Buying a Camper Van

AdrianC · 25 March 2021 at 8:59AM

Ibrahim5 said:

For some reason they now seem to buy motorhomes which are normally about 8 metres long and roughly 3 metres high.

No, they aren't.

There are maximum widths for all vehicles on the road - 2.55m wide.
Any camper that's a van conversion is no wider than the actual van it's based on - Ducato/Relay/Boxers are popular because they're wider than most, and you can fit a bed width-wise. They're just over 2m.
A coachbuilt motorhome with a van cab... you can see how much wider the body is than the cab. Normally about 1-200mm each side. About the same as on a supermarket delivery van's body...

Everything over 6m long needs side-marker lights. Again, for van conversions, that's only the very longest - L4 Ducatos etc, XLWB Sprinters.

There ARE 8m long motorhomes... They're bloody huge, definitely the exception not the rule. And, you're right, many campsites restrict entry to them...

Ibrahim5 · 25 March 2021 at 9:31AM

I never mentioned width. Only length and height. Most FAMILY motorhomes are too long for a UK car parking space and are too tall to get under any height restrictions to car parks.

AdrianC · 25 March 2021 at 10:21AM

You're right, I mis-read height as width. Mea culpa.
Height is irrelevant - many barriers are 2.1m or so, so a non-starter for even a lot of low-roof 3.5t vans. That Range Rover again - 1.8m tall.

Try getting even a sprogbus with roofbox into most multi-storey carparks... I'm 1m85 tall, and I've come VERY close to banging my head in some.

Standard minimum height for road bridges/wires etc in the UK is 5m. In practice, trucks tend to do a great job of keeping overhanging branches trimmed to around 4m.

As far as length goes, here's an article from last summer specifically selecting the best <6m vans, referring to that length division as a "rubicon" for parking...
https://www.practicalmotorhome.com/advice/best-motorhomes-under-6m
Note that prices start at £40k. The most expensive in the list is £60k, and is an "A-class". Several of them sleep four.

BOWFER · 25 March 2021 at 10:32AM

coffeehound said:

BOWFER said:
47 posts in and no-one has yet explained to me why motorhomes cost so much more than a caravan.

A motorhome is a vehicle. A caravan is a plywood and plastic box with an axle or two. Ur welcome.

A motorhome is the same size plywood and plastic on top of a rubbish van.
You've been ripped off.

burlingtonfl6 · 25 March 2021 at 12:16PM

BOWFER said:

Ibrahim5 said:

If you are worried about the initial cost of a caravan I would suggest you never look at the initial cost of a motorhome.

47 posts in and no-one has yet explained to me why motorhomes cost so much more than a caravan.
Adding a £19k van base to £25k worth of caravan shouldn't equal £75K, but it does....
Even allowing for a lot of labour, it's an astounding price difference.
Forget about what they're worth in X years, forget about the car-to-tow-the-caravan argument.
Just a simple explanation as to why adding an engine and gearbox to a £25K caravan suddenly trebles price.
Someone...please?

I have. Your caravan at 15 years old is only good to store chickens in and has no real value.
The motorhome is still 20K plus.
(Plus you have the car to buy)

BOWFER · 25 March 2021 at 12:20PM

burlingtonfl6 said:

I have. Your caravan at 15 years old is only good to store chickens in and has no real value.
The motorhome is still 20K plus.

This isn't an explanation for the initial cost at all.

Stubod · 25 March 2021 at 1:21PM

The buying cost is not always a function of the manufacturing cost. (Although I guess there is a lot of "labour" cost involved in converting a van to a motor-home / caravanette).

It's a basic supply and demand thing, they charge the price that people are willing to pay.

eg You only need to look at Apple I phones etc. they must be priced at well over the actual manufacturing costs + a bit of profit.

A colleague recently did his own conversion, paid about £18k for the base van, (new), and then spent around £7k on the bits, (+ a LOT of time), but has ended up with a really nice van that to buy from a manufacturer would be circa £45/50k.

I think the problem this year will be once we are all "let lose", sites will be get fully booked very quickly and you may find there is nowhere to go!

BOWFER · 25 March 2021 at 2:11PM

Stubod said:

The buying cost is not always a function of the manufacturing cost. (Although I guess there is a lot of "labour" cost involved in converting a van to a motor-home / caravanette).
It's a basic supply and demand thing, they charge the price that people are willing to pay.

Yup, I'd agree with this.
There's little actual justification for the prices, the profit margins must be huge.
But there's a steady amount of people buying.....so why not eh?
I see it as a bit 'emperor's new clothes' though, standing in a hanger size showroom surrounded by them thinking "am I the only one that sees this....."

Stubod · 25 March 2021 at 2:32PM

..also don't forget it's not just the van you are paying for...the dealers also have costs that need to be recovered.

eg, we used to manufacture a propeller for small boats. We purchased the material, made the part, painted it, purchased various other parts to make it a complete item, assembled it and put it in its final packaging to display on the shelf all for a total cost to our customer of £17.

By the time it was in the shops the actual retail / selling price to the end user was £170!!

(...then we were asked to offer a "cost down" on our selling price....!?).

coffeehound · 25 March 2021 at 2:37PM

I wonder if the motorhome conversion companies improve things like the weatherproofing of the commercial base vehicle. I heard in the past that vans and trucks didn't have the same quality of paint or underseal as cars since they were not expected to last as long; don't know whether that is still the case?