What motorhome?

[Pepsilyn]

Hi

My husband and I are new to motorhomes apart from hiring one back in may and again next week.

As we have decided to buy one would really appreciate your views : we are looking for 6mtrs, automatic ,

We've looked at the Carado T135 , Sunlight T60 , Rollerteam T590' although drop down beds give loads of space bit concerned about climbing into bed , is there one that comes quite low? Anyway any advise would be most welcome . ;-) lynn

[mgnbuk]

https://www.chausson-motorhomes.com/modele/530/

 

6 metre long & drop down double bed. As there are no lockers under the bed, it comes right down to sit on the lounge seat cushions if the seat back cushions are removed (velcro).

 

We have Welcome 610, which is basically the same layout but 6.7 metre long & has a larger wardrobe with a garage beneath. The bed is very comfortable, can be "stowed" with bedding left on & doesn't prevent exiting through the habitation door when lowered. Payload on the 610 is tight but managable for two with electric bicycles & I think the 530 has more payload available due to being shorter.

 

The Chausson is avavailable on the new Ford Transit or Fiat Ductao. The Ford is cheaper, but it is no "bargain" - get a good test drive if you think you want to go the Blue Oval route. I am just waiting to find out how much it is going to cost me to change from a Transit 610 to a Ducato 610 - it would undoubtable have been cheaper to have bought the Fiat initially, had one been available when we bought ours. The basic 130 hp Fiat is about £1K more than the "170" hp Ford & the Ford has more "toys" as standard than the Fiat. Going to 150 in the Fiat is another £1.2K or so - but having had the new Transit for the last 6 months "only" £2.2K more NOT to have the Ford is the real bargain !

 

Nigel B

[Brock]

Hello and welcome, lynn. An exciting time awaits!

 

We could waste a lot of time suggesting motorhomes that will prove unsuitable for you. To minimise this, we ask people give us some background information such as budget [£50k?], what driver licence entitlement you have [a C1 entitlement allows you to drive something up to 7500kg rather than 3,500kg], will there just be the two of you, what sort of motorhoming you propose to do - ski-ing in the Alps requires a different van to say hiking in the UK, and whether there are any constraints such as mobility issues, storing the motorhome, is 6m a constraint or just a wish, and why an auto [i presume you mean a Fiat Comfort-matic]. Refining your choice of motorhomes is important.

 

A good starting point for you, if you haven't already done this, is to read through the guides:

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Motorhome-guides/41792/

 

Motorhomes, such as an Auto Sleeper Nuevo EK, where the settee converts into a bed at night, will offer the lowest, but not necessarily the comfiest, beds. I have a 6m A-class but the climb into the drop down bed would probably put you off.

 

Good news is that the Warner's Lincoln Motorhome Show is on 22-24th September and well worth a visit. 17 - 22 October will see the Motorhome & Caravan Show at the Birmingham NEC showcasing all the new motorhomers plus other stalls. Perfect timing for you to find your motorhome.

[Robbo]

Apart from the Chausson mentioned above, most drop-down beds are over the cab area. The height is constrained by the height of the steering wheel.

 

The bottom of our drop-down bed just clears the top of the steering wheel. Floor level to top of bed is 109cm, about 3' 7".

[Pepsilyn]

Hi thank you

We are ltd to 6mtrs due to parking, auto is a desirable, initially using for touring UK , however will eventually

Holidaying abroad, just the 2of us, but need 4seatbelts as have 2small dogs, budget 40-45k. We are hiring a panelvan next week and going to south west show, NEC is also on our list

[Pepsilyn]

That's really useful to know Nigel, feel like we're running around in circle at the moment, a electric bed coming right down would certainly be preferably to us as appose to one we have to struggle to climb into.And as this is the only model we know not to look further, ;-) alternatively it's a fixed bed. But we definitely prefer auto , and from what we have viewed it looks like fiat are the only ones who do 6mtr auto .

Thank you ;-)

[Derek Uzzell]

Rapido’s 604F model is 5.99m long and Comfort-Matic ‘automatic’ transmission is an option.

 

http://www.rapido-motorhome.co.uk/motorhome_low-profile_serie-6f_604f.chtml

 

 

It would be necessary to confirm how low the electric ceiling-mounted bed came down and whether the belted seats would be suitable for dogs. Unfortunately the UK asking-price would probably be around £56k.

[Brock]

Sunlight and Carados are built in the same factory for the Hymer Group. The Sunlight is targeted at youthful people according to the advertising blurb. The Carados I've looked at in Travelword's showroom [Telford] seem well built but lacking bells and whistles. I haven't looked at a Rollerteam for several years. They seem to be liked by the hire industry so are probably hard wearing. If you want bells and whistles, you should look at second hand vans because you can get a good deal within your budget.

 

A range of drop down bed models can be found here. Check the weight limit on the bed and also whether it is manual or motor driven - the latter is easier but motors can fail occasionally.

 

https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/buyers-guide-advice/motorhomes/details/drop-down-bed-motorhome-layouts/9

 

The Carado is a french bed layout:

 

https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/buyers-guide-advice/motorhomes/details/french-bed-motorhome-layouts/19

 

The Benimar Mileo 231 seems a nice van.

 

If you get on with the Panel Van, that will open up even more options.

 

Before committing to the expensive Comfort-matic option, read the latest thread on this and the linked threads.

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Fiat-comfort-matic-gearbox-/47710/

 

I have a Hymer 504 A-class. 6m long to fit on the drive, drop down bed with single fixed bed at rear, Comfort-matic. Layout is excellent but they're very expensive now and second hand ones are rare [few were imported].

