Motorhomes anyone have one? rent one ? use one?

LASTOLITE

LASTOLITE

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Bill
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Just looking to rent a 4 berth Motorhome for a short break, Some friends have taken to camping and caravanning and neither appeal to be fair....so we have been looking at a motorhome to hire, just to see whats its all about and if we like it as a possibility for some extra weekends away that wont break the bank.

Also we have looked into the possibility of a return on investment by hiring it out through a broker/company that arranges everything like Motorhomes.co.uk or another scheme like here http://www.motorhomesuk.co.uk/buy-to-let/

Anyone done anything like this?
 
We have a few friends who have just bought one as well, they are semi retired and have done some pretty serious travelling in it.

My wife and I would love to do something similar in about 5 years.
We would like to take a year or two out and take one down to Greece and all that area.
 
My parents have had caravans and motorhomes all my life. I had a amazing childhood off camping almost every weekend during spring summer i would whole heartily recommend it.

I personally wouldn't rent one out i would like to be able to shoot off at the drop of a hat. Its perfect for day trips too if the sun comes out last minute. The outlay is a lot but the do not depreciate much so i wouldn't worry about a return. The return your investment is quality of life.

I can not wait to get one but haven't the wedge til the Mrs goes back to work.
 
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Some of the interiors are amazing and very comfortable.
 
our little caravan does us a treat ,we went trans pennines last yea just under 300 miles each way towing and averaged 46mpg out of a 2 lt. mondeo tdi for two weeks ,.that will do nicely
 
rjbell said:
My parents have had caravans and motorhomes all my life. I had a amazing childhood off camping almost every weekend during spring summer i would whole heartily recommend it.

I personally wouldn't rent one out i would like to be able to shoot off at the drop of a hat. Its perfect for day trips too if the sun comes out last minute. The outlay is a lot but the do not depreciate much so i wouldn't worry about a return. The return your investment is quality of life.

I can not wait to get one but haven't the wedge til the Mrs goes back to work.
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Thanks for the reply, this is the trade off with not offering it up for hire, packing up and getting away for a few days with very little outlay.



Anyone recommend a make / model thats considered a good starter camper? I can see a caravan is the cheapest way to get going but we only have a Honda Civic Tourer 1600td so not sure what that would be like at towing. Typical sell my Shogun and bought a hatch for myself then this idea springs into our lives....

Ive just been looking at a hire vehicle for a week in the July and its about 800 quid all in for the week. Not cheap as chips but will be a good test for the family to see if we like it.
 
LASTOLITE said:
I can see a caravan is the cheapest way to get going but we only have a Honda Civic Tourer 1600td so not sure what that would be like at towing.
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Google suggests that the max braked towing weight is 1,400Kg, modern caravans come in well under that weight.
http://carleasingmadesimple.com/business-car-leasing/honda/civic/towing-weight-limit/

Try matching your car HERE
IIRC Last time I looked into this it was something like 90% of the total caravan weight / total towing weight of the car,
for a safety margin
 
Mr Bump said:
Some of the interiors are amazing and very comfortable.
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I know your not kidding, just been looking at one from a hire company 6 berth looks amazing, mind you it was 40k new so I suppose thats expected at that price. That wont be what I am looking at...
 
Cobra said:
Google suggests that the max braked towing weight is 1,400Kg, modern caravans come in well under that weight.
http://carleasingmadesimple.com/business-car-leasing/honda/civic/towing-weight-limit/

Try matching your car HERE
IIRC Last time I looked into this it was something like 90% of the total caravan weight / total towing weight of the car,
for a safety margin
Click to expand...


You know your right, I would not have thought that! 1400kg seems alot to tow with a FWD but still if it says it can, I may look into hiring a caravan instead.

Thanks for that!
 
LASTOLITE said:
Thanks for that!
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No worries, :thumbs:
There are a few for and against arguments caravans v motor homes..
Caravan stays where you put it, and drive around in the car,
but then you can pull over in a motor home and put the kettle on, while you are out and about.
Caravans to buy are certainly a lot cheaper ( and bigger if you want) than a comparable motor-home.

Maybe rent both at some point, and then your'll get a better idea.
 
