Motorhome for long term long distance

Motorhome for long term long distance

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red_slr

Original Poster:

17,122 posts

188 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
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I am looking to buy a used motorhome maybe in the next 2-3 months. Initially it will be used for trips in the UK and maybe France. However I intend to get something that's more on the quality side of things to then use in 3-4 years time for some long trips around Europe probably staying away for at least 6 months at a time, maybe more. Planning to travel at least as far as Italy and maybe onto the Islands in the med. Also as far north as possible really.

I am thinking A class. Previously had an Autotrail 660 so its a bit of a step up and I know nothing about European motorhomes.

Anyone advise which brands are best. Been trying to research the last few weeks but there are so many out there.
I was thinking of getting an RV but I looked at a couple and the seem quite flimsy and even very recent models seem to have very dated looking interiors. Also size may be an issue in some rural spots?

Budget would probably be £50k maybe a smidge more, £60k.

Also should I be considering LHD? Given the majority of the time I will be in the EU?

Our minimum spec seems to be the standard spec of most A class motorhomes you see out there so its more which brand is better.

So far I have looked at Frankia and Burstner. I have also seen Concorde although they seem fairly rare at my price range.

chasingracecars

1,696 posts

96 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
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Think you need to see some of Spuffingtons posts!!

agent006

12,029 posts

263 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
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LHD will give you more options if you're comfortable buying abroad. Other than what you've already seen, Hymer is worth a look, as are Dethleffs and some of the higher end Rapido. 50k will get you a really good 10 or so year old A class.
It's the layout that's important, more so than the brand. No matter how well built and reliable it is, it'll still annoy the piss out of you if you buy the wrong one.

We've just done 7 months touring europe and UK, and being RHD wasn't a particular problem. Having a continental motorhome means that your habitation door is on the right hand side, which can be an issue on some UK campsites (but equally handy on the continent). We were considering left or right hand drive, it just happened that the right one was RHD.

Also, check out insurance if you're looking to go away for extended periods. We looked into "fulltime" insurance and were quite restricted as our motorhome is over 10 years old. We have a non fulltime policy that allows 270 days european cover, but requires it to not be our main residence, presumably so they don't have to pay accommodation or resettlement like a house insurance policy does. They would just get you home, and that's it.

Edited by agent006 on Wednesday 5th September 18:17

carinatauk

1,408 posts

251 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
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i am a noob to this, however the ex and boyfriend are not. It's worth looking at the following website and if you can getit insured abroard.

https://www.truckscout24.com/

red_slr

Original Poster:

17,122 posts

188 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
Thanks.

Layout we want something similar to this




red_slr

Original Poster:

17,122 posts

188 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
Seems to be plenty around.

I was hoping to get something that's perhaps 10 years old as you say. Maybe once the winter comes there might be deals to be had.

Full timing insurance defo might be an issue however it will be at least 3 years before we are able to take long trips. 2 weeks would be the most at the moment even then only once a year. It would mostly be a couple of nights mostly. Longest we did in our autotrail was a week but it was too small really for our needs. We had 3 dogs at the time, now down to 2 dogs so if we get something a bit bigger we should be good to go.

Robertj21a

16,475 posts

104 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
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I'm fairly sure that previous posts on much the same issue invariably come back to recommending Hymer, then Hymer, followed by Hymer.......

red_slr

Original Poster:

17,122 posts

188 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
Robertj21a said:
I'm fairly sure that previous posts on much the same issue invariably come back to recommending Hymer, then Hymer, followed by Hymer.......
Only snag with Hymer is I don't seem to be able to find anything on a tag axle in 2006-2010.

agent006

12,029 posts

263 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
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Mercedes chassis Hymers will have similar or higher weight rating than a tag chassis. Our B774 is one of about three tag axle Hymers I've seen for sale in the UK. Something like an S830 will have the layout you want, or very close to it.

oblio

5,395 posts

226 months

Thursday 6th September 2018
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We have an Autotrail Comanche with a very similar layout. Loads of room/man lockers/payload and we get mid 27's to the gallon on runs. It is 8.7m long though so bear that in mind.

We regularly spend a month/5 weeks away in it and this coming Jan will be off for 3 months down to Spain.

You are wise looking at a fixed bed option for that length of time away yes

smile

red_slr

Original Poster:

17,122 posts

188 months

Thursday 6th September 2018
quotequote all
agent006 said:
Mercedes chassis Hymers will have similar or higher weight rating than a tag chassis. Our B774 is one of about three tag axle Hymers I've seen for sale in the UK. Something like an S830 will have the layout you want, or very close to it.
Yep S830 looks good, there is one on ebay currently for £63k. Looks ideal. How are they for servicing, I am familiar with Fiat and we have a local Fiat van place but not Merc. Do they need to go to Merc dealer?

chopper602

2,172 posts

222 months

Thursday 6th September 2018
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Most of the right hand drive A class motorhomes have a cab door on the passenger side, which can be a bit of a bind. I seem to remember seeing a Dethleffs one which bucked the trend and being German would be an advantage (quality-wise). Big garage is another must have too

smifffymoto

4,527 posts

204 months

Thursday 6th September 2018
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I would look to buy in France as the French have a love affair with camping cars,they are everywhere.

