Decisions ,decisions....our day has arrived.

[Veteran1]

hi, we have just joined this forum. Must say it is a busy and interesting place.
We have rented camper-vans out of Italy several times, but are ready to buy our own.
Its been years of dreaming about it, and our time has come

Our choice would be out of the following makes. We do have a price point we need to stay in.
Our budget is 50/60 k euro. We dont see much saving buying used ?

How do we know the quality of the different campers ?

Here are some makes we have been looking at;

Adria
Hymer
Knaus
Arca
Mobilvetta
Laika
Elnagh
Burstner

So how do these rank in terms of quality of build ?
I guess insulation and hail resistance is also important as we will also winter camp.

If anyone can rank above and add advice , it will be very much appreciated. This camper will have to last us a long time, so buying right once is important.

thx........

 

[jongood]

They say you're final camper is the third one you buy!
We bought an old hymer as our first van for £11,000 to see how we got on and whether we liked motorhoming. We LOVED it so 3 years later , after selling the hymer for £11,500 , we bought the van we have now ( a dethleffs) - having had the experience of finding out what we really needed from a van & what was & wasn't important. We've had our present van for 7 years now & are thinking (tentativly) of changing it for one that has a few more of the things we didn't think were important but now find they are - hopefully that will be us finaly sorted!

This is the way to do it. Buying new as a first van hardly ever works out.

 

[nicholsong]

Thanks Geoff,
we know what we want. What we dont know is how to rank the quality of motorhomes we listed on a quality scale.
Once we know ranking we can go looking. We dont want to buy an Adria for example, only to find out later that its a rather cheap ,made with poor insulation and not good for hail or cold. Or it just plain falls apart.
maybe the experienced here rank it with Hymer, or perhaps they rank it last.

As i mentioned, it must last so quality is important.

Now whilst i dont think any are totaly bad, we did rent some in the past that didnt seem to hold up well.

Surely are built to a much higher standard than others ?
As looks can be deceiving, perhaps the experienced here can rank my list.

thx

It is very difficult for any Member to rank all those MHs for quality as nobody has owned so many.

I would first take you back to Winos description of PVC, coachbuilt and 'A' Class. He rightly said coachbuilt have metal cabs, but did not point out they are the original van cab, which then has the custom-made body grafted on behind. The joint between the two can cause sealing and leak problems.

Now onto construction of the custom-built bodies, both coachbuilt ('C' Class) and 'A' Class. There are different materials used and different structural methods for rigidity. Quite lot of construction methods were borrowed from caravan builders, which back then largely relied on timber frames built onto the chassis and then 'cladded'. Some builders use a varient of that, but any timber used in construction is liable to rot if there is water ingress for whatever reason, and in my opinion to be avoided.

Since then other methods have beeen used to avoid timber. For example our N&B is constructed of a double aluminium sandwich with a impervious foam insulation, manufactured in their own factory and bonded together at the roof and wall joints. I am not sure if N&B were first, but this is now common practice among the high-quality builders; Hymer have adopted that for some of their newer models, possibly because they bought N&B.

My point of describing these methods is that you should examine the construction of all MHs you are considering - don't ask the dealers, they either will not know or give you any answer, go to manufacturers' specifications, not sales brochures.

You have been told about payload. From the information you have provided re what you want to carry including occasional child and want to be able to wild camp I doubt wheher a MH with 3500kg max weight, without possibility to upgrade, would suit your needs. On a standard chasssis the upgrade is only likely to be to 3850kg. You might be better looking 'Maxi' chassis which can be 4250kg or 4500kg. When you start talking to salesmen about payload and chassis upgrade most of their eyes will glaze over.

Well I hope that has been helpful about sorting out which models and builds might suit you, but your original question was about build quality. More difficult to answer, because the concensus of opinion is that since about 2006 standards across the indusry have slipped a bit.

In general buyers of new MHs get what they pay for. However, after the first 5 years the values of the better quality and the others have levelled out a lot, partly because VAT comes out of the equation. My own N&B is an example I keep banging on about - probably new (inc. extras) was £60,000, I bought at 6 years, 16,000 miles 11 years ago for under £30,000. There are other similar around.

I suggest you sort out the type of construction, and determine your payload requirement, then the layout(personal) ten move on to quality - by then you will have picked up enough knowledge on builders to know where the quality lies.

From then go into the secondhand market and see what is available for your then spec and budget - you might be surprised. Remember 'Quality' lasts the test of time.

Geoff

 

[IRHP]

Indeed I am and bought my first and only yacht privately in 1987(a Westerly 33) and kept it for 30 years. Again did a lot of research.

The combined cost of yacht and MH was £50K and gave me pleasure for 45 years (4 years had both)

Geoff

I bet you spent more on the yacht on running and berthing costs that the initial cost. Don’t ask me how I know.

 

[Spriddler]

I bet you spent more on the yacht on running and berthing costs that the initial cost. Don’t ask me how I know.

