Dealers in France

[Sandy]

Can anyone point me in the direction of some reputable motor home dealers in France, preferable ones that are fairly near big cities or towns for relatively easy access. Many thanks

[terry1956]

It all depends on what part of france, Take caen in normandy there are around 7 large motorhome dealers, If you are looking for new ok, but 2nd hand ones at the sites are expensive and have high mileage, look at the small ads, you will get a much better deal going private.

michael

[Brian Kirby]

Sandy

Give us an idea of what you are looking for, and where. 

New or old?  If you want to trade a UK registered van, rhd or lhd, I think you'll struggle.  What make of van are you looking for?  What is your timescale?  Many dealerships in France are spread around the outskirts of cities, so going form one to another isn't that easy.  However, many are also miles from cities, alongside main roads, or out in the countryside in small towns or even villages!  Most are relatively small, and most, therefore, have limited stocks.

My suggestion would be to wait, if you can, until September, and then visit the 2007 Paris salon at Le Bourget.  That will enable you to see pretty well all that will be available in France for 2008, and select the makes/models you favour.  Whatever you do, don't buy at the show, the manufacturer's stands are manned by salesmen from dealerships all over France, and you may find you've just signed up with someone from Montpellier!

When you've done that, home in on the dealerships you can readily get to from UK, remembering that whereas you may be able to drive to them for visits and to place your order, you'll almost certainly have to rely upon public transport to get there to collect your van!

Bear in mind two things.  Deposits in the region of 10% are normal, and are not generally refundable unless the dealer defaults.  Once signed, the contract of sale is not rescindable under French law.  If the order omits such items as engine size or automatic transmission, or converter's options, or chosen colours of upholstery, or accessories you want included, they are omitted, and you are obliged to pay for what you get and pay extra for whatever is missing.  So, think hard before you sign!  However, if the van is not what you ordered, the boot is on the other foot and you can just walk away, or negotiate a reduction, or require the dealer to make good.

Also remember that if things do go wrong with the van, you may have to return it, and a dealer in central France who gave you the best price may not then seem so convenient!

[Sandy]

Thanks for replies folks. We are still pretty taken with the Autostar, they are so hard to get hold of over here second hand, we are hoping to get a 2003/2004/2005 age one.

 

We are planning to get away by the latest October so will be starting to look for new MH end of this month.

 

Don't know if it is just us being thick, but we have spent hours on the Internet searching for dealers who do left hand drives and have a site you can actually see the vehicles instead of just being told where the dealer is!

 

We went to the East of England motor home show at Peterborough last month hoping for inspiration, but alas, came away knowing what we didn't want. Its simple really all we want is a 'U' shaped lounge with seats big enough to use as single beds, drop down bed above cab would be nice but not essential, diesel around about 2.5, Cooker (which we find a lot of the older Hymers don't have which is a shame as we like them!) and a axle strong enough to take a rack for a 130 kilo scooter - now you would think it would be an easy job finding something to fit that criteria wouldn't you???

[Brian Kirby]

Sandy.

In short, no!  The layout you describe is, by and large, typically British, but Autostars are French, who generally do not favour U shaped lounges!  Drop down bed usually equals A class van, so not so many available, as not so many sold, because they were more expensive.  Cooker, by which I suppose you mean an oven, very unusual in Europe, but common in UK.  Back axle free load for your scooter; well at a guess you'll be looking for more than a 3,500Kg van, since I doubt most vans that at, or below, that weight, would have the back axle capacity to take you, your clutter, and the scooter!

I think what you really want is an Autotrial of some sort, but not an Autostar.  If you can find a decent Mercedes based one on a 4,500 Kg chassis, it should be somewhere near your ideal spec.  You won't find them for sale in France though!  If you can home in on a particular Autostar model, that has/had all you want as standard equipment, you may find one in France, but it will be a bit of a "rare" model and may turn up anywhere in the country.  Big country, France!

[Tony Jones]

Brian Kirby - 2007-05-08 2:45 PM

I think what you really want is an Autotrial of some sort,

 

Good name for Judgemental's new van perhaps?

[Brian Kirby]

Oooooops.  Autotrail!  Well spotted Tony.  Mind, it could be the other thing initially.

[Sandy]

I think you may well be right about the Autotrail, they do have a wide range of layouts. We are looking for 'A' class as we like the open view you get from the cab without the jutty out bit (yes that is a technical term!) over the top sort of crowding down on you, I think that is another reason the Autostar appealed, the pull down bed tucks nicely away. So any suggestions for a 'U' shape lounge Autotrail model?

