Opinions on camper van / motorhome

Sand55

Guest
Hubby and I have a T4 camper van, and we really love it. We love it enough to have named it Lucy.
Although we have only had it 1 year, we like the " lifestyle" it gives us, mainly the go anywhere ( once we have dog sitters, lol ) and forget about time and clocks.
We take Lucy out for little day trips, and have our tea or lunch in her. We go out for the day and hike. We book onto sites with ehu ( the TV is important to me, as it still gives a homely feel to the van ), and stay for days at a time, then go to another site. The van is small enough to drive down the lanes, and can be parked in a parking bay easily, as long as the height is ok as it is a high top. Then, as you can imagine, we have transported things that do not fit in the car, to help either us or family. In a sentence, we use it a lot for days out here and there. However...........
A motorhome has sooo much more room and comfort. We ( mostly I ), are thinking about up grading.
The camper van is fully paid for, but we would have to find the extra for a motorhome.
How do people use their motorhomes, ie do you still go out just for the day, or go to some farther away shops in it etc ? It it still used as a handy thing or mainly for going away in? We park the van ( which has dead bolts fitted ) in lay bys, car parks etc, lock it up and go hiking or whatever. Would anyone do this with a motorhome ?
I hope you get my drift. I know a camper is more "useful", and paid for, but a motorhome is more comfy, especially with the amount of things I like to take with me. Also, hubby likes to fish, would you take yours to go on a day just fishing ?
Any opinions please. :)
 
I started in a car with a tent, then a van with a mattress. I liked it in the van so much, I kitted it out with insulation and plywood liner, then added a bed, cooker, loo etc. I used to go everywhere; for fun and for work. Saved myself a fortune in rent and B&B when working away.

Anyway, I got to like it so much that I got myself a newer van and fitted it out properly into a stealth van. Loved the lifestyle, but like you needed to carry more kit (I like fishing too).

A couple of years ago I decided a motorhome had to be the way to go; so I got one and haven't looked back and I love every minute of it. I've been living in it full-time since. Definitely better than a stealth van for my needs (I always wild camp and never use campsites). I've toured France and most of the UK and had no 'real' problems parking.

Go for it - it'll change your life. :dance:

3 - Stayed Here For Three Weeks.jpg
 
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I have a self built VW LT 35 ,same as a Merc Sprinter and use it like a car.it doesn't like height barriers but i'll go anywhere else in it. we often pop out in it for a day,but it's equipped with the basics so we can stay overnight if we want.if we're going any further than the local shops I tend to take the van and some milk because you never know ! we leave it with the curtains drawn if we fancy a hike. for all anyone knows there could be a psychopathic gorilla sleeping off a hangover in it !
 
Bigger vehicle..beware parking

Sand55 said:
Hubby and I have a T4 camper van, and we really love it. We love it enough to have named it Lucy.
Although we have only had it 1 year, we like the " lifestyle" it gives us, mainly the go anywhere ( once we have dog sitters, lol ) and forget about time and clocks.
We take Lucy out for little day trips, and have our tea or lunch in her. We go out for the day and hike. We book onto sites with ehu ( the TV is important to me, as it still gives a homely feel to the van ), and stay for days at a time, then go to another site. The van is small enough to drive down the lanes, and can be parked in a parking bay easily, as long as the height is ok as it is a high top. Then, as you can imagine, we have transported things that do not fit in the car, to help either us or family. In a sentence, we use it a lot for days out here and there. However...........
A motorhome has sooo much more room and comfort. We ( mostly I ), are thinking about up grading.
The camper van is fully paid for, but we would have to find the extra for a motorhome.
How do people use their motorhomes, ie do you still go out just for the day, or go to some farther away shops in it etc ? It it still used as a handy thing or mainly for going away in? We park the van ( which has dead bolts fitted ) in lay bys, car parks etc, lock it up and go hiking or whatever. Would anyone do this with a motorhome ?
I hope you get my drift. I know a camper is more "useful", and paid for, but a motorhome is more comfy, especially with the amount of things I like to take with me. Also, hubby likes to fish, would you take yours to go on a day just fishing ?
Any opinions please. :)
Click to expand...

We have a 7m motorhome which is great.
However it is not suited to small carparks/laybys with a view to walking.
No worries about anything else apart from parking.
Maybe go for a midsize vehicle.
 
We use ours (Swift Sundance 590 RL) a fair bit for days out, wildcamp no problem, didn't want anything too big so we could go down country lanes, if you have a car as well I'd say go for it, if not then I would stick with the van for convenience. Would leave the MH with flyscreens down and curtains closed to go walking, but I always take my smaller valuables with me (tablet, phone, spare keys etc as we don't have a safe).
 