Spuffington

1,203 posts

167 months

Thursday 6th September 2018
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Clearly I’m a big voter in favour of the Concorde option.

I had a similar budget to you when replacing my 2001 Hymer and looked at all sorts. In spite of being very happy with my Hymer (aside from the early non-double floor Version in the winter), I noticed that the newer Hymers brought very little onwards other than some new tech and shiny exteriors but were essentially the same as my van in lots of ways and poorly executed in comparison to the older stuff. My Uncle bought his S820 brand new in 2014/5 and suffered with huge amounts of build quality issues not expected from a >£120k van. That was the nail in the coffin for Hymer whilst I was looking.

I also looked at Rapido, Pilote, Burstner and Frankia - the latter being challenging on the eye but good build quality.

But to be honest, once you’ve stepped on board a Concorde, there is very little to compare it with. My Uncle ended up chopping in his Hymer after driving my 2005 Concorde and bought himself a Morelo as the whole experience of going back to the Hymer was intolerable afterwards.

I full time in mine (check out my thread) and living in the van is very easy. It’s spacious, luxurious, comfortable in a way that many other vans have never been over a few hours of an evening. They’re generally well specced and well looked after and come with lots of things as standard that you’d struggle to find on other vans. They also depreciate very slowly do although difficult to fine, worth holding on to once you have one.

As a downside - they’re heavy (which means you need a C1 license), mpg on older Merc is c 23mpg. They are complicated but they’re also supremely well built which means that when problems do occur, they’re easy to work on. Parts can be expensive but equally Southdown and Concorde do stock a lot and other things can be sourced from eBay (pumps etc).

As you can tell, I’m rather fond of mine. In spite of co owning a VW Westfalia Kepler, the Concorde is never being sold. It’s taken me on some epic adventures and has plenty more to come. Whether it be short getaways, NC500, epic Continental adventures or fulltiming - it’ll do it all and you’ll wonder how you ever considered something different.

red_slr

Original Poster:

17,122 posts

188 months

Thursday 6th September 2018
quotequote all
Thanks great info. Concorde is top of my list, but would probably also be top end of the budget too. DL no problem as I have C1+C.
I will read your thread now smile

Russ T Bolt

1,684 posts

282 months

Friday 7th September 2018
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I'm looking for something similar currently.

I am leaning towards Carthago at the moment. There are a couple of M Liners up for sale at the moment, a bit older than I want but they had an awesome reputation when I had my Niesmann.

N+B are worth a look too.

Edited by Russ T Bolt on Sunday 9th September 12:54

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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Burstner Elegance look fantastic and come with the layout you are after. As to some of the Frankia Models. Personally I really like the look of the Burstner Argos 747 but the bed layout is over a large garage as opposed to island layout.

red_slr

Original Poster:

17,122 posts

188 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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747 has always been on our radar but now I think we want to move into A class for slightly more internal space.

VEX

5,256 posts

245 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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Hey Red,

It was a Frankia that first got us onto the idea of proper MoHo and especially A Class. As you have seen we have found ours now, a 7.5m Pilote at 17months old, but before this arrived we were mm's close to ordering brand new.

Some amazing deals around at the moment with dealers wanting rid of 2018 or in some cases 2017 un-registered models before the big show in October.

We aspire to a Frankia once we have retired, loved the quality of everyone we have seen, head and shouders about Hymer, and there have been a number of 820 / 840 tags at 8-10 years old within your taget budget. Mrs V also started to like the Burstner A Classes, again same quality finish for 8 year old machines was amazing. Just to old for what we wanted.

Very happy with our Pilote, rare that they come up for resale, which has to be a good sign, and very lucky find with our.

2 Weeks and counting!

V.

red_slr

Original Poster:

17,122 posts

188 months

Thursday 13th September 2018
quotequote all
Cheers we looked at both Concorde and Frankia. We might hang fire for a few months to see if we can up the budget and also perhaps take advantage of the market doing its usual winter dip. If not we might hold off again till we know what the stock markets do in March! We technically have 3 - 4 years to go yet before we retire so can see what the market does but would like it before then ideally. The used market is very toppy at the moment, we sold our 660SE for £17k 3 years ago now and looking around the same vans are £20k now!