Thank goodness all of the Dealers/Salesmen only know your whereabouts and not who you are! Most dealers watch these forums and £60 thou is shining bright in their eyes like the harvest moon. That said...here goes. Did you ever imagine a 4/5 line post may get such attention?
28' rather large for 2 up! ......Would you tow a car to get around in? If so think before you buy an A Frame ( that statement alone will draw comments!) To tow a small car on, and just how long you would be then if you did. R.V's...short for Recreational vehicles (COACH) (BUS) are that length and not 'many' are seen on 'our country roads' (see them on motorways though) Luxury and plenty of useage, and a big bed are listed as some of your requirements. Fixed beds do limit lounging space, try looking at luxury vans with drop down beds, mostly these are imported. These do offer more daytime space for lounging. You are a cook, so (other than come away with me!) check the inclusion of full oven/grill/hob Not many imported vehicles have a full oven. Mostly only 2 of you....four belted seats would be good though. Have you thought about (included in your viewing on google) 5th wheelers. They require a suitable pick up truck ( any type in use in UK will be capable) and what can only be termed as a caravan without a drawbar.They have an attachment that fits on the pickup bed attachment...they have slideouts each side of the 'van'...Know exactly how you feel right now, and all I can say is wait, look around, visit dealers, shows, get yourselves equiped with as much knowledge as possible. Autotrail have many large 'vans with front and aft lounge, kitchen areas...they are spaceous and well equiped. Think of what type of base vehicle you want your van on. Lastly, we went into and sat and listed plus points and minus points on an unmentionable number of MH. we still kept the first one only 3 years! We hope that the one we have now (1 year) will be the last one we shall need.We love it and the life it gives us, so happy hunting and dont be hasty, take your time. CASH IS KING...and get yourselves the best deal possible by finding the van you know is for you...google it then, and find exactly who has it for sale at the best possible price...then start dealing with the nearest persons to you that has one the same for sale. Vans are difficult to shift at the moment, it will be quite some time before the financial situation gets much better. Enjoy your searching, good luck, and let us all know how you are getting along with both your search, and when you have it, your wanderings.
We bought brand new Bessacarr 2011 with fixed double bed, the bed takes up a lot of room. In 2012 we traded in/up and got the Autotrail with single fixed beds and the room/layout and quality of the motorhome is much much better.
We have a new Autotrail tracker FB plenty of head room,drives well very pleased with it so far paid just under 50K including extras we required. Chose this model as we needed 2 sleeping areas,i would have liked a shorter vehicle but wife has sleeping problems.Have owned New Hymer A class not pleased with the quality for a vehicle just under 80K in 2007,before that a Rapido A class brilliant vehicle ran it for 4 years not 1 problem or fault at all.
Why would dealers want to monitor these forums? No point at all as they have no idea where or who you are. So no sales possible via this site IMHO.
That said I agree with the rest of your post and 100% agree with the CASH IS KING sentiment.
Any dealership has a large 'profit' mark up and as you say in these economic crunch times (I blame the banks in the USA) anyone with the readies is to be pampered with extras galore.....Happy hunting
------------- Snowmen fall to earth in kit form........
Every day is a gift..That's why it's called the present.
As said before:
1: Payload, payload, payload!
2: Where are you going to use it?
3: Where are you going to park it?
4: Travelling abroad with a vehicle that size will mean you come into the lorry bracket (>3.5 tonnes) for tolls, vignettes speed limits, tunnels etc. "Expensive"
5: Not all sites can take a vehicle of that size.
Try as many as possible before buying to get some idea of what you like and dislike.
I had a VW Westphalia before, no problems anywhere, and moved up to an Autotrail Cheyenne 6.2mts. Some interesting moments trying to park it in some sites as the places were so small.
I dont think the dealers do value 'cash' anymore. They get more of a kick back from flogging you HP. You will get a good deal if you tell them you are there to sign on the dotted that day, and you have the money side sorted. They wont want you to leave without a set of keys with your name on if you are there to buy there and then.
I did this when buying ours, and prised the shirt off their backs to get a deal out of me before i left.
Mick S...I know that dealers in anything get comission on HP agreements. I also have to say that whatever the dealer...Horse...cars....egg boxes, anything to be honest, has to be paid for.. 10 cars on a site, 10 motorhomes on a site...we all know exactly who has the most value tied up in cash. New, secondhand, no difference..They could not have New vehicles if not paid for, and they certainly could not have secondhand...unless paid for, be it a trade in, or bought from another dealer. Thats one hell of a lot of cash tied up...sitting doing nothing...Cash ( not as in a 'Tesco' carrier bag stuffed full of the stuff) but of the cheque or draft variety. Is definately better than H.P. No goods til cleared remember. I pulled a deal just over a year ago....I dare not say how much we got off our brand new van. Suffice to say that I see ads for the same van today both new and secondhand, at a higher price than we paid. The problem is worse than many of us think...dealers going out of business, manufacturers going as well. Just like a mortgage on a house, its going to cost you. Also the darn banks that got us in this mess and an even worse load of creeps running our Country, well they would find it hard to 'run a flaming bath to wash the proverbial baby in'. Any manufacturer of whatever, any supplier of whatever, at this time, will snatch your hands off for an injection of cash into their operation. Its hard times, staff have to be paid,and purchase of goods paid for. Deals with large companies used to be a days work, now it can be done in a flash if you have the as you say 'money side sorted'.To have H.P.you have to have a very good credit record. I know I would sooner have the discount than an H.P agreement with a large fat % on top. I am lucky..I have no mortgage, used my 1/4 up front from my pension, and decided that all the worry over the years of where the next 1d ( penny) would come from,was now going to pay me out befor I popped off out of this world.....so did what I knew was best...go where and when I want, for as long as I would like, in order to get as much out of everything as I have paid into everything, and enjoy what I have paid for. A couple of companies...not leisure, agricultural both of them, one quite local to me, In business since 1934,,,just been taken over....no money in agriculture, and the other, almost identical, been in business for 2 HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS...just been taken over, Those company employees are lucky, they still have employment. The leisure industry is letting people go ( sack?) they do just not have the money to go around. I went to Shepton Show.....loads of pre loved, loads of NEW models...and loads of NEW last year moldels, and unfortunately,loads of companies models that are no longer in business. Its hard Mick...and I do belive that cash is best all around. The only reservation I would make to that is if I had fallen in love with a pre loved as my choice....that would be different. I would still however require a long warranty.
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Topic: New Motorhome - heeeelp please!!
