Buying a first motorhome.

[Clasp]

Hi,

We’re looking to buy our first motorhome. We visited the NEC show and had a good look around lots of vehicles. My husband favours the A-Class as when we rented last year he found the overcab bed too claustrophobic and also didn’t like the way the wind pushed against the overhang on bad weather days.

We’d also like a rear lounge for the extra liveable space.

We need 4 berth and 4 seatbelts minimum. Our children are 11 and 13. Ideally we would like the facility for the children to not have to sit side by side so split rear seats or a fifth travelling seat would be good. We have a budget of upto 35k.

Will we be able to find what we are looking for? Any recommendations?

[jumpstart]

Sounds like you need a villa.

[jumpstart]

In my experience a four berth Motorhome is just about comfortable fo two. So you’ll need quite a big one. You should also consider how long your teenagers will want to go with you. Rent some again to narrow down the size you like.

[stevec176]

Get the van for yourselves and a tent for the kids.

[davidmac]

Hi not too many motorhomes that have separate seats in the rear also if the children struggle to sit together do they need separate beds as well. If you go for a rear lounge and the children sleep on the couches and you sleep on the drop down bed probably means you all go to bed at the same time is that ok. I spent 2 years trawling eBay and auto trader looking for my motorhome I think that would be a good place for you to start your search. Best of luck.

Regards David

[colin]

At 35k you are looking at a secondhand van, Peterborough show usually has dealers there with vans in this range.

[Reburner]

There are very few vans that have the two rear seated belts separate so that will restrict your choice.

 

[RubyExsis]

Are Reburner and David Mac saying "there are very few vans that have two separate rear seated belts",

because they know of some or because they don't know of any?

If they do know of any, perhaps they or others could share the info for the OP.

Fred

[Wasnt Me]

Is there an A class with bunk beds across the rear?

 

We have a coachbuilt with this layout and it's perfect for out kids 11 and 9.

 

This layout means they can go to bed and we can stay up.

[Clive_Adams]

https://www.caravanguard.co.uk/news/the-hymer-b534-motorhome-reviewed-3155/

 

Whether you'll get one for 35k is another matter, but the rear seats may give you some food for though

[Brock]

My first reaction on reading your post was that a caravan would suit you better and when the children are older, a motorhome and tent [less suitable if the children are different genders]. That's how we did it.

 

Have you a C1 driving licence entitlement [or higher] because if you are restricted to 3500kg, you are going to find it difficult to buy a spacious 4 berth and remain within the law.

 

You rented one and were not put off motorhoming so can't you find the same make & model?

 

We're on our third A-class - the first one was 6m - two adults, two teenage boys and the dog with a traditional bench seat and four seater dinette. Drop down beds and A-classes have their drawbacks but they are space efficient - which is why we have them.

 

There are some motorhomes with a dinette and five passenger seatbelts. They're great for children who like to argue where they sit and those who like kicking people under the table! Dinettes and rear lounges also exist.

 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201811052145050?berth=6&maximum-seats=6&radius=1500&price-to=35000&sort=price-desc&postcode=sw112pa&advertising-location=at_motorhomes&page=5

 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201901294396682?advertising-location=at_motorhomes&maximum-seats=6&sort=price-desc&price-to=35000&berth=6&radius=1500&postcode=sw112pa&page=3

 

But most of these vans will have overcab beds or storage areas. Except say:

 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201903155919384?postcode=sw112pa&body-type=A-Class&price-to=35000&advertising-location=at_motorhomes&sort=price-desc&maximum-seats=6&berth=6&radius=1500&page=1

 

When buying second hand it's a case of surfing the net, reading the mags, and slogging away visiting dealers - the bigger ones will give you a better choice of vans to look at.

[Billggski]

Very difficult to get all your needs, most mohos are compromises.

Where are you planning to go?

If the continent then most of the time you'll be sitting outside eating salad so don't need a lounge. The Uk is the opposite, sitting inside watching the rain with an oven cooking a roast dinner.

Seperate bunkbeds a must for the kids, with usb to keep their games consoles charged up.

