Message Forums

Hi Vikki,

West Country Motorhomes - Somerset, UK - Sales

this one has the layout, no fold up sink but no oven though and a bit of a distance ... and right price... but lots of places have sales on now so you should have a good choice.

At least you have got a better idea of what you want.

Happy hunting.

Tina

Hi Vikki,

The one you've seen is lovely.  Only down side (to make you aware, not put you off) that I can see is that the habitation door is on the drivers side.  I know you said previously that you were looking to use it in similar ways to how we use ours, so just thought I would point out to you that if you pull up at the coast on the promenade/esplanade etc, you will be exiting the habitation part of the MH directly into the traffic if you pull up on the side of the road you are driving on.  Only way to avoid this is if you can turn around and pull across the oncoming traffic into the bay you want.  Forward facing parking isn't a problem, but just thought I'd make you aware of this in case it was something you'd overlooked.  We instantly ruled out any that had their habitation door on that side as it takes me a while to get out and I have a swing out hand rail too, which would be knocked by passing traffic.

Have you had a look on ebay?  Not necessarily to buy, but you often see some good bargains on there and there are often quite a few pictures with them to give you ideas of layouts.  It might also help settle your mind that you will be able to get something nice within your budget, and you won't have to resort to a delapidated heap of any kind.  If they are near you, you could even go and see them as most sellers are happy to allow this.

Hope this helps.

Sara

One thing I have always been curious about though is what do you do when you need something, say first thing in the morning, and you are not near shops so the only thing you can do is drive?  You have to pack up everything in order to go and get it.  Now I am a pretty organised person but even the best of us forget something sometimes so when we go to the caravan I can shoot off out to get milk/coffee/sugar or whatever else it is we need without disturbing OH.

Motorhomers don't do packing Ali. If you keep a permanent stock of essentials in the motorhome there's no need to think about what to take, or unpack/repack every time you go away/come home.

That's the difference between motorhomers and caravanners. Andy summed it up very well.  We're ready to roll and off on our hols while you caravanners are still playing with your aqua rolls and twiddling with your jockey wheels.  

Blimey, a whole class of infallible people then!  We all try to be organised and our caravan is, as you know, sited currently but just sometimes you do run out of something be it loo roll, milk or whatever so I merely wondered how much of an inconvenience it is with a motorhome!

I shall have to buy one now and join the group of perfectionists!

Ali

I shall have to buy one now and join the group of perfectionists!

Gooo on. You know you want one really.  

Everyone is different Ali. I'm sure the way you do your shopping and organise your cupboards at home is different to the way I do it, but you do what suits you and fits in with your lifestyle.

I always treated the motorhome as a second home and kept it stocked accordingly. If you're at home you don't wait until you're sat on the loo with your knickers round your ankles before you decide you need to nip to the shop for loo roll. Or do you?  

Basics like tea, coffee, loo roll, kitchen towel, non perishable food, etc etc I kept stocked as I would in the house. Even spare clothes and underwear can be left in the van. We could decide to go out in the van and be on the road in about 20 minutes. Fill the water tank and off we'd go. Stop off at a supermarket on the way if necessary.

As for stocking up while on site, I generally wouldn't stay on site all day anyway. 10 minutes to pack away and drive off as you would in a car.

Hey I live in a house full of disorganised men Red - they don't tell me when they have taken the last loo roll I have to find it out for myself!

I know of somebody who has just bought a job lot of vehicles for £1500 including a motorhome which he will sell on, I am tempted to have a look, hence my question about how you all find it on site when things run out.

Ali

Hi Ali,

Cos the fridge is smaller you tend to notice when you are running out of things like milk, butter eggs etc, and pick them up when you are out and about. When you are away in the van you tend to be more aware of who has eaten or drunk what during the day, if only from the mess they leave out for  you to clear up .

Also because you dont have your usual cupboards and freezers to fall back on meals get planned and you buy accordingly.

As for packing up, all I have to do is put the kettle away and lock the fridge and we are off. No huge worktops to leave cluttered and unlike the glossy brochures we never have vases of flowers and or pictures in frames artistically placed around to worry about.

We don't tend to stay in one place for longer than a couple of days anyway so always a local butcher to try or market to shop at along the way. Failing that pop into supermarket when filling up with fuel to stock the cupboards and fridge.

Perfectionist??? me?? hahaha never. I keep a spare loo roll hidden from my lot just in case and a jar of marvel in case they guzzel the milk other than that we can cope with everything!

Tina

Hey I live in a house full of disorganised men Red - they don't tell me when they have taken the last loo roll I have to find it out for myself!

I hope you pull your draws up before you go dashing down the road.  

What sort of motorhome is it?

