Campers / motorhomes short term ownership

Campers / motorhomes short term ownership

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Discussion

scdan4

Original Poster:

1,299 posts

161 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
So currently have itchy feet and am looking a short road trip in Januaryish - possibly a lap of the Balearic sea (down Croatia / Albania coast, ferry and then north up through italy.)

In ye olden days I would have hopped onto the motorbike with a tent and that would have been it. I now have a wife and 3 year old to accommodate into this plan, so a motorhome may well be more sensible than a motorbike.

I have nowhere to store such a thing so am considering buying one, using it, selling it on return. Common sense says that should / could be cheaper than renting one (About £500 quid a week). We'd be living in it for about a month / maybe 6 weeks, so would want some decent space, and 2 beds. A bucket to st in would also probably be useful.

This has made me realise that I know nothing about motorhomes / camper vans. Looking on ebay they seem to fetch frightening money. I wouldn't really want to spend more than 10K, and obviously the more of that I can get back after the trip the better. Ideally we'd be able to sell for about the same money as we bought it for - in fact this would be one of the success targets of the trip! smile

So, would something like this be reasonable?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181497547326

My thinking: older merc should be reliable. Spacious enough. Cheap enough, and most importantly, should be worth about the same on return assuming we don't drive it into a tree.

Will be heavy on diesel, but hey ho.

buying in december and selling in late feb surely has to work in out favour for this sort of thing? The start of spring has to be the best time to sell surely. Do older motorhomes sell readily or is this a market cornered by pensioners with final salary income?

Is this a crazy idea? Just trying to get a grasp on the "lay of the land" really!

Thanks in advance for any hints, tips and horror stories.

dugsud

1,125 posts

264 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
Sounds like a good idea and plenty of people do buy them just for one holiday/trip then sell. If you could work it so that you bought in autumn and sold in spring/summer you might even make a profit!

Hymer's seem to be very sought after and would probably be easiest to sell.....something like this....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HYMER-B584-2-5L-TURBO-DI...


scdan4

Original Poster:

1,299 posts

161 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all

dugsud

1,125 posts

264 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
That's amazing for just over £4k.......mileage sounds a bit suspect tbh!

bristolracer

5,546 posts

150 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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Buy in December

We bought our van on 18th December saved £4k over spring prices.

Hymers are a good shout my sis in law has just done 6 weeks in croatia greece etc , in a hymer.

I expect others will be along to tell you what to look for, I think on coach builts like the hymer damp is the killer so get yourself a damp meter probe thing.

Do a weekend away before you go overseas, it will help you find any issues and allow you work out what to bring and what you have forgotten.

Have fun its a great adventure