Motorhome users and hirers

alpina

alpina

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,179
Name
Andy
Edit My Images
Yes
I am very interested in getting a motorhome and touring the uk and Europe. Are there any owners on here who can give thier experiences etc.

Also I thought about hiring one to let the wife experience a trip in one but they all seem to be in the region of a grand for a week all in. She would go to Tenerife all inclusive for that

Any pointers on a cheaper hire?
 
alpina said:
Any pointers on a cheaper hire?
Click to expand...

Transit van and a mattress :shrug:

they cost in excess of 40k new and have a very limited rental period so i'd be surprised if you could rent one for any less, also the insurance would probably be extra if you wanted to take it out of the UK.

Have you looked at renting one in Europe to see if it's cheaper, perhaps eurostar to france then pick up a LHD one when you get there
 
alpina said:
I am very interested in getting a motorhome and touring the uk and Europe. Are there any owners on here who can give thier experiences etc.

Also I thought about hiring one to let the wife experience a trip in one but they all seem to be in the region of a grand for a week all in. She would go to Tenerife all inclusive for that

Any pointers on a cheaper hire?
Click to expand...

I've had a motorhome for about six years and absolutely love it :love: I've spent about 140 nights in it every year, including winter at -18 C, been to Europe but mainly UK with no problems whatsoever.

Regarding hiring ... I would say that's fine if you want experience of the camping side, but I believe the most important bit is getting a van with the layout that suits you! ... When I was looking to buy some dealers would allow hire and deduct the cost if you bought it! ... Not sure if any dealers still do this? but it may be worth asking :thinking:
 
dentedshed said:
I looked into motorhome hire a few years back and came to the conclusion that it was cheaper to buy one, use it and sell it when done.
Click to expand...

A bloke at work bought one brand new a couple of years back, cost around £38,000 he and his lady friend used it about 3 times, she realised she didn't like it and they sold it less than a year later for £30,000. So unless you are sure it's for you and you will get the use out of it, I'd rent one or at least get a 2nd hand one.
 
I have one, bought 6 years ago, or so, been to Scandanavia twice including the far north, been as far east as Romania as well as most of the former eastern bloc countries and most countries in between except France. I live up north so always sail from Hull to Zeebrugge , straight across to Aachen then the choice is yours,or Newcastle Bergen if going north.

Rental is expensive, reasons outlined earlier in the thread. We bought ours second hand to see if we liked it , if we hadn`t have done it would have sold for less loss than the rental price,if that makes sense. We like it and will not part with it.

If you intend to drive a lot abroad, I would get a LHD, we did and it is so much easier driving abroad.Very rarely a problem in the UK, they are not exactly overtaking speed machines.

They are also superb for weekends away, overnights at reserves, etc, etc.

Ask away if you need specifics..........:thumbs:
 
I couldnt find anywhere less than 1k per week.. I was going to drive to spain.. I decided rather than waste a day (of the hire) at each end of the holidays driving to dover that I would hire it in france... got same price as here and picked up from Lille..

You can go just about any speed abroad... huge mistake... at 80mph it was supping the fuel like nobodies business ..

Always wanted to own one but after haviung that for two weeks...as enjoyable as it was... its got it out of my system,a nd dont want one now.. Thus anyone thinking of buying and not experienced.. I would strongly suggest geting hold of one for a fortnight or summat first..


Scariest bit... coming out of camp nou stadium in barcelona to cross 8 lanes of rush hr traffic in a left hand drive camper and suddenly losing all idea of left right and which side of the rd is which... :)
 
80mph in a motorhome and your surprised it sups it ?....... :thinking:

Not exactly the aerodynamics of a Veyron ... :lol:

Had two camper vans and a coachbuilt and they're brill, coachbuilt had
a rear 'L' shaped lounge which i prefer, only downside was parking but
you get used to that. I'd have another without a second thought...
 
All good stuff , thanks. Kipax your point about getting it of of your system is very much in my mind. I think I would tour the UK initialy with the wife and dog. I saw a camper van today and don't think I would like that style at all.

For those touring later on in the year do you find it warm enough at nights etc?
 
alpina said:
All good stuff , thanks. Kipax your point about getting it of of your system is very much in my mind. I think I would tour the UK initialy with the wife and dog. I saw a camper van today and don't think I would like that style at all.

For those touring later on in the year do you find it warm enough at nights etc?
Click to expand...

Yep, ours is a Hymer 670s, winterised, insulatated and blown air central heating.......:thumbs:
 
Depending which brand you buy they may be very well insulated, certainly the German ones are, we rented one in Germany at easter one year, it was toasty warm, although the temp did dip when I let the gas run out one night (but it was only bout 3 deg outside)
 
nilagin said:
A bloke at work bought one brand new a couple of years back, cost around £38,000 he and his lady friend used it about 3 times, she realised she didn't like it and they sold it less than a year later for £30,000. So unless you are sure it's for you and you will get the use out of it, I'd rent one or at least get a 2nd hand one.
Click to expand...

