American Motorhomes in the UK
Discussion
Thanks Russ, thays right we're all about the high end German stuff now, used to be the uks biggest rv dealer.
We have two lovely Monaco we are selling on sale or return at the moment including an incredible Dynasty 6 wheeler it was £360k new!
I'd recommend Andy at Freedom rv in Tewkesbury if not us, he's a lovely bloke, tell him Jody sat Travelworld said do a good deal!
We have two lovely Monaco we are selling on sale or return at the moment including an incredible Dynasty 6 wheeler it was £360k new!
I'd recommend Andy at Freedom rv in Tewkesbury if not us, he's a lovely bloke, tell him Jody sat Travelworld said do a good deal!
Nagsheadwarrior....those Monacos look nice. We are a family with 2 small kids and plan on taking some time off before the kids start going to school,
Tours of 6-8 weeks are planned, in the winter the south and in the summer up north. We need a family freindly floorplan. Most of the american RV's have impressive room, mostly because of the slide-outs. I also appreciate the real wwod cabinetry and proper sized bathrooms. The large engines and automatic transmision complete the package. However most of the floorplans are designed for 2 people, with occasional sleeping in form of a foldout couch.
The ideal floorplan would be a large double bed or 2 single beds arrangen lenght wise (possibly in analcove), a nice bathroom and a bunkbed separately. This could allow us parents to put the kids to sleep and still enjoy the living area and some privacy at night.
This comes the closest, the only thing missing is the single beds lenghtwise in the alcove:
http://www.dethleffs.de/reisemobile/globetrotter-x...
What main differences do you see between american RV's and the usual german stuff? It seems to me that the US Motorhomes offer a lot more value for money. The complete absence of slideouts on the european front is frustrating.
Do you know of any US rv's that offer a more family friendly layout?
Greetings from CH
Tours of 6-8 weeks are planned, in the winter the south and in the summer up north. We need a family freindly floorplan. Most of the american RV's have impressive room, mostly because of the slide-outs. I also appreciate the real wwod cabinetry and proper sized bathrooms. The large engines and automatic transmision complete the package. However most of the floorplans are designed for 2 people, with occasional sleeping in form of a foldout couch.
The ideal floorplan would be a large double bed or 2 single beds arrangen lenght wise (possibly in analcove), a nice bathroom and a bunkbed separately. This could allow us parents to put the kids to sleep and still enjoy the living area and some privacy at night.
This comes the closest, the only thing missing is the single beds lenghtwise in the alcove:
http://www.dethleffs.de/reisemobile/globetrotter-x...
What main differences do you see between american RV's and the usual german stuff? It seems to me that the US Motorhomes offer a lot more value for money. The complete absence of slideouts on the european front is frustrating.
Do you know of any US rv's that offer a more family friendly layout?
Greetings from CH
Sorry for the slow reply.
U.S rvs will have much more space through the slide outs etc but you won't find any with rear 3 point seatbelts as they aren't required in the states.
bunkbeds and really family friendly layouts are rare to non existent.
Expensive bunk bed vans both euro and us never sold well in the UK as the family specific market is small and the luxury family van market is tiny.
European vans and specifically German stuff like Hymers are far, far better built than the us equivalent which really are rather archaic in design, they suffer massively from damp and corrosion with age if not rigorously looked after.
A pace will be the big issue with German vans, lounging room is not a priority on the continent.
An American can be a good thing but only if you buy right, the potentpotential down sides are massive.
We were the biggest dealers of them in the UK, we will only sell one now if it's one we have supplied and serviced from new, that says it all.
If you need any help drop me an email direct on jody@motorhomes.co.uk and i'lI'll try and point you in the right direction.
U.S rvs will have much more space through the slide outs etc but you won't find any with rear 3 point seatbelts as they aren't required in the states.
bunkbeds and really family friendly layouts are rare to non existent.
Expensive bunk bed vans both euro and us never sold well in the UK as the family specific market is small and the luxury family van market is tiny.
European vans and specifically German stuff like Hymers are far, far better built than the us equivalent which really are rather archaic in design, they suffer massively from damp and corrosion with age if not rigorously looked after.