Yes, I've been consoling myself with that very fact during the lockdown. The few hundreds of pounds of tax and insurance for my m/h which is moored in my drive is peanuts when compared with the several thousands for berth fees when I had the yacht. And it doesn't need to have mast taken down, be craned out and in or have to be antifouled. It was great fun for 25 years though.

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[WillH]

For me, layout comes first, then, which manufacturers provide the layout you need.

 

[IRHP]

Yes, I've been consoling myself with that very fact during the lockdown. The few hundreds of pounds of tax and insurance for my m/h which is moored in my drive is peanuts when compared with the several thousands for berth fees when I had the yacht. And it doesn't need to have mast taken down, be craned out and in or have to be antifouled. It was great fun for 25 years though.

I know exactly what you mean.

 

[Minxy]

A possible contender - just need to check which chassis it is on.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=143545286886

 

[Puddleduck]

Ignoring our first van we have owned Hymer, Chausson and Adria (SunLiving).

The Hymer was already an old lady when we bought her (first registered in 1982 and the last MOT ran out in 2016 - I think we had her from 1996 to 2001, sold her for about what we paid for her). The Chasson was okay but a bit too much plastic to be quality. The Adria is now almost 4 years old and the only issues have been the domestic water tank pump (now on our third but we carry a spare - it's a known issue with that make of pump so we will swap for a different make if the current one goes phuttt), plus a couple of issues on the domestic water pipes - one sorted out under warranty (about 3 minutes to replace a pipe) the other more serious and out of warranty when one of the joints to the boiler failed but Adria paid for the repair (done at a local garage).

The trade in of the Chausson when we bought the Adria was £5000 less than we paid for her - the dealer had her less than a week. We have been offered more than we paid for the Adria as a trade in against a new van.

When we had the Hymer we were told over and over that the quality declined about 1990 and ours was built like a tank (it was and got the mpg to match).

The fittings (especially the shower rooms) on the newer vans are so much better than we had on the Hymer - I preferred the shower in the Chausson to the one in the Adria as the washbowl in the Chausson was glass - the one in the Adria is plastic. The loo in the Adria is more comfortable though

The Hymer had a black tank rather than a cassette and sometimes it was a pain to find somewhere to empty it - things may have improved since then.

I'm not sure if any of that helps or not!!!!!

 

[nicholsong]

I bet you spent more on the yacht on running and berthing costs that the initial cost. Don’t ask me how I know.

Running costs yes but berthing costs in Greece were almost non-existent in most ports I went to, or the port police could not be bothered to collect them. Even when they did they were only a couple of quid a night. At my home port I was moored on the quiet quay the other side of the channel from their office and they never came across. I think I remember paying onl about 10 nights in 25 years.

I did pay for lift-out/in €120 combined and €100 per month in yard incl. electricity/water etc.. It was a nice friendly little yard and they had built steel cradles with legs, chains and bottle screws. I never had to drop the masts for lifting.

Just outside the yard was a beachside taverna with wonderful views - ideal for lunch or having a beer while watching one's boat 'splash'.

Geoff

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[IRHP]

Running costs yes but berthing costs in Greece were almost non-existent in most ports I went to, or the port police could not be bothered to collect them. Even when they did they were only a couple of quid a night. At my home port I was moored on the quiet quay the other side of the channel from their office and they never came across. I think I remember paying onl about 10 nights in 25 years.

I did pay for lift-out/in €120 combined and €100 per month in yard incl. electricity/water etc.. It was a nice friendly little yard and they had built steel cradles with legs, chains and bottle screws. I never had to drop the masts for lifting.

Just outside the yard was a beachside taverna with wonderful views - ideal for lunch or having a beer while watching one's boat 'splash'.

Geoff

Sounds like the way to do it.

 

[GMLS]

Haven't read all posts so forgive me if repeated but select your supplying dealer as carefully as you select the right van!

 

[dr1uk]

The earlier comment regarding quality was key to our choice. We looked at many motorhomes and found the construction of the cupboards and drawers were made from thin materials and on test drives would rattle. In addition, our thinking was over time, the drawers might come apart and vaneers peel away. Drawers and cupboards apperared to be glued together, so not ideal in our opinion. We also found rear doors were not fully insulated with insufficient materials to assist exclude draughts. Some motorhomes had single glazed rear windows. When we looked at our motorhome, the materials used were slightly thicker (yes - it does add to overall weight), all the cupboards etc. aligned perfectly and had been screwed together. Fixings and fastenings were sturdy (for example all overhead cupboards have gas struts as well as hinges), there are even small cork peices attached to all internal doors and other closures, to deaden sound (no rattles when driving). All internal surfaces - the walls, roof, floor and doors (in the habitation area) are lined and insulated. Finally, upon close inspection all joinery, lining/coverings, fittings, all appear to fit tight and snug - no gaps, nothing peeling away, no loose parts.