Friends of ours have a motor caravan and do lots of travelling in it. Done Greece (all the way down to Crete) a couple of times, loads of France trips (Le Mans etc.) as well as weekends away (and longer) here in the UK. They have a 125cc scooter on the back of it so they can nip about when they get where they want to be (they reckon their 'van is a bit big for popping into town - and they're not wrong!) Fiat Ducato based, similar to this one http://www.motorhomeandrvhire.com/images/camper-iceland/MH5/main.jpg .
 
Cobra said:
No worries, (y)
There are a few for and against arguments caravans v motor homes..
Caravan stays where you put it, and drive around in the car,
but then you can pull over in a motor home and put the kettle on, while you are out and about.
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The other downside of a motorhome is that you'll probably need a car for everyday use as well, since you'll not want to clock up unnecessary mileage on the motorhome as it'll affect its resale value.
 
I hired one to go around europe and rather than waste a days hire traveling to and from france I hired it over the internet in Lille and picked it up from there.. secure parking for the car and the hire was the same price it would be here... forgot all about left hand drive until i got in it.. but seemed natural after ten minutes.. just a thought for anyone going abroad :)
 
LASTOLITE said:
Thanks for the reply, this is the trade off with not offering it up for hire, packing up and getting away for a few days with very little outlay.


Anyone recommend a make / model thats considered a good starter camper? I can see a caravan is the cheapest way to get going but we only have a Honda Civic Tourer 1600td so not sure what that would be like at towing. Typical sell my Shogun and bought a hatch for myself then this idea springs into our lives....

Ive just been looking at a hire vehicle for a week in the July and its about 800 quid all in for the week. Not cheap as chips but will be a good test for the family to see if we like it.
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Do you want a panel can conversion or coach built? What sort of budget are you looking at?
 
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Had caravans as a child and loved the holidays.

Quite fancy a motorhome - It's something that I'm thinking about for the future, although not sure what I'd be looking at ...
 
LASTOLITE said:
I can see a caravan is the cheapest way to get going but we only have a Honda Civic Tourer 1600td so not sure what that would be like at towing.
Click to expand...



No idea what engine this one has as it's only a replica of the race car.
 
There are lots of caravans that a civic will tow. Almost every manufacture makes small caravans under 1000kg.

Regarding motorhomes the biggest stumbling block is rear seats with proper seatbelts. This didn't really happen until the noughties so you're talking £15-£20k If you look hard enough though you can find models as old as mid 90s with proper belts on the back.
 
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I'm going to put mine on the market in the near future! I can't find a good picture at the moment, but it's a 4 birth Avantegarde Compass 100 which is one of the smaller coach built versions based on a Peugeot Boxer van.

Motor homes are great, particularly the ability to just jump in it for a weekend away. And we did 2 weeks in France in it last summer - it makes the journey so much easier to have a fridge full of food and a kettle at the ready!

The problem for us is we've got a 2 and a 5 year old, which makes sleeping fairly difficult when you're effectively in one room. We also have quite a lot of commitments at weekends, which unfortunately means we're not free for those quick weekends away. We got the van from a family member so didn't really think those sort of things through before saying yes!
 
theres for and against with both ,if you buy a motorhome you will have to tax and insure /mot two vehicles ,but the far cheaper way round that is buy a s/h car with tow bar fitted used mondeo diesels are dirt cheap and economical ,then buy a caravan to tow ,you will gain as the mondeos can tow up to 1800kgs easily ,the caravan will either be new or nearly new ,these days will often come with two bedrooms one with fixed bed ,hot water on tap ,central heating in fact all mod cons PLUS space to move around in thats before you put up the awning .,a motorhome will till need taxing ,insuring m.ot etc and will give you one large room ,,and cost you about 5 times as much if not more ,and at least when you pitch a caravan no one can move onto your favourite spot while your out for the day ,seen some right rows over that one .and you will still be able to keep your your nice new civic for normal travel at home ........!

work it out used mondeo tdci around £3000
new or couple year old 4 berth top spec caravan up to £15,000 with all extras
total £18000 is maybe cheaper .in fact if you go for a older van (there still nice ) you could easily half that or more
motorhome probably between £30,000 to £50,000 with far higher fuel consumption and higher maintenance bills
 
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Another option I've considered is buying a large twin axle caravan and site it at a campsite. Ive seen some for £2k for the year. That way you don't have the hassle of setting up camp every time, just jump in the civic and pull up and open the wine.

