Brand New Motor home owner
Hi all,
I have just joined the club. I have just put my deposit on my first ever motor home and I am a pioneer for my family as they normally have caravans. It's been a hard slog getting information from dealers and even harder speaking to someone when we got there. We are a young family full of energy and eager to get out and about.
If anyone can offer advice of what to buy for our first trip and any does and don'ts for when we are away that would be great.
We live in gods country (Northumberland) so are spoilt for choice up here so we can get a lot of practice locally before our big trips start.
in conclusion some general advice would be great and I look forward to waving at people when we drive around in the coming months and years.
Thanks in advance
Hodgson Family
Comments
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Hi Sie,
I am too very new to Motorhoming having always owned a caravan.
I would say that essentially most of the stuff a caravan owner would carry, so would a Motorhomer. The only difference I think would be not having to carry water barrels for waste and fresh water.
Good luck in your new venture. I guess the only real essential is the wine/beer as you sit outside in the evening.
You will soon realise want you need want after you have been out a couple of times 😬
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Most of all enjoy it’s a whole new adventure. Probably best to just take things you would use at home at 1st. Haggle for freebies eg EHU cable, food grade water connection hose etc. & you can always check the drop down menus at the top of this page & read through various post here on CT. Do ensure the seller demonstrates that everything works at handover & that you check the vehicle fully & inform them of anything you want put right. Payload is also something to be aware of & using a weighbridge when you are fully loaded for a trip [family included] is always useful to check that you are legal. You may also find your brand of M'home has an owners forum which may also prove useful. Good luck.
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Welcome to the Caravan and Motohome Club. Good luck with your new purchase. Difficult to advise beyond those things you need to cook, eat and drink with. Probably best to try the minimalist approach first and add as you go along. You are more self contained in a motorhome so best not to go overboard. You also need to think about weight. Some advice here from the Club which might be worth a look.
David
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Welcome, firstly don't go out and buy loads of stuff you think you might need and then it ends up in the shed , your need a hose to fill the fresh water tank, some comfy chairs ,cider and a sence of humour
for your first trip don't go to far ,just so you can work out what is important to you , we all do things differently so you may have to pick the bones out of all the replys
just keep asking the questions
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as David says.....weight has to be watched very carefully...
most who are 'young families'.....will have drivers who passed their test after Jan 97 and therefore restricted to 3.5t.
multi berth vans with multiple passengers (and their kit and caboodle) are notoriously difficult to 'manage' at 3.5t so ensure you know the weight of 'your' van (and of everything/everybody you are planning to put in it) before you sign on the line.....trying to deal with an overweight van down the line will bring heartache.....so, be vary careful......
think bikes, toys, beds, bedding, water, gas, batteries, clothes, boots, shoes, electric gadgets, cutlery, crockery, books, kettles, cables, tables, chairs, awnings, etc, etc, etc......
good luck.
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You'll love it.
Yes, don't load up with every 'essential item' only to find it's unnecessary and ends up in the shed.
Maybe not too far from home for a first trip so that you could pop back if you really had to - perhaps for forgotten medication or the bottle opener, but you're not going to the moon and there are shops everywhere
The kids will have those memories for a lifetime. Nearly 65 years on I vividly remember my only week's holiday away with my parents; a caravan at Lyme Regis when it rained quite a lot (my Mum always said "It's a clearing up shower") but to lie abed listening to the rain pattering on the roof, exhausted and glowing after a day paddling and rock-pooling and a BBQ with Walls Skinless ('self-adhesive' we called them) sausages or an emergency Vesta Prawn Curry I remember as if it was yesterday.
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Welcome to the world of motorhome ownership Sie. My tip, make a check list of things to do before you move off and keep it handy,. Use it every time you are about to move off. Even the most experience forget to do things. With a family it is easy to get distracted when preparing to be on your way.
peedee
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Hi Sie
If it would help I am happy to email you my mastersheet of all our motorhome contents from cab, livingroom, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, outside, dog & Misc. Just need your email address.
