New Member Intro / Question re: Manufacturer Pecking Order

[Truckosaurus]

Morning all.

Long time lurker, first time poster...

I'm just starting investigating the motorhome/camper market with a long term goal of retiring in 4/5 years time and semi-full-timing for a couple of years in a 'grey gap year' style. Starting with renting vans for holidays in the coming years to hone my requirements.

Being a newbie to the scene, is there some sort of agreed pecking order of van quality? Which brands are the Rolls-Royce and which is the Dacia (nothing wrong with that) etc?

Is a simple rule of thumb just looking at the list price of new vans and concluding the more expensive vans are better, or are certain brands offering more bang for your buck?

 

[Outdoors Dad]

German seems to be the consensus when choosing quality....Puffmais bitte

 

[gus-lopez]

 

[Jim]

The general consensus is that German motorhomes are of better quality. However, at the entry level, it's not so clear-cut. They all use the same base vehicles, they are often struggling to keep weight to minimum, which can equal flimsy they all use similar construction techniques, and the internal equipment is often identical.

These days, every manufacturer is capable of turning out a Friday afternoon horror story, so dealer choice is paramount. Pick one with poor after sales support, and even if you've bought German, you might still regret it.

Best of luck!

Meanwhile, welcome to the Fun—have a read of this:
The Motorhome Buyers Guide

 

[Lenny HB]

It would help if you said what price range as budge ones start around £60, then mid range vans £100kto £200k plus, then above that prices get silly.

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[Truckosaurus]

It would help if you said what price range as budge ones start around £60, then mid range vans £100kto £200k plus, then above that prices get silly.

My initial thoughts are to buy used, and also thinking that current (and over the next couple of years) new vans would be the sort of thing I'd buy in 4-5 years time.

 

[TheMobileWanderer]

Morning all.

Long time lurker, first time poster...

I'm just starting investigating the motorhome/camper market with a long term goal of retiring in 4/5 years time and semi-full-timing for a couple of years in a 'grey gap year' style. Starting with renting vans for holidays in the coming years to hone my requirements.

Being a newbie to the scene, is there some sort of agreed pecking order of van quality? Which brands are the Rolls-Royce and which is the Dacia (nothing wrong with that) etc?

Is a simple rule of thumb just looking at the list price of new vans and concluding the more expensive vans are better, or are certain brands offering more bang for your buck?

I think your question is too general/vague, and that's ok.

If you have a budget in mind and have you decided on GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight), bearing in mind 7.5t vehicles are generally more sturdy in the internals. However with GVW over 3.5t, you'll need C1 licence, which you may already have.

 

[Mohawk Mo]

 

[f6c]

Welcome aboard

 

[ambulancekidd]

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[Go_buddy_go_]

 

[Lenny HB]

My initial thoughts are to buy used, and also thinking that current (and over the next couple of years) new vans would be the sort of thing I'd buy in 4-5 years time.

Probably sensible, we have always bought new but we had been tugging caravans for 25 years so we knew what we wanted.

 

[gus-lopez]

 

[rolosroller]

 

[h8ten]

I'm just on my first motorhome after a campervan and previously a few tents. The only suggestion I have is if you buy new then make sure the dealership is local. Unlike car dealerships, another one will not carry out warranty work if you did not buy the van from them. I have first-hand experience of this and a dealer repeated this at a recent show. Manufacturers pay poorly for warranty work and therefore why will business 'A' sort out warranty work , possibly at a loss, when you bought it from business 'B' because they were slightly cheaper even though they were further away.

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