Which motorhome

[P614ajrcarcar]

Hi all, we need some advise On you thoughts, we are a family of 4, having 2 kids aged 2 and 7, after much thought will have narrowed our choice down to the vans we like, both mush be 6 berth or over with rear bunks, we like the sunlight A72 2018 prices at £38000 or a rollerteam 707 2016 at £40000, both have similar mileages of around 12000miles on the clock. As I understand the sunlight is a ply with aluminium skin and ply floor which comes with a 5yr water ingress warranty and the rollerteam grp and grp floor with a 10yr water ingress warranty, to be honest we like the quality of the sunlight, it felt solid and was an over cab van, the rollerteam is a drop down bed (low profile), what’s your thoughts on each van.

 

[denisejoe]

Rather than how many miles there are on the clock far more important is how much payload there is? With a growing family you'll need lots of payload for bikes and toys as well as clothes, pots & pans, bedding etc etc.

Also to consider is whether you can drive over 3.5 ton motorhome, ie have you got a C1 licence. A six berth motorhome on a 3.5 ton chassis won't have anywhere near enough payload.

Denise

 

[P614ajrcarcar]

Yes I’ve thought of this, however can get the van payload updated relatively cheaply which would increase this to 3850

 

[Northernraider]

Personally I'd opt for an older better quality model. Both models you are interested in are renowned for issues and the warranties haven't helped those with the issues.

Buy something 3 or 4 years older without the wooden floors or wood in the frame etc.

You could get a lovely quality van for that money. In fact there's a stunning 2013 hobby in the classifieds on here for not a lot more.

 

[denisejoe]

Yes I’ve thought of this, however can get the van payload updated relatively cheaply which would increase this to 3850

But do you have the necessary C1 licence to drive an uprated van?

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[Podney]

Welcome!
No idea as to the answer to your question. Which is best for storage space? Have you looked at Jim’s buyers guide on here?
By the way,I am awarding you the prize for the most obscure,and difficult to remember,name on here...well done!

 

[P614ajrcarcar]

Yes I the license c1,also what are the common issues on each northernraider?

 

[Northernraider]

Yes I the license c1,also what are the common issues on each northernraider?

Leaks and damp mainly

I've seen several posts on this forum and a few on Facebook forums ...a 2017 rollerteam on Facebook about 3 weeks ago and the whole back panel rotten

 

[P614ajrcarcar]

The roller teams are all grp now I thought?
What issues have you heard with the sunlights?

 

[Northernraider]

The roller teams are all grp now I thought?
What issues have you heard with the sunlights?

Much the same ...but to be fair a lot of them have been ex rentals.
But sunlight is a budget brand.

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[funflair]

The roller teams are all grp now I thought?
What issues have you heard with the sunlights?

This is the 2017 Rollerteam brochure and it does suggest that the construction is fibreglass and foam.

https://www.rollerteammotorhomes.co.../4574bcb0d5939dc46be9a88c548407a08d3edffc.pdf

Might need some more homework to find 2016 construction

Martin

EDIT 2015 seems to have no wood either, the roller team web site has downloads of older brochures which is always useful.

https://www.rollerteammotorhomes.co.../7b68f8eafdfb76e72ee3299d56801a9141d3a477.pdf

 

[Northernraider]

This is the 2017 Rollerteam brochure and it does suggest that the construction is fibreglass and foam.

https://www.rollerteammotorhomes.co.../4574bcb0d5939dc46be9a88c548407a08d3edffc.pdf

Might need some more homework to find 2016 construction

Martin

EDIT 2015 seems to have no wood either, the roller team web site has downloads of older brochures which is always useful.

https://www.rollerteammotorhomes.co.../7b68f8eafdfb76e72ee3299d56801a9141d3a477.pdf

I wish I could find the post on Facebook of the guys 2017 rollerteam. Can't remember the model but it had bunks across back and the bottom one folded up so you could use garage ...it had a window at top bunk height which had obviously not been sealed correctly and he had posted pics up of the inside back wall of the garage and it was riddled with damp. He had also had a couple of other issues with it and was the original owner from new.

 

[Minxy]

This is the 2017 Rollerteam brochure and it does suggest that the construction is fibreglass and foam.

https://www.rollerteammotorhomes.co.../4574bcb0d5939dc46be9a88c548407a08d3edffc.pdf

Might need some more homework to find 2016 construction

Martin

EDIT 2015 seems to have no wood either, the roller team web site has downloads of older brochures which is always useful.

https://www.rollerteammotorhomes.co.../7b68f8eafdfb76e72ee3299d56801a9141d3a477.pdf

It only says the roof is wood-free in the 2017 pdf, no mention of the walls or floor so I suspect they still have wood in them (how else would they be able to secure windows etc?). As for the 2015 model there is no mention at all of 'no wood' so I suspect it's in roof, floor and walls.

