Buying 1st motorhome

[Goinforawander]

Hi, we're a young family with a couple of young kids looking to buy a MH for a 6 month trip around Europe next year. We've got £20k to spend, and think we need a 6 berth, maybe with a garage. What should we look out for when buying? Any tips gratefully received, however obvious you think they might be!
We've considered a LHD, but would this be harder to sell?
Has anyone done a similar trip?

 

[peterc10]

6 Berths automatically over 3.5 tonnes? Sorry, but that's nonsense.

The 6 berth we've just traded in was 3.5 tonne, and 4 of the beds were fixed (ie permanently out) - an overcab double and two rear bunks. Broken Link Removed - a popular selling model according to the dealer who took it off us. You'd get a second hand one a few years old for £20K or less. Other models are available of course.

The bonus with fixed beds is the kids have some personal space, without having to convert a bed from something else like a settee or dinette.

You might struggle to get a tall garage with 6 berths, but ours had a decent amount of garage space under the lower rear bunk, full width. You'd need to put bikes on a rear rack. You'd also need to be careful with how much clobber you took. Kids might have to sleep alongside their personal luggage - ours were OK, even into their early 20s.

Think about layout first - that will narrow down your choice of models and allow you to focus on a few. You can get some surprisingly low mileage vehicles too.

Ahhh, but did you ever get it actually weighed fully loaded with everybody in, rather than rely upon the makers fictional weights

 

[magicsurfbus]

Ahhh, but did you ever get it actually weighed fully loaded with everybody in, rather than rely upon the makers fictional weights

No, in all honesty we never did, which is probably just as well. Let's just say that the rear leaf springs always looked extremely horizontal

I have to say that the 395Kg payload (after driver, gas, and fuel) quoted for our new MH is making us think very carefully about what we put back into it from the old one. Our days of driving with a full water tank are over and that's for sure. Fortunately it'll only be two of us most of the time, and it's fair to say we've carried a lot of unnecessary clobber in the past.

 

[peterc10]

No, in all honesty we never did, which is probably just as well. Let's just say that the rear leaf springs always looked extremely horizontal
.

In that case 6 berths being over 3.5T probably is not nonsense