You really need a six berth so you can keep the table fixed as some go to bed and some stay up,and thekids can face each other as you travel, so the 3500k limit comes into play.

A class come expensive, if the overhead bed was to small, look at others, ours is huge.

[Brian Kirby]

In a few years time your children will probably not want to accompany you. They will also be larger and heavier. Motorhomes aren't cheap to buy, and are costly to change.

 

The suggestion above to consider buying a van with four travelling seats but only two berths, and getting a decent tent for the children (or even one each) is good. They get a bit of independence, you can do your thing, and you are not endlessly tripping over each other.

 

Vans with bunk beds are available, but their inclusion doesn't resolve the problem of different sleeping patterns for adults and children.

 

I would add two further things.

1. You have school age children, so I assume will be mostly limited to school holidays for your travel, when everything is a) crowded and b) expensive.

2. I would therefore question whether a motorhome is best suited to this pattern of use, because they are first and foremost vehicles, and school holiday only use implies a lot of standing idle, on which vehicles do not thrive.

 

I would suggest that for the time being you give consideration (further consideration? :-)) to a trailer caravan, or even a trailer tent, as possibly a better solution, as it would leave you with year round use of the car, with only a trailer standing idle. As you presumably have a car, it will also be substantially cheaper than car + motorhome in terms of insurance, VED, and servicing costs.

 

Can you presently drive vehicles over 3.5 tonnes? I think you will find a 4 berth van of the kind you want will be quite restrictive as to what you can legally (weight-wise) carry in it. Payload is an ever-present problem with motorhomes, and the larger (and therefore heavier) the van, the more restrictive the 3.5 tonne limit becomes. You will soon be carrying four adults, so about 300kg (or more) of your payload immediately goes just on the driver plus passengers.

The desire to separate the children when travelling also suggests increasing vehicle size, but additionally brings in consideration of passenger safety and, if longer journeys are under consideration, comfort for the traveller on the "jump" seat.

 

Don't be deceived by payloads! The claims made by both manufacturers and by dealers (few of either of whom seem ever to use what the make and sell) are aimed at persuading buyers that the available payload will be adequate. As a very simple rule, a two berth van, at around 6.0 metres long, should provide a broadly adequate payload for two people for extended trips within a maximum permissible weight of 3.5 tonnes. More people travelling, and the consequent greater vehicle length and self- weight, create increasing payload problems.

 

Regarding "A class" vans and cross-wind susceptibility, I would suggest that low profile coachbuilts are probably the least susceptible to buffeting from coach and truck slip-streams and cross winds, but motorhomes are largish, slab-sided, vehicles and all (saving perhaps the smaller PVCs) are prone to getting buffeted in strong winds. At least, all ours have been! :-D

 

If you haven't come across them, do a "Google" for Vicarious Books, look at their full product list, select "Campervan Guides", and get yourselves a copy of "Go Motorhoming and Campervanning". It will explore many of the above issues in sufficient depth to highlight the potential snags and pitfalls, and help you navigate your way to the right van for you. The authors are widely experienced motorhomers, and wrote the book with the intention of steering others around the less obvious pitfalls. I have no connection, BTW. :-)

[flicka]

To widen your choice, IMHO you need to consider (if it's practical) one child in the front passenger seat & one in the rear with the 2nd adult. To stop any arguements, switch which child occupies the front passenger seat at regular intervals.

Good luck.

[Derek Uzzell]

Ruby(Exsis) - 2019-03-16 8:24 AM

 

Are Reburner and David Mac saying "there are very few vans that have two separate rear seated belts",

because they know of some or because they don't know of any?

If they do know of any, perhaps they or others could share the info for the OP.

Fred

 

There will be quite a few motothome models with ‘separated' rear seating fitted with safety-belts (eg. my Rapido 640F) but it’s combining that requirement with all the others that will be the problem.

 

It MIGHT be possible to identify a large tandem rear-axle Auto-Trail model that had a rear lounge and the required number of seats/berths, but it would not be an A-class design and would probably need to be quite old to be obtainable for £35K.