Which Van

[lessmith]

Hi.
I retire in a couple of months, and intend to do lots of touring in Britain and maybe abroad.I own a caravan now but will trade in for a motorhome. my budget is 30,000.It will just be the wife and me with the very occasional visitors to stay over (little ones). so it would have to be 4 berth. So what i need from you is all the help I can get in choosing somthing suitable.

Thanks Les.

 

[Tigatigatiger]

Hi.
I retire in a couple of months, and intend to do lots of touring in Britain and maybe abroad.I own a caravan now but will trade in for a motorhome. my budget is 30,000.It will just be the wife and me with the very occasional visitors to stay over (little ones). so it would have to be 4 berth. So what i need from you is all the help I can get in choosing somthing suitable.

Thanks Les.

Welcome (jsut a quick warning a few on here are a little crazy!)

We to traded up from a caravan last year, and mostly it just me and hubby but my 13 year old stepson comes with us for a summer hols. So you'll need a extra seatbelted seat or more (we have two), need we just went everywhere looking. Decided on a layout-fixed corner bed, loo my 18 stone rugby playing hubby could get into and use, separate shower.
Then we decided on a make-as we had a 33 year old Hymer Eriba caravan, which was as good as new-we went for a Hymer coachbuilt.

Very happy with our purchase-time taken to find and buy 5 months.

A little note test drive everything, I fell in love with another german built motorhome on a Ford Transit (very nearly bought a new one after a quick sit in at the NEC), anyway this one was secondhand but only two years old, top of our price range-I was all set to buy-then I drove it! The driving position was all wrong couldn't adjust the steering wheel, couldn't move the seat down, only drove for a mile or so then had the salesman drive me back. He wondered if that was the reason they sold it?

Best of luck!

Paula

 

[Channa]

Hi Les and welcome.

The fact you have caravanned will no doubt help you in terms of preferred layouts etc.How important ovens are etc

In terms of make, it seems the German built vans are better winterised than some of the others. A consideration if you intend using all year around.
( even parked up in the cold snap, they seem better protected to the elements) but you will pay a premium.

Careful roadtesting of anything with the Fiat Peugeout Citroen platform is advisable, there has been well documented problems with gear boxes.

Considering the size of your investment, when you see one you like, it may be worth trying to rent one similar for a few days.

Channa

 

[barryd]

We bought our first van in 2008. Budget £20K. We ended up with a 12 year old Swift Kontiki 640 which we love. Dont forget to set aside money in the budget for extras. We bought a 100cc scooter and rack, Camos Satellite Dome so we can watch TV all over Europe and a Gaslow system so we can fill the gas at a Petrol station.

The biggest thing is not to rush. We took ages. Layout is very important and if your going away for a long time consider a 6 berth. We have a big rear lounge and a front dinette which means if I want to work or go on the laptop I can sit at the table in the Front and Mrs D can do her own thing in the back. IT just gives you a little more space and wont be any harder to drive than a 4 berth or much different in MPG.

I would also (if it were me) on that budget buy second hand. You loose a lot on depreciation and believe it or not a 2-5 year model might be more reliable than a new one. New Motorhomes always have niggles and one thats a few years old will (hopefully) have them sorted.

Look at as many as possible until you have either one or two models that you know you like. Once you narrow it down start testing them out. Dont be rushed by salesman or private sellers. If they are keen and legit they will take their time and explain everything. When you get to the serious stage of potentially making an offer, test everything and get them to show you everything and have a good long test drive.

One last thing. If your planning a long trip get yourself to France. Motorhome heaven and you can park on their many many Aires for free!

