About to spend £20K - where am I going to go wrong?

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Sopworth

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Hi all,

New member so please bear with me.....

I've been lurking on the site for a few weeks and unable to answer many of my questions so I hope you don't mind me firing them off all at once?

We have £20k to spend on a MH for our family of 4 (well, plus a small dog). Having looked around 6 used MH in our price range and we also spent the day at the MH show in Glasgow a few months back, we decided to go for rear bunk beds (kids are 4 and 8) as apposed to U shape lounge. We feel the kids will pop off to thier bunks at their appropriate bed times better than if it was a different layout. Since deciding on bunk beds, our choice of MH has reduced hugely (there isn't many bunk bed around). Are they a difficult layout MH to sell on?

We do have our eye on one that is for sale privately and I have been in touch with the seller, who is waiting for restrictions to be lifted before allowing viewings (a good sign, surely). Its a Benimar 6000ld 2.8l 2006 for £20k. 25k miles. It doesn't have a habitation check. The seller has provided me with a list of minor points about the MH that I should be aware of, and they seem in line with wear and tear I'd expect from a 14 year old MH (but what would I know?). How do I approach a purchase that doesn't have an habitation check? Is this a concern?

The MH comes with gas hob and gas grill. My wife would prefer a big oven but this is clearly going to be a trade off at some stage in our buying process. Does anyone see problems in this area? Suggestions for lack of cooker?

I have lots of questions, and will no doubt be asking in the coming days/weeks, but any assistance would be great.

Thank you,
Mark
 
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The first thing I would be aware of is payload (check on this site for a lot of information regarding this).

Also what is the plated weight of the van? If it is 3500 kg I think you will struggle to stay under that. If it is more than 3500 do you have a C1 on your driving license?

The next thing I would advise is that you become a paid member as then you have access to members only areas (much more advice and also classified adverts) and you can post as many times as you like.

It is often better to post one question at a time to get maximum response.

Oh and

:WelcomeFlag:
 
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And as if by magic here is a thread about payload!

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

What is this payload thing?

and why is it so important? (I told you it should be my husband asking these questions!) So a 3500kg van and then I keep hearing about payload. What do we have to be careful about? Thanks
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk

The only way you can be sure about the weight of the van is to go to a weighbridge. We had our van up-plated from 3500kg to 3650 kg when we bought it (new) and one of the first things we did was take to to be weighed. We also weigh it every year before a trip and when it is fully loaded - including 75l of fresh water, full fuel tank and empty waste tanks with both of us on board. We know we can "lose" 50kg of water if we ever need to. Fully laden for a long trip with kayaks, ebikes, 2 awnings etc etc we were 3540 kg :)

Also it is not just your overall weight but also the individual axle weights so always get the whole van weighed and then (usually) the back axle. It's easy to overload the back axle if you don't know about load distribution. The max permissible weights will be on the weight plate inside the engine compartment or inside a door. We have had dealers photo these for us and get weighbridge readings before traveling any distance to see vans. One van was overweight as it was - minimum fuel - no water - no personal effects and no driver or passenger. We crossed that one off our "possible" list.
 
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From your earlier post: 'We are a family of 5 - the wife and me, 8 yr old, 4 year old and 2 yr old Boston Terrier' it's clear that payload will be your prime concern as Puddleduck has said.
I've never worried about a habitation check. I can test the fridge, cooker, water pump(s), heater and cooker and get a gas safety check done after purchase. Gas safety issues are rarely expensive to fix.
Damp is the next issue. Open all cupboards and sniff, looking for staining throughout the interior. You can buy a damp check meter quite cheaply.
Yes, subscribe to have access to the Resources, including Jim's 'Buyer's Guide'.
Welcome.

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The one MH we have our eye on from a private seller has a maximum plated weight of 3500kg. Having now read the thread Puddleduck kindly highlighted, I suspect I need to read into this a bit more.

I've now subscribed so I will be getting hold of Jims book (I've read alot about this book Jim, I hope I'm not dissapointed ;o) ).

Some great advice - thanks all!
 
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Rear fully inertia type seatbelts will be essential for the youngsters and capable of taking either a booster seat or car seat.
I have a 5 berth van with 4 travelling inertia forward facing belts an 2 rear facing lap belts.
Grandkids only allowed on forward facing belts and adults only on rear lap belts.
Also we have no cooker but use a motorhome friendly microwave, but we are then limited to having electric hook-up if we want to use it, but our eating needs are fairly simple and it suits us.
As per another reply, plated weight and payload will be an area to give serious consideration to, especially as with kids, there may well be a lot of extras you need to carry.
I am no expert, but had exactly the same questions you are facing and took a long time looking for our van.
Ask as much as you like; £20k is not an inconsiderable amount of cash, and you want to get it right.
One thing I would advise on though:
Don't Rush!
In my opinion only, Thanks.