A pace will be the big issue with German vans, lounging room is not a priority on the continent.
An American can be a good thing but only if you buy right, the potentpotential down sides are massive.
We were the biggest dealers of them in the UK, we will only sell one now if it's one we have supplied and serviced from new, that says it all.
If you need any help drop me an email direct on jody@motorhomes.co.uk and i'lI'll try and point you in the right direction.
Cant recall the model but there is a well known RV with bunks... pretty sure I saw one on e-bay the other day too - it looked like it would make perfect kennels so I was looking into it!
I presume you are aware you will need C1 or C on your DL. If its <7500kg you will need C1 (you may have GFR) and >7500 C.
I presume you are aware you will need C1 or C on your DL. If its <7500kg you will need C1 (you may have GFR) and >7500 C.
nagsheadwarrior,
thank you for the informative reply. I've also read in german forums that a lot of the US mobiles are of questionable quality, especially when one looks underneath the surface. Most of the stigma I attributed to the certain european "we do it better" attitude that is very fashinable. Certainly there must be some american brands that provide good quality. Triple-E from Canada seems to get good reviews but I am certainly open to be taught.
Thanky again
thank you for the informative reply. I've also read in german forums that a lot of the US mobiles are of questionable quality, especially when one looks underneath the surface. Most of the stigma I attributed to the certain european "we do it better" attitude that is very fashinable. Certainly there must be some american brands that provide good quality. Triple-E from Canada seems to get good reviews but I am certainly open to be taught.
Thanky again
Get yourself onto http://www.rvoc.co.uk/forum/ lots of helpfull Rv owners to offer advise
I bought a brand new Damon Daybreak about 4 years ago and lived with it for two years. The upsides were onboard generator, huge water tanks, hydraulic stabilisers and of course the sheer room with the slideout.
Downsides were horrendous, and I mean horrendous, build quality. From the locks and keys (made from cheap alloy) that broke constantly meaning doors and locker doors flew open on the motorway, to terrible reliability of the slide-out on which the pins sheared constantly meaning it got jammed frequently. Throw in constant blown fuses, air-con eyes in dash that just fell inside the dash, dreadful MDF partitions that started to peel in months I finally got rid when the driveshaft sheared with 6500 miles on. Never again.
I now have a German Frankia based on a Merc Sprinter chassis. It's smaller sure, but everything shuts with a clunk, its utterly reliable and I feel safe at night in it.
Downsides were horrendous, and I mean horrendous, build quality. From the locks and keys (made from cheap alloy) that broke constantly meaning doors and locker doors flew open on the motorway, to terrible reliability of the slide-out on which the pins sheared constantly meaning it got jammed frequently. Throw in constant blown fuses, air-con eyes in dash that just fell inside the dash, dreadful MDF partitions that started to peel in months I finally got rid when the driveshaft sheared with 6500 miles on. Never again.
I now have a German Frankia based on a Merc Sprinter chassis. It's smaller sure, but everything shuts with a clunk, its utterly reliable and I feel safe at night in it.
I bought a Forest River 390BH six months ago (Travelworld sold it new 5 years ago). You really have to consider carefully what you intend to do with it and how long you plan on keeping it. I have young children so had to have a bunkhouse floorplan so that we could still use the lounge once the kids are in bed. The four slides give a huge living area which means the kids can run around and we don't feel cramped if the weather turns bad.
We mainly plan on taking it abroad or to various motor racing events (10 blokes staying in it for Le Mans!). With the kids, any site we go to will have to have lots of facilities to keep them occupied which tend to be bigger sites that can accomodate a large motorhome. When we go to motor racing you'll tend to not have hook up so the fact you are self sufficient is very useful.
Took it to France for the first time last week and once you're doing 70 down a French autoroute it feels right at home. So far I'm in love with the thing.
Now the downsides: It's huge and that means it takes up a lot of space, I'm lucky enough to be able to store it inside but storage is still a p.i.t.a. They have a lot of kit on them which means there is a lot to go wrong or break and I'm already finding that there is constant work needed, although I tend to be doing one little upgrade after another at the same time. Insurance is expensive and there isn't much choice in who you use. I paid extra to make sure I had Windscreen cover, good job as the screen has been cracked by a stone already. Fuel, lots of fuel, mines quite good for it's size and I'm still playing with getting the best out of it but at the moment 10-11mpg, something I was fully aware of before buying. Interior is not a patch on the style of the high end German stuff, they really are classy, and make anything American look antique!
