Time to Face The Music

RelievedSheff

joedenise said:

Looks a nice motorhome @RelievedSheff.    That's actually one of the lighter motorhome weights as it's under the 3000Kg!  Have you actually motorhomed before?  If not I'd advise hiring one for a weekend or week to try it out.  You might find you actually hate it - some people do!  Also as you haven't had one before I'd also suggest trying to find one second hand as it's a lot of money for a first motorhome - or any motorhome for that matter!

I'm not trying to put you off but I'd hate for you spend all that money and then find it doesn't live up to expectations.

We will be getting a used one not a brand new one. They pop up at a couple of years old for around £45k with low mileage.

We have not motorhomed before but we don't reckon it will be far different from boating minus the water and tide times 

We will have plenty of equity in it so if it doesn't turn out to suit us then we can always sell it again and put the money towards something else. 

joedenise

Glad you've decided against new.  At 2-3 years old any problems should have been sorted out - there are always small problems that need sorting out with new vans - or so it seems from the forum we go on!

We've only ever bought old motorhomes apart from our very first which we bought at 18 months old but ended up taking back for a refund as there were so many problems with it!  It just wasn't fit for purpose!  So that's how we got our money back!

Good luck with finding one in your price range.

maddiemay

We motor homed for a few years pre and post retirement, a 5 berth with over cab bed and potential for a single and a double, I loved it, but illness and problems walking reasonable distances,  meant that we could not get around to some of the small coves and out of the way places narrow lanes and the like, so we are now (Covid excepting) happy caravanners. Leave the van on site and explore in the car, 4 week trips to Scotland (from S. Shropshire) had been the norm, plus many 5/6 day breaks.
Ours had a Fiat engine, manual diesel, drove like a dream and it was great sat in the cab seeing over the hedges etc.
One thing worth checking - does your housing development have any restrictive covenants, many banned boats/caravans/large vans etc. Many people happily ignore this, but can cause problems with stroppy people, presently and in the future.

enthusiasticsaver

maddiemay said:

One thing worth checking - does your housing development have any restrictive covenants, many banned boats/caravans/large vans etc. Many people happily ignore this, but can cause problems with stroppy people, presently and in the future.

That is something I thought about and one reason why I asked where you would store it.  Our house has a restrictive covenant re keeping caravans, boats on trailers or motorhomes etc on the driveway. Not a brand new development now though so not sure if it would be enforced.  Our neighbour built some hardstanding for his boat by his driveway and planted some hedging to disguise it and as far as I know no one has complained. 

amber03

Would love a motorhome but sadly OH isn’t interested. Even know the style that I would go for. Told him if I ever come into a large amount of money(I wish), then I will be getting one. Xx

joedenise

@enthusiasticsaver  A motorhome isn't a caravan - it is classed the same as a car as it has it's own engine.  It also has to be taxed, insured and MOT'd none of which applies to a caravan.  It is actually described on the V5 as a motor caravan.

RelievedSheff

maddiemay said:

We motor homed for a few years pre and post retirement, a 5 berth with over cab bed and potential for a single and a double, I loved it, but illness and problems walking reasonable distances,  meant that we could not get around to some of the small coves and out of the way places narrow lanes and the like, so we are now (Covid excepting) happy caravanners. Leave the van on site and explore in the car, 4 week trips to Scotland (from S. Shropshire) had been the norm, plus many 5/6 day breaks.
Ours had a Fiat engine, manual diesel, drove like a dream and it was great sat in the cab seeing over the hedges etc.
One thing worth checking - does your housing development have any restrictive covenants, many banned boats/caravans/large vans etc. Many people happily ignore this, but can cause problems with stroppy people, presently and in the future.

There is a covenant restricting caravans, boats and commercial vehicles. However plenty of people are happily ignoring these so we will join them. It is partly why we approached the neighbours to see if they would have any objections. If all else fails there is a storage yard just a few minutes up the road but we would prefer to have it at home on the drive.

With the way that the houses and driveways are laid out it will be tucked away behind our house so won't be an eye sore for anyone out of their windows, not even our own, we have no windows on that side of the house

maddiemay

RelievedSheff that is good news, these covenants can vary and I have come across some restricting a whole load of things, the previously mentioned ones plus garden sheds (without the permission of the developer) and motor homes.  We always kept ours on a farm about 3 miles away in Dorset, but keeping it at home was a must on our wish list when we moved back here.

alt80

I was thinking of mentioning covenants but thought @RelievedSheff would have considered this first tbh.

Different note FML £45k for a Fiat van with a sofa in the back? Wow. You do realise you can get an AM DB9 with a manual box and about 20k on the clock for that money???? 😆

RelievedSheff

alt80 said:

I was thinking of mentioning covenants but thought @RelievedSheff would have considered this first tbh.

Different note FML £45k for a Fiat van with a sofa in the back? Wow. You do realise you can get an AM DB9 with a manual box and about 20k on the clock for that money???? 😆

The Fiat van comes complete with (6 speed) manual box ready for tearing around the country lanes of Britain (at 40mph) with the entire contents of the cupboards throwing themselves to the floor