Budget first timer advice required.

[jaykay2011]

Hi,

First post and looking for advice.

We have done touring vans and tents and now want to try a motorhome. Our budget is £7k so will be looking at an early 90's machine I guess.

We need a 4/5 berth and plan to probably just use it in the UK.

 

I read a comment somewhere about an old rotten Kontiki, and thought it would be wise to get advice from those who have had or have this age of camper.

 

Can anyone give me some advice on what to watch out for or avoid ? Which are the best models to go for ? MPG diference between petrol and diesels ?

 

All advice welcome.

 

Jason

[Guest peter]

At 7k all you're likely to ge is a clapped out panel van conversion or a really poor old coachbuilt.

Have a word with Pelmetman he's got one he might let you have. :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only joking Dave, yours is a cracker. :D

[jaykay2011]

Peter,

Thanks for the constructive feedback !

 

I am a mechanic and bodyman so know what I am looking at from a base vehicle perspective, and have seen some pretty reasonable campers for that money and less.

I guess from your response, you have something worth a lot more ? :-S

[Guest peter]

Good luck then. I shouldn't think anyone on this forum has a motorhome that's only worth 7k. Take my word for it, unless you're prepared to do a lot of refurb' all you'll get is a nail. Sorry if it's not what you wanted to hear. But it's a fact.

[Retread24800]

As Germany enforces more and more punitive 'Eco' Measures there are now some very acceptable 5 berth vans dating 1985-1991 listed on sites like Caraworld . As a person skilled in oily bits and tin bashing you will find a bargain there, its not hard to register a foreign van, just think of the joys of a LHD (lol) 

[Keith T]

Im sure there are vans available at such a price,but one thing perhaps you may wish to consider - if you are looking at Diesel fuelled engines, do bear in mind the ever more restrictive fees being put on such vehicles to go to many places - the LEZ comes to mind immediately,and basically, anyone having a motohome so equipped and of that age is unlikely to be able to go within this area, and is therefore 'barred' from living in that zone, or even wanting to go to many club sites within it. I am sure other cities may well jump on the band-wagon.

NB this is not the congestion charge but an 'emission' charge, which I think for LEZ is something like £200 per day of use!

[Retread24800]

Retread24800 - 2011-08-15 12:05 AM As Germany enforces more and more punitive 'Eco' Measures there are now some very acceptable 5 berth vans dating 1985-1991 listed on sites like Caraworld . As a person skilled in oily bits and tin bashing you will find a bargain there, its not hard to register a foreign van, just think of the joys of a LHD (lol) 

And as for driving in or around London, who would want to,B-) l, give me the country side /beach rather than wall to wall rush and stress. and if you wanted to @£200 per day you would need to spend a lot of time within the LEZ before you could justify spending upwards of £35,000 on a new 'van, as the OP is a mechanic he could always change the engine for a petrol version.

[747]

There are a couple of options open to you with that sort of budget which could give you a good result.

 

1. Have a look at buying a second hand self build van. I have seen several which put all but the best motorhomes to shame. Their prices are more in the real world than professionally converted panel vans.

 

2. Buy a van and convert it yourself. You can join the SBMCC (Self Build Motor Caravanners Club). They will give you all the help and advice you need and there are discounts available to members for insurance etc. You also get the benefit of dciding which layout is best for you.

 

Buying a second hand caravan (or an accident damaged one) will give you most of the expensive items necessary at a fraction of the cost of new ones.

 

If you really want to do it then I wish you the best of luck. :D

[pepe63xnotuse]

As you sound pretty handy,I'd also suggest looking down the selfbuild route and maybe check ebay for some "incomplete"selfbuild projects(...at least that way they'd probably have the windows,kitchen kit etc,even if it needed "tidying")

 

The first van I had,I'd converted myself(..and old Talbot),that was back in the early '90s..but it did shock me a few years back,when I came back to campers/Mhs,at just how much they went for..?!

 

You would probably be able to find old coachbuilts at that sort of money(ebay etc)but obviously water ingress/damp will be the main thing to look out for....

 

But it's the same with anything tho'...it's not so much what you buy but what price you buy it at... ;-)

You could get yourself a cheap(ish) van..do a bit of "tidying up"..and have few years of great holidays..and still have spent less than a years depreciation on a newish van...;-)

 

Goodluck mate...

(Oh!..and as 747 said,check out sbmcc )

 

 

[ips]

If I was you I would buy a good s/h van and do my own build. I allways fancied doing one but never got around to it.

[lennyhb]

I would also say look around for a German van, coachbuilts far less likely to have water ingress problems than UK built vans, panel van conversions obviously a safe bet in this area.