We mainly plan on taking it abroad or to various motor racing events (10 blokes staying in it for Le Mans!). With the kids, any site we go to will have to have lots of facilities to keep them occupied which tend to be bigger sites that can accomodate a large motorhome. When we go to motor racing you'll tend to not have hook up so the fact you are self sufficient is very useful.
Took it to France for the first time last week and once you're doing 70 down a French autoroute it feels right at home. So far I'm in love with the thing.
Now the downsides: It's huge and that means it takes up a lot of space, I'm lucky enough to be able to store it inside but storage is still a p.i.t.a. They have a lot of kit on them which means there is a lot to go wrong or break and I'm already finding that there is constant work needed, although I tend to be doing one little upgrade after another at the same time. Insurance is expensive and there isn't much choice in who you use. I paid extra to make sure I had Windscreen cover, good job as the screen has been cracked by a stone already. Fuel, lots of fuel, mines quite good for it's size and I'm still playing with getting the best out of it but at the moment 10-11mpg, something I was fully aware of before buying. Interior is not a patch on the style of the high end German stuff, they really are classy, and make anything American look antique!
simonspider said:
I bought a brand new Damon Daybreak about 4 years ago and lived with it for two years. The upsides were onboard generator, huge water tanks, hydraulic stabilisers and of course the sheer room with the slideout.
Downsides were horrendous, and I mean horrendous, build quality. From the locks and keys (made from cheap alloy) that broke constantly meaning doors and locker doors flew open on the motorway, to terrible reliability of the slide-out on which the pins sheared constantly meaning it got jammed frequently. Throw in constant blown fuses, air-con eyes in dash that just fell inside the dash, dreadful MDF partitions that started to peel in months I finally got rid when the driveshaft sheared with 6500 miles on. Never again.
I now have a German Frankia based on a Merc Sprinter chassis. It's smaller sure, but everything shuts with a clunk, its utterly reliable and I feel safe at night in it.
I bought my Damen 10 years ago and still have it. I agree the build quality isn't good but I have never had those problems with mine.Downsides were horrendous, and I mean horrendous, build quality. From the locks and keys (made from cheap alloy) that broke constantly meaning doors and locker doors flew open on the motorway, to terrible reliability of the slide-out on which the pins sheared constantly meaning it got jammed frequently. Throw in constant blown fuses, air-con eyes in dash that just fell inside the dash, dreadful MDF partitions that started to peel in months I finally got rid when the driveshaft sheared with 6500 miles on. Never again.
I now have a German Frankia based on a Merc Sprinter chassis. It's smaller sure, but everything shuts with a clunk, its utterly reliable and I feel safe at night in it.
What I dislike the most is there isn't any kind of garage only lockers that don'y hold much.
http://www.dreamsrv.co.uk/
I know the guy that owns this. Nice guy and tends to go over to the US to import them himself. Some of the older ones he has had in the past are ones that customers have sold back to him when they upgraded!
I know the guy that owns this. Nice guy and tends to go over to the US to import them himself. Some of the older ones he has had in the past are ones that customers have sold back to him when they upgraded!
They are perfect for people who have a business involved in heavy vehicles, haulage and the like as they have the space to store and the equipment to look after them / wash them / tyres etc etc. As a "normal" owner I suspect the cost of running may well be OTT unless you spend a lot of time away or get a lot of use - race driver or some such.
My 33 foot Damen Insurance is only £600 tax £200 fuel consumption is 8-9 but had it converted to gas so half price fuel.
Storage was an issue but now bought a house with a lot of land.
Can make some money by renting it out various events.
Driving well it's only the same size as a bus.
Advantages. Bedroom and living room are huge.
Storage was an issue but now bought a house with a lot of land.
Can make some money by renting it out various events.
Driving well it's only the same size as a bus.
Advantages. Bedroom and living room are huge.
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