Karl Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 Hi guys - totally new to this so please forgive any stupid comments/questions. I've jacked in my job and am taking myself, my partner and going around Europe for a year. Also taking the Ben (the dog) with his newly obtained passport. We have about 7 weeks left to buy a motor home (budget around £10 - £15k). Where do I begin please? What is important to look for? What pit falls do we need to watch out for. Possibly the most nuts thing I've ever done - but we are mega excited :) Any guidance would be so appreciated. Thanks Karl, Ionut & Ben x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrix Meanderer Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 Well that's very brave and congratulations on joining the motorhome fraternity. However, there are many issues you need to be aware of before starting your new life. Suggest that first you go to WH Smith and buy the latest copy of MMM magazine and read it from cover to cover. Then decide which layout of motorhome you want and check out the second hand motorhome dealers for a suitable vehicle. For £10K to £15K your choice will be quite limited so I suggest you buy a vehicle that has a Fiat Ducato base so that it can easily be serviced/repaired in Europe. Then have a look at the ACSI camp site website and perhaps use them as your standard, low cost campsite reference http://www.campingcard.co.uk/ And familiarise yourself with the (mainly) free overnight stops called Aires by buying the Camperstop 2016 book from Vicarious books, Folkestone. http://www.vicariousbooks.co.uk/ Insurance is another essential - make sure it is for Euro touring for up to 365 days as the standard vehicle insurance are not. Oh yes and buy yourself a good Sat Nav (for motorhomes) that has all of these already installed. Finally, get a Halifax Clarity Card which has no or very low charges for cash or credit card purchases outside the UK. I am sure that other forum users will have lots of suggestions but that is my absolutely basic starter list. Maybe spend two weeks in the UK first before you cross the channel, you will learn a lot at a low cost. possibly wait until after the EU referendum outcome as well Good luck :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karl Posted June 14, 2016 Author Share Posted June 14, 2016 Thanks so Much Ian - such a steep learning curve :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 With 10 to 15k to spend you should be able to find a half decent camper, although 7 weeks is a short timescale to track one down :-S ........ You've given yourself a heck of a steep learning curve :D ......... We're off across the ditch in September until July B-) .......But we have been practicing for 25 years ;-) ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karl Posted June 14, 2016 Author Share Posted June 14, 2016 Thanks. I know it's a steep call but have been working in a soul sucking multi national for 30 years as a problem solver. I'm confident I can get this sorted in 7 weeks - ever the optimist lol - and if it all fails - at least we tried. Thanks again x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 Hi Karl & welcome to the forum. 7 weeks mmmm, I think you will be chasing around quite a bit. Older vans tend to be sold at the very beginning or at the end of the season, so those still on the market will be those less favoured models for whatever reason. On the other hand they may be more open to a deal or you may strike lucky in the private sales if someone has hit unfortunate circumstances & looking for a quick sale. IMHO a panel Van conversion (PVC) would be unsuitable for such an extended trip. One year in a van with no previous experience can be a tad claustrophobic, so space is important, but the larger the van the more restricted the access especially in small towns / old cities. Although many on dealer forecourts will be beyond your budget it is still very worthwhile visiting as many as you can to view the wide variety of layouts available. If you have a friend who already has a motorhome take them along when looking at specific vans. I think you will be looking at Coachbuilt ( standard van cab with added built habitation section) or "A" Class ( full body built by converter) For either ask for a full Damp Check certificate including the floor at wheel arches & door area. If damp is present - AVOID (you will be out of the country & little you can do to rectify) As suggested a shake down trip in the UK will help you familiarise yourselves with the equipment & sort any problems before setting off into the far distance. Also unless you are familiar with vans, a UK trip will give you the opportunity to get use to the extra width / length of a motorhome (the majority of Coachbuilt / "A" Class are wider that the standard Panel Vans. Going away from the UK for a year you will need a new MOT & service before departure Good Luck & happy travelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coot Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Hi Karl, Look on sd trading at painton web site they do a number of motorhomes within your price range. We have used them you get good service. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Here's a couple within your budget that might be worth a look ;-) .......... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Auto-Sleeper-Amethyst-2-Berth-coachbuilt-Monocouqe-Motorhome-/122011554854?hash=item1c68749426:g:W7cAAOSwuhhXWpM6 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Auto-Sleeper-2-BERTH-LUXURY-MOTOR-HOMETOP-/201583911392?hash=item2eef5661e0:g:yhkAAOSwve5XNgVf .......and a Bargain Banger B-) .......... