PLEASE HELP - regarding license and weight

[Noddyx]

Ok I have driven myself crazy and now i really need some help.

So I started looking into my license and what i can drive etc and then the weight of a MH. I am not the sharpest tool in the box but im lost.

I have understood that i can drive unto 3.5t with my current license (car) and i have understood how i can upgrade my license to 3.5 - 7.5. But for now i think i would like to stick to my current license.

So here are my questions.

1 I want to buy a 4 berth MH on my current license is this possible?
2 If the MH is advertised as 3.5t and i add 500kg of stuff does that mean im now over the limit that my license allows?
3 what does MTPLM mean

Any other tips great appreciated

 

[pappajohn]

Not if he does some diligent enquiries.

No disrespect to the OP, but he's having enough trouble understanding the basic weights.

 

[Yorick]

Has Noddy told us when he passed his test? We can advise more.

 

[scotzsue]

Our (not my) first motorhome was a 2009 swift Escape 686, 6 berth, 6 belted seats, light weight chassis, ie can't tow with it. pay load, over the weighbridge after adding a bike rack, extra battery fiama awning and solar panel was just under 600kg you could drive that and not have to worry about weights unless your passengers are sumo wrestlers and you are carrying enough crates of beer for a festival. most we had in was 3 adults and 2 children, and all their stuff including a couple of car seats always within weight.
J did use it to support his son and 2 mates on the coast to coast, so 4 adult ales and 3 bikes at the start, that wasn't taken over the weighbridge though.
Yorick he says in his post that he can drive up to 3.5

 

[Emmit]

No disrespect to the OP, but he's having enough trouble understanding the basic weights.

Without the information given on here he'd be a sitting duck to be sold ANYTHING!

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[Southdowners]

When did you pass your test? We both drive a vehicle weighing 7.5 tonnes on our ordinary licence.

 

[Lenny HB]

Without the information given on here he'd be a sitting duck to be sold ANYTHING!

Probably applies to 90% of first time buyers.

 

[Emmit]

Probably applies to 90% of first time buyers.

I think you're being generous putting it as low as 90%.

 

[Puddleduck]

Before you buy a motorhome insist on a weighbridge ticket with a note of how much fuel water (or assume no water and very low fuel). That will give you near enough the actual weight for the empty vehicle. You subtract this from the plated maximum weight and you can then start working out if there is enough payload for you.

I would always go for a 3500kg rather than lighter plated vehicle if I was restricted to a "B" licence. You don't have to fill it to capacity and always better to have some spare capacity.

As to age of the vehicle - well that is a personal choice. Don't forget that most people change motorhome because the layout doesn't work for them. We are onto our 4th van in over 20 years and have been lucky in that each van has suited us at the time we ran it.

A damp check is also a must before you shell out your cash.

 

[Noddyx]

Thank you everyone. I passed my test after 1997 so I would need to upgrade my license, take a course etc etc. I haven't even looked into all of that but I understand it can be expensive and I wouldn't really know where to start. I guess I'm just trying to decide whether a 3.5t is going to be easy enough for me to find for a 4 berth or it is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It seems to me that as long as I check carefully I would have plenty of choice.

Regarding old Vs older MH I am thinking it could be better to get slightly older as it's my first and then maybe build upto something better.

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[Minxy]

One advantage of going a bit older is that they tend to be lighter than some of the later ones, which chassis/version it's on can make quite a difference as over the years Fiat for example have got 'fatter' which means heavier.