Twin axle are harder to tow and have less resale demand in the UK so can pick up some bargains. EBay search 'twin axle hobby'
 
robert ,be careful a lot of sites won't accept hobby or german vans due to there connections to the travelling community
 
rjbell said:
Another option I've considered is buying a large twin axle caravan and site it at a campsite. Ive seen some for £2k for the year.
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£2k seems quite a lot to me, that's a good few weekends away in B&B's each year. Personally I'm seriously thinking about getting a VW Transporter and converting it. We camp quite a lot and would use a tent if we wanted a lot of space and were staying in one place for a week or more. The camper would be for touring round for one or two nights, spur of the moment stuff and also a good option for days out walking etc.

I guess you need to decide what you want to use it for mainly, if it is going away for a few weeks once a year, caravan or big camper, if you want to use it for weekend touring then personally I think a small camper is the way to go. One final point is that anything you trail (caravan, trailer tent, etc, and indeed a large motor-home) can be a pain to park if you want to nip into a town/attraction/supermarket on the way to or from your destination.
 
sirch said:
£2k seems quite a lot to me, that's a good few weekends away in B&B's each year. Personally I'm seriously thinking about getting a VW Transporter and converting it. We camp quite a lot and would use a tent if we wanted a lot of space and were staying in one place for a week or more. The camper would be for touring round for one or two nights, spur of the moment stuff and also a good option for days out walking etc.

I guess you need to decide what you want to use it for mainly, if it is going away for a few weeks once a year, caravan or big camper, if you want to use it for weekend touring then personally I think a small camper is the way to go. One final point is that anything you trail (caravan, trailer tent, etc, and indeed a large motor-home) can be a pain to park if you want to nip into a town/attraction/supermarket on the way to or from your destination.
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I could not afford a custom made camper nor would I want one, they are just to big for what we do, so I converted a Transit Jumbo van a few yrs ago, its totally self reliant, all mod cons, last year we made four trips up to the Highlands from Cornwall, a total of 12 weeks up there, bloody fantastic, plus shorter trips nearer to home, its showing its age now ( Rust ) but as long as it passes its mot will keep using it,when its dead will strip everything out of it then replace it with a Merc van I think and do the conversion over a winter.
 
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My aunt & uncle have a nice motor home, can't tell you the make/model but it's quite spacious and comfortable inside, even has a shower from what I can remember. I few years back my uncle drove it up to V festival so my cousin could use it for the weekend :lol:

They tow a smart car behind it so they can use that as transport once they've set up camp.
 
sirch said:
£2k seems quite a lot to me, that's a good few weekends away in B&B's each year. Personally I'm seriously thinking about getting a VW Transporter and converting it. We camp quite a lot and would use a tent if we wanted a lot of space and were staying in one place for a week or more. The camper would be for touring round for one or two nights, spur of the moment stuff and also a good option for days out walking etc.

I guess you need to decide what you want to use it for mainly, if it is going away for a few weeks once a year, caravan or big camper, if you want to use it for weekend touring then personally I think a small camper is the way to go. One final point is that anything you trail (caravan, trailer tent, etc, and indeed a large motor-home) can be a pain to park if you want to nip into a town/attraction/supermarket on the way to or from your destination.
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Yeah you really need to use it if you site it. That was at a park with loads of facilities pool, club house etc.. and if you haven't a driveway (which i haven't) storing it all year around will be £400-£500 so the £2k starts not looking to bad.

However i do agree with you its all about compromising when choosing a large or small motorhome or a caravan and you usually don't get it right straight away. If i was handy i would definitely try converting a van myself. Although a transporter as much as i love them wouldn't be my first choice just a bit too small.
 
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Mikechappers said:
I could not afford a custom made camper nor would I want one, they are just to big for what we do, so I converted a Transit Jumbo van a few yrs ago,
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I've considered doing something similar ( there are some nice modern vans out there at a good price) more than once,
although the task is a little daunting, there are plenty of forums and you tube guides out there, on the webby thing.
 
TopBanana said:
I'm going to put mine on the market in the near future! I can't find a good picture at the moment, but it's a 4 birth Avantegarde Compass 100 which is one of the smaller coach built versions based on a Peugeot Boxer van.

