I already own a lovely caravan, but am now toying with the idea of buying a motorhome too. Our caravan is great for week long holidays and weekends near home, but I'm in Essex and love going to Snowdonia, the Peaks etc and a caravan is a lot of towing/pitching/nose-weight checking just for a weekend. I started thinking about buying a holiday cottage, but expense in relation to the amount of use it would get has ruled it out as financially unsound. And it commits me to only one location.
I then thought about a second caravan permanently pitched, but the pitch fees for a permanent pitch are a lot for nice sites and I just don't think we'll go there enough to warrant the outlay (it's also not very flexible in terms of destination). I ruled out a mobile home for same reason. I like having a car when I get to my destination (which is why I'll never part with the caravan), so I thought a good bet would be to get a motorhome, store it somewhere near favourinte destinations (possibly rotating location after a while) and drive up to fetch it and travel the last few miles with one of us in the car and one of us in the Motorhome for the rest of the way. But I have the following questions:
1. What are the not so obvious pitfalls in my plan I may not have thought about? A particular appeal would be more getaways in the colder months when the days are short and caravan towing is especially unappealing.
2. If I decide to go ahead anyway, any tips on what to get? My budget is around £10,000, maybe up to £12,000 for something really worth the extra. I'd like to store it undercover if I can find somewhere and it probably won't be doing many miles - unless we fall in love with it and end up trawling across Europe to places/in seasons we'd rather not take our caravan... I have a hubby and two kiddies - 10 and 7.
3. I know about all the damp issues that equally afflict caravans, but what extra things should I watch out for in a second-hand motorhome?
4. What useful things wouldn't you be without? A diesel engine? Power steering? On board water tank...? Not quite sure how kit on m/home compares with caravan - on the budget at my disposal at least...
5. What would you avoid like the plague?
Thanks to everyone for any tips you can give a potential motorhome newbie.
Several years ago we bought a second hand motorhome for about 10k and I would never do it again - or maybe we were just unlucky. Anyway we threw money at it and in the end was glad to make a big loss just to get rid of it. What we learned was to buy a lot newer than 14 years old (which was about the age for our budget). We now have a campervan which is a lot younger and we love it. Eventually when we upgrade it won't be for anything else than new or about 5 years old max. The most important thing I would say (and my hubby reminds me on a daily basis) is the engine - make sure it is a good runner - mileage isn't so important as long as it runs well and has been serviced regularly. Secondly, I would watch for damp. My last consideration would be layout - make sure it suits your needs. Anything else I could do without. Those would be my requirements on a low budget.
I've probably missed something... but your idea does seem like an expensive way of doing things(..driving the car,along with the MH),especially as for £10,000-15,000,you probably wouldn't be getting a very large MH* in the first place(..and in which case you could use the MH whilst at your destination).
(*..unless you went for something really quite old and tired..a large old Hymer or RV for example).
...and if you're looking at storing the MH nearer the region that you intend to use it anyway,why couldn't you just do that with the caravan?(..even if it was just a "cheapy" second 'van,stored in a farmers' shed..?)
As for tips on what you should(could!) go for..I would say that that's really down to layout that best suits you..and as you say you don't intend to be drivinging that far,I wouldn't put too much emphasis on what engine etc it has,as long as it's been serviced and is in good nick..
As long as it's not something that breaksdown all the time,the chances are it'll be an incorrect/unsuitable layout that'll annoy you the most!..
If you have to pay to store it there's no difference ...........we bought a motorhome after having a caravan and haven't regretted it for a minute but in your situation, I'd think carefully before getting one. When we had the two boys around, the caravan was great especially if the weather is awful, it's easy to drive off to places for days out. You have to remember that a motorhome has an engine and needs more maintenance than a caravan. If we aren't using ours, we run the engine every couple of weeks or so and move it slightly so the pressure on the wheels is changed. You wouldn't be able to do that if you stored it away from home. You can get a lot of caravan for £10,000 and if you get one for less, find a nice site to put it on for the season and pay the seasonal fees . You could also store in in a location or site central to where you want to go for weekends ( Midlands somewhere?) and drive up, hook up and get off from there......Friends had their caravan on a caravan and camping club site and the wardens got it out for them when they were going, whether they were staying on site or going off somewhere else. It's your decision but I'd be wary of buying a motorhome and keeping it away from home- though they are brilliant to have to just drive off on a Friday night and it takes minutes to park up and get the kettle on!
