy a ________ because it bigger better more expensive got the right badge,and most important of all it will impress those around me,and make me feel great:Sad:

 

[Snowbird]

What you all must remember is quality comes at a price. Not always in monetary terms. Quality built motorhomes are inevitably heavy. If you want solid wood furniture jointed and screwed,brass hinges,solid brass knobs.sprung edge cushions,sprung bed base,stainless water tank,etc,these are heavy items and lessen your payload.The van we are running at the moment has all these things but its at the price of payload.Quality lasts,but its at a price.Having said that if you want a motorhome to spend the odd weekend away in then quality doesn't really matter so much. But if you are going to use your motorhome all year round and spend long periods of time in it,then that's when quality pays.
So as the old additive always says....You spend ya money and takes ya chance.

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[buttons]

I won’t list the benefits of owning this gem but it is the only motorhome designed and built using the full resource of a multinational German vehicle manufacturer. It carries a full 3 year warranted on every single component.
It is of course the incredible VW California.

 

[sealski]

We too like the Marquis Magestic 145 for layout, to the extent of putting down a deposit, so they shipped the van from Preston to East Sussex with a 90% chance of buying. However, we pulled out and now taking our budget to the Carvan & Motorhome show at the NEC in October.

Reasons for pulling out was that the 2012 spec for the 145 met our needs more than the 2011 model. for example the extra storage in wardrobe from moving the heater, meant my Cadac had a place to live whilst travelling. Along with the new Euro V Peugeot Engine. We are still likely to end uo with the 2012 145, but it is also a good opportunity to see all the new models and hopefully I will have a choice of what new MH to buy.

The Magestic 145 is basically the Elddis Autoquest 145 with Marquis's luxury addons (Air Con, Cruise Control and a few other bits and bobs), which is classed in the budget range, however, the build quality from what I saw looked good. There has been a few negative comments about the 145 with water freezing in the under floor tanks when the temperature drops below zero, but the Marquis salesman told me they would fit frost stats to avoid this.

Just another point of warning, Marquis do not have the best reputation for after sales care.

 

[Larrynwin]

Maybe - but without the build quality of German motorhomes. As already mentioned VERY diplomatically - 'US RV' and 'quality' are not terms usually seen together.

The question posed was 'What is the best built ... ' not 'What has most bells and whistles'.

A HOBBY would be my first choice if I could afford one, and in particular a 750 Exclusive or, a bit smaller, the exquisite VAN L Exclusive. All beautifully built !

Can't agree now on my third RV and although not as tarted up inside as euro vans they are not as plasticky , handles don't come off in your hand and they are not all white on the out side. The bells and whistles include a proper 6ft high fridge freezer large winterized holding tanks for water grey and black a walk around don't climb over the wife bed slideouts to give room to swing the cat in or the wife air con etc all as standard. No contest :thumb:

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[simsy56]

Can't agree now on my third RV and although not as tarted up inside as euro vans they are not as plasticky , handles don't come off in your hand and they are not all white on the out side. The bells and whistles include a proper 6ft high fridge freezer large winterized holding tanks for water grey and black a walk around don't climb over the wife bed slideouts to give room to swing the cat in or the wife air con etc all as standard. No contest :thumb:

And a shower that you can use, and as for spending thousands and thousands on a euro mh and still have to empty a cassette! Not for me. I am happy with my RV, it has colour, and space, AND all the bells and whistles, not a white box, that needs extras to make it comfortable.
Take the Hymer flagship, the S class of not so long ago, they cost a fortune, pig ugly, 3 berths, and what colour do they paint it? Grey! Grey is not a colour, it's a rain cloud.

Craig

 

[chrisgreen]

i thought this thread was about m/h not r/v

 

[simsy56]

i thought this thread was about m/h not r/v

You're right, getting carried away there. Each to their own.

Craig

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[Larrynwin]

Whatever the label mine is a home and it has a motor

 

[jonandshell]

It all depends on you, the buyer, cutting through all the marketing bull and identifying your requirements, whatever the marque. Getting under a MH, looking at it's construction and using a bit of common sense is the best advice. Oh, and don't believe a thing the saleman tells you, especially with regard to levels of service and warranty. Even with a new van, you are often on your own.
Our personal preference is for a continental manufacturer because the levels of winterisation, tank capacities, etc suit our requirements for year-round wild camping/ use of aires and stellplatzes.
Others prefer to camp 'on grid' on a campsite, in the summer only and these issues are not important, but a u-shaped lounge might be!

