Buying, Owning and running a motorhome..
 

Sooo... I am thinking about buying a motorhome.. I have never owned or run one before and am a complete novice.. I have a space that I could park one in, it is 16 feet by 8 feet. I would be wanting one that could take 3 people.

I went and looked at some new ones recently and to be honest some of them were huge and very expensive, for example in the 45 to 60 thousand pound price range. My budget is 20,000 maybe 25,000 at a push..

I would prefer a dedicated motorhome and not just a converted van and would like one that has sleeping above the driver, I think this is called an "over sleeper" but I'm not sure..

Maybe I would be better looking at the secondhand market for the money I have to spend ?.

Any advice or pointers as to what to buy and things to look out for and maybe hidden costs would be great.. I would be buying in a couple of years so no real hurry, I just want as much info as I can get and thought maybe there would be members on here that would know about these things.

Thanks for the help.

Your space is 11 Feet x 8Feet ???? That is not a big space to park a motor home unless you are looking at the Beford Bambi,,Are you sure of the measurements??

I know nothing about them, although I do have a fantasy of having a basic converted van, that I could point somewhere and drive, occasionally stopping for pictures, having a little rest and coffee.

But I did used to work with a guy who was into his caravanning holidays, driving to France annually (from N.Ireland) for 8-12 weeks at a time. I told him once of this fantasy of mine, and asked why he did not use a campervan. He explained he once had one, and he found it too restrictive, particularly in French provincial towns. If he ever wanted to go somewhere, sight seeing, or even for groceries, he would have to pack up, tie everything down to drive somewhere. Which is what I would impart. If you wished to do any kind of sightseeing whilst camping with it, you will have to take your holiday home with you. For what I would want, it would be an ideal vehicle.

It is 11 feet by 8 feet, but it is not enclosed in, the space is open on 3 sides. I know its a bit small but I really just need advice..

Sorry just checked and it is 16 feet by 8 feet.. Ooops.

Well that's better, but I would check out the size of anything you potentially purchase to make sure it will fit.;)

The advice I was given a couple of years ago when SWMBO had a wish to own one was to hire one for a week or two and use it.

All went well until on the second day she wanted to go shopping and then we realised why so many tow a little car behind them, non of the supermarkets near where were staying had enough room to get one in either by design or lack of space.

Anyway at the end of the two weeks we decided to leave the money in the bank and hire one again when we had the desire.

The problems we encountered were mainly the size in small places we were trying to get too, on one occasion I had to reverse it about half a mile due to oncoming vehicles and no passing places. I would like to know how people get on with the Winnebago style mobile homes or do they only use them to go to festivals and events? On a positive it was very luxurious and comfortable, had an amazing power shower, good size fridge freezer and great cooker, the bed was sooo comfortable with mood lighting.

The economics of owning one don't really add up unless you are planning to use it a lot. With the cost of buying one, maintenance, insurance and tax and of course repairs. The one we hired cost us £1200 for 2 weeks and we had the latest model that was about 6 months old.

If buying second hand remember some of these vans are only used for a short time each year and spend a lot of time parked on the drive/road and consequently they dont get the attention they should. Chris.S.

Thanks for the posts so far, certainly food for thought there. Never really thought about things rattling about so that would need some thought. And as for sight seeing I would be using a bike rack so would not necessaraly be stuck without a means to move around without the motorhome..

I would have thought that not being used much would have been a plus point but I do see where you are coming from and would look for good service history.

Still early days but any help is very much welcomed..

The problem with it not being used much is unless stored undercover the brakes will suffer, rust will get to the discs and callipers can seize up and you don't want something this big with dodgy brakes. Also tyres un used will end up with a flat spot because of the weight on them if you don't over inflate them or take the weight off them.

Yes good idea with the bike but can you get your groceries on a bike? As much as we enjoyed the 2 weeks the shopping was a real pain. In the end we found a Supermarket that I could stop in a bus stop to drop my wife off, I went out of town until she rung me to come and collect her.

The other problem I had forgotten about was driving on the motorway in the wind, a head wind meant we were restricted with speed and a side wind meant it was difficult to keep it in a straight line especially when passing or being passed by other tall vehicles.