 

If you don't mind LHD take a look on mobile.de.

 

One thing you probably won't get is power steering, after being used to driving cars these days with PS can be a bit tiresome but with your abilities you could probably convert it if you can get the parts.

[jaykay2011]

Thanks for the replies,

I have seen a lot of vans for sub £7k which look ok. Eg saw a very nice diesel talbot autosleeper in felixstowe for £5700 and it was mint. It wont get a lot of use so mileage isnt a concern.

[Guest pelmetman]

There are plenty of old campers like ours running around still, and considering the tiny number that were built at that time compared to todays volume production, its a testament to their owners;-)

As for which base vehicle, I have a bias towards the humble Transit, which if anything has increased with time:D.......Why?...........Because the parts are so cheap, and are available anywhere, and rust is an issue but not so bad as the Sevel range of vans in my opinion, not that I've owned one just based on observation's...........If you manage to find a van which had been Waxoiled from new, I had mine done last year...........probably 21 years late(lol)

The main thing with any coachbuilt is to buy yourself a damp meter...........Although your nose is as good a tool, if it smells damp beware8-)...........

Don't be put off by the doom and gloom merchants, you will find a old van can be just as reliable as new, a lot cheaper to maintain, and definitely a lot cheaper in the deprecation department;-) Someone driving of a forecourt today in a 50k + van will probably have just lost the 7k your planning on spending:D

There are plenty of GOOD old vans out there. In MMM a couple of months ago they had a Travelhome like ours, a year younger, and a one owner............for 5 and a half K........The new owner I suspect will have a bargain, and a vehicle quite capably of taking them to Gibraltar just as ours did this January:D

Happy Hunting:-D

Forgot to add, we can get 31mpg 

[BGD]

jaykay2011 - 2011-08-15 9:45 AM

 

Thanks for the replies,

I have seen a lot of vans for sub £7k which look ok. Eg saw a very nice diesel talbot autosleeper in felixstowe for £5700 and it was mint. It wont get a lot of use so mileage isnt a concern.

 

 

 

 

 

Just go for it.

 

Thoughts:

We bought our first MH about 4 years ago for 6,000 euros - 1992 Euramobil overcab, on a Peugeot J5 van (exactly the same engine etc as the Talbot, and the Citroen C5 van) chassis.

Utterly brilliant, everything worked fine, had been loved by several previous owners.

Only sold it as we wanted something with a fixed bed (it had a rear lounge which used to convert into a bed, and the overcab, which we only ever used to store all our junk and clutter), and also it was slower than an arthritic sloth - if getting one of this type of MH's, do go for the 2.5 turbo, with power steering, NOT the non-trubo without power steering.

We put about 25,000kms on it in the 2 years, and loved every minute.....and sold it for 2,000 euros more than we bought it for.

 

We flogged about 2 years ago it in favour of another 1992 based MH, an A-class this time, on the 2.5 turbo diesel van base. It had done only about 80,000 kms - we've put about 45,000 more on it in 2 years, chugging all over Spain and Portugal, and southern France.

In any old MH, progress is "sedate" (we chug along at about 100kms per hour), and even with a diesel engine, fuel economy is utterly dire....maybe 25pmg on a steady run at under 60mph...any faster than that and they just drink drink drink. Answer to awful fuel economy? Make sure you buy a diesel; and DRIVE SLOWER.

 

We did once think about "upgrading" to one of those modern white polished immaculate computerised uber-flash motorhomes. But the price-to-change would have been over 20,000 euros.

That's about what we'll spend on fuel, tolls, spares, repairs, fuel, insurance, on ours throughout the next 5 years.

And in truth what would we have got for that spend that we don't already have in our old-dog?

Maybe 5 to 10 mpg more.........how many miles would we have to drive to get 20,000 euros worth of payback on that?

Maybe 10 or 20 kms per hour more cruising speed? Don't really need it, when chugging along we are on holiday, the scenery is more important than sitting on a motorway to us.

A far more higher vehicle insurance bill.

A much more complex vehicle, with can-bus, ECU's, computerised everything. Don't want it. Ours is utter simplicity to home maintain.

A MH which potentially, would be a much more attractive target to thieves. Ours is old. It looks as though it is worth buggeral, and with buggerall worth nicking out of it...which is actually true!

A vehicle which, if/when we pranged it, would costs loads to repair. If I prang this one, a combination of duct-tape and hammerite paint will suffice....

Mods are much easier on an old MH - there's no warranty issues with adding shelves etc, repairing or improving the internals/the systems....and if you are handy, it's great fun.