Motor homes are great, particularly the ability to just jump in it for a weekend away. And we did 2 weeks in France in it last summer - it makes the journey so much easier to have a fridge full of food and a kettle at the ready!

The problem for us is we've got a 2 and a 5 year old, which makes sleeping fairly difficult when you're effectively in one room. We also have quite a lot of commitments at weekends, which unfortunately means we're not free for those quick weekends away. We got the van from a family member so didn't really think those sort of things through before saying yes!
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Hiya Tim, I'm in the market for another campervan, I've spent most of January searching the net trying to establish the genuine ads from the fakes ( I'm amazed at how much trouble folks will go to to obtain your mobile number and e-mail address :confused:)

Its a bit of a long shot but let me know when you put yours up for sale, you never know, it might be just what I'm looking for, cheers :)
 
We have one, a 'van conversion' Autosleeper based on a LWB Transit. Had it for years and toured much of the nearer parts of Europe.

It's great in places like France where they are welcomed, parking spaces allocated and sometimes even special free campsites provided. In the UK local authorities hate them and make access to parking impossible with height barriers. Quite a lot of Forestry and other leisure sites also bar them with height barriers. It's particularly annoying for smaller motorhomes like ours which do fit into a standard parking slot.
 
Cobra said:
I've considered doing something similar ( there are some nice modern vans out there at a good price) more than once,
although the task is a little daunting, there are plenty of forums and you tube guides out there, on the webby thing.
Click to expand...

What we did was to buy a written off caravan cheap that was all the cupboards, lockers, toilet, cooker, fridge,water heater, seating sorted, we also installed a hot air blown heater, plus two 100 watt solar panels on the roof charging three 110 amp batteries. two 80 litre water tanks, all we had to do then was to insulate the interior and board it out, plus fit a couple of side windows and a opening vent in the roof all the interior sides was then covered with some carpet type lining, its all
quite straight forward really, the lining hides any wood working mistakes, one thing to bear in mind is weight and to plan an put the wiring in first .
 
Cap'n Bill said:
We have one, a 'van conversion' Autosleeper based on a LWB Transit. Had it for years and toured much of the nearer parts of Europe.

It's great in places like France where they are welcomed, parking spaces allocated and sometimes even special free campsites provided. In the UK local authorities hate them and make access to parking impossible with height barriers. Quite a lot of Forestry and other leisure sites also bar them with height barriers. It's particularly annoying for smaller motorhomes like ours which do fit into a standard parking slot.
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That is why we spend a lot of time in the Highlands, they have a lot more relaxed attitude up there.
 
Mikechappers said:
What we did was to buy a written off caravan cheap
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That thought hadn't crossed my mind I was going diy all the way,
But it certainly makes a lot of sense that's for sure :thumbs:
 
Cobra said:
I've considered doing something similar ( there are some nice modern vans out there at a good price) more than once,
although the task is a little daunting, there are plenty of forums and you tube guides out there, on the webby thing.
Click to expand...

I've built a few over the last 20yrs, last one being about 6 years ago that we're still using. Not sure how much its changed and if it has it won't have got any easier, but there are certainly criteria for getting the logbook V5 changed to camper van. Also DVLA wanted a letter from an authorised Motor Engineer, nothing fancy, just a quick note saying that the conversion was satisfactory, I've a mate who's got the qualifications so that wasn't a problem :)

Once thats been done there's no problem getting it insured as a camper van, I'd recommend Shield Insurance, they specialise in home builds and are very helpful (y)
 
Mikechappers said:
Plus it makes for a professional looking finish.
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And that's very important, some of the home builds out there converted with old kitchen units look bloody awful! :D
 
Phil-D said:
I've built a few over the last 20yrs, last one being about 6 years ago that we're still using. Not sure how much its changed and if it has it won't have got any easier, but there are certainly criteria for getting the logbook V5 changed to camper van. Also DVLA wanted a letter from an authorised Motor Engineer, nothing fancy, just a quick note saying that the conversion was satisfactory, I've a mate who's got the qualifications so that wasn't a problem :)

Once thats been done there's no problem getting it insured as a camper van, I'd recommend Shield Insurance, they specialise in home builds and are very helpful (y)
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All they wanted from us was photographs which showed it had beds etc and a fixed table, they seem to think a fixed table is a must, oh and windows in the back.
 
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