 

Start thinking about which dealer you want to buy from. Standards vary, especially when it comes to after sales service. Better to have one within reasonable travelling distance [2 hours driving is my limit] and one who signs up to the Approved Workshop Scheme. This might help with customer perception of dealers:

 

http://campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/tent-survey/motorhome-owner-satisfaction-awards-2017/

[micknhelen]

Hi there.

 

We were reading the comments from MGNBUK regarding the Ford V Fiat Chausson. We are interested in buying a new Ford Chausson and would be grateful if you would advise specifically what problems you encountered with the Ford, such that you are changing to a Fiat.

 

Many thanks

[Derek Uzzell]

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Mick.

 

The following links are to earlier forum discussions in which Nigel B describeds the problems he had experienced with his Ford Transit-based Chausson (plus other Chausson-related observations)

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/2017-Ford-transit-mk8-Issues/46754/

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/chausson-630/46471/

[micknhelen]

Thanks, very helpful

[Mike88]

Look at the Benimar 201 and even better the 202. They are available with an auto box.

[mgnbuk]

Hi micknhelen,

 

I see from the links Derek provided that it is a while since I posted my experiences & think an update may be in order.

 

We have just returned from from our second Continental tour - the van is now showing 4630 miles & we have had 48 overnight stays so far.

 

The first Continental trip was three weeks, towing two motorcycles down to Northern Italy (near Bressanone) via the Brenner. The Transit is not as good a tow vehicle as the X250 130 Ducato - the softer suspension is unsettled by the trailer, giving an unpleasant pitching over undulating surfaces. It does not climb hills as well either & gets worse with altitude. I got into the habit of going directly from 6th to 4th when speed started to fall off on hills, as experience showed that the van slowed too much in the time it took to change to 5th such that it would not pull in 5th either.

I towed the same two bikes down a similar route last year with the Ducato & had no difficulty holding 60mph up the Brenner (when limits & traffic allowed). The Transit went up at a maximum of 50mph in 4th, with the throttle fully depressed.

 

Fuel consumption checks showed the onboard computer to be 2.5 - 3.5 mpg optimistic & the real consumption was between 24.5 & 27 mpg (I got 27-32 from the Fiat). On my return, it took 11 litres of Adblue to refill the tank for around 1700 miles travelled. This is about double the consumption Ford claim ("up to 6000 miles" from the 21 litre tank claimed - more like 3000 - 3500 miles in reality).

 

The second trip was two weeks to Switzerland with bicycles on a towbar carrier. Not having the trailer allowed a higher cruising speed & the van was happier to hold a true 65mph on cruise control up noticable inclines, with no change in consumption. The ride was better without the trailer, though it can still get a bit bouncy over broken surfaces. Like the Fiat Camper chassis, the rear wheels have a wider track & it can feel a bit unstable on heavily "tramlined" carriageways.

 

Longer journeys showed up a problem with the seats that I hadn't noticed in the UK - the seat cushions are thinly upholstered and uncomfortable for longer stints (6 hours to a numb bum !).

The rear cushion lacks side support & the lumbar support is too low for me, so I also get back ache. The steering seems heavier than the Fiat as well, though this may be the smaller steering wheel.

 

The fuel filling arrangement is not great. The filler aperture is "capless" & is protected by a small door that is held shut by the passenger door. To fill up requires the passenger door to be opened, the door opened & the passenger door shutting. The pump nozzle has to be jammed into the filler neck, pushing aside a spring-loaded flap. There must be something else in the neck, as not jamming the pump nozzle in hard enough leads to very slow filling. So far, so unremarkable - but the opened filler door leaves a gap into the cab & the diesel fumes leaving the tank take advantage of it. Having your habitation reek of diesel for miles after every fill-up is not nice !

 

The Chausson side has been good. The layout has worked as well as we expected, with few problems. I did a non-invasive mod to the bathroom heater vent (45 degree stainless exhaust bend, held with O-rings) that routes the hot air into the middle of the room instead of the side of the toilet, which has improved things somewhat. Still use a fan heater if we have electric, though. The handle for the waste water dump valve went AWOL somewhere en-route last trip & the grill thermocouple has failed (currently still to sort). The electric table & drop-down bed both worked fine, with or without mains electric. The diesel heating gets the van warm quickly & comparison of summer (no heating used) & autumn (heating used most mornings & occasional evenings) fuel consumption suggests it is quite economical. Adding a couple of "silentblock" rubber mountings to the pump bracket has elimated the "ticking" that was previously intrusive at night. Gas consumption for cooking, fridge & water heating over the first 30 nights was 14 litres of Autogas.

 

Overall, we both like the "home", but I don't like the Ford "motor". Having explored other options, I placed a deposit on a Fiat based Welcome 610 2 hours before we left for the ferry for the last trip for delivery next year. An expensive decision (or rectification of an expensive mistake, maybe ?), but I don't want to spend my limited leisure time in a vehicle that I don't like driving, find uncomfortable and, ultimately, don't trust. That the 2018 Welcome 601 has around 50 kg more payload on either chassis than the 2017 model (and the Fiat has another 70 or so over the Ford), a modified bathroom sink & a low-level cooker is all to the good as well.

 

Depending on your usage, your height & build etc. you may not find the same issues that I have. But I would suggest trying to get a good long test drive on the types of roads you intend to use if you are thinking of buying a Transit.

 

Nigel B