Making the move from Caravan to Motorhome
We have only just recently come back to caravanning and are already on our 2nd caravan in 15 months.
We absolutely love it, having taken the new van out already for 19 nights and it's not quite 3 months old yet. The only thing spoiling the experience is the ever mounting list of warranty problems, most of which are minor, but I have a sneaking suspicion
that we won't keep the van beyond it's main 3 year warranty based on current experience, plus that would coincide with us having to decide on our next car.
It has made us turn our thoughts to motorhomes and I'm just interested at what point people have made the switch and what the reasons were for doing so. I've read of people having a decision making process thats amounted to a number of years and I guess
there are an awful lot of things to consider. One thing I've already noticed is that there does seem to be a much greater choice of brands than there when it comes to manufacturers. Are the european makes really any better when it comes to quality? is the
habitation door being on the right a real problem? What length is too long for manouvering around? How on earth do you go about ensuring the layout is right first time?
We certainly got our first caravan wrong last year, the layout was good, but the length was too short with a couple of Laradors. I guess one option is to hire one, but I'd hazard a guess that the hire fleets are unlikely to feature the kind of van layout
we would choose.
Comments
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Hireing one is the right way forward, if you can get your prefaired option, but if not it will help with deciding MH or caravan, friends who have MH,s are not exempt from having problem vehicles. It really is a shame especially because it is a large investment
that build control is not better, if they were cars there would be hell on.0 -
I'm a member of swift talk and yes I'm reading just as many horror stories about Motorhomes as I am about caravans. I'll have a look at the hire companies and see what they have available.
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We hired and discovered we liked the space and flexability provided by our caravan. The Motorhome had it's advantages but, for us the disadvantages were greater. Hiring was an invaluable experience, everyone will have there own views but it's important you
get it right for you. Good luck.0 -
The SWIFT Bolero MH we had was terrible. Loads of faults mainly due to bad construction and assembly. We had seats that had a material on that was not colour fast so when it got water on it you were left with round blue rings. Doors coming loose and when
we went to pick it up from new it was pouring water out underneath. They repaired it straight away as we were going away the next day. They told us not to put any water in it for 24 hours to let the sealant set. When I tried next day it was comming out as
quick as it was going in. The Dealer had a go at the repair after I had stuffed a cork in the hole to stop the tank leaking but all they did was use more sealer and yes it leaked again. Half the battle is finding a good Dealer as your contract is with them.
You also need to be able to tackle a few of the jobs yourself otherwise whatever you have will spend more time at the Dealer than with you. Some of the faults are easily rectified so I just do them. Others can be really major. We had a Pilote MH after the
Swift. Far better build quality but it had a fatal flaw the electric bed mechanisum didn't always work as it should so you were forever wondering wether you would have a bed for the night or a tussle getting it to go back up out of the way. So when it jammed
completely we traded it for something that has the old fashioned none electric bed that you just release a strap and pull.So we now work on the KISS Principle. They can keep all the electric gubbins we have tried it and were not impressed. The bed didn't even have a manual way of getting it down.
All these units Caravans or Motor Homes are hand built. They can be thrown together by companies that only care about balance sheets or they can be constructed by people who care.
The ones who care charge more for the finished product because they spend hours putting them together properly and it costs money to do that.
So at the end of the day you pays your money and hope you made the right choice
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We have gone for an Auto-sleeper Costwold thats just coming up for 5 years old. Its only had 1 owner and has quite high mileage but I liked the fact its been used. Things that made us change are we like to tow our historic cars to events and this means we
can take just 1 car and not have to take two one towing the caravan and 1 towing the car! The spec inside is fab and it took us a long time and many visits to different dealer to find the one we wanted.Its a question of personal taste and of course the dreaded budget!
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I think if you are going to change from a caravan to a motorhome or from a motorhome to a caravan there has to be an element of dissatisfaction in my view which can be corrected by making the change. We caravanned for 30 odd years before making the change
and got to the point where things were starting to get to us as far as caravanning was concerned. It was nothing to do with the actual caravan which was excellent. It was things like no longer being able to manage the caravan without a mover, never sure whether
there would be somewhere to hitch up once out of the back garden, all the safety checks which don't seem to apply to motorhoming. It could, of course, be us just getting older and wanting an easier life!!! Good luck with whatever you decide.David
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I'm a motorhomer of 12 years and a few years ago, looked seriously at switching to a caravan. Various reasons why I could n't including....
1) Terrible payload.
2) Unable to access some of the places we like to stay - such as mountain passes etc.