Well, I bought an old 80's VW transporter for £2.5k. Sold it a few weeks later for £2.8k :)

That said, the most I've ever spent on a lens was £100. Guess that makes me a pikey :lol:
 
owned motorhomes on and off for twenty years. Lived in one full time for two years and would do so again. Just built one, its lovely

stew
 
Best one I ever saw [in an advert] was some colossal coach-sized thing. At the back was a door that lifted up and a Smart car inside that came down a ramp.
 
I grew up in a T25 most of my life, and my bro's got one now - the original and best kamper, none of this massive americanised bus looking thing :D

drew
 
Whilst the coachbuilt versions are the most luxurious without doubt, given the size of some roads in rural France, Spain and Portugal etc. you're not physically going to be able to get to some of the best spots unless you have a smaller van conversion like a VW for example.

A DIY van conversion would make a lot of sense as £40k+ on a motorhome pays for a lot of luxury holidays.

If you are going to use one a lot, great, but there's quite a few round here that just grow moss on their roof sadly.
 
alpina said:
For those touring later on in the year do you find it warm enough at nights etc?
Click to expand...

Can't recommend motorhoming highly enough!

We tour all year and also at some pretty high altitudes - never had a cold night yet, except once when the gas ran out - but it was still fine under the quilt :D

It's a lot of money to tie up if you're not sure its what you want, but generally the do hold their prices very well if you later change your mind (I'm talking secondhand obviously).

Go for it!

Cheers,

Neil
 
I keep being tempted to build one..just a smallish one like a VW based one, I'm sure it'd get plenty of use.
As regards hiring the posher ones, a grand really isn't that bad, when you consider depreciation, storage (if you don't have a lot of space), maintenance (still needs it even if you don't use it), insurance and tax (for it to mostly sit there)... that all adds up.
 
I have a custom built one, we had a Volkswagen type 2 bay window for years and as ace as it was it was cramped unreliable and rotten.

I sold it last year and bought an old Renault Master which had been converted by a friend over a number of years, best £3k we've ever spent! It has everything you could want is winterised with full insulation has every thing we could want, Mains, shower, toilet, 4 berths, TV, fridge, microwave and on and on!

We get about 27 to the gallon driving it steady (unlike my much newer 57 plate Master which is always fully loaded and driven for work so gets around 26)

On a fuel economy note, rear wheel drive vehicles are a whole lot heavier on fuel, our works Transits, so comparable with my master only manage 21-22 the the gallon.

SparkUk, my friend looked into building a VW based camper himself, the prices of them are totally daft, so ended up using a Vivaro base vehicle instead for almost half the price, its bigger but hasn't got the brand name and cache, (bit like buying Olympus instead of Canon or Nikon I suppose, still get the job done but without as much of the name behind them).
 
pepper said:
SparkUk, my friend looked into building a VW based camper himself, the prices of them are totally daft, so ended up using a Vivaro base vehicle instead for almost half the price, its bigger but hasn't got the brand name and cache, (bit like buying Olympus instead of Canon or Nikon I suppose, still get the job done but without as much of the name behind them).
Click to expand...

Yeah, it'd not be something I'd be wanting to keep for a long time so I'll have to sit down and do the math as they say and see what's most viable to do chassis wise.
 
Are any of you happy campers in any of the clubs? .... i.e. Caravan Club or Camping and caravan club or perhaps something else :thinking: and what do you think about them?

Sorry for the thread hijack :D .... but it is still on topic ... kind of :cool:
 
I can fully recommend these guys:

http://livethedreammotorhomehire.co.uk/rates.html

Off peak is £550 for a week, nice people who know what they are doing running it. Vehicles are less than 12 months old and well looked after. Even have a dog friendly vehicle. May be a bit far south for you, but a good place to start a trip to Wales.

You can leave the car with them, they normally give it a wash as well.
 
dentedshed said:
Well, I bought an old 80's VW transporter for £2.5k. Sold it a few weeks later for £2.8k :)

That said, the most I've ever spent on a lens was £100. Guess that makes me a pikey :lol:
Click to expand...

I've got a T25 Caravelle Syncro with sliding doors on both sides. On my "things to do" list is to get a camper interior to go in it (Westfalia / Devon etc) and a hightop or pop top roof to turn it into a proper camper.

Currently I use it as a van to move big stuff. Mainly to the tip. Only problem is that horrid wasserboxer engine which drinks petrol and produces no useful power.

Good thing about the T25s is they don't depreciate. Just rust! And the front outer CV joints are almost unobtainable. Mine was nearly three wheel drive at one point due to CV joint failure :naughty:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top