 

[Minxy]

The roller teams are all grp now I thought?
What issues have you heard with the sunlights?

Its not so much what the outer covering is, it's the edges/holes cut into it that is where the damp can get in, this is the problem with all coachbuilt MHs so you need to check the seals carefully and ensure a thorough damp test is undertaken by an independent party, not the person/dealer selling it.

 

[funflair]

I wish I could find the post on Facebook of the guys 2017 rollerteam. Can't remember the model but it had bunks across back and the bottom one folded up so you could use garage ...it had a window at top bunk height which had obviously not been sealed correctly and he had posted pics up of the inside back wall of the garage and it was riddled with damp. He had also had a couple of other issues with it and was the original owner from new.

I can never find anything on Facebook either, there is a Roller Team section here on fun and there is at least one reference to damp around the windows so possibly there is still wooden framing, the 2018 brochure specifically mentions "no wood" in the roof description but not the walls but it does show them as laminated plastic, sometimes these things it's what they don't say is masked by what they do

Martin

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[funflair]

It only says the roof is wood-free in the 2017 pdf, no mention of the walls or floor so I suspect they still have wood in them (how else would they be able to secure windows etc?). As for the 2015 model there is no mention at all of 'no wood' so I suspect it's in roof, floor and walls.

Hi Minxy Girl

Yes I agree with you, I just spent 20 minutes searching and looking at brochures and then posted without reading the more recent posts, Yours

I think windows are secured with clamps against the inner wall so not sure why they need wood around openings but I know they do, Looking at something at Dusseldorf and they had nice composite wall panels and then went and spoilt it with lumps of wood in the edges to take screws.

Martin

 

[P614ajrcarcar]

Thanks for the info, just want to make sure that I make the right decision, have we any suggestions on a van?, it must be 6 berth with bunks, we’ve got around £40000 to spend

 

[denisejoe]

You've now had your 5 free posts so if you want to ask more questions then you will need to subscribe to the Forum for the princely sum of £15 per year. Once subscribed you'll be able to download Jim's guide to purchasing a new van which would cost, I think, £7.99 as a non-subscriber and holds a mine of information.

Sorry can't help with suggestions for vans as never had any need for a 6 berth one. I think the best thing to do is to visit as many dealers/shows as you can and see as many vans as you can. It's hard, if not impossible, to advise others what would be the right van for them.

Denise

 

[peterc10]

The biggest problem you may find is that most motorhomes with 6 berths do not have 6 seat belts to hold all of the users of those berths when you are on the road.

 

[Feltwell]

I motorhome with 3 kids, plus my other half, so am in a fairly good position to advise! A lot of Rollerteams seem to be used by hire companies, they get a hard time with them but usually only for one season. Personally I'd be looking at vans that are a bit older, but you can get good budget ones - my van is a top end model from a budget brand, it's 13 years old now and has been great for the 5 years we've had it so far.

Overcab layout is good for families - gives an "always available" space for someone to retreat to during the day, though we often end up using it as somewhere to quickly chuck stuff out of the way of the dinette seats - other half's handbag, toys, jumpers, you name it......

Can't comment on those specific vans but there was a very similar thread to this a while ago, in which I said:-

Our experience is that rear bunks are a good idea with kids - but watch the layout - when I was looking around it seemed that bunks that went widthways across the back of the van were a decent size, but ones where the bunks were in the back corner running front to back were nearly always very small, no good for older kids. They grow up quickly - my daughter, at age 14, is already 5'7", not sure she'd fit in some of the smaller bunks now!

The other thing we found is having somewhere for the adults to sit in warmth & comfort once the kids are in bed is paramount. 5 of us fit in a 7 berth just nicely - we have a 2x2 double dinette and a 1x1 single dinette opposite each other at the front of our van - so it's the 2 eldest kids in the bunks at the back, Mum & Dad in the overcab bed, and the youngest offspring in the single dinette, folded down to make a small single bed. I've put a curtain around that to screen it off, so we sit at the double dinette once the kids are all in bed.

Some 6 berths have 3 x doubles, which look pretty useless if you have kids like ours who couldn't share a bed, and with one double bed each for your kids you'd have nowhere to sit - plus be careful because I've spotted that quite often converting the dinette seats into a bed on vans means extending them sideways and blocking access to the ladder to the overcab double........

Ours was plated at 3.5t when I got it, which was hopeless - a trip to the weighbridge empty with just me and one of the kids in and it was over 3300kg! So I've replated to 4t, which to be honest we still struggle to stay beneath, but it's as high as I could go on the chassis that I've got - and that was with fitting air assisted rear suspension, without that it would have been 3850kg. I passed my test in 1990 though, so I've got C1 automatically.

The thread is here:-

https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/buying-1st-motorhome.143112/page-2#post-2161481

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[Northernraider]

Personally for a good 6 berth with great storage and good payload I'd suggest a burstner Argos 747 you could pick up a 2009/10 for your budget