3) Use of free aires and the like in Europe
4) Easier in winter - no outside water barrel etc
5) Cheaper shipping costs for holidays - we do three per year overseas.
Russ
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We hired fro 2 weeks before buying. Chose a Swft with end lounge like our caravan had. We were told it would be noisy & it was rattles etc. Now we have a van conversion of our own. We still have rattles of the cooker door but have sorted all others. We
do travel more, though with very much less stuff & to be honest we don't miss all the setting up of awning etc. Having said that take your time & do your research. Our son & wife & 2 dogs got one last year & sold it this year as they found the payload was
not enough for them.0 -
Well we popped down to Warminster today to see a selection of Motorhomes at Webbs. Certainly an interesting experience. First of all today we have been able to rule out van conversions as they are too small with 2 Labradors. We were also able to rule out
a lot of the layouts with high level fixed rear beds and garages underneath. We were surprised at how tacky the interiors were on 1 well known british manufacturer and quite taken by the Bessecar's probably becaue an awful lot of the fixtures and fittings
were familiar from our Sterling. In one case I did wonder why someone would buy a 6 berth motorhome do 850 miles in it and then sell it. It definitely had been used and there was an earthy smell coming from the bathroom, which surprised me on something so
new.0 -
After two caravans, then three motorhomes and back to our our now second caravan I can say with some degree of certainty that you will be kidding yourself if you think one or the other is less likely to produce less warranty problems. In the end it simply
comes down to which one you prefer to spend your time in, whether you stay on sites for any length of time, or if you like moving day after day.0 -
Well we popped down to Warminster today to see a selection of Motorhomes at Webbs. Certainly an interesting experience. First of all today we have been able to rule out van conversions as they are too small with 2 Labradors. We were also able to rule out
a lot of the layouts with high level fixed rear beds and garages underneath. We were surprised at how tacky the interiors were on 1 well known british manufacturer and quite taken by the Bessecar's probably becaue an awful lot of the fixtures and fittings
were familiar from our Sterling. In one case I did wonder why someone would buy a 6 berth motorhome do 850 miles in it and then sell it. It definitely had been used and there was an earthy smell coming from the bathroom, which surprised me on something so
new.Write your comments here... Makes you wonder if it had alot of warranty problems. Was the earthy smell the start of damp?
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At first we thought it was a pre-reg or demonstrator. When I opened the washroom door and smelt the earthy smell at that point I knew it had been used. When we got home I looked it up on the internet and found it had done 850 miles. All I can say is that
something didn't feel quite right about it.We did look at a new Adria Coral and were quite impressed with that.
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We have been useing "leisure"vehicles for a"few" years and in that time have had numerous c/vans and for seven years had two m/vans,If you want a vehicle to tour and move on every couple of days a m/van is ok as long as you are near where you want to be
or have another mode of transport,as if you want the same space as a c/van, the m/van will need to be about 6ft longer ,which can give problems if you need to take it off site into towns to park(some will say it is not a problem)or near public transport,when
we had run out of sites /areas that were accessable,we went back to tugging now on 3rd c/van since,and cannot see a return to m/vans,If you are thinking of touring over the water then a m/van is probably a better option as there is so much more space and parking
is less of a problem0 -
After two caravans, then three motorhomes and back to our our now second caravan I can say with some degree of certainty that you will be kidding yourself if you think one or the other is less likely to produce less warranty problems. In the end it simply
comes down to which one you prefer to spend your time in, whether you stay on sites for any length of time, or if you like moving day after day.Write your comments here... No I know that and the reason for switching isn't to eliminate warranty issues. I've read enough posts on Swift Talk of problem motorhome. The conversation at home stemed from the fact that in the light of the problems we are
already experiencing with a 3 month old van, it's unlikely we will keep the current caravan beyond 3 years and the conversation at home centred on the likelyhood of us wanting to continue towing or us making the move to a motorhome.0 -
We moved from a caravan to motorhome 4 years ago after 33 years towing. We would never have made the move while working as we needed 2 cars then. We do go away a lot more now that we are retired but I think we would anyway even with a caravan. We have talked
about "what next" and both agree it might be back to a caravan, but not just yet as we still like the M/H we have. There are a few new M/H's on the market that we like but not sure we want to spend that amount of money again. Changing from a caravan to M/H
we got a very good deal but moving from m/h to caravan doesn't look to be so good a deal. We like having the massive payload of the M/H compared to caravan and not having to deal with water barrels, legs, wheel clamps etc. The flexability abroad is also attractive
but not so attractive in the UK.0 -
We are also having the caravan v MH discussion, due to the fact that we are not that happy with our towcar and ideally want to change it next year.