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Have you checked your licence? If you don't have a C1, but just a car licence you will be restricted to a motor home with a max weight of 3500kgs.with 2 youngsters and 2 adults this doesn't give you much spare payload. As well as bunks there are some vans with overcabs which are OK for children but again you need to check the weights and don't accept the salespersons weight. Have it weighed and then add on weights of stuff you need to take with you, Mrs and 2 kids etc.
Best of luck.
Ps you can always add a small trailer.
 
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Budget a couple of £K for changes and accessories and any unexpected repairs. Or leave £2K unspent on MH to pay for repairs later. I.e. don't stretch too far. Once we are allowed to visit second hand dealers and crawl over as many vans as you possibly can to narrow down what you think you really want. Ignore whistles and bells like solar power, better sat nav, which awning etc... As you can change or add these easily later.
 
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One thing you're doing right is thinking about the layout that suits you and the family as thats the most important part, I think the kid's having their own space like bunks at the back are important to give adults and kids space to chill on their own.

You're now aware of payload so first question do you or the better half have a C1 licence, if you past your test before 97 you get this automatically if not you have to do another test which would be worth it to get a decent payload to take the kids bikes and stuff.

Habitation check isn't the be all and end all but it would let you know if the owner looked their their van as I'd say someone with a yearly service record is someone who probably did repairs when needed, on the other hand a lot of people do their own maintenance. If you find a van you could always do a deal subject to a habitation service even if it means you pay for it yourself and they agree to sort anything that comes up, if not take a damp meter with you and check for damp, your nose is great for picking up damp so if you smell it i'd walk no matter what the seller says.

We had ovens in our first two vans and I'm sure they were faulty, well thats what the OH said everytime she burnt our dinner :rofl: seriously we hardly used them and our lasst van that we ordered new wedid without an oven and after 4 years we've just bought another new one (hopefully collect in next two weeks) without an oven, we use a double skillet which is two pots that turn in to a hob top oven or to be used as two separate pots, we can even do toast in it and a ful roast chicken. This will give you two advantages one being you'll only need two pots for all your cooking so you'll save on that all important payload.
 
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None of our vans have had an oven and I have never felt the need to lose a locker so I can have an oven. When we are away we are usually busy and want to eat quick, simple, fresh and local food.

I have a slow cooker in the van and use that a lot. When driving the slow cooker goes into the sink and runs from an inverter.

I do baked potatoes, bake bread* and cakes in the slow cooker :)

I also have a small electric pressure cooker but you need an EHU to use that.

*details about baking bread in a slow cooker on the Big Bread Thread :)
 
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Is this it? Only obvious thing is that it's MOT is due shortly.

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I appreciate you haven't answered the question re your possible licence restriction and you may have set your sights on one that has a limited payload BUT;

It may be possible to 'Upplate' your proposed 'van. This means, by performing a check (remotely) on tyres, dimensions etc on your particular van, as experienced structural engineers, they can issue a new VIN Plate giving you an increased payload. Their expertise is accepted by DVLA and can change the V5 accordingly. This comes at a cost however of over £300. (Other Companies and people also offer this service.

I don't know your potential vehicle but if you get in contact with a Company named SV Tech they can advise on increased the Gross carrying weight of your proposed purchase.

It may be that other Funsters have done this on your choice of Van and can advise also.

I've been googling and all the Benimar 6000's with an X244 front end (1999 to 2006) be they LD's or ST's are showing a Gross Weight of 3850Kgs.
They either come out of the factory with that weight but more importantly, it means that that model could be capable of being upplated.. As it says in the Financials, "Do your own research"
 
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Captain Yoghurtpot said:
Rear fully inertia type seatbelts will be essential for the youngsters and capable of taking either a booster seat or car seat.
Click to expand...
This is a good point and needs some thought.
Our MH is a 2006 4 berth Compass Avantgarde. Only the two front seats have seat belts.
Since a law change in 2007 re. seatbelts, we can only drive on public roads with 2 people.
 
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I wouldn't buy one without a damp check at the very least. Our Swift looked fine but needed extensive repairs to the floor because of damp in its second year, There was no way you could have found it out without a damp meter.
Also; you really do want to make sure that the water heater and heating is working properly. I would suggest to the owner that he should get a habitation check or maybe you could go halves on it.
You can buy your own damp monitor which si worth it for peace of mind and no nasty expensive surprises.
It also depends on how good you are at DIY. Some people are confident that they can repair anything so they'd be more likely not to bother with one.
We met someone on a campsite who told us quite brazenlythat they'd sold their motorhome privately because it had extensive damp and hadn't told the new owners about it. Seemed mean to me.
 
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Minxy Girl said:
Is this it? Only obvious thing is that it's MOT is due shortly.

Click to expand...