I think that one of the main things is that the engine is powerful enough. Layout is a concern and the number of belted sets might be.
I have done both caravanning ans motorhoming and they are very different and need different considerations. Obviously one of the main ones is cost of initial purchase and cost of maintainence as motorhome has both habitation and motor to maintain.
Enjoy whatever you choose to do
Jean
------------- Jean
Sometimes a little rain must fall before you reach a rainbow.
The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you finish the work.
Thanks so much for the useful replies. Yes, I know this isn't necessarily the cheapest option, but I suppose we're trying to weigh off convenience with expense. My initial thought was to get a second caravan and store/pitch it. But permanent pitch fees for good sites were over £2,000 a year compared to around £300-£400 for storage. Yes, I am tempted by the store and pitch options at some sites, but there's very limited availability and you don't often get undercover storage - which I'd be very keen on given we're not going to be local.
And whilst undercover storage of a second caravan is another option, I might be incurably lazy, but it was the thought of being able to avoid sorting out noseweight, hitching and manoevring, especially if arriving/departing late, that made me think of a motorhome. And hubby is congentially impractical, so it would be up to me to sort it all out... It just seems that sticking the key in the ignition and driving off is a lot less hassle when trying to get away for a quick break. Plus driving a motorhome when it's cold and icy seems preferable to towing somehow... even for relatively short distances...
But it's interesting to know of the drawbacks you all highlight - such as not being able to rotate tyres etc - these are all issues with caravans too of course, but it's all useful information to be reminded of.
No doubt we'll carry on mulling it over and having a look round to see what's out there...
The big snag with a motorhome is the lack of transport once it is pitched.
We tried buses, hiring a car at the destination and walking but finally gave up and sold after our bikes got pinched at the beginning of a long holiday in France and we had to walk or drive the Juggernaut through small villages, markets and narrow roads.
We switched to a caravan and Discovery but that had different snags.
Have you considered hiring a cottage?
Or hiring a motorhome to see if your idea works?
Our ideal was a Pennine Pullman folding camper until my wife demanded hotels and service.
both have problems. a motorhome needs to be packed before you drive off, but its easy to just stop and put the kettle on. caravan is great for longer stops in my mind but for the weekend type of stop you cant beat the motorhome / campervan. you just need to work out what type of camping you will be doing. hope that helps.
If setting up times and towing issues are that much of an issue, I would be looking at hiring a static or a cottage for the breaks, no issues with setting up etc. With all expenses taken into consideration, cost of buying, depreciation, servicing, storage etc, I reckon this would work out cheaper over a year and give you far less grief.
i find the campervan is much better than the big motorhome - more mobile and it takes minutes to set up and pack up - a bigger campervan (if you get my drift) could suit OP, perhaps, as we do, with a pop up tent for extra space when you want it.
So far have you only checked out campsites for seasonal pitches & storage..?
You may(will) find that the "Storage compound" type set ups would be cheaper..
My brother has had to use "storage" for his 'van(due to no longer having room at their new house) and I'm pretty sure it's only around the £250-300 mark..and it's a proper,secure gated set-up and you can get access your 'van at anytime(..it's not buried away behind a load of others)...admittedly it isn't undercover but then it wouldn't be when parked up on a driveway....
If I was you I'd be checking out storage options around the Birmingham/Wolverhampton/Telford areas,as they're close to the motorway network and not much more than a couple of hours from mid-north Wales..
We're slightly further west in Shrewsbury..but storing it more central would give you more options....
Chris
Edit:Just found this as an example of prices( it's a few mile north of Shrewsbury)
Thanks so much for all the extra thoughts - still mulling it over. Yes, I have wondered if it wouldn't be better to just hire a static/cottage for the quick getaways. This is what we did for New Year, but we had difficulty finding anywhere that would let you book just for the particular days you want to go (at least without charging us for the whole week of a 4 day stay...). And that break alone cost a lot more than a year's storage... And I do prefer campsites - more roaming/biking/befriending opportunities for the smalls...
And yes - we'd already decided hiring one for the weekend was the first thing to do - if the idea still seems viable next time we plan to go away...!
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Buying a used motorhome - tips please?
