Which Motorhome Should I choose?

WhichMotorhome

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I am looking to buy my first Motorhome. I am looking for:
  1. Island bed
  2. Large garage for 2 E-Bikes
  3. 4 berth and 4 belts, however 90% of time will only be just the two of us
  4. As a new price looking to keep it below £100K
My current list all Auto is.

  1. Adria Matrix Supreme 670 DC 140 BHP £103K
  2. Fiat Swift Kon-Tiki 794 180 BHP £97K
  3. Fiat Rapido 696F Ultimate line 180 BHP £96K
  4. Chausson Titanium Ultimate 788 170 BHP £82K
which would people in the know suggest and is the Adria worth £20K more than the Chausson? Any advice greatly appreciated
 
Hi welcome. Hard to give advice on this but you should join some of the owners groups for certain brands your looking at on Facebook you might be able to glean some information there. Depends if your gonna use the van in winter you might find a continental van better insulated. But I always liked the Adria they always looked modern and up to date.
 
if your thinking long term it may be worth dipping your toe with a cheaper 2nd hand veh & see what is important to you there is a saying at most caravan dealers that your present van tells you what you want in the next , one owner would insist on a fixed bed another not at any price , my van refered to as the party van has two fiull length settees and a drop down bed as age increases the drop down may not appeal etc the first van going as a trade in shouldn’t cost a lot of money and could save you loads ,
 
given
WhichMotorhome said:
I am looking to