New Motorhome

[Kris]

Hi All

I have been thinking on buying a new Motorhome.
What are your experiences with the following makes:
McLouis
Sunlight
Carado

Good alternatives for reasonably priced Motorhomes?

Many thanks.

Kris

 

[John H]

We have had a McLouis Glen 690G for five years and live in it most of the time around this country and across Europe. It is officially a six-berth van but it is perfect for two people (and occasionally a guest or two). When living in a van most of the time, the critical things are the bathroom (which is large and contains a very efficient shower) the kitchen (good, with adequate workspace and a grill/oven) the bed (we changed from our previous van because we wanted a fixed bed) and the amount of storage space (excellent, with a decent-sized wardrobe, the overcab "bed" and the garage below the fixed bed). We are very pleased with the van and would recommend it to anybody - although it may be over-the-top for someone who just wants to use it for a couple of weeks holiday. Happy travels.

 

[Kris]

Hi Kris.
Personally, I would buy a good used German van rather than a budget Italian or English, (there are budget German vans) however we have friends who owned a Mclouis and I was very surprised at the robustness & quality and as John has said they have a good shower compartment.
I have no experience of the other two so can't help there.

Thanks *****.

Sunlight is a German budget MH. I am doing about 7,000miles a year.
I do not know what to think about the Fiat engines or which one to go for: 2.2 or 2.3. I currently have a Ford diesel 2.5 engine with 70,000miles on the clock and is (so far) extremely reliable and fuel efficient (non turbo version).
I ll have a look at the Paris show.

Regards

Kris

 

[vwalan]

personaly i like lots of spare load capacity. good for coming home from abroad .or going away for winter its suprising what you take with you. i think most 3,500kg campers are too easily overloaded . all depends what you intend using it for and how long away. grill /oven a must. thats the trouble with german ones usually no grill .

 

[Belgian]

Hi Kris,
Personnally we swear to capucines (over cab)- as long as we could do the ladder up !
Trends now are the integrals, but in my opinion it's a loss of space for they are not that lower than an overcab. Mine is mere 5 m long and 3m high.
(comes in handy at ferries !)
Nowadays they have that much of weighty gadgets (you scarcely use) that they are all up to the limit of 3,5 tons, you could only load a few handkerchiefs and a toothbrush
Some day we'll see a MH with a build in wine cellar, an attick and a swimmingpool; those wit a garage are there allready
Engines are mostly : Citroën, Peugeot, Fiat (all the same) and now also Mercedes. Fords are becoming rare.
If you have the choice: buy German.

 

[Kris]

Hi Kris,
Personnally we swear to capucines (over cab)- as long as we could do the ladder up !
Trends now are the integrals, but in my opinion it's a loss of space for they are not that lower than an overcab. Mine is mere 5 m long and 3m high.
(comes in handy at ferries !)
Nowadays they have that much of weighty gadgets (you scarcely use) that they are all up to the limit of 3,5 tons, you could only load a few handkerchiefs and a toothbrush
Some day we'll see a MH with a build in wine cellar, an attick and a swimmingpool; those wit a garage are there allready
Engines are mostly : Citroën, Peugeot, Fiat (all the same) and now also Mercedes. Fords are becoming rare.
If you have the choice: buy German.

Hi Leo

Yes I like the coachbuilt (capucine) MH's. If you cannot use a ladder, use a trampoline!
I just want a basic, solid, economic MH, less than 6metres long, with sufficient storage space ( for wine and beers, spirits, etc). Would love to have an oven as my wife likes cooking.
What make would you recommend?

I am off now to Lorraine, see you next week.

Best wishes

Kris

 

[spiritsfree]

We had a Pilote A class...but recently bought a Dethleffs A class. The Dethleffs is such a quality build with 24/7 winterization.......well pleased with it !!

 

[John H]

We had a Pilote A class...but recently bought a Dethleffs A class. The Dethleffs is such a quality build with 24/7 winterization.......well pleased with it !!