An example of current marketing bull is 'grade 3 insulation'; it gives an impression of winterisation, but its OK to have external, non-insulated tanks to achieve this standard! Go figure!!

Good luck with your purchase!

 

[Alan]

UK Motorhomes

I seem to be in a minority with a uk manufactured van but we've been perfectly happy with ours ,no problems as such and we spend winters in Spain so not to bothered about being winterised and it dos.nt cost the earth to run. maybe we,re easily pleased
Alan

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[andyman]

I seem to be in a minority with a uk manufactured van but we've been perfectly happy with ours ,no problems as such and we spend winters in Spain so not to bothered about being winterised and it dos.nt cost the earth to run. maybe we,re easily pleased
Alan

We had an Autotrail and now have a Burstner. In my opinion nothing between them. I now have inboard fresh water and a insulated waste tank but quality wise I think there is little difference so i'm with Alan on this one.

 

[robandwendy]

Concorde......The Roll Royce of the motorhome world

 

[Terry]

I won’t list the benefits of owning this gem but it is the only motorhome designed and built using the full resource of a multinational German vehicle manufacturer. It carries a full 3 year warranted on every single component.
It is of course the incredible VW California.

Hi Buttons is the California classed as a M/H or a day van ?
Some interesting ideas / thoughts as to which is the best van
My opinion ? The one you own now :thumb: or the one you are going to own next Almost everybody buys the best van they can afford at the time

terry

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[Swift]

My choice was quite analytical, firstly looked at loads then decided on a layout, which was the U shaped lounge, we then looked at all brands that had that layout, it was clear that some were better finished than others and the cost mostly reflected this. As this was to be a toy for the odd weekend as it is not our main hobby we did a calculation on number of days it would be used per year, then did a cost analysis including purchase, depreciation, maintenance and accessories (stuff we would want on or in it that does not come as standard), this gave us a daily rate which we would be happy with on an annual basis and worked from that :thumb:

Now back to the question, we like nice things but sometimes you have to be realistic, in the end we went for a used Swift Kontiki 645, why, well it had the layout we wanted, it had most of the extras we wanted already fitted, the quality of the finish was very good for the money and most importantly it was a very stable and comfortable driven due to it's low profile. I have driven thousands of miles in it and must say it is absolutely fantastic and will be hard to beat when we upgrade.

So Best motor home can be different for each person according to needs, we looked at Concords and although the ones we looked at were solid, they were over engineered for our needs and the layouts awful for us but of course will suit some. Anyway I am not paying £12,000 a year to moor it as you do with a boat we have it at home, so for us it's a great value addition for our lifestyle :thumb:

 

[scotjimland]

The OP question was: what are the best built ..

I won't name brands as I don't know them all well enough .. but for me the method of construction is the most important factor.. Forget all the bling and bolt on goodies.. they are just sales gimmicks

The vast majority are just boxes built from sandwich board of ally/polystyrene/plywood, glued together and given rigidity by internal furniture .. same as most caravans..
Some have fibreglass roofs and rear panels..

Through time, this lot shakes apart with the inevitable leaks and if not repaired.. rot sets in.

Frankly I wouldn't buy any using this method of construction.. so that narrows it down to only a few... have a look yourself at makers construction methods...

I would look for one that's built like an aircraft with aluminium ribs and cladding .. (the method used by Airsteam) or a PVC (panel van conversion) ..

The old Hymers are built this way.. that's why they are still going strong after 30 years .. I don't know if the modern ones are.. maybe someone who owns one could say ?

I also prefer C class as they retain all the safety features and strength of the base vehicle .. the yanks call it "crashability' ..

If only Airstream built a motorhome for the EU market .. until then.. the old Hymer rules, solid construction, bullet proof merc engine, no frills and easy to repair..
No expensive electronics to let you down.. we don't need a computer to tell us we have an empty or full tank .. do we ?

 

[Swift]

My reply was best built for what use. No use driving a tank if it doesnt suit your needs

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[scotjimland]

My reply was best built for what use. No use driving a tank if it doesnt suit your needs

and the OP question was .. BEST BUILT .. MOTORHOME

not what it costs to moor your boat

 

[Swift]

As I said, best built is subject to what your view of best built is, is a tank best built? probably yes if at war, but would you want something so heavy and restrictive inside as a motorhome

As for mooring MY boat, I never mentioned MY boat, just the average cost of mooring something the size of a motorhome if it were a boat in the Solent, so please don't read into things that aren't there :thumb:

 

[Terry]

