Motor home choice

[TDG1230]

We are buying a motor home to Travel Europe in during the summer months and spend Winter in the Canary Islands. It’s just for the 2 of us. We like the Autotrail Commanche, in particular the island bed the only facility it doesn’t have is the ability to put up guests or family. Budget is £80-90k. It would be great to here from more seasoned travelers if there are any others we should consider?

 

[tacr2man]

First 2 things
1. license for over3500kg ?
2. Have you considered LHD.

Then there are a whole myriad of possibles in that budget , are you wanting new or would you consider a used high end vehicle ?

Even something like this

 

[Puddleduck]

Visiting guests can always stay at a nearby B&B and hire a car.

 

[motorhomer]

If you are not an experienced motorhomer, make sure you are comfortable driving something that big, especially if you want to do any touring on smaller roads.

 

[TheBig1]

even at that price the autotrails are poorly built and prone to regular leaks. search the forum for multiple owners with bad brand new vans and a consistent failure by autotrail to fix the problems under warranty

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[tonka]

As an Autotrail owner a few times over and if you gave me your£90k I would look at other brands to spend it on..
Even a higher spec but older van...

Reasons..
1.Autotrails are 50/50 on build quality, I have had issues with my current one and follow many Facebook groups and internet forums. Build quality issues for the same problems are still cropping up all the time.
2. Carefully consider the layout, with no extra seat belts you cannot (legally) take anyone with you at any time.
3. Most motorhome owners never make the right decision when buying their first van. It's only when you have used one that you find what you really want and need in a motorhome layout. I bought 3 in 18 months when i started.
4. Buying new you can loose a fortune if you decide to sell or trade in within a short time. Consider a used van maybe for the first one. Look at what a 1 -2 year old Commanche is being sold for, just as a guide.
5. Ferry costs. I cant quote on costs to the canaries but would think a longer tag axle van will add to the costs.

6.. Good luck...

 

[Badknee]

Layout, layout, layout. Seat belts, payload. There's so much to consider and needs time and miles to pick the one for you.

 

[peterc10]

As others have said the perceived wisdom is that it takes 3 motorhomes before you buy the right one! So best to buy second hand for at least your first one. We did with out first motorhome, which was 5 years old and bought for £30,000. We were luckier than most because we found the layout almost perfect for us, just needed a few tweaks and more modern design ideas. So the next one we bought (after 2.5 years) was new and was what we thought was the right one for us. Got a very good deal buying one already on the forecourt in the Autumn (when the next years motorhomes were coming into stock) and also got a P/X on the old one of £28,000.

I reckon £2,000 for 2.5 years and 15,000 miles of motorhoming was good! And the motorhome we got is now coming up for 3 years old and is our keeper.

And it also made sure we did not make very expensive mistakes with the layout and the payload.

 

[Burgo]

Dethleffs Globebus T7 or I7 with the optional drop down bed up front?