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUTOHOME-TRAVELHOME-/112004785153?hash=item1a14016401:g:E64AAOSw-YBXG0eJ All based on cheap and easy to fix Tranny's :D ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Buy read understand and apply "Go Motorhoming" from Vicarious Books (google it). It will save you a fortune in mistakes as well as give you good tips about the vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Consider buying abroad -motorhomes are generally cheaper and LHD will work better for you. The biggest market is on www.mobile.de which has thousands of motorhomes of all sizes. There are some v helpful German and Belgian dealers. Talk to Bundesvan, they are helpful too. Consider a biggish A Class Hymer of the 2000-2004 era which will be in your budget. The S700 layout is a very good layout for long term occupation but there are others too. You will be living in the vehicle for a long time. Don't bother with a "safari room" or equivalent, you will be moving on too much for those to be worthwhile. Most used MHs come with a sun awning, which will do nicely. Vehicle registration is bureaucratic and insurance for nomads is difficult and very expensive. You might be able to avoid registering your MH in UK until you bring it into UK at the end of your year of touring, if indeed you do that. (You might sell it in Europe as you return.) This will avoid converting to RHD (lights, speedo etc) before UK registration, then reconverting for driving in Europe. Do you have friends abroad whose address you could use as your base for vehicle registration and insurance purposes? (As an EU citizen you have mobility rights, so use them if you can!) The dog has a passport and you will find that taking him is administratively very easy for that reason - but read up about dog diseases you are not used to encountering, eg ticks in Southern France. You will probably use Aires and Stelplatz as well as campsites, buy the relevant books which give you precise locations from Vicarious books. I don't think a specialist camper satnav is worthwhile - I use an ordinary Garmin. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoko8pups Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Check your driving licence for the category. No good buying a 3900 or bigger if you have a B1 licence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Hi Karl And now ... your great adventure ... Have you tried living in a dog kennel for weeks on end ? It may well seem like that after a while but the most important aspect is to do it ... you will never know if it suits you all unless you try. I do hope the dog is not too large or he / she may object. Stay local for a while so you can always revert to "normality" again. Is your job still open? There are of course many answers. I have a pal who always talked of living in a canal boat, I ribbed him for years, He's now moored at Devizes and lives his dream. So will you once you come back to earth, its a wonderful pastime. Take some warm clothes it can be chilly. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph118 Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Good advise. I use the same one and its excellent! I also found another tip guide the other day. Its very short but has some nifty tips I found useful. Its free to grab at yescapa.com/tips-fitting-out-motorhome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 yoko8pups - 2016-06-15 12:09 PM Check your driving licence for the category. No good buying a 3900 or bigger if you have a B1 licence. If the OP has a B1 licence then he will be limited to driving vehicles up to 3500Kg. However, there is nothing to prevent him from gaining a C1 licence to drive vehicles between 3500 and 7500Kg apart from time, training and money. Maybe a tad difficult in the OP's timeline of 7 weeks. As regards satnav, I use the CoPilot app on a tablet with GPS (about £30) or can be used on a smart phone. You can also set it to walking mode so handy for navigating around towns/cities using footpaths where available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Hi. You really are brave, jolly good luck to you. can I add a couple of points to consider. firstly, gas ..and relevant cylinder types and associated connectors. Calor gas, propane for winter use, not readily available on continent, so you need to acquire relevant bottles and associated connectors. secondly, electric hookup cables...you need to acquire relevent variety of connectors , because there is no standard throughout europe.. if you can find a van fitted with a decent solar panel, that will help when using aires or the equivalent insurance for 12 months continuous may well be very difficult, particularly if you have no fixed uk abode mot and vehicle tax have to be thought about..dont know the rules on continent, so check that out. I wish you safe travels, and suggest you might write it up on your return. Mmm might even make a donation if your adventures are interesting enough.. have fun tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet1956 Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Karl as you have already discovered there is a wealth of sage advice and knowledge on this forum. What we found on our first trip to Europe this year was that the best friends we had when we hit a few problems were the people on this forum. An internet connection will be your saviour as the moment I posted a question here I received lots of help and advice which proved invaluable. Hope you find the right van soon. Life's for