Well Jim and Swifty if that's the criteria then stick mine close to the top of the list :thumb: Construction wise she is far superior to any M/h s out there :thumb:The outside is made from 1.5 mm ali ( not the 0.5 mm like almost all M/Hs) bonded to 1/4 ply bonded to 45 mm Styrofoam bonded to 1.5 mm ali :thumb: with a extra ply to the floor :thumb: Then I added my own 3mm ply board to the inside :thumb:oh: forgot the 30 odd mm of sponge stuff fitted to the underneath from the front axle to the rear --Nothing has fell off during almost 5 yrs of occasional use except for a 8 ins bit of trim that I hold my hand up to
The base vehicle had given me no trouble at all up until this yrs MOT(read thread on MOT fail oh other than normal services/maintenance :thumb: Therefore I have now changed my mind on the best M/H out there--- simple it's a self build :thumb:
terry

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[motorhomer]

Contrary to an earlier post, I do not think Pilote and Rapido are the same company. Pilote own Frankia, Le Voyager, RMB. Rapido own fleurette.


I like French vans. Either Rapido or Pilote are very good quality.

German vans are also well built but we prefer the decor in the French vans.

We are on our 4th van. Every time we tried to buy British, but could not find a layout and equipment levels to suit us. 4 belted seats, plenty of storage, large fridge and decent size tanks that are insulated against the cold. (eg look at the waste outlet on many british vans - a tap at the end of a long pipe. Excellent for freezing up at -10!). British vans tend to be cheaper and perhaps plusher, but not so practical and possibly not so well built.

Interesting that the Caravan Club recently did awards for best motorhomes. There were several categories, and british vans were 1st, 2nd and 3rd in every category except A class (in which there are no british vans!) Clearly a totally blinkered report. This sort of think was what led to the demise of the British motorcycle and car industries.

 

[scotjimland]

As for mooring MY boat, I never mentioned MY boat, just the average cost of mooring something the size of a motorhome if it were a boat in the Solent, so please don't read into things that aren't there :thumb:

You keep telling us about it.. but maybe I have misunderstood.. and you moor on your moat at Leeds castle

Car and four people here for £25 return Afternoon and evening only though, but enough for a blast round the island

http://www.wightlink.co.uk/offers/half-day-return

OR a day return for a car and four for £38

http://www.wightlink.co.uk/offers/super-saver-fares

[HI]I go by my own boat so it's free, well apart from £150 of fuel[/HI]

 

[Swift]

Are you jealous? seems that way

I have one of the cheaper motorhomes on here but I am happy with what I have, i'm not jealous of the lovely US RV's some have or the snazzy new models some have, it is everyone's own choice. I would however be interested in running their reasons for buying it and running costs so that if I ever did decide to get one I had the knowledge :thumb:

So please stop the petty jealousy, its uncalled for as it could spread to the motorhomes some people have, live and let live

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[scotjimland]

Are you jealous? seems that way

I have one of the cheaper motorhomes on here but I am happy with what I have, i'm not jealous of the lovely US RV's some have or the snazzy new models some have, it is everyone's own choice. I would however be interested in running their reasons for buying it and running costs so that if I ever did decide to get one I had the knowledge :thumb:

So please stop the petty jealousy, its uncalled for as it could spread to the motorhomes some people have, live and let live

Jealous of YOU ? NO .. why would I be ?

you know nothing about me, what I have or haven't got, where I've been or what I've done.. .. because I don't brag.

.. there are some on here trying to live on £12k per year, don't own fancy rigs and just get on with life .. salt of the earth...

my last word, from now on I will ignore your posts ..

 

[Swift]

Well you probably wont see this as you are not reading my posts, but in answer to your last post it depends on your definition of brag, there will always be people with more or less than anyone else has, I have never found that a problem, I would help people with less and hope people with more would do the same for me

I guess in this forum it is hard to discuss the best built motorhome when 50% of people on here could not afford one (just a guess and me included), or a new generator or going on a fantastic long trip or circumnavigation when even more people could never afford to do it. Is running a blog about your travels a brag? Is showing a picture of your motorhome on your profile a brag, i didn't at first until pressure forced me too, not that it is anything special.

Do you want people fearful of posting anything unless another person feels it is a brag? Not the way I want to live or the majority of others I feel, just because a tiny majority have a chip on their shoulder or are jealous for whatever reason!

Well that is my reply, I don't think you will find any form of jealous feelings from me in any of my posts to anyone and thats the way it should be, live and let live :thumb:

 

[Terry]

Hi Swift, was it not you a couple of days ago saying you apologies for "upsetting" / not going to post anymore etc ?
STOP "digging" You do not have to have the last word
terry

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