You don't have to ever wash or polish it. Ever.

Yes, it may well need a bit more mechanical TLC than an almost new one, but the mechanicals are easy-peasy to do yourself, spares are really plentiful all over breakers yards and ebay, and the spares costs are a tiny fraction of those for new vehicles. Even garage labour costs are a lot less, as there is so much less to have to remove/burrow through to get to any problem.

Just buy breakdown/recovery insurance.....Europe-wide if planning to chug around the Continent too....which you REALLY should do. Often. 'Cos it's brilliant!

And the BIGGEST cost of MH ownership, by a country mile, is DEPRECIATION.

Most people ignore it, because you pnly take the hit when you sell; but it dwarfs all other costs combined. Drive a new MH out of the dealers, and you've dropped maybe 5,000 quid that day. Maybe 3,000 to 5,000 more each subsequent year. Each year. That's more than our total MH travels budget per year, and we are away in our MH maybe 60 or 70 nights per year.

 

 

OF COURSE, it is horses-for-courses.

If money was no object, we'd be out buying a 60,000 pound gin-palace tomorrow.

People do, and love doing so. That's great.

But with our 12,000 euros worth of old-dog MH, we really are very very happy, and I'd rather put the other 45,000 saved to better use elsewhere......we are off in it across Spain, France and northern Italy at the start of October for another 22 days. Then another trip next Januray. And another next Feb. And another next April....etc, etc

 

 

Honestly, just get one. They are brilliant fun.

But do use it. And play with it and fettle it. A lot.

Far too many just sit on peoples drives for month after month. Depreciating and rusting.

If you only use it once or twice a year, it's a damned expensive way to have holidays.

 

 

 

 

Just my personal view......

[BGD]

jaykay2011 - 2011-08-15 9:45 AM

 

Thanks for the replies,

I have seen a lot of vans for sub £7k which look ok. Eg saw a very nice diesel talbot autosleeper in felixstowe for £5700 and it was mint. It wont get a lot of use so mileage isnt a concern.

 

 

I agree.

Loads of perfectly good MH's for that sort of money or less.

Ebay is awash with them.

Might need a bit of TLC, and probably rust is the biggest issue, but a diesel engine/running gear that's done say 80,000 miles is only just run in....they are designed to do starship mileages so long as serviced now and then.

 

Couple of really cheap examples at under 5,000 quid:

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-mobile-home-Karmann-Davis-630M-/220830569415?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item336a8713c7#ht_766wt_932

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-BERTH-COACH-BUILT-ELDDIS-FIAT-DUCATO-MOTORHOME-/120760281487?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item1c1ddfa98f#ht_500wt_949

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/talbot-express-autosleeper-rambler-4-berth-1991-mint-/150643135247?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item231307d30f#ht_500wt_949

 

 

[pepe63xnotuse]

Yeah,I fully agree with those last posts...

 

Having now checked out what's about on ebay...and as you say that your mileage won't be high,I think I'd probably change my earlier view about going the selfbuild route,as there seems to be plenty of reasonable,if slightly older,campervans/Mhs about for your budget.. ;-)

 

As has been said GO for it! ;-)

[Retread24800]

BGD - 2011-08-15 11:56 AM

jaykay2011 - 2011-08-15 9:45 AM Thanks for the replies, I have seen a lot of vans for sub £7k which look OK. Eg saw a very nice diesel Talbot autosleeper in felixstowe for £5700 and it was mint. It wont get a lot of use so mileage isn't a concern.

Just go for it. Thoughts: We bought our first MH about 4 years ago for 6,000 euros - 1992 Euramobil overcab, on a Peugeot J5 van (exactly the same engine etc as the Talbot, and the Citroen C5 van) chassis. Utterly brilliant, everything worked fine, had been loved by several previous owners. Only sold it as we wanted something with a fixed bed (it had a rear lounge which used to convert into a bed, and the overcab, which we only ever used to store all our junk and clutter), and also it was slower than an arthritic sloth - if getting one of this type of MH's, do go for the 2.5 turbo, with power steering, NOT the non-turbo without power steering. We put about 25,000kms on it in the 2 years, and loved every minute.....and sold it for 2,000 euros more than we bought it for. .........................................................................................

 If you only use it once or twice a year, it's a damned expensive way to have holidays. Just my personal view......

Thats a good Post and one I fully agree with.

