pitfalls

[trevskoda]

Be carefull of ones standing a long time with low mileage, strange as it may seem thes give trouble with brakes, esp wheel cyl stuck or front calipers seized, ex pipe rotting, also ask if it has a timming belt and when was it changed,this is important to vans over 5 years or about 50/60 th miles,take a mechanic who knows the base veh as he will know what to look for.

 

[B J McKay]

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

I suggest renting a few different types first , you will not only find out what you like/dislike and whether you really want to buy one as they are not cheap to buy or own

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I'd not rent at all a huge waste of money.

go to a few dealers, look at different layouts, there are many take your time don't let them rush you just walk away, sit in a few for a good length of time to see how you might use it, figure out what you might need but don't buy it until you KNOW what you will actually use, of you fund a nice one try to get stuff like solar and lipo batteries as part of the deal if you buy from a dealer.

Personally I would avoid paying them a penny, private is cheaper by far, I always buy off ebay, it is buyer beware of course but that applies to dealers just as much, they're the professionals.

 

[Norfolk NewBoy]

I've known people who couldn't close the toilet door while sitting on the throne.
Also someone who couldn't get the driver's seat back far enough to be comfortable when driving.

Easy to lose money if you don't try everything.

Gordon

 

[witzend]

You need to decide what van will suit you before you ask questions will grand kids want to come with you if not you've just saved a few K's I bought a small van so they couldn't

 

[Sonar]

Has the op ever been back since a question

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Yes, the next day.

 

[Jo001]

You need to decide what van will suit you before you ask questions will grand kids want to come with you if not you've just saved a few K's I bought a small van so they couldn't

We didn't but we can hide the seatbelts behind a back cushion and didn't tell anyone it's a four berth.

Seriously, I'm not sharing my bedroom with anyone apart from Mr 001.

 

[gasgas]

............
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.
..........

Some water tanks have holes in the top for ventilation. As you pour water in, the air in the tank has to escape somewhere. If your hose is delivering water quickly it can form a plug of water running into the tank so the air in the tank has to escape. I wouldn't be too bothered if water comes out the top of the tank when it is full, it can be designed to do just that. It helps of course if there is a little pipe from the top of the tank downwards to somewhere safe that doesn't get wet when the tank is full.

 

[Martin P]

Well.
Generally you fill your fresh water tank with your hose and stop when water starts coming back out of the filler. If water runs out of the top of your tank and onto your floor that will eventually cause a problem. If there is a built in overflow hose that is a different matter

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Everyone bar one (out of 11) the water came out of the overflow valve on top of the tank, even inboard tanks will have a valve but piped through the floor. it will go onto the ground, it'd be a crap build if it caused any issues with the van

 

[gasgas]

I'd not rent at all a huge waste of money.

.............

It's not a waste of money compared with the cost of buying one and then deciding it's not quite right. We bought a used Chausson only to discover later that it didn't suit us. A month later the dealer we bought it from had an almost identical camper - same make, same year, same mileage, same length, in fact the only difference was the L at the end of the model whereas ours had an S at the end of the model, as well as the inside layout we wanted. It was priced exactly the same as we had paid for ours.
So I returned to the dealer and said we would prefer that one. How much do you want to change? I was hoping it would only be £5k which we would have paid.
"£15,000 plus yours."
That's a LOT LOT more than it would have cost us to rent it for a month. And it also tells you what sort of profit they are making. We won't be going near that dealer again.

 

[Sonar]

It's not a waste of money compared with the cost of buying one and then deciding it's not quite right. We bought a used Chausson only to discover later that it didn't suit us. A month later the dealer we bought it from had an almost identical camper - same make, same year, same mileage, same length, in fact the only difference was the L at the end of the model whereas ours had an S at the end of the model, as well as the inside layout we wanted. It was priced exactly the same as we had paid for ours.
So I returned to the dealer and said we would prefer that one. How much do you want to change? I was hoping it would only be £5k which we would have paid.
"£15,000 plus yours."
That's a LOT LOT more than it would have cost us to rent it for a month. And it also tells you what sort of profit they are making. We won't be going near that dealer again.

We spent a lot of time looking at you tube and the motorhome dealers before we made our final decision .
When we knew what style of inside we were looking for then we started searching. EBay Facebook gumtree free ads ect
We bought the style that suited us first time.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

It's not a waste of money compared with the cost of buying one and then deciding it's not quite right. We bought a used Chausson only to discover later that it didn't suit us. A month later the dealer we bought it from had an almost identical camper - same make, same year, same mileage, same length, in fact the only difference was the L at the end of the model whereas ours had an S at the end of the model, as well as the inside layout we wanted. It was priced exactly the same as we had paid for ours.
So I returned to the dealer and said we would prefer that one. How much do you want to change? I was hoping it would only be £5k which we would have paid.
"£15,000 plus yours."
That's a LOT LOT more than it would have cost us to rent it for a month. And it also tells you what sort of profit they are making. We won't be going near that dealer again.

This is why I stress take your time and look at lots of vans, sit in them and mess about with the beds see how it feels, think about how you might use the van and the space inside, you could rent 20 vans and still not get it right, so I'll stand by it being a waste of money, if you can't sus a van out at the dealers sleeping in it will make no difference at all, you also of course need to drive them as that can be different but most decent dealers will let you have a rest drive if not go to one who does.

 

[Jo001]

take your time and look at lots of vans

This. And, imagine using it inte UK on a wet weekend in Devember, when it's dark by about 4.30 and you are going to be on n it until the next morning. We like to sit in ours, have a meal, a bottle of wine and watch a film - for us, a comfortable lounge area is important. It might not be the same pr others, so think about how you will use your van.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

The lounge unless you're an energizer bunny (out all day) is the second most important thing for frequent and long holiday users after the bed, we also won't even look at anything with more than two single berths either, none of this disturbing each other every night if we need the loo.