How much have you spent....

BusyBuilder

BusyBuilder

Joined
Jan 31, 2016
Posts
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Location
Alness, Cromarty Firth
Funster No
41,524
MH
Hymer B534 DL (2017)
Exp
Well travelled
When you have bought your motorhome, new or used. How many changes or extras have you made and spent to get it just how you like it ?

I recon I've spent, about £3000, (Offgrid) Lithium set up, passenger door step, fridge fans, spare wheel/tyre, Airplus roof fan. Apart from Offgrid, I've done everything myself, with a bit of help from Lenny's mods.

Just grey water camera to fit now.....all of £6.85
 
Ive had my Hymer for nearly 6 years and I must have spent at least £5000 😱
 
Last year alone a gearbox problem cost £3500, plus ferries, tax, fuel, insurance, service and sundry additions like £1500 lithium update…… oh my goodness!
 
EP jacks
leather refurb
Rear air suspension
Air con
upgrade alpine sat nav
replace dometic fridge for compressor
lithium upgrade

I dont want to work out the cost :eek:
 
Lithium 500 (280)
Solar and MPPT and wires 500 (350 w)
Inverter 170 (3000 w)
Semi air and uprate 1200 (to 4000 kgs)
Fridge fans 15 (3 of them)
Alarm and tracker 1000 (inc 3 years)
tv aeriel 100
double reversing camera 80
Underslung spare wheel 120

Ceramic coating next week 600 ish

Total 4,200 ish

LPG, tv, seat covers etc moved from previous van

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Difficult to cost as gaslow, mifi, reversing camera, wing mirror protectors, extra power point in garage, all absorbed into exchange. Added lithium later with new solar controller. Can’t recall costs. Would guess all that lot comes to £5 k
 
Yeah, a lot!

Just replaced my gearbox, clutch (again) lower wishbones and all the little bits thar go with that job
 
A scary amount! I keep records, so I could add it all up, but I daren't... :lipssealed::imoutahere:

First significant upgrade: Battery upgrade, solar, new bonnet & front lights, resprayed front panels (due to a 'detailer' damaging the paint).
Second even more significant upgrade: Swap from pop top to high top with two-tone paint, lithium battery & new solar panels installation.

Various deep maintenance & preventative maintenance items. General running costs have been pretty reasonable over 11 years of ownership. 'Extras' have been last year a seized brake calliper and this year a failed exhaust manifold gasket which was a fairly expensive repair because although the part itself wasn't expensive, it required a lot of engine dismantling to access it. And also new seals/gaskets on the turbo & some other bits while it was all being done.
 
I have a spreadsheet that I don't want to look at lol... It's over £10k on the hab side and £3k on the mechanical side in 9 months, I know that much :X3: - And that's doing 95% of everything myself.

Someone had the supposedly clever idea of buying one that was roughly £10k under market value as it needed a "re-fresh" due to having been lived in permanently for 4 years, while wanting an older model that may have been better built than the more modern counterpart.

Admittedly it has as much, if not more tech than any M/H that's just rolled off the factory line, with the added peace of mind that it will actually work for many years to come (hopefully haha).

I mean who buys a motorhome and decides to completely re-wire it from front to back because they didn't agree with how poorly they were originally wired from the factory haha...
 
I'm under 6k, but prob not by much.....

But it works how we want it it to, which isn't the same as anyone following on from us might think!


Major jobs
Upgraded to 600Ah of lithium
Installed solar (not enough though) and MPPT
B2B
3000w inverter and associated wiring
External shower
External 240v socket
External Anderson connector
Electric step
Replaced existing F/F with compressor one
Rear air suspension
New 240v internal sockets - where we want them !
New/additional TV point in front lounge area
Chassis mounted cycle carrier

Jobs in progress
Replacing oven with microwave/air fryer combo

Outstanding jobs - non urgent
Replacing Truma gas combi with diesel one
Underslung lpg tank (for occasional use only)
Under vehicle toilet cassette carrier
Moving majority of all electrics into what will be an empty external locker (currently gas locker)


Paid for
Growler and Meta tracker
Up plating (and new front coils)


Maintenance
Cambelt
5 new tyres





What would I do differently.....???

Not bother installing the Sat Dish and install more solar.


Have I increased the value ? Definitely BUT only to us !!
 
Probably about 7-8k by the time I'm done, but it's a PVC so literally everything needs doing!

Last one came in at about 7k but I expect at least another 1k just because the cost of materials has gone up.

Mind you, the cost of batteries has come down, although I'll be putting a lot more of them in as I'm going for a full electric (apart from the diesel heater) setup this time.
 
