pitfalls

[Screggy999]

Hi all. I am looking to buy a motorhome in the new year. It is likely to be a used one so I would like to know what sort of issues I am likely to find when buying.
Thanks Dave

 

[andyjanet]

Welcome might be, nice to introduce yourself and then ask the question, size of van is always relevent to family size , i could say buy a 10 metervan built on a lorry chassis but that would be no good to you if you live in a city and dont have the license to drive it,
This and our sister sites are a world of information with friendly helpful people who would bend over backwards to help with your enquiries , have a look around best wishes andyjanet

 

[Pudsey Bear]

A bit more detail of how you want to use it, where it's going to park, how often you intend to use it & for how long, there is no one size fits all I'm afraid.

 

[Pauljenny]

Welcome to our world.
You've got to put some hours in.
Visit as many dealers as you can.
While there, talk to as many motorhome owners as you can.
Most owners love talking about vans and van life..
Ask questions and keep notes.
Then talk to the dealers. Sort out the Saints from the sinners.
Visit different campsites and motorhomes parked up.
Get an idea of your budget.
Invest in joining this website and it's sister site:
www.wildcamping.co.uk.
You'll find folk who prefer not to spend too long on campsites.
Knowledge is power.
Good luck.

 

[Martin P]

Pitfalls.
What to look out for when buying a second hand motorhome.
Leaving aside all the normal things when buying a second hand vehicle.
Engine, transmission , bodywork etc.
A set of motorhome tyres are £800.
The biggy is water ingress.
If you have a pinless damp meter it's easy to find, if not it's abit more tricky.
Where the roof meets the fibreglass overcab moulding is a weak point. The roof to side seams, around hatches and windows. Be really thorough.
Then you need to check the battery charger is charging habitation battery when landline is plugged in. You will need a voltmeter. Less than a tenner. Then you need to see the hot water and heating work.
When we bought ours the on board battery charger (calira) was broken. Repair was £250.
Also the 240 element on the fridge was broken. £35 is for new element but had to remove fridge to change it.
We also had the old style Truma combi hot water and heating unit which had been in for a re-call before we had it. When we later had problems with it and I stripped it it looked like a gorilla had been at it. I ended up changing it for the later model. £1400 plus had to strip half the van out.
The rear light cluster sits in a plastic moulding and it appeared to be a bit loose. When I removed it I could see a previous poor repair had been made which needed doing properly.
Motorhomes are incredibly fragile so check really closely all the mouldings. They are not available off the shelf.
Check all the hatch openings work OK. Check in the gas bottle locker. The flexible gas tails have a date on them. Check.
If you can fill the water tank , look at the top as you do. Make sure water doesn't piss out the top of it as you do.
Run a decent amount of water in the waste tank. Check it holds without leaking. Check the release valve opens and shuts OK
It's good to let the heating and hot water run for a while. Make sure the seller shows you how they work.. Check all rings on the hob.
Open and close all windows. Check for cracks in the glazing. Ditto roof hatches.
Check for cracks in the shower enclosure mouldings and tray. Check door.
Good luck

 

[Screggy999]

Pitfalls.
What to look out for when buying a second hand motorhome.
Leaving aside all the normal things when buying a second hand vehicle.
Engine, transmission , bodywork etc.
A set of motorhome tyres are £800.
The biggy is water ingress.
If you have a pinless damp meter it's easy to find, if not it's abit more tricky.
Where the roof meets the fibreglass overcab moulding is a weak point. The roof to side seams, around hatches and windows. Be really thorough.
Then you need to check the battery charger is charging habitation battery when landline is plugged in. You will need a voltmeter. Less than a tenner. Then you need to see the hot water and heating work.
When we bought ours the on board battery charger (calira) was broken. Repair was £250.
Also the 240 element on the fridge was broken. £35 is for new element but had to remove fridge to change it.
We also had the old style Truma combi hot water and heating unit which had been in for a re-call before we had it. When we later had problems with it and I stripped it it looked like a gorilla had been at it. I ended up changing it for the later model. £1400 plus had to strip half the van out.
The rear light cluster sits in a plastic moulding and it appeared to be a bit loose. When I removed it I could see a previous poor repair had been made which needed doing properly.
Motorhomes are incredibly fragile so check really closely all the mouldings. They are not available off the shelf.
Check all the hatch openings work OK. Check in the gas bottle locker. The flexible gas tails have a date on them. Check.
If you can fill the water tank , look at the top as you do. Make sure water doesn't piss out the top of it as you do.
Run a decent amount of water in the waste tank. Check it holds without leaking. Check the release valve opens and shuts OK
It's good to let the heating and hot water run for a while. Make sure the seller shows you how they work.. Check all rings on the hob.
Open and close all windows. Check for cracks in the glazing. Ditto roof hatches.
Check for cracks in the shower enclosure mouldings and tray. Check door.
Good luck

Hi and thank you for the in depth reply. I am not sure what my budget will be yet, but I am thinking of getting a 4 berth coachbuilt. There is only myself and my wife plus our dog but we may want to take grandkids along. It was surprising how many things can go wrong so I will be sure to get a damp meter and a volt meter. Some of the thinga you mentioned I would probably not thought of checking. I will probably buy from a dealer so I will be hoping for a decent explanation of how things work, and also a good warranty. Thanks again, Dave