Having a 1900kg twin axle van, we need a big towcar....otherwise known as expensive, though not as expensive as a MH!
OH is keen on a MH, I am not so keen. The other problem is that I gave up my over 3.5t licence 4 years back as we had never considered we might want a MH in the future.
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The towing licence is 3500+ 3500 for the trailer.
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We are also having the caravan v MH discussion, due to the fact that we are not that happy with our towcar and ideally want to change it next year.
Having a 1900kg twin axle van, we need a big towcar....otherwise known as expensive, though not as expensive as a MH!
OH is keen on a MH, I am not so keen. The other problem is that I gave up my over 3.5t licence 4 years back as we had never considered we might want a MH in the future.
Kjell, rest assured that, shpuld you wish to travel as a couple, you should be able to find many MH that will accommodate you and all your kit, clothes, food etc within the 3.5t category.
in the main it would be large vans (7m+) or those family vans with (say) six nerths and occupants that will be an issue.
for example, the unladen weight of our van (at 7.39m) is 3050kg, MIRO around 3200kg, so even in a van this size it is 'just about' doable at 3500kg....subject to extras of course...
however, our van came on the 4250kg chassis so we have plenty of spare payload and it usually runs 'all up' at around 3750kg, but this includes many heavy extras like awning, sat system, solar panel, 2nd battery.
so, a simlar van at 6.85 has an unladed weight of 2820kg....so the half metre reduction in weight generates a weight saving of around 230kg, so definitely workable on 3500kg.
slimmer also means lighter (hence our diets?.....) and a simliar van with island bed at 7.18m but with an overall width 15cm less than std (the latest fashion?), has an unladen weight of 2780kg, so again definitely workable.
so, shorter or slimmer can save weight, but a target MIRO should be, IMHO, not more than 3000kg.
good luck.
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Motorhoming for two within 3500kg is easily doable, especially with the older and lighter vans. BB is right about going shorter and narrower to save weight although for my model, only 60kg is saved going from 6.5m to 6m. However, if like BB, you do it in
style, 3500kg is not going to be enough.Our van had a MIRO of 2900kgs which rose to 3150kg with extras. In full touring trim for us [no more than 3 weeks away at any time and no more than 4 days at a time off sites], we weigh in at a tad over 3400kg. Of the extras,
about 150kg was necessary to bring a German spec van up to UK standard giving us a MIRO of 3050kg when leaving the dealers.MIRO calculations were revised a few years ago by the EU so you have to read very carefully what is included in the calculation.
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be very aware of Aspenshaw's last paragraph.....
do not take paper numbers as gospel, get any prospective vehicle weighed by the dealer, if not yourselves.
the latest 'revisions' to the included MIRO items mean that many manufacturers, this year, are quoting with NO WATER on board....hence these vehicles have miraculously attained 100kg+ more payload!......not....
remember, option 'packs' and things like auto transmission can add a huge amount to the weight of the van.
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Yes, we are aware that smaller, lighter vans are available, have looked at a few, but they seem cramped compared to the caravan, and would not be suitable for our 3 month tours.
Also have to take into account that we want automatic transmission, a fixed double bed, a good shower,preferably enough space for the grandchildren to come along occasionally, ability to fit air con, and good storage space.
What would I have to do to get my licence back?
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Kjel when you say you have given up your 3500kg licence can you explain what you mean. Remember I am quite new to looking at MH's so this is all new and very informative.
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We bought our new Auto-sleepers Broadway in March after about 30 years of caravanning. We covered about 2000 miles and were away for a month in France. We loved the motorhome and will never go back to a caravan - no aquaroll, waste container, hitching, positioning etc. We drive to a site, put the brake on and we are done. Eventually we hook up the mains but initially the fridge switches automatically to gas from the under slung LPG tank and the solar panel takes care of the battery.
Our caravans were getting bigger and bigger so we had to downsize considerably but this is not a problem in a warmer climate. If the weather deteriorates we move. During June we navigated using the French weather forecast and had one day of rain only.
We stayed at one place for two weeks as the weather was settled there and although the proprietor lent us her car we mainly walked to the town and every third day drove the van to the supermarket. The A/S is 6.3 m long so no real problem parking and an opportunity to tidy up. We left table and chairs on the pitch (another thing we didn't need - an "Occupied" sign).
I guess it wouldn't suit everybody but for our style of touring and just two of us it is brilliant.
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Kjel when you say you have given up your 3500kg licence can you explain what you mean. Remember I am quite new to looking at MH's so this is all new and very informative.
When you reach 70 you need regular medicals to retain the C1 category, I didn't reckon I would ever use C1 at that time, so did not get a medical.