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.....along with their weights? this is just as important.
ive seen 3.5t 'family MHs' with only a couple hundred kg of 'payload'.
add the wife (nominal 75kg) and say two kids (2 x 40kg) and a (small) tankful of water (45kg) and thats ALL the payload gone.
no spare capacity for ANY of the things on your (or my earlier) list.
it is vital for the OP to undestand the current weight of the proposed purchase (get the dealer to weigh it now.....) and this will give the true allowance (payload) remaining....remember it probably wont have any fuel or water in it in its current state. thats 200kg gone immediately with full tanks.
its difficult enough to make some vans work at 3.5t when its just a couple touring.
add in kids and all their paraphernailia and sometimes its just impossible....Best to find out now, rather than later.
i know this because we are running a 'lightweight' slimline van which i had weighed prior to purchase, along with all of the kit we planned to take (based on 8 years of long distance travelling).
we run at 3420kg in full touring trim.....its fair to say we could not accommodate two small kids and their kit weight wise, although we have the beds, seat belts and garage capacity to easily 'fit them in'.
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Agree with all BB says, payload/weight is something which, in our experience anyway, is never volunteered by dealers when looking at MHs on their forecourt. Even when asking about payload for a particular MH salesmen are rather vague. Ok, I don't expect them to know each MH's payload off the top of their head, but even so, they could easily look it up there and then, but we've always had the feeling that it's something they consider not that important.
Given that, as BB says, some MHs just barely have adequate payload for a couple, let alone a family of 4, there must be a fair few out there which are overweight.
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We collect our new MH on Monday so all these comments are very useful. We have a two hour training session apparently, but forewarned is forearmed.
We have negotiated a solar panel in to the price. I will check there is a regulator to ensure there is no overcharge, but I wondered whether there should be some sort of gauge to show us it is working properly?
Good luck Sie477, although I think you may have the wrong impression, God's own country is obviously Gloucestershire.
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Michael....yes, several.....
its slimmer, lighter, shorter.....three good reasons for (much) easier driving and parking.....in towns and on site.
many towns on the continent are restricting traffic to that under 3.5t, we want to able to go (pretty much) wherever we want without thinking about things.
we are only 6cm wider than a PVC which means its a much easier job bowling along, especially when away from Mways and A roads....all trips are far more relaxing, not specifically for me, as driver, but for OH who felt she was being squeezed too tightly towards walls and hedges on occasion.
inside we now have a huge (1.5m wide) transverse bed, which actually suits us better (we werent massive fans of sleping separately....despite the singles being extremely comfortable.
lounge pretty much the same, a tad slimmer but no real difference
the kitchen is slightly smaller, but we have swapped a storage drawer for a Thetford Duplex oven, so no Tec Tower anymore, OH prefers the lower oven. still plenty of deep drawer storage and large fridge/freezer
bathroom pretty much the same, more than large enough for us...
same large garage, takes bikes and all else with ease.
had gaslow, twin batteries, solar, inverter and satellite systems swapped over, so the van runs pretty much as previously.
of course, i am now not speed restricted as i was at 4.25t.smile
ferries are cheaper, tooso, all in all, we think we have all the best bits of the larger van (quality build, a class cab, double floor, self sufficiency) without the bulk and weight.
......oh, and we got a stonking deal......wink
in summary, we are delighted.smile
ps, if i ever wanted to up-plate, with the fitted16" wheels, i can go to 3850 as a paper change.also apologies for the OT posting.....why, oh why cant we PM each other with asides like this?undecided
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Cheers BB, interesting we do not find the size to be an issue but not been over there yet (roll on next Friday) and we like the TEC tower with the extra drawers but who knows for the next van but we are thinking maybe a traverse bed next but not sure about climbing over in the night for the loo, we had that in a caravan and changed to the island bed which is 1.5m as well
Yes why cant we PM each other
Back on subject about what to buy, if you have caravanned before you wont really need much else in fact much less, yo wont need the Aqua Roll (keep waste for sites with no MHSP), step, awning (if you had one). But you will need a hose, maybe some levelling ramps. And I echo other comments regarding weight, if you do not have C1 licence then you are restricted to 3.5t make sure the van is only plated at that and not been uprated and get it weighed ASAP with everyone in it, full tank of fuel and water and packed for a fortnight holiday.
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We found it very useful to have a laminated sign behind the sun visor or somewhere up front with the height and width of our motorhome re the bridges etc. Enjoy your experience it's a great life.
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I found the checklist to be much "shorter" in a motorhome , compared to the caravan checklist , when moving on to another site
mrs bc0
