Motorhome required for round-the-world trip...

andyeverywhere

Guest
Hello,

Me and my crew's looking for a motorhome to attach to a round-the-world convoy leaving next spring.

Something with loads of room - sleeping over the cab.

Something in A1 mechanical condition and MOT with a sub hundred k mileage.

Something with more than 2.5 under the hood and looks lively on the hills.

The condition of the interior is not a problem - well, except for damp problems.

Shower is good - toilets unnecessary....

Vaguely near London would be helpful.

I'm hoping then there's loads of not so beautiful but mechanically sound campers out there...

Thanks for reading...
 
What has sub 100k got to do with anything. That's just run in especially for the type of big motor you are talking about. I seriously wouldn't let that turn you away from a vehicle which otherwise meets your spec ;)
 
Big non turbo Merc, minimum tinworm, job'll be a goodun.
 
Thanks for your replies,

With the specs I'm after we're budgeting for 2-3 grand. This is for the mechanically sound part - mod cons we can fix up ourselves.

The problem for us being that this money would buy a clean welfare type bus at over 3.5 tonne but our new driver can't drive more than 3.5 tonne. The only vehicles I see under 3.5 tonne with a young engine for its size are campervans and horseboxes. And horseboxes'll be pushing that 3.5 tonne when converted.

So campervans.

Firefox - for sure - a well maintained engine'll run for 100's of 1000. Or it could be a sign that it was a working van at some point in its life - all this points to the condition of the bushes, pins, shocks, rubbers and stuff that can't really be maintained - just replaced. And we need some kind of guarantee we aren't gonna be replacing stuff every month round the world. When I say sub-100G I mean that for a 2.5 litre engine or smaller which is what we're looking for and I'm sure these vehicles exist.
 
sub 100 k camper with a can be fiddled with interior ...at £2-£3 k and not having suffered damp or worn bushes etc...... Sorry to piddle on the bonfire but I think you are dreaming.

You might be better getting your driver to pass the necessary tests so that you can buy a template of welfare bus ? hoss box etc. and adapt it to your
specific requirements.

But any idea you have thinking a 3 grand camper will get you around the globe free of problems is wishful in my opinion at best.

Channa
 
channa said:
sub 100 k camper with a can be fiddled with interior ...at £2-£3 k and not having suffered damp or worn bushes etc...... Sorry to piddle on the bonfire but I think you are dreaming.

You might be better getting your driver to pass the necessary tests so that you can buy a template of welfare bus ? hoss box etc. and adapt it to your
specific requirements.

But any idea you have thinking a 3 grand camper will get you around the globe free of problems is wishful in my opinion at best.

Channa
Click to expand...
I agree! Here's one that would get you around the world!!
Overland camper for sale
:D:D:eek:
 
Indeed, impossible to get a 3 grand motorhome. You won't even get around London, let alone around the world. I would suggest to take the car and take a tent.
Good luck!
 
Thanks for your replies. I must say that it makes a nice change to have a conversation on a forum instead of the usual chaos..

Ajs - sorry, I don't understand your comment there - the link didn't go anywhere...

Channa - Wishful thinking, yes; long shot, yes; seen it done before?; yes.
For sure, I'd be lucky to get something I want for 2-3 grand which is why I'm on this forum and not ebay.

And, no off-roading on this trip really but yes, we're looking at the German sites, cheers.

Keep your comments coming! An example then of what I'm after would be a Fiat Ducato 2.5, from 1992, a motorhome body with the bed bit over the cab but with everything inside ripped out and a bit of a mess. And 80 G on the clock. How much would you expect that to go for?
 
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andyeverywhere said:
Fiat Ducato 2.5, from 1992, a motorhome body with the bed bit over the cab but with everything inside ripped out and a bit of a mess. And 80 G on the clock. How much would you expect that to go for?
Click to expand...

We recently bought our 95 Kontiki which is on a 2.5 of the same type for 17k. Its low mileage and the interior was 'spot on' so a high price.

If you want to go back to 1990 then 8-10k for a good one but you are looking at Talbots.