[Derek Uzzell]

Sandy: If you want a French LHD A-Class with pull-down cab bed and rear U-lounge then a Le Voyageur LVX 785 meets that specification. This model was built on a long-wheelbase Mercedes 316 chassis and was 6.74 metres in length. I don't know exactly in which years it was marketed, but it should have been available in your preferred 2003-2005 range. Not sure either whether the U-lounge's side seats would be long enough to be viable as single beds - depends how tall you are I guess. The LVX 785 would have been sold in France at 3500kg maximum overall weight, but the chassis could be 'up-plated' to 3800kg simply enough to obtain the payload needed to permit you to transport your scooter.

 

I'm pretty sure that Autostar haven't produced anything that comes near to what you want in terms of layout (or at least not in the last 7 or 8 years).

[Randonneur]

Try the following two sites:-

 

http://www.camping-car-occasion.com/

 

 

www.tpl.fr

 

(we bought ours from there in October last year) They have outlets all over France.

 

Sylvia

 

[Brian Kirby]

Sandy

Don't know your budget, of course, but a Dethleffs Globebus 3 "A" class has the sort of layout I think you're looking for.  It's a new for 2007 model, so won't be available secondhand.  To get one now, you'd probably have to go to Germany, since that seems to be where all the dealer stock has gone.  They start around 50,000 Euros, depending on spec.  Only 6 metres long and 2.15 wide, so quite compact.  Bit "retro" styled, but that's a matter of taste.  However, it's about the smallest, and also cheapest, A class around.  Bit bigger, but maybe cheaper, is the Itineo, a "built down to a price" van that I think Rapido has a finger or two in.  Can't remember whether there is a U shaped lounge, though. 

Most of the European vans are going for more and more elaborate front lounge/dinettes, followed by L shaped kitchens, followed by washroom/wardrobes, with the bed at the back.  These approximate to a U shaped lounge, but it's at the front and made by swivelling the driver's and front passenger's seats.

I'm afraid I think you're still being too "picky" in a detailed way if you intend buying a used van.  I think you'll find your search easier if you home in on a popular make (so lots around at various prices with various layouts), with a good reputation for quality, and then see what is available.  In France, I think you'd maybe do better with Rapido or Pilote/Frankia, maybe the Eriba Jet, if you're prepared to go to Germany, look at Hymer, Burstner or Eura Mobil.  But I still think you'll find the lounges at the front!

[Sandy]

We have a maximum of £30000, funnily enough we were looking at a Dethleffs on the internet last night, looks like a nice van, mind you that wasn't new. We also spotted a Hymer I think it was a 534 and it said 'with rare oven' but it was about 16 years old, so they are around.

[Tomo]

We went looking for a Hymer 534, perfect layout for us, only found one but it was already sold. Bought a Burstner A class in the end. Very happy with it. At the peteboro show looked in a Hymer 634, this also had an end lounge, nice van, but not ready to move on to another van yet.

Happy touring.

[Brian Kirby]

Sandy - 2007-05-10 7:59 AM We have a maximum of £30000, funnily enough we were looking at a Dethleffs on the internet last night, looks like a nice van, mind you that wasn't new. We also spotted a Hymer I think it was a 534 and it said 'with rare oven' but it was about 16 years old, so they are around.

OK, that gives you around 45,000 Euros.  Get onto www.mobile.de, set it for english (unless you are pretty fluent in German!), then switch it to search "motorhome and caravan", and start searching!  I don't think you'll find a lot, even in Germany, to choose from, though, unless you switch to "used" or "partly integrated".  For A class you'll need to select "integrated".  You can also set a maximum cost.

The problem with the French and Belgian dealers, is that they are all pretty coy about what they have in stock and the cost.  They seem to think the internet is just to tell folk they are there - but even then most of them then forget to tell folk where "there" is.  (Half the time they just put in a telephone number, some even forget that.)

Not many of the Dutch sites run in English, and I can't get anywhere with written Dutch, even if it is supposed to be (historically) a dialect of German!  The Dutch all claim to be able to understand the German's, though.  It's a sort of one way communications street.  Ain't Europe fun?

European internet motorhome searching really is about Germany, with many of the German dealers having an English version of their sites.  Motorhome hire is quite popular in Germany, and a lot of Americans hire there, so I think that is some of the explanation.  However, the nitty-gritty of the veicle specifications is almost invariably in German.  If you paste it into Babelfish, or some other instant translator, (and then put your thinking cap on) you'll get a flavour of what is on offer, but Babelfish etc don't really "do" motorhome tech speak in German or English.

Enjoy!

[Sandy]

Well you have all given us lots of food for thought there, will be looking at the links you have all suggested, will let you know if anything catches our eye and see if you have any words of wisdom about them.

Thank you for all for your replies

Sandy x