living well done for taking the plunge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Since you'll be buying a MH which is of mature years, you might find useful reading here: http://ourtour.co.uk/home/whats-broken-on-our-motorhome/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 pelmetman - 2016-06-15 8:01 AM http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Auto-Sleeper-2-BERTH-LUXURY-MOTOR-HOMETOP-/201583911392?hash=item2eef5661e0:g:yhkAAOSwve5XNgVf If the mileage on that is genuine then that's a good buy for the op. Well worth looking at that but he'd best be quick as Tranny's don't hang around long, especially at that price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Bulletguy - 2016-06-15 9:00 PM pelmetman - 2016-06-15 8:01 AM http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Auto-Sleeper-2-BERTH-LUXURY-MOTOR-HOMETOP-/201583911392?hash=item2eef5661e0:g:yhkAAOSwve5XNgVf If the mileage on that is genuine then that's a good buy for the op. Well worth looking at that but he'd best be quick as Tranny's don't hang around long, especially at that price. Agreed, and the interior looks very original and being one owner the mileage should be easy enough to verify ;-) ........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 Look for the apps: Aires Camping Car-infos and Park4night. There are loads more Aires in them than the eurocamper book. And they're free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrix Meanderer Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 Hi Karl Are you still upright after all the excellent advice? Or are you lying down in a darkened room :-D There is a lot to get sorted and think hard especially about living in a confined space for a year - we have a Fiamma awning room (which some M/Hers would not have at any price) but its good for long stay on a site and cooler weather especially the winter even in Spain. For other forum users - we bought the new Fiamma Ultra Light Privacy Room (400 cm) at the NEC in Feb and took delivery last week - only 16.6 kgs total weight and simple to put up under the roll out awning. http://www.fiamma.com/EN/products/fiammastore/winch_awnings_enclosures/privacy_ultra_light/ Tried it out last weekend and impressed with the very light weight material and simple side pole system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mildi Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 Hi Karl, We did the same in 2013 and now live in France. On layout, we had a fixed bed as we didn't want to have to make up the bed every night, not every ones choice but it works for us. We had only ever done a max of three nights in out MH before our trip. We also got some memory sticks to go on our key rings and scanned all our documents, travel insurance, van insurance, ours and our dogs passports, driving license etc. just in case we came back from a day out to find the van had gone. We would still have a copy of everything. It doesn't take long to get up to you payload limit so make sure you have enough and don't overload. We fitted Gaslow refillable cylinders and for us this made life easier, we also fitted a water purifier and a solar panel, again good for us but a matter for individual choice. Hope this helps a little.......some will say you are mad but for us it was the beginning of a new life and a much better life than we had before. I hope you find the same. Good luck on the search, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 mildi - 2016-06-16 2:24 PM We also got some memory sticks to go on our key rings and scanned all our documents, travel insurance, van insurance, ours and our dogs passports, driving license etc. just in case we came back from a day out to find the van had gone. We would still have a copy of everything. Dam that's clever. B-) ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B. Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 Hi Karl & welcome You will no doubt be given loads of advice some of which will be totally invaluable and some of which will be subjective. I would suggest you have a chat with somebody who has done it already if possible as most of us like to recount our experiences of Europe/sites/roads/unmissables/pitfalls etc to anyone who will listen and you will pick up loads of help & information and you can then decide for yourself which & what is relevant to your plans. Without posting your address let us know where you are based in the UK and see who wants to meet up with you for a Pint & Natter. 7 weeks isn't a lot of time to sort a van and you will also need to sort out accessories-what's a necessity and what's a luxury given you are going for a year in a confined space and you will have the dog as well. (I have tried in the past to leave the wife as it frees up weight , space & wardrobe space but never succeeded as yet) That said I'm sure you will make mistakes, learn from your experiences and most of all enjoy yourselves in what will be a wonderful year for you-good luck & have fun Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 pelmetman - 2016-06-16 2:33 PM mildi - 2016-06-16 2:24 PM We also got some memory sticks to go on our key rings and scanned all our documents, travel insurance, van insurance, ours and our dogs passports, driving license etc. just in case we came back from a day out to find the van had gone. We would still have a copy of everything. Dam that's clever. B-) ........ Forgot to ask........I assume you can protect the key ring thingy with a password? :-S ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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