Choose a goodun and you can often find that it is an appreciating asset.:-)

[BGD]

Some more ebay examples that might be the sort of thing you're considering, all under the 7k:

 

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-207D-motorhome-/180710181469?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item2a132a8a5d#ht_500wt_949

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TALBOT-CAMPERVAN-Compass-Drifter-5-BERTH1994-MOTORHOME-/130561756930?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item1e66164f02#ht_960wt_932

 

This one looks useful:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HYMER-65-MOTORHOME-/150648166077?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item23135496bd#ht_3439wt_932

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/talbot-express-elddis-300-special-/160636979070?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item2566b5c77e#ht_500wt_949

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEUGEOT-PILOT-5-BERTH-MOTORHOME-LHD-DIESEL-80K-MILES-/180703159318?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item2a12bf6416#ht_29065wt_1026

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-DETHLEFFS-GLOBETROTTER-LHD-MOTORHOME-2-5-DIESEL-/250874148552?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item3a6943b6c8#ht_500wt_949

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mercedes-foster-day-motorhome-low-miles-uk-delivery-/180705906758?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item2a12e95046#ht_28516wt_1026

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/92-ford-transit-diesel-motorhome-41000-miles-/260830536799?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item3cbab6245f#ht_720wt_932

 

 

Happy hunting.

 

[MattR]

peter - 2011-08-14 10:56 PM

 

Good luck then. I shouldn't think anyone on this forum has a motorhome that's only worth 7k. Take my word for it, unless you're prepared to do a lot of refurb' all you'll get is a nail. Sorry if it's not what you wanted to hear. But it's a fact.

 

 

Our Bongo is not technically a motorhome but we got it for £4K, spent £300 building a removable kitchen unit and can convert if from a 4/5 berth camper to a 7 seat MPV in 10 mins. It is far more comfortable to drive than any of the vehicles I have sat in over the last 2 week ends of searching for a larger "proper mh". We have yet to find one that meets our needs. Admittedly, I have had to buy some new tyres and spent £1 on a windscreen wiper to get it through the MOT last year but in 6 years of ownership, we have probably spent less than £1,000 on remote central locking and alarm, servicing, cam belt etc.. We have been down to Croatia and Spain in it and used it in the UK - we are only looking for a larger vehicle because we want to tour the UK in December and Easter and the Bongo is not double glazed and a little too small for internal living in damp and cold conditions. Nothing we have seen so far gives us what need for a sensible price or will fit on our drive.

 

Until we can find something better, we will just have to cope with our air-conditioned, power-steered, cruise-controlled £4k nail.

[Guest pelmetman]

BGD - 2011-08-15 12:19 PMSome more ebay examples that might be the sort of thing you're considering, all under the 7k 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/92-ford-transit-diesel-motorhome-41000-miles-/260830536799?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item3cbab6245f#ht_720wt_932Happy hunting.

I find this interesting:D............Another one owner Travelhome8-)..............At first I thought it was the one in MMM, but that had done over 90k miles..........Maybe it shows that its a good design for a coachbuilt, big enough to be comfortable, but not to big to stop you getting places;-)

[pepe63xnotuse]

To BGD...

PLEASE STOP posting links to these ebay bargains!..I'm feeling sick enough about spending what we did on ours' as it is...! :D

[BGD]

There are even a couple of possibles in the For Sale section of this very site:-

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/Classified/Motorhomes/Contact_cl106592

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/Classified/Motorhomes/Contact_cl108206

[tonykay]

we have (like pelmetman) a 1990 ford transit petrol based motorhome,which was aquired for less than 6k,yes we did some refurb inside,it has just passed mot no problem.this is a 5 berth with hot water,blown air heating,toilet(cassette type) cooker etc. these motorhomes at this price are out there,just be carefull.preloved motorhomes is where we found ours.good luck.

[tonykay]

we have (like pelmetman) a 1990 ford transit petrol based motorhome,which was aquired for less than 6k,yes we did some refurb inside,it has just passed mot no problem.this is a 5 berth with hot water,blown air heating,toilet(cassette type) cooker etc. these motorhomes at this price are out there,just be carefull.preloved motorhomes is where we found ours.good luck.

[jaykay2011]

Wow,

 

Thanks for the feedback and assistance.

 

I am now happy that I can quite easily get something fit for purpose that will give my family some fun times. I expect we will still fly to the sun for a week or so but have many weekends and the odd week away as well.

 

I am still a little undecided on the fuel. I know diesels are more economical and last longer, but what is the difference in running cost against a petrol with petrol now being cheaper ? Is there anyone who has had both and can advise ?

 

Also, when going away, do most of you stick to "a" roads and keep your speed down or do you use motorways whenever you can ?

 

I have a damp meter, so will check any perspective buy, but are there any which are now known for being problem vehicles ?

 

cheers

 

Jason :-D