Hiring or Buying?

[Fuddyduddy]

Hi there

I am new to motorhomes in fact I haven't yet purchased one .The model that suits me is the Autosleepers Talisman .I would like to try before I buy but all the hire companies I have seen do not rent out this model.Talking to the dealers who are trying to sell me this model say that it is such a popular model that I could buy the van from them use it for six months and resell if I didn't take to it and the depreciation would be less than the cost of one weeks hire. Are they right or is it just sales patter? If they are not right any suggestions or do I just have to jump in the deep end and buy?

Many Thanks

[michele]

If you hired for six months he is telling the truth it's cheaper ..6months x500 ?

[davenewellhome]

Why not ask one of these dealers to sign a contract agreeing to buy the 'van back in six months for just £500 less if you don't like it? If they're so sure of what they're saying they should jump at the chance.

 

D.

[Brian Kirby]

Roy

If you haven't tried motorhoming before, I think it would be worth hiring first.  However, I wouldn't worry too much about hiring the exact van. 

After you've used one for a bit you'll probably see quite a number of features in a different light.  This may lead you to review your decision regarding the Talisman: it may confirm your choice. 

It is very difficult just to to imagine how things will work, and feel, in practice, and how you will react to motorhoming in general.  Actually doing it will be revealing, even in a different van.  Many folk seem to go through several vans before they hit on the "right formula" for them, and what looks/seems the right choice at the outset may, with experience, prove to have drawbacks.  Ultimately, hiring is cheaper than switching vans.

Try to find something roughly similar in size and layout, note the differences to the Talisman, use it for a week or so, contrast what you get with what you'd have in a Talisman, and see how you get on.  I'm sure this will prove valuable experience.  It will enable you to find how you like travelling and living in a small box, and should enable you to better judge the Talisman and its suitability for you.

[Brambles]

Hi All,

I do not know about the model in question, but when we started Motorhoming in 2003 we were planning on hiring a couchbuilt for 8 weeks.

The problem we had at the time was finding one with rear seat belts, however before even attepting to resolve the issue, local dealer sales man said we should buy and trade in at end of Summer and gave us a price and what we would get back making over estimated allowances for mileage, wear and tear. It worked out far cheaper to buy for 8 weeks.

So ahead we went. At end of summer, no way where we trading it in. Fallen in love with it and still have same Mororhome 28K miles later and enjoying whole of School holidays in Europe every summer.

Off end of next week (Scottish schools are earlier than England).

 

Does not help you with buying V Hiring for a week, but the saleman could well be right in principle but I would doubt it being true for only one weeks hire.

 

 

Jon.

 

[Mel B]

I can't possibly believe that buying one and then selling it is cheaper than hiring one for a week. Quite apart from anything else you'd have to take out insurance and then if you sold the van you wouldn't get much back from surrendering the policy. Then there's depreciation ... I did once make a nice little profit from buying a van - bought for £9,500, kept for about 18 months, traded it in and got £13,350! Just after we'd bought it initially we found another couple who had bought the self same van from a certain motorhome dealership and had paid £14,000! We didn't realise what a bargain we had got!

 

However, I can't see how you can possibly get back what you pay in the normal scheme of things, especially if you buy it from a dealer, there's no way they are going to give you back virtually what you paid them for it, it doesn't make commercial sense. The only way you might get most of what you paid originally back is by selling it privately, but again getting near the full purchase price is highly unlikely.

 

Have a really good look around, go to some shoes if you can and talk to people, have a nosey at their vans - they'll be only too happy to show you their pride and joy - then you'll have a good idea of what probably suits you but also what it's like to use in reality.

 

Have fun looking! :-D

[BensGrandad]

I am in a similar dilemna as I have an old Sherpa Highwayman (1978) and my wife and I are considering buying a smaller van like the Romahome which we could useas botha camper and an everyday car but are not certain whether or not it would be ok. I am 6 ft tall and am not sure about the height inside, the bed length etc. We are considering driving to Portugal for an month in January and would love to hire a Romahome either then or before then to see if it suits our needs.

[howie]

You sometimes come across these "try before you buy" deals where you hire for a certain period and if you decide to buy the hire fee comes off the purchase price. Don,t see it very often but sounds the right way to go about things if you are not 100% sure when testing the waters of motorhoming.

[Mel B]

You could try having a look at Hirebuddies as they hire out people's own vans so you might find someone who has a Romahome that you can hire. Worth a look.