You could talk all day about caravans v motorhomes. It's very much each to their own. I prefer the freedom of a motorhome. I don't find driving the motorhome any more inconvenient than driving a car. I can't drive it into a multistorey carpark, but I would't want to anyway.

As Andy said in his post, if it's that important you'll remember it, if not you can do without it. If you need to go to the supermarket, it's no bother. I've been to shops and supermarkets all over the country in mine and not had any hassle.

unlike the glossy brochures we never have vases of flowers and or pictures in frames artistically placed around to worry about.

It's people like you who give motorhomers a bad name. Standards are slipping  

As I've said, each to their own, but there seems to be a lot less fiddling and farting about with a motorhome. Park up where you like, within reason,  and you can have the kettle on within 30 seconds of pulling the handbrake on.

Oh a motorhome has always appealled Redtuts but never had the money for one.  It is a Fiat Chausson but more than that I don't know at this stage but it was a deceased estate sale hence he got them all so cheap.  Irony is it was 100 yards from our house and I never knew they were for sale!  A Granada Scorpio, a Morris Minor and a motorhome!!!  Grrrrr.

They are good friends/colleagues of mine so may be able to do a deal but it would very much depend on what it is like and I have a feeling it is an A Class and therefore a bit bigger than I would want to be honest.

I love your brand of motorhome btw.  We saw one that had transverse long bench seats, can't remember which one it is now, that would suit us down to the ground.  One day we will have one.  Oh and sometimes I do forget to pull me drawers up before dashing off for loo rolls ya know, I must try Tina's tactic and start hiding them!!

Ali

You will find vertually all continental motorhomes have the habitation door on the driver side. If like us you spend a majority of your time abroad, its a bonus. But we never find it an issue. Its the same as opening you car door!!!

One useful tip I find with regards to loo roll, dont put i just one twin pack, put in a jumbo pack, they are so light and dont take up much room. With 2 kids its amasing how much they get threw.

Saying about keeping your MH stocked, I went over to France a couple of weeks ago for the weekend, didnot have anything in it apart from 20ltrs of water. Not even a single piece of bread or tea bag (but as I dont drink tea or coffee hardly surprising)

On the otherhand the reason for the trip was to stop at the hypermarkets and stock up.

One other advantage with a MH, you can bring back a hell of a lot more booze than with a caravan!!

Quote: Originally posted by vikki75 on 18/12/2006

---

It looks like we have Todds in Preston Barrons in Chorley and Stewart Longton in Chorley to look at. Does anyone have any feedback on these dealers? Are there any to definately avoid buying from or any stories of exceptional service?

---

Ring to find their opening times, a lot are closed between Christmas and new year, Barrons Chorley was, I know we went on way back from Cambridge, Calanders at Carnforth ( I know its caravans ) but they also close until the new year, nice Hymer for sale outside a house on westgate Vickey.

Jen

Browse Todds on here

http://www.toddsmotorhomes.co.uk/showroom/http://www.toddsmotorhomes.co.uk/showroom/

hi vicky

       dont forget hartleys at staveley, its nearer to heysham i got amuch better deal there, than barrons offered and i had bought off barrons previously,doesnt matter there which salesman you speak to, there is only one guy working out the deal. 

  once you have decided what you want shop around.

                                                           tomnjune

still waiting for your call

"Also, the hassles of towing and then levelling a caravan once on site didn't appeal to us either"

We found caravans were even worse than the motorhome.

Despite towing with a LR Discovery the first new unit was unstable so eventually we were persuaded to trade it for a twin axle. This was heavier but as bad so this time we were persuaded to buy a new Disco and twin axle van of different make. This combination was the worst. After one extended snaking session on the M1 we crawled home and sold cara' and Disco and took to hotels and cottages.

Five years late we were still missing the freedom so we visited a dealers to explore small motor homes and eventually drove out with a folding camper which we love.

It has more space inside than the largest caravan or motorcaravan. Is always stable behind our Golf auto diesel and hardly affects fuel consumption so we can go anywhere anytime now.

the downside of a folding camper is that there is no shower and I also think that we will use the motorhome a lot for days out in the lakes with the dog, we can make lunch and chill out while taking in the beautiful scenery. We would like a showe so we can be completely self sufficient for a couple of days if we want to be.

We looked at Hartleys which was where we saw thw lovely van that I posted a link earlier to, the rest of the vans were Elddis with the fold up sink which looked to be a pain as I assume that you would have to dry it everytime you used it before folding or else you will end up with a puddle of water resting against the wall. We will be checking everywhere before we commit though.

A bit preoccupied at the moment as our puppy has hurt her leg and is currently on the way to the vets to be sedated for x-rays while they check her legs and hips, very worried mummy here hoping there is nothing more wrong than the muscle strain that they first suspected. Please can you all keep your fingeres crossed for her.