Regretting it now.
If you are younger, you should be OK
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We have gone from caravans to coachbuilt MH (s) and back to caravans. Might go back to MH's again sometime in the future.
Thing is, needs and wants change over time and what suits at one point might not suit at another. Best to work out what your current needs are, buy what suits best and don't put on blinkers about what might suit in the future.
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Kjel when you say you have given up your 3500kg licence can you explain what you mean. Remember I am quite new to looking at MH's so this is all new and very informative.
When you reach 70 you need regular medicals to retain the C1 category, I didn't reckon I would ever use C1 at that time, so did not get a medical.
Regretting it now.
If you are younger, you should be OK
I have just relinquished my full licence as I did not foresee a situation where I would need to drive anything heavier than 3500kgs. The selection of motorhomes in the 3500kgs and under category is massive so its not as though you would not have a good choice if you went down that route.
David
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We have had a Campervan numerous Caravans A coachbuilt Motorhome and back to the Caravan. Your choice is determined by your lifestyle at the time. While we went to the continent every year and went away every weekend we were both still working, we found the Motorhome with the bikes was absolutely perfect.
On retirement we preferred to stay on any particular site for a much longer period using it as a base from which to tour that particular area. We found that a caravan suited us better so we sold the M/H and bought another caravan.
It's really a matter of the type of holidaying you intend to do.
K
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We bought our new Auto-sleepers Broadway in March after about 30 years of caravanning. We covered about 2000 miles and were away for a month in France. We loved the motorhome and will never go back to a caravan - no aquaroll, waste container, hitching, positioning
etc. We drive to a site, put the brake on and we are done. Eventually we hook up the mains but initially the fridge switches automatically to gas from the under slung LPG tank and the solar panel takes care of the battery.Our caravans were getting bigger and bigger so we had to downsize considerably but this is not a problem in a warmer climate. If the weather deteriorates we move. During June we navigated using the French weather forecast and had one day of rain only.
We stayed at one place for two weeks as the weather was settled there and although the proprietor lent us her car we mainly walked to the town and every third day drove the van to the supermarket. The A/S is 6.3 m long so no real problem parking and an opportunity
to tidy up. We left table and chairs on the pitch (another thing we didn't need - an "Occupied" sign).I guess it wouldn't suit everybody but for our style of touring and just two of us it is brilliant.
hitch, you make a great salesman....im convinced
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Yes, we are aware that smaller, lighter vans are available, have looked at a few, but they seem cramped compared to the caravan, and would not be suitable for our 3 month tours.
Also have to take into account that we want automatic transmission, a fixed double bed, a good shower,preferably enough space for the grandchildren to come along occasionally, ability to fit air con, and good storage space.
What would I have to do to get my licence back?
if, by 'fixed double bed' you mean an island bed, then you are immediately looking at 'larger' vans....although Pilote and Rapido are making them within a 6.5m length, they will have very small lounges....something has to give in 6.5m.
you also want 'good storage', but once you've dispensed with the aquaroll, wastemaster, awning and loads of other 'caravanning' kit the amout of 'stuff' you take will be much less.
yes, there will be clothes and other 'food type' supplies but buying more fresh stuff more often, can negate some of this.
a big issue can be outdoor tables and chairs, and underbed storage is the usual place, either a garage or locker.
double floored MH often have useful storage between the floors....another advantage of this system (other than frost protected pipework and water tanks) is that the floor of the van is higher than the garage floor which means that rear lockers, even under a 'normal height' rear island bed, can be much deeper, some even able to accommodate bikes yet not be prohibitive when climbing into bed.
the Carthago C-compactline 145 (at a shade over 7m) has an island bed, is slimmer than most, has good payload at 3.5t, and a large garage. compromise might be lounge size (def ok for two) and a wetroom type shower...(identical to ours which we feel works well enough to use most of the time).
a good shower should be fine in most vans , but rear washroom MHs cant provide deep rear storage (the washroom is in the way) so this has to be moved forward under the seats.....but then there is no fixed bed.......ah....that word 'compromise'....
potential solution, the drop down bed over the cab seats as in an A-class MH.
ive mentioned it before, but the Hymer B544 has this layout, massive lounge (seats 8 or more) decent kitchen with oven etc, large washroom, double floor storage, large drop down bed, occasional bed made up from lounge seating.....at 6.5m.
definitely worth a look, but even this van will not have mega payload at 3.5t...
auto transmission is likely to mean a Fiat (comfortmatic robotised box) or Merc....i thnk there might be a Ford one on the way.....
good luck.
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