 

[Molly 3]

My tip would be buy from a dealer near home , allmost a certainty, that you will find some faults and need to return it for repairs , probably several times , dealers are short staffed and it could be several weeks befor repairs are started. Make sure you understand the terms and conditions of any warranty offered, good luck with your search, check the number of belted seats if you want guests,

 

[TJBi]

Bear in mind weights. What max weight does your licence allow you to drive? What is the available payload on any vehicle that you look at? Bear in mind that driver and passengers, fuel, fresh and waste water, etc. all count towards the payload.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Hi and thank you for the in depth reply. I am not sure what my budget will be yet, but I am thinking of getting a 4 berth coachbuilt. There is only myself and my wife plus our dog but we may want to take grandkids along. It was surprising how many things can go wrong so I will be sure to get a damp meter and a volt meter. Some of the thinga you mentioned I would probably not thought of checking. I will probably buy from a dealer so I will be hoping for a decent explanation of how things work, and also a good warranty. Thanks again, Dave

Print out or cut and paste the post above as it's very good advice.

As for how things work, most is straight forward but make sure you do get the manuals for everything in the van if possible.

 

[HurricaneSmith]

Print out or cut and paste the post above as it's very good advice.

As for how things work, most is straight forward but make sure you do get the manuals for everything in the van if possible.

That's good advice Kev. When I bought our PVC the first thing I did was to download every single manufacturer's comprehensive manual I could find, including things that people overlook, such as the manufacturer/part number of every window and roof vent. I'd bet any money that I've still forgotten something.

 

[Norfolk NewBoy]

My daughter spent north of £80k at last year's NEC show. The dealer explained and demonstrated a lot of things to us and got the sale.
We collected it in March and he was quite brief with the handover instructions.

That night we couldn't make up the bed, no matter how hard we tried.
We returned and he reminded us how to access the connection for the metal frame. My daughter would have accepted that but I insisted that he actually made things fit. He couldn't, despite the efforts of three members of staff.

Apparently there was a duff delivery of parts and the "new style" bed frame had to be replaced by an old bedframe which he took from another van.

TAKE WARNING!

Gordon

The dealership is 300 miles from her, so it would have been a very frustrating situation if I hadn't put my foot down.

 

[trevskoda]

I would also be asking does it have solar panels to charge the service/habitation batteries, and how many batts are there, one is useless if of grid.
Next as if they are old type lead acid or moderen lipo 4 units, dont settle for cr-p.

 

[Trigger]

Hi and thank you for the in depth reply. I am not sure what my budget will be yet, but I am thinking of getting a 4 berth coachbuilt. There is only myself and my wife plus our dog but we may want to take grandkids along. It was surprising how many things can go wrong so I will be sure to get a damp meter and a volt meter. Some of the thinga you mentioned I would probably not thought of checking. I will probably buy from a dealer so I will be hoping for a decent explanation of how things work, and also a good warranty. Thanks again, Dave

Do not expect too much from dealers they will sell you a van that is totally unsuitable to you if you go to them blind so do as much research as possible as you appear to be doing now, price determines the quality of the van you buy generally as the older the van condition mileage size etc etc determines price motorhomers are built on commercial vehicle chassis so two sets of problems here, first the base vehicles vary enormously in quality and build then you have the habitation part built on separately, many variations on this too some good some bad, do you have the correct driving licence for the van of your choice where are you going to keep it overnight when not in use this affects the insurance greatly , beware of RUST IN THE BASE VEHICLE this can be costly to fix check the registration on the GOV. Com site for MOT HISTORY and find out what MOT failures and advisories are there also the mileage too all this before you get carried away with the dream machine you are looking for, it's a great life so try to avoid as many pit falls as you can

 

[Jo001]

will be hoping for a decent explanation of how things work

When they demonstrate things like how to operate the heating and hot water system, ask if you can video it.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Bear in mind people selling have been known to tell a porkie or three, if you ask if something works and they say yes, you politely say Ok show me, it may need gas, if the gas bottle is in the locker I would be suspicious of that they may have taken it out on purpose, so you politely say I'm sorry I'm not going to buy without seeing it all working.

This is the website for checking MOTs and their history.

Check the MOT history of a vehicle

Check the MOT history of a vehicle from 2005 onwards, including if it passed or failed, its mileage and why it failed, download MOT test certificate

www.gov.uk

Seeing a fail on a MoHo isn't that unusual, some might not move for 50 weeks of the years so when you drive it and you MUST drive it find a nice smooth road and check for square tyres.

MAke sure the address on the V5 if a private seller is the same as where you are viewing it, DO NOT meet in a car park, DO NOT take cash.

 

[Geek]

MAke sure the address on the V5 if a private seller is the same as where you are viewing it, DO NOT meet in a car park, DO NOT take cash.

If you are buying a motorhome, why would someone offer you cash?

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Pretty obvious if you read it properly Mr Geek.

 

[El radge]

Pretty obvious if you read it properly Mr Geek.

You mean take cash with you

 

[Sonar]

Buy your first Moho from a dealer.
You may pay a little more for it. But private may cost you much much more in the end .

 

[Pudsey Bear]

You mean take cash with you

Correct amundo, could read the other way though.