motorhome advice

[Marto303]

Parking is a big issue with a large motor home. We hired a big 6 birth a few years ago and did the alps, Italian lakes and French Riviera, had a wonderful holiday but couldn't park the motor home anywhere other than on site or a large supermarket car park.

That and storage at home are the reason for sticking to a 6mtr van now.

[DamperMan]

To hire they are bl**** expensive but a lot cheaper then buying the wrong vehicle.. Well worth hiring one for a long weekend to get the feel and a true feeling of what you want and need. They have Diesel heaters so you'll be toasty regardless if you hired one now.     Having a loo in a room not in a box would be nice. .. Having a few Beers and having to walk up to the toilets in the middle of the night is rubbish (every night for me!).  A lot of folk say they don't use their showers.. Going to the shower block in the morning is no real hassle and often considered better then having to fill the tanks with water and empty the waste water more often and creating steam in the motor home and cleaning the shower after. 

 A mate and his wife had seen my camper and wanted one, we talked about it loads.  I won't lend mine it out.   They hired a new transit conversion which on paper is a lot bigger.  But after one weekend they decided a camper was not for them. Saving them loads of £££.. Having there! 3 kids in close proximity did not make for a relaxed time.  The van although appearing to be well thought about with all the elements on sliding rails on the floor turned out to be poor use of space.    They just did not enjoy it. 

[Lawrie]

My sister and her husband have had campervans for years.  The last 3 have been a cheap Italian one, which was OK, with a 3 litre motor, but the insides were a bit thin and fragile, then a Swift, which was standard layout with fixed double bed, but poor build quality - loads of loose wires etc, and they now have a Bailey, which is wider than normal, has loads more storage space and is well designed and built and they're pleased with it.  I did have to tow it out of the mud at Le Mans.  May be out of your price range though.  All have towed a motorbike trailer (two big bikes probably weigh about the same as a Westfield!), with little effort, except when reversing, but you now get a reversing cameras to help.

[Nick Algar - Competition Secretary]

I have got a Burstner on a Merc 2.7 chassis with auto box. Tows very well, is really well made and very reliable. 7 metres long so as mentioned previously a problem to park up, but as I use it mainly for Sprint events less of a hassle. Never use the shower !! always use on site facilities. Very good German make and still selling for not far off what I bought it for 9 years ago.

[CL290005]

[CL290005]

[CL290005]

I have got a Burstner on a Merc 2.7 chassis with auto box. Tows very well, is really well made and very reliable. 7 metres long so as mentioned previously a problem to park up, but as I use it mainly for Sprint events less of a hassle. Never use the shower !! always use on site facilities. Very good German make and still selling for not far off what I bought it for 9 years ago.

Yes Nick

I did like the look at Burstner and good to know that the auto is good in this setup

Cheers

Chris

[Nick Algar - Competition Secretary]

Yes Nick

I did like the look at Burstner and good to know that the auto is good in this setup

Cheers

Chris

 

Oh, and I do agree with the advice to hire one first unless you are very certain what you want.

[John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison]

A wise man once told me never buy anything French or Italian but when it comes to motorhomes, Fiat seem to dominant. No experience of automatics though. Most vans are manual so not sure how reliable an auto box would be on one

[Lawrie]

Most motorhomes are built with the standard Fiat Ducato/Peugeot/Citroen cab attached to an Alko chassis.  It seems to work.  Anything else is expensive.

 

BTW  beware of places with height barriers/low roofs, eg supermarkets, carparks and some filling stations  and overhanging trees.

[DamperMan]

The owner of Spax and I had a lot of conversations about the base vehicle when he was looking.    Not much uses a Sprinter base.   Something we didn't really understand as the new price of these vehicles are so high the cost difference of base vehicle isn't a massive issue to ask an extra few £ for what is considered a better base.  We where looking for a used van.   He wanted to export the van to New Zealand so we decided a transit base would be best as the part supply is probably is likely to be better than something french.  His last french car was an Alpine A310 and vowed never to by french again, ever!.     Having driven a whole host of hire vans I can say the generic cit/pug/fiat van drives just as nice  as any of the "better" vans.   These days i'm less convinced by the perceived difference in quality between brands of vehicles.     I would recommend a rear parking camera it was brilliant.