Janine said:
Apart from usual wear and tear expenses related to a 19 year old van, absolutely nothing spent on upgrades. It’s perfect as it is 👍
Click to expand...
That's just smug :wink: I don't count just pay up
 
About £3K for a pair of lithiums, solar, inverter, B2B and second refillable LPG. I keep telling myself how much all that saves on pitch fees to offset the cost.
 
hja said:
Difficult to cost as gaslow, mifi, reversing camera, wing mirror protectors, extra power point in garage, all absorbed into exchange. Added lithium later with new solar controller. Can’t recall costs. Would guess all that lot comes to £5 k
Click to expand...
Oh, and tracker and stand alone sat nav.
 
I didnt add much after I purchased it. I only added a bicycle rack on the back but I never brought a bicycle with me, a hand rail at the door of the living area that folds over the outside of the door when not in use or when driving, a TV inside but I would never allow it to be turned on when I'm away with my sons (look out the window!!)...and I think that's it. But now I've no dog to bring with me and it's not the same without a dog so I'll either get a rescue dog or get a new TV...or both. I've since got a bicycle so I might bring that too once I figure out how to secure it on the bicycle rack :giggle:

Oh yah...and a tracker so hubby knows where I am :LOL: He use to say to me...whear are you ??? I'd text back...I donno, all the signs are in Italian (or what ever country I was in), I don't speak Italian!!! :giggle: So thats how it ended up with a tracker on it :sneaky:
 
I reckon we have spent @ £4.5k
300w solar
200a lithium battery
1500w inverter
Strikeback alarm & non start
Rear semi air assist
Maxxfan
Michelin cross climates

Want to fit a compressor fridge next.
 
immediately: Towbar and towbar bike rack fitted, then bought 2 e-bikes £6,000
2nd year: Amplo Self Levelling £5,000
This year: 280ah Lithium, B2B, additional solar panel (now have 275w) 1200w inverter, Victron controller £2,100

Plus loads of accessories over the years, like quality chairs, barbecue, windbreaks, Alexa, TV & soundbar, decent satnav, dash cam, etc.

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2 x 100 solar
420 amp lithium
2 x maxifan
2 x 11 refillable gas
Starlink Mini fitted to roof
Re upholstered

I recon about £8k

It’s as we want it now
 
Not a huge amount by any standards but enough nonetheless.

New Smart TV (Sharp iirc) - £200
150w solar panel / dual mppt controller charging both start/leisure batteries - £500 odd fitted
Wifi - £100
Complete front end respray (my gen ducato tends to have common paint peel and it looked rough) - £2000
New Dometic toilet refresh kit - £200

Mechanically it's had a bit spent on it but its a 16yr old vehicle so to be expected I suppose
New starter motor £180 fitted
New aircon compressor - £330
4x new Conti tyres + tracking - £800
2 full services and 1 interim - £350/£300/£160
It had an advisory on the MOT for ball joint/suspension something or another a few weeks ago and it's in the garage today getting that fixed - £400-500 was the quote.
 
Purrfecttune said:
immediately: Towbar and towbar bike rack fitted, then bought 2 e-bikes £6,000
2nd year: Amplo Self Levelling £5,000
This year: 280ah Lithium, B2B, additional solar panel (now have 275w) 1200w inverter, Victron controller £2,100

Plus loads of accessories over the years, like quality chairs, barbecue, windbreaks, Alexa, TV & soundbar, decent satnav, dash cam, etc.
Click to expand...
Missed something off:
Last year Gaslow fitted, 6kg & 11kg £500

The good thing is that this is our first MH, we’ve had it 5 years, and there is nothing we would change design/layout/driving wise. So everything we have done has simply upgraded it to something even more practical and luxurious 👍

(Initial cost brand new £58,000 plus all the upgrades and top quality e-bikes = £72,000 which for 2 people gives us the space and comfort of something more expensive)
 
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Not a lot yet, twin Alugas bottles ands pipes etc, a few usb points and a visit to Off grid soon for some bits and wiring sorting ( Road pro install is scruffy)
Luckily our new to us Frankia had vb full air, E &P levellers, 200ah lithium and 275 solar already fitted
 
In just under 6 years and 50k miles we've spent about £500 on extras, 360w solar and MPPT controller, diesel heater, fridge fans, extra 110Ah AGM and Inverter. I've got a B2B that I'll be fitting now I've confirmed my Moho has a 140a alternator.

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Janine said:
Apart from usual wear and tear expenses related to a 19 year old van, absolutely nothing spent on upgrades. It’s perfect as it is 👍
Click to expand...
Same here when we brought it new it had everything we needed so we haven’t upgraded anything yet !
 
when we changed vans, solar, swapping over gaslow and fitting a towbar, were all part of the agreed deal. Got easi lifter after.
I treated myself to a Quest screen house, worth every penny.
Think we are on mark 6 chairs 🤣 but can't think of anything I have thought 'what did I get that for' about, doesn't mean there aten't a few little gizmos but none of the large purchases have been regretted.

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