I may be missing something here but what does "winterization" mean? If it is to do with not freezing up in cold weather, then our McLouis has it - the only time the water froze in the pipes was when the outside temperature dropped to -15 Celcius and we werent in the van that night (came back next day to discover it!). Other than that, it is warm and frost-free all the time.

 

[spiritsfree]

Winterization Motorhomes generally have a double floor with a heating system that keeps the whole van protected from freezing and 51mm insulated walls/ cieling. Our heating is a combi warm air system that not only heats the floor and garage, but also comes up the side walls. Very comfy indeed !!

 

[John H]

Winterization Motorhomes generally have a double floor with a heating system that keeps the whole van protected from freezing and 51mm insulated walls/ cieling. Our heating is a combi warm air system that not only heats the floor and garage, but also comes up the side walls. Very comfy indeed !!

We have a double floor and blown air heating that extends to every corner including the garage so I guess we are winterized - I never knew that! (and next time we leave the van in arctic temperatures we must remember to leave the heating on!)

 

[Coolasluck]

Personally i would always go with Hymer.Incidentally if spending long periods away i would reccomend buying a motorhome with a separate shower unit,we love our 544 but as we dont have a separate shower we find this really pisses us off.When we go full timing we will be looking for the separate shower and rear lounge configuration.Any german home will keep you toastie in the cold,as we found out this year -7 and loving it
And make sure that your water tank is onboard and not underslung,as much as it pains me to say it german is unfortunatly the best.

 

[spiritsfree]

Agreed coolasluck.....I think the German brands are

Yep John H you`ve got all you need, so just use it !!

 

[John H]

I have to agree that Hymer generally make good quality vans but they are not the b all and end all - a friend has a top-of-the-range Hymer and has had to have the shower floor replaced three times (and the shower is very cramped compared to our lowly Italian job). Don't knock the Italians - we have had two of their vans and have nothing to complain about. In addition, our friend's Hymer is a metre longer than our van and has much less storage space - something very significant for us. It all depends how you want to use your van.

 

[vwalan]

you dont have to worry too much about winter .best go south in winter. maroc is as warm as our summer so unless you get right up the mountains its not a problem. even then its not a damp cold. eternal summer thats the life roll on november summer starts all over again.

 

[John H]

you dont have to worry too much about winter .best go south in winter. maroc is as warm as our summer so unless you get right up the mountains its not a problem. even then its not a damp cold. eternal summer thats the life roll on november summer starts all over again.

Have to agree, Alan, but now we have grandchildren there is pressure on us to be in the cold and damp UK at Christmas - so we compromise and come home for the festive season every other year. Otherwise, its the sun of Spain, southern Italy, Greece, Egypt or Morocco for us!

 

[Telstar]

Kris's new van

Kris

1st decide your budget and don't go over it. There's no point spending that much that it leaves nothing to enjoy it whenever your fancy takes you.

2nd, 3rd and 4th make sure you get the right layout.

The fiat 2.2 is basically the same as the one in the Ford. The ford car engines are built/made designed jointly with citreon/peugeot so don't worry about which is best.

I think I read somewhere that the current 2.3 was just for motorhomes. I doubt it somehow. The old 2.3 I believe was an Iveco unit as is the current 3.0 which is a fantastic unit.

I have had an underslung fresh water tank in all of my vans. No problems in the British winter except on my last van water froze in the pipes under the seat where the heater obviously didn't heat. A bit of pipe, a slide opener as used on caravans and half an hour of my time sorted that. All that said, the water was all frozen on the CC site and fresh water had to be obtained within the toilet blocks anyway.

good luck with your choice.

One last thing, think about how easy it is to take back for warranty work and what the parts backup is like.

Jon

 

[vwalan]

hi john . i have 3 grandkids but decided its my time now .they do get used to it. must say i finf europe just too cold .tried it again last year ,was ok ish .but dont think i,ll be staying there if i can help it.its getting much easier to get even further south now end up in south africa at this rate. 26,000 campers are reputed to hit maroc if their tourist board are correct in the last few winters. definately seems like it some times. even daklar is too busy now. see you somewhere .cheers alan.