Yes, that is one i've been looking at recently that seemed to fit our requirments. I noticed the MOT part, but that will be something to consider if we look at it.

Thank you.

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Emmit said:
I appreciate you haven't answered the question re your possible licence restriction and you may have set your sights on one that has a limited payload BUT;

It may be possible to 'Upplate' your proposed 'van. This means, by performing a check (remotely) on tyres, dimensions etc on your particular van, as experienced structural engineers, they can issue a new VIN Plate giving you an increased payload. Their expertise is accepted by DVLA and can change the V5 accordingly. This comes at a cost however of over £300. (Other Companies and people also offer this service.

I don't know your potential vehicle but if you get in contact with a Company named SV Tech they can advise on increased the Gross carrying weight of your proposed purchase.

It may be that other Funsters have done this on your choice of Van and can advise also.

I've been googling and all the Benimar 6000's with an X244 front end (1999 to 2006) be they LD's or ST's are showing a Gross Weight of 3850Kgs.
They either come out of the factory with that weight but more importantly, it means that that model could be capable of being upplated.. As it says in the Financials, "Do your own research"
Click to expand...

I don't have a restriction on my licence. I'm 46 and even have a blue light driving licence so I'm good to hook some flashing lights on it!!

My wife doesn't have a C1 licence but any MH will be too big for her to consider driving it. Given her tendancy to reverse into walls/post office vans, then that's probably for the best.
 
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StephandJohn said:
We met someone on a campsite who told us quite brazenlythat they'd sold their motorhome privately because it had extensive damp and hadn't told the new owners about it. Seemed mean to me.
Click to expand...
Not just private sellers, but dealers also. Our last new caravan was so structurally bad that at just 6 months old we eventually got our money back. Without a long story, I found out that someone had bought it of another dealer with none of the faults repaired. It went back fast, but 3 weeks later yet another person had bought it from another dealer, and was quite happy the dealer could repair all the faults within a couple of days. Even the manufacturer has no idea why the roof was collapsing. Sadly there are plenty of mugs out there prepared to accept rubbish and dealers are only too happy to provide.
 
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Lots of good advice for the OP already...........as expected from Funsters.

All I can add is you should be ok with the X244. 2.8jtd engine. It’s not the most refined,but is a good puller and is reliable. Similarly,the gearbox is less problematical than some earlier and later models,as can be found on some old threads on here.

Enjoy the search.......andw2f
 
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jezport said:
We sold ours in around 08 for £20k so they really hold their price well.
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We bought in 2014 ish for 21.5 k and traded in at 21k. I think if we were wiser we could have sold privately at a profit even now it was 59reg.
 
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Podney said:
Lots of good advice for the OP already...........as expected from Funsters.

All I can add is you should be ok with the X244. 2.8jtd engine. It’s not the most refined,but is a good puller and is reliable. Similarly,the gearbox is less problematical than some earlier and later models,as can be found on some old threads on here.

Enjoy the search.......andw2f
Click to expand...
The chausson are ford.

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Sopworth said:
My wife doesn't have a C1 licence but any MH will be too big for her to consider driving it. Given her tendancy to reverse into walls/post office vans, then that's probably for the best.
Click to expand...

I'm quite happy to drive ours - I find big vehicles much easier to drive than smaller. However Martin usually drives as I get bored driving on motorways and I am the better navigator. I usually do the fiddly driving (such as putting onto ramps). Like most things we share what we do - even the cassette duty.

Obviously when you insure any van you buy it will be in your name only so that if (heaven forbid) you are unable to drive the insurance company will recover it for you.
 
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Puddleduck said:
I'm quite happy to drive ours - I find big vehicles much easier to drive than smaller. However Martin usually drives as I get bored driving on motorways and I am the better navigator. I usually do the fiddly driving (such as putting onto ramps). Like most things we share what we do - even the cassette duty.

Obviously when you insure any van you buy it will be in your name only so that if (heaven forbid) you are unable to drive the insurance company will recover it for you.
Click to expand...
Good point. John's name was on the policy as first driver and me as second but I'd never driven it. Years ago he was taken ill in Germany and I had to learn to drive it quickly (which I did and have shared the driving ever since). We'd never thought of what would happen if he couldn't drive. I posted on here about what was happening and was told by funsters that I'd have to drive it or be ill myself in some way to get it recovered by the insurance company.
 
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Sopworth said:
. My wife would prefer a big oven but this is clearly going to be a trade off at some stage in our buying process. Does anyone see problems in this area? Suggestions for lack of cooker?
Click to expand...
We don't often need to oven cook but carry a portable mini oven (Lidl) in the garage which we can plug in to use when needed. It's no Aga, but does a good job roasting chicken and suckling pigs for us. Don't forget the Remolska - you can roast a small chicken in one of them and they are absolutely invaluable.
 
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