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Thanks everyone very helpful. Yorkieowl, it is a swift 590 I am looking at. :) . Although a mid size, it would be huge to us ! I would take the small valuables with us. I am keen to see it is used on a day out as some have said. I guess I want the best of both worlds, ease of use and good size. We do have two cars so the motorhome would be for pleasure only. Would we look daft using it close to home and for fishing and walking ?
 
Out for the Day

Sand55 said:
Hubby and I have a T4 camper van, and we really love it. We love it enough to have named it Lucy.
Although we have only had it 1 year, we like the " lifestyle" it gives us, mainly the go anywhere ( once we have dog sitters, lol ) and forget about time and clocks.
We take Lucy out for little day trips, and have our tea or lunch in her. We go out for the day and hike. We book onto sites with ehu ( the TV is important to me, as it still gives a homely feel to the van ), and stay for days at a time, then go to another site. The van is small enough to drive down the lanes, and can be parked in a parking bay easily, as long as the height is ok as it is a high top. Then, as you can imagine, we have transported things that do not fit in the car, to help either us or family. In a sentence, we use it a lot for days out here and there. However...........
A motorhome has sooo much more room and comfort. We ( mostly I ), are thinking about up grading.
The camper van is fully paid for, but we would have to find the extra for a motorhome.
How do people use their motorhomes, ie do you still go out just for the day, or go to some farther away shops in it etc ? It it still used as a handy thing or mainly for going away in? We park the van ( which has dead bolts fitted ) in lay bys, car parks etc, lock it up and go hiking or whatever. Would anyone do this with a motorhome ?
I hope you get my drift. I know a camper is more "useful", and paid for, but a motorhome is more comfy, especially with the amount of things I like to take with me. Also, hubby likes to fish, would you take yours to go on a day just fishing ?
Any opinions please. :)
Click to expand...

Hi there we had a camper van to start with just to see if we would like the style, however like you we found it to be on the cramped side of things if staying away for longer periods of time so we decided to go for a motorhome. We love the motorhome to bits it is only a year old and we have travelled around in it lots. We do still go away for days out and just have lunch or dinner in it then return home. We take the dogs with us if we are staying away and that's when you need the extra space. If we are going away for the day we just go ourselves or if we are going away for a week or more, however just for the weekends we take the dogs with use and they just sleep at the bottom of our bed and while travelling they go in their cage until we arrive then cage gets folded up until we travel again. Hope you do upgrade to a motorhome as it is so much better, but it does depend how you want to use it.
 
look daft to whom exactly ?
I've made us a fried breakfast in the local Ikea car park.these things are made to be used !
 
It sits on the drive loaded up ready to go except for food, can be off within the hour, its fantastic for quick days out, especially if you don't have to rush back and then decide to stay out. Some of our best trips have been within 5/10 miles of home (live in a very built up area at that), have set off home after a long journey, only to pull up a mile or two from home, just for that extra night out, just because we can. Have even slept in it on the drive when we've been desperate to get away but been too busy (sad or what?). :lol-053:
 
Yorkieowl, I think we are the same person! I would do those things too ! I guess it sounds like we could do the same things, only comfyer in a motorhome. We do have commitments with looking after our grandchildren , and our dogs are old, and one cannot walk too well, so dog sitters are needed for longer trips. Everyone here has really got me excited about going for a swift, now. I have seen one , but cost needs to be worked out. Why does something always have to spoil things, lol ?
I have seen another one cheaper, and older, but it says it has wear on the shower tray, and they use the site facilities for showering. Would that be a non starter to buy ?
 
Sand55,

Always take your time when thinking about changing, or buying your first van, when you first get into a van they look great, and you are so keen to get one you can so easily get carried away and end up buying the wrong van. We had our first van in 1967 ( camper van then ) and over the years we have made mistakes in our choosing a different van, first size went for a big van great on the motorways but could not get into small villages or good secluded beaches so that went. Then came cost, for some people not a problem, but for us it was, so nothing that did not have a standard cab, this keeps parts as cheap as possible, we were with our friends in France who have a hymer a stone shattered his head light £1490 to replace a standard cab £30 on ebay, large windscreens not a standard thing Autoglass keep in stock, and the same with body panels, all available off the shelf. The other thing never buy new let someone else have the teething problems to deal with, this is something my daughter done bought a new van , but dad with all the things they offered it was a good buy, they were not so convinced after being on sites and waiting for breakdown recovery as lights flashed do not move vehicle, and numerous retunes to the supplier, now 18 months on the same type of van is for sale many thousands of pounds cheaper, with extras on it and the problems sorted if it had any.


