Help wanted with suitability of RV's

Balabert

Guest
Hi, due to a change in circumstances I am thinking of buying an RV to live in full time and change my lifestyle. I have been looking at American RV's on ebay, around 30', around the £15k price mark, 10 years old or so, you seem to get a lot for your money. Thing is these must be cheaper for a reason, running costs, parts availability, upkeep, too big to park in places, too conspicuous?? I've camped (in parks & wild camped) for years and have had smaller campers before from a split screen VW to a 6 berth Transit which is how I know I'd want something larger if it was to live in full time. My intention would be to wild camp as often as possible to save money and only use parks to fill up/empty/wash stuff . I have the money to buy it outright and probably enough for a few years without working if I didn't go too mad (i.e not too much touring or fillet steak every night) so its quite an attractive alternative. So what am I missing, like I said these don't seem too popular hence their fairly low resale so are these a good idea for what I'm looking to do and if not why. Thanks for any pearls of wisdom, Sean.
 
A few years ago we (2 of us) lived in a 5.2m long Merc Westfalia for about 9 months, odd breaks staying with friends and relatives but did a lot of travelling - about 40,000kms around Europe and the UK.

I never had any problems with the smallish vehicle, could park in the same space as station wagon car, could easily drive down narrow roads and get to some pretty remote wilding spots or at least away from the madding crowds. We would have stayed in caravan parks about 20days in total and usually that was for using laundry facilities.

I know from my days of driving trucks and trying to find appropriate overnight parking it was a pain in the derriere, usually ended up in motorway services with all the noise and dirt.

Bear in mind that just going to get the shopping with a large vehicle can be a real pain with height restrictions on so many car parks.

Price wise, for a lot of the US vehicles they will be lower valued because of petrol engines - nice hungry V8s which will destroy you bank balance rapidly, even if its a diesel it will be guzzler as they seem to fit 6, 8 or 10 litre engines when really a 3 to 5 litre would do the job.

The other downside can be things like mains electrics - it will be wired for 110V unless someone has gone to the trouble of putting 240V harness through the living area - this affects things like fridges and water heaters. Sometimes people fit transformers to take 240 to 110 so that existing wiring is left intact - but means you cant use things like and electric kettle or toaster unless its 110V.

Spares for any imported vehicle can be a drama - things like windscreens or even headlamp lenses, oil and air filters.

Ultimately though its how much you like the layout in the living area, but that fantastic view you imagine getting from the lounge suite may not be achievable if you cant drive there.
 
unles you have a nice healthy bank balance i would shy away from the large american vans due to the price of fuel and the length will restrict your parking options ,as has been said the petrol ones are gas guzzlers and to tell you the truth the deisel arnt much better there are some lpg ones arround . dont think the spares will be too much of a problem as there are quite a few specialist suppliers about ,you will probably find a euro make nice enough mabey 18 20 footer. we had 18 months in a van not much longer that a volvo estate and enjoyed our time away, a lot on here favour the hymer vans mabey on the merc chassis have a look arround sort out the layout you want a u lounge at the rear is nice. buying a van to live in is different to getting one for hols and weekends in fact there is a picture of our van we lived in on the back from matlock thread not the first piccy may i add
 
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Hi Sean
Like you I started in a splitscreen (£75 !) and am now on my second Rv.
My first one back in the 90s I full timed for 2 years after selling a business and traveled all over the country only paying once to park.
With the size you have to be careful but it is something you get used to and as you see buses & lorries get to the most remote places I don`t find find a problem.
My first Rv was a 7.4 Chevy petrol at about 8 mpg this one is a 6.2 diesel at about 16 mpg.
Spares can be expensive but as said above there are very good suppliers over here.
There are 2 Rv websites over here but as usual I find them very cliquey.
I love my present Rv for the space and fittings so could not go back to a smaller one.
If you are going to buy one as usual make sure everything works as appliances etc are expensive to repair or buy.
Here is a couple of links to very good US sites where you will get answers to any question you have.
iRV2 - RV Forum Community

The RV Forum Community - Index

If you need any advice please PM me as it is a big learning curve

Good luck

Wyn
 
Hi Wyn,

Thanks for that (and the other replies too, the full timing website is great)

Sounds pretty common sense stuff, smaller engine is better, make sure there's lots of tyre tread and the generator works etc. From your experience what are the main things you think I don't need and do need in the RV to full time and if you don't mind talking money how much did you spend on your 2 year full time session as what you did (travelling around the UK) I'm looking to do and have no real idea what I'm looking at moneywise.

Thanks again,
Sean.
 
Hi again Sean
I see you are not a full member so cannot Pm.
If you want you can give me a call on 01989 562887 and I will give you some more advise as I hate talk typing !!!

Wyn
 
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