Ageing on my motorhome

A

Aspenshaw

Joined
Mar 28, 2010
Posts
218
Likes collected
402
Location
Wirral
Funster No
10,821
MH
A class Hymer 504
Exp
Since 1995
My Hymer 6m A-Class will be 12 years old in summer. For the last 5 years we've looked for a new motorhome but have failed. So we've given in and decided to keep our current one - it is working OK and we don't go abroad with it.

If you have an old a motorhome beyond 12 years old I'd like to hear your wisdom on how you keeping it going.
 
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Mine is now over 10 years old, I've just about stopped considering it as new 😁
It lives in the garage and only gets used in the warmer months to go to Spain so it is still like new anyway, 😎
 
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The oldest part of ours is 16 years old but not a chance we'll be changing it any time soon. Still all works and we use it about 360 days a year.
Still looks passable to me aswell 🤩

Screenshot_20250218-101718~2.webp
 
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We have a twenty year old Autosleeper Inca, the only issue, apart from wear is corrosion.

I do all my own maintenance.

I've had a small bit of welding done in the past, but apart from that, it's very reliable.

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Our N&B Arto 69 is 22 years old in April and has given us little trouble in my 16 years ownership.

Only majoe expenditure has been new rubber seals for the double-glazed cab windows, done at N&B factory, but after 20 years in the weather I considered them to be fair wear and tear.

Otherwise it is running fine and I consider we are lucky to have the Fiat 2.8jtd engine which is old school but simple, with no fancy emissions gizmos and warnings.

We are certainly not looking to change.
 
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nicholsong said:
Otherwise it is running fine and I consider we are lucky to have the Fiat 2.8jtd engine which is old school but simple, with no fancy emissions gizmos and warnings.
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Yes I consider we were very lucky to get one of the best engines, before ad blue but still euro 5... Even the air bag CU is a good one 🤩
 
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Aspenshaw said:
My Hymer 6m A-Class will be 12 years old in summer. For the last 5 years we've looked for a new motorhome but have failed. So we've given in and decided to keep our current one - it is working OK and we don't go abroad with it.

If you have an old a motorhome beyond 12 years old I'd like to hear your wisdom on how you keeping it going.
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Mine is 18 years old.
I have it serviced annually and MOT'd by my local trusted garage, in fact it's going in to the garage on Friday for an MOT and service.
Other than that I just have things replaced as and when they are required such as timing belt, tyres, starter battery etc.
I have upgraded the hab electrics to Lifepo4, solar, B2B, inverter etc which makes the van more usable for us.
 
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Mines 22 years old this year and it's given me 10 years of trouble free motorhoming, just the usual consumables and little things that break and need renewing or upgrading.
I bought it as a newbie to motorhoming to see if I liked it.
I've often looked at upgrading, but never found anything I'd prefer at realistic money, so I keep it going.
It's not going to last forever but while lt's mostly trouble free I'll stick with it.

IMG_20240725_182732458_HDR.webp

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We bought ours 7 years ago just to see if we liked it. It’s now 21 years old with 120k miles, we’ve done 70k of those. Although there have been some issues nothing that couldn’t be fixed. We looked at upgrading but the cost for us is just too much. Will it last another 10 years probably and we’ll see how it goes in the intervening years.

Currently in Morocco on a 5k journey.



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As I said in another thread, commercial vehicle engines and running gear are designed to cover several 100 thousand miles. Look after the chassis, cure any body leak if found, keep it regularly serviced.
Mine is 14+ years old and I intend to keep it several more yet. I travel 8 to 12 thousand miles a year and wouldn't have a moments hesitation in driving it down to Greece over three months again.
 
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Barchetta47 said:
We bought ours 7 years ago just to see if we liked it. It’s now 21 years old with 120k miles, we’ve done 70k of those. Although there have been some issues nothing that couldn’t be fixed. We looked at upgrading but the cost for us is just too much. Will it last another 10 years probably and we’ll see how it goes in the intervening years.

Currently in Morocco on a 5k journey.



View attachment 1015383
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Is that 5K kms or £5K?
 
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At twenty years old and 70,000 miles on the clock I can’t justify replacing our Transit based coach build. Yes it has had a couple of age related issues but we like the layout and the low tech habitation systems.
Bought to take us into retirement the only issue abroad will be regarding emissions but we can adjust our travels to get past that.
 
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Our Swift Bolero is now 18 years old with 154,000 miles on the clock. We bought it at 2 years old with 5200 miles so you can see it gets used and we've been everywhere from Nordkap in Norway to the toe of Italy plus Morocco 6 times. Up until last year it has been super reliable with just the usual expendables, but it seems all our woes came together all at once. First a clutch slave failure while in Spain, then problems with the brakes, again in Spain. Got home and we had to replace the fridge and boiler. Then came the MoT - new radiator, rear springs and exhaust plus minor bits and pieces which added up to over £3000!

Why don't we change it then? Well firstly, we've never seen anything else that ticks all the boxes for the way we use it, especially after the mods we've made. Then it would probably cost £50,000 to replace it like for like. And finally, why buy someone else's problems - you can't even trust new vehicles these days!

So we'll soldier on with our trusty Bertie, who will likely outlast us motorhoming-wise! He gets a full habitation check every year and we're happy to have found a reliable and honest commercial garage locally who seem to have taken us under their wing as a change from the trucks they usually look after.
 
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bigwood said:
like the layout and the low tech habitation systems.
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Absolutely, I love having a rocker switch for the pump, a rocker switch for the lights, a rocker switch for the awning light, a rocker switch for the main power, oh and a rocker switch for the charger 🥰
No faffing about scrolling through a menu and trying to select things, the electronics made by these small companies can fail prematurely too

Another reason we bought our van at the perfect time 👍😎

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Had mine a very good number of years , she been reliable up till now , she getting a bit rough around the edges but will keep her for a couple of more years before I trade her in for a younger model , as she knocking on a-bit & a little slow . As for MOTORHOME that’s a different matter she only 5 yrs old and a keeper for sure 😂
 
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Having some mechanical sympathy and understanding what every new creak and groan means goes a long way.
I can't imagine driving thousands of miles in another country without an idea of what-does-what mechanically. It's all ok having breakdown cover - I do, but perhaps realising beforehand that that knocking noise may well be a ball joint on the way out, or that grindibg sound when braking means new pads are needed would help prlong the life of your motorhome and make your travels a little easier.
 
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Everyone I've owned has been over 10 years old bar one which was 7 years old when I bought it.

The current van is nearly 21 years old , 35k miles. I wouldn't thank you for a new van , too many problems too poor build quality and too white interiors. I'm confident mine will still be going strong in 10 years
 
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25 years old this year! And a Yank RV.

You get to know if something isn't right ?
And you can set your own regime which for us is a rotation around LPG service, brake service, oil changes, Belt changes etc.......

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20 year old Autosleeper Amythest 42.000 miles not even run in yet. We love it but are saving for new cells when the rot eventually shows it's miserable head. No complicated electrics, 30mpg, 6 speed box, old fashioned wood interior, green curtains :LOL:.
 
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Our AutoSleeper Transit based coach built is now 24yrs old and we have had it for 18 of those.
The old technology is generally easier to maintain and, so far, we have been able to obtain replacement
Most of the previous posts are A class European models while ours British. There are still many of them in use and sought after.
 
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Our lovely friend (Hymer 684) is 25 years old and still going strong, just replaced the Radiator with a ‘new’ old stock Radiator same age as the van!
He (Hymer) is up for sale now and I’m quite sad about it but I’m also excited about his replacement!
 
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