The peogeot / fiats are good engines and plenty of spares to be had I think they are about 1992 onwards.

The money you are taliking 2-3k don't expect to get much in the way of a pre built motorhome they all hold their value and normally they have been looked after.
 
Andy, couldn't get your link to work, in spite of trying a few things :(

I would say for your budget, concentrate on as good a base vehicle (non motorhome) you can get and then DIY fit it yourself with the basics.

If you are taking it round the world then a reliable, later base vehicle is more important than motorhome luxuries. For 2-3k I don't think you will get both unless you get extremely lucky on an auction.
 
Biggirafe and Firefox - cheers for that info - I don't know much about motorhomes but I do know they get worked much less than vans. A 17 year old van that worked for 5 years for the post office, 8 years for a removal company, builders and water delivery company, then got home converted, would be a round-the-world tour of the inside of workshops, garages and DHL offices. Even if 2-3 Grand buys a newer van, we get a van with computer driven electronics, ignition, fuel injection, etc, which is a no-no.

Oh, and we can break the budget but we might have to miss out Mongolia and that would be a sad thing.

The link - sorry I saw somewhere on the forum that you shouldn't link to other web sites. Seems a bit funny but, well, it's earthcircuit.org . At the moment it's designed to introduce the project but it'll get updated as the we near take-off.
 
Cool website and a nice dream, there are a few of us on this forum working towards a dream myself included, although mine is less ambitious and only involves a year around europe.

TBH as you wish to go so far and into what could be described as third world conditions I would say you need to think as basic as possible. if this was an off road question the advise would be land rover as they are basic, everyone in the world can fix em with 2 spanners and a hammer.

Modern motorhome and I include anything from the mid 80 onwards (others may disagree) tend to come with a lot of nice to have things that may not survive such a pottentially harsh trip. As firefox says you should look at a basic conversion and then you can fit exactly what you need and also you will know its condition how its fitted and thus how to fix it yourself. Your not going to find truma heater spares easily in India or Russia (I expect)
 
I have a 3.5 V8 County station Wagon 12 seater to get shut of. You can also fit roof tents for them too.

Channa
 
get a iveco daily 35/10 xlwb and covert yourself £1500 gets you a van on a v/w plate and work from there if you are thinking along the cheapo line and most i see have about 90/100k on them so you are winning all round and they are 3.5t so car licence is the 1 mate
 
I'd go for a toyota pick up truck and build your body on that. It seems to be the workhorse of the third world and 200 billion asians can't all be wrong!! :eek: :eek:

Failing that something with a mercedes engine in it. Serviced regularly they go for ever and spares can be got pretty much anywhere. :)
 
Thanks again for your comments...

177 tuf : Iveco's going for 1500 pounds with 100 G on the clock? Can you post an example?

We're looking today at an Iveco - 3500 pounds, semiconverted, ex-police tactical unit with 12000 on the clock. No I didn't miss a zero off that mileage. It's over our budget but with 12000 on the clock?

Channa/Randonneur : The Toyota, Landrover, tents on the roof option is a good one. Have a lot of fun with 4x4. Don't want to live in one for 2 years though. But hey, bring the V8 along yourself, Channa, you can pull us out of al the mud!

Biggirafe : For me, the cut off date for most vans becoming too modern to fix easy is around mid to late nineties with some models still good until the early noughties. Anything made in the UK before the millenium is fairly easy to fix worldwide; Ford is OK but the Transits aren't the best; Ivecos are a bit fiddly and too European - Mercedes and are the only truly worldwide vans and you can find a Merc mechanic most places but you're more likely to need that specialized mechanic with a Merc because of the way the Germans put them together...
And yes, we're not thinking about any modern campervan equipment - we use diesel heaters, wood burners and footpumps. Maybe a solar panel, eh?

And the route doesn't really take us through much 3rd world - Mongolia, S.America maybe. Downtown L.A... And it's not really that ambitious at all - we've been waiting for the Russians to finish their trans-sib highway so that we could keep to the tarmac!
 
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