Which models should we look at?

[MorayShaSha]

Hello wise people,
We are getting ourselves so confused... we do our research and go and look at motorhomes for sale, but they never seem to be what we want. We have been caravanners for many years, but now we are semi-retired, we have sold our caravan and are looking for a motorhome to tour all of Europe and the UK for 3 months at a time.
Ideally, we have a budget of £38-£50k, but could potentially push this to £55k if a van was absolutely perfect and already fitted with everything on our wish list.

We think we have the following criteria...
Use year round in all temperatures.
(We live in northern Scotland).
Reliable with reasonable repair costs.
Plenty storage, as its more or less live-in.
Toilet and decent sized shower.
(6ft tall, broad-shouldered husband).
Hob, Oven and Fridge.
Lounge to seat 4. (although we're a couple, our adult kids might tag along occasionally).
Double fixed bed - possibly French bed.
A bike garage space would be a bonus, but we can always get a bike rack.
Solar and water for off-grid living (could improve existing if budget allows).
Levelling system would be very convenient!

A few we've looked, we considered more long weekend vans due to the lack of storage.
There's an Autotrail for sale locally that we like the layout and storage, but we're not sure about winter use, as all the forums say buy continental for winter use. Could it be fully winterised?

Permissable weight isn't a huge issue as we have cat 1 licences, but don't want to go too big as conscious of fuel consumption and ability to negotiate narrow roads / old towns.

Recommendations and advice would be very welcome.
Thanks

 

[Coolcats]

Hello wise people,
We are getting ourselves so confused... we do our research and go and look at motorhomes for sale, but they never seem to be what we want. We have been caravanners for many years, but now we are semi-retired, we have sold our caravan and are looking for a motorhome to tour all of Europe and the UK for 3 months at a time.
Ideally, we have a budget of £38-£50k, but could potentially push this to £55k if a van was absolutely perfect and already fitted with everything on our wish list.

We think we have the following criteria...
Use year round in all temperatures.
(We live in northern Scotland).
Reliable with reasonable repair costs.
Plenty storage, as its more or less live-in.
Toilet and decent sized shower.
(6ft tall, broad-shouldered husband).
Hob, Oven and Fridge.
Lounge to seat 4. (although we're a couple, our adult kids might tag along occasionally).
Double fixed bed - possibly French bed.
A bike garage space would be a bonus, but we can always get a bike rack.
Solar and water for off-grid living (could improve existing if budget allows).
Levelling system would be very convenient!

A few we've looked, we considered more long weekend vans due to the lack of storage.
There's an Autotrail for sale locally that we like the layout and storage, but we're not sure about winter use, as all the forums say buy continental for winter use. Could it be fully winterised?

Recommendations and advice would be very welcome.
Thanks

Can’t go far wrong with continental builds Hymer N&B Cathargo defthels etc

 

[Spriddler]

Plenty storage, as its more or less live-in.
A bike garage space would be a bonus, but we can always get a bike rack.
Solar and water for off-grid living (could improve existing if budget allows).
Levelling system would be very convenient!

A few we've looked, we considered more long weekend vans due to the lack of storage.

I can't offer specific suggestions as I've not had to buy a m/h meeting all your criteria. However, you'll need to be aware of payload limits (especially when 4 are travelling) because the points I've quoted will all be extras to the converter's declared weight and their weight will reduce your available payload allowance accordingly.
Likewise the weight of more than one passenger, full water and fuel, additional or larger gas bottles, wind out awning, bicycles etc...........
It's essential to use a weighbridge to determine its weight as a whole and for each individual axle as the max weight for each axle will be specified.

 

[headlight]

I've got an older (2006) UK built coach built and in the recent cold snap it was -8c outside and a toasty 21c in the van running my heating on less than half.
I've also had a UK built PVC which was also fine in British winters.
Personally I wouldn't discount UK vans for winter use.

 

[Lenny HB]

For all year round use you really need a van with a double floor, a German A Class would be your best option.
If you are going to travel with 4 adults you need a good payload at least 1000kg preferably more which means a van on a heavy chassis 4250kg and above.
Bear in mind manufacturers state payload on a basic van doesn't even include the basic pack that you can't buy the van without, also all factory, dealer and owner fitted options come off the payload.
e.g. our van has a payload of 1350kg but there are 150 kg of factory fitted options & I've fitted another 200kg in extras. Also you need to allow for the 5% tolerance a lot of manufacturers use this to make their payload look good.

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[MorayShaSha]

For all year round use you really need a van with a double floor, a German A Class would be your best option.
If you are going to travel with 4 adults you need a good payload at least 1000kg preferably more which means a van on a heavy chassis 4250kg and above.
Bear in mind manufacturers state payload on a basic van doesn't even include the basic pack that you can't buy the van without, also all factory, dealer and owner fitted options come off the payload.
e.g. our van has a payload of 1350kg but there are 150 kg of factory fitted options & I've fitted another 200kg in extras. Also you need to allow for the 5% tolerance a lot of manufacturers use this to make their payload look good.

Hello Lenny,
Thanks for that advice.
Did I notice you had a couple of mentions of buying on the continent?
How easy is it? Do you just buy new or second hand?

 

[Lenny HB]

Hello Lenny,
Thanks for that advice.
Did I notice you had a couple of mentions of buying on the continent?
How easy is it? Do you just buy new or second hand?

The last 3 vans I bought in Belgium but the new one I have on order is from a UK dealer, not the advantages there were.
There were some good buys on secondhand vans but now you have to pay vat when you import them.

 

[Verteuil Man]

Hello.
I agree with Coolcats, continental built vans are the way to go for all year round use and IMO a better build quality. When you were caravanning you had the tow vehicle to lump loads of gear in which takes up space. Our first motorhome was the same layout as the caravans we normally had which was a big mistake. I would suggest a garage for most of the gubbins we cart about with us. The self levelling comes at a weight cost so I would suggest something around the 5000kg gross weight. As far as fuel consumption is concerned I would suspect you tow vehicles did not get much more than 20 mpg. My 5000kg Hymer 2.3 180 bhp towing a Fiat 500 down to Spain through France over the Massif Central and Pyrenees averaged 21.7 mpg.
They are not as thirsy as you think.