:drive: :drive:
 
We bought a ford frontier campervan 26 years old and we did weekends and weeks away in that but it had no toilet facilities so wildcamping became a problem. We moved up to a Pilote last year in October and we love it we go away at least once a month sometimes more if more meets are booked close to each other. we spend a long weekend in Yorkshire at Ribbleshead (which if you like walking is ideal) and we parked in the Pub car park. You can still do days away and with it being bigger you could take the dogs (most owners do) and the grandchildren (occasionally) go for it if you can afford it and do your research first. Check for damp (see Sharon the Cats problems) and enjoy. :wave:
 
For me the big advantage of a motorhome over a day-camper is toilet & shower wherever you go
 
Sand55, I wouldn't let a broken shower tray put me off, but you need to give it a good inspection and then weigh up all the pros and con. Like somebody else has pointed out, don't rush into it, if I remember right it took us about 18months+ to find this one, and as we had sold the previous one we had nothing to go off in.:cry: If you find one take your time, and make a list of things to check, and fill in the results, its so easy to forget. Look round properly, and look at the floor, or anywhere there is likely to be damp problems, check everything works as it should, its a buyers market so if they don't want to show you assume it doesn't work.
 
I echo Dave and Marys post, think carefully about what you really want in a motorhome, we bought what we thought we wanted in and realised what we really wanted after the purchase, and 2.5 years later bought what we should have got in the first place. If you know what I mean.
As for moving up to a motorhome, there are the obvious pros and cons, I had a VW T4 Caravelle with the basic cooking and sleeping arrangements that I was able to remove very easily. It has got to be one of the most versatile vans available, it can be used daily to get to work, park in a car park, able to take building supplies, an eight by four sheet would fit in, rescue a broken down motorbike from the motorway, move furniture, take 7 people to the airport, sleep four just for one night on a trip down to the south of France and tow a six berth caravan the length of France.
On the other hand the motorhome (in our case a 7m long, 3m high vehicle) is really just a comfortable caravan with an engine. We have done day trips, enabling classy picnics, but parking is something that has to be thought about in the planning. To get your moneys worth you do need to use the m/h on a regular basis, and chances are it could be sat still for weeks on end (as ours is) in the garden or storage.
If you were to ask me which is the best, I would say both! I am considering downsizing to something that I could use on a more regular basis, but we would miss the space and comfort of a fixed bed, lounge area and cooking facilities.
So, it don't seem like I can help you. Soz!
 
Campervan or motorhome

When i was with my partner we had a five birth coachbuilt. now i am on my own I have an Autosleeper Duetto 2 berth on a Ford Transit base. It is much easier to handle and it is easier to drive to the out of the way places i like to go. I can also park it in a normal car parking space at supermarkets etc.
It was difficult to downsize at first but i think the more space you have the more stuff you find to fill it. It is well finished off inside although not as well draft proofed as a coachbuilt, I have used it all winter and survived 90mph winds and driving rain. It is very comfortable inside and has a small shower and a toilet. I think it would be worth looking at van conversions before deciding on what you want.:confused::drive:
 
Sand55 said:
Yorkieowl, I think we are the same person! I would do those things too ! I guess it sounds like we could do the same things, only comfyer in a motorhome. We do have commitments with looking after our grandchildren , and our dogs are old, and one cannot walk too well, so dog sitters are needed for longer trips. Everyone here has really got me excited about going for a swift, now. I have seen one , but cost needs to be worked out. Why does something always have to spoil things, lol ?
I have seen another one cheaper, and older, but it says it has wear on the shower tray, and they use the site facilities for showering. Would that be a non starter to buy ?
Click to expand...
Started out in the seventies with a yellow 2cv citeroen van which I converted was too expensive then for a van or motorhome now have a 28year old hymer great van just put diesel in and go all mod cons in 18ft long but stacks of room
 
yorkieowl said:
Sand55, I wouldn't let a broken shower tray put me off, but you need to give it a good inspection and then weigh up all the pros and con. Like somebody else has pointed out, don't rush into it, if I remember right it took us about 18months+ to find this one, and as we had sold the previous one we had nothing to go off in.:cry: If you find one take your time, and make a list of things to check, and fill in the results, its so easy to forget. Look round properly, and look at the floor, or anywhere there is likely to be damp problems, check everything works as it should, its a buyers market so if they don't want to show you assume it doesn't work.
Click to expand...

Also have a good look underneath , in one of my vans the waist water tank was rotten .
 
Maybe get the smallest motorhome you can get with everything in it , I have a citroen Romahome on a c15 , if it had a shower and loo in it it would be perfect , 55 MPG , I use it as my every day car , parts are fairly cheap , except rear suspension I won't go into that one lol , they do a motorhome that is a similar size to mine and it has everything , I cannot remember the make and model if I remember I will ad it to the thread , they do hold their price , all the best Chris .
 
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