Good luck
Barry

 

[watchthis]

Hello
I am in the same position as you and I have been looking for ages!!!. and it does not help the my pension is going 'pear shaped' I have looked at lots of motorhomes and you can almost feel if the person or dealer is telling porkie's. If you are looking at Hymer's try this site Deepcar motorhomes international as they have got all the layouts for the Hymer range with more importantly the model numbers and it may help you in deciding the layout. Anyway the best of luck and welcome to the site there all mad on here (apart from me that is).
Bye for now
Freddie

 

[Deleted member 9215]

we looked for about 6 months. liked a 2000 swift kontiki 6b with u shape lounge at the back whitch we liked the look of there was some signs of use but not bad for a 9 year old £25k low miles but i could not get the seat or wheel in a good possison so we didnt bother , we then looked at a autoroller
on a ford and the cab was great (for me and the wife) so we looked for a van with a transit post 2007.we tried a few and got a 2008 chausson flash 09
with bunks at the back not our first choice of layout but there is seating for 6 with 2 tables so we can sit at one table and the kids at the other and at the back is big enough for a motorbike to go inside under the bunk and has a big toilet. and we got it for a good price.and it should last many years (we hope)

all the best on your search for the right van.

dunk

 

[Telstar]

What ever you choose, consider buying it local. It will have to go back at some stage to the dealer for a repair, even if minor. Its OK saving a few quid but if you have to travel for hours to take it back and then make your own way home, it won't seem such a bargain.

Where are you located? Members might be able to point you to recommended dealers.

Good luck with whatever you finally decide.

Jon

 

[Channa]

What ever you choose, consider buying it local. It will have to go back at some stage to the dealer for a repair, even if minor. Its OK saving a few quid but if you have to travel for hours to take it back and then make your own way home, it won't seem such a bargain.

Where are you located? Members might be able to point you to recommended dealers.

Good luck with whatever you finally decide.

Jon

I think you make a very valid point.

I used Danum Leisure in Doncaster and tbh I do know one of the owners quite well from a previous life.

However months down the line when I returned from France and my grill had fubar'd ...they sorted it no problem free of charge....The only charged me for fridge transit catch which I broke

Perhaps of interest, I looked for a van privately and short arms deep pockets could find nothing but crap. I had already approached them on the basis they might 'trade ' me something but they dont take the older vans in swop.

Plan b, was well if you are a couple of hundred quid off doing a deal give me a call and I will underwrite the vehicle if it is summat like ...you win customer does ...I do happy days!!..( normal motor trade practise)

That didnt happen either !!

In the end they bought a van unseen, and the owner had fiddled with it a bit when he got bored we think....additional sockets velcro galore etc.

Low mileage at the time, Locked horns for quarter of an hour and the rest is history.!!!

Channa

 

[kenjones]

We changed from a Pennine folding camper to a van when I retired.
Currently own an Autosleeper Topaz which is on a LWB VW T4 2.5 tdi ( Your budget will run to a newer T5)
Good vehicle, drives like a big car. Plenty of power on hills and if driven gently will return 45+ mpg on a decent run.
Quality interior well equiped and it fits us. Big enough for lengthy trips, small enough for a supermarket car park space ( if no height limit) and it goes on the drive so no storage cost when not in use.
Ours is two berth but Auotsleeper also do 2+2 models which would be OK for occasional small visitors.
Previous van was a leisuredrive VW conversion with 2 + 2 berths, OK for us to decide what we wanted from a van but poor quality when compared to Autosleeper which also has a much better resale value.
Our small passenger has grown up and now prefers to go his own way!

 

[Kontiki]

Finding the perfect van for you is something only you can do, look at as many layouts as possible, we used to go into dealers or the motorhome shows & sit in a van for half hour or more trying to see what it would be like. It's a lot of money so look at any negative points & consider if you could live with these. One important point in my opinion often overlooked is the payload. Find out what it is even go to the extent of getting the dealer or seller to take it to a weighbridge if you are in doubt. A favoured answer from dealers is that it's got loads, or you don't need any more (just search through any of the forums about payload or weight issues. If you passed your test before 1997 then you can drive up to 7.5 tonne (over 3.5 is classed as PHGV & road tax is a bit cheaper). If the van can be uprated try to get the dealer to do it as it can cost you a few hundred quid.

A good site to look at layouts (although these are new vans) is MOTORHOMECHOOSER. Watch out for some of the vans on the Fiat X250 base & check for the reversing judder. Probably better if you can sell your van privately then it can give you more options when buying a motorhome. Don't agree with having a dealer close to me, the best service I had was from a dealer in Germany we bought from. Organised to have parts flown to France so we could get a job done on our way to Spain. Never quibbled about any of the items that needed fixing, even gave the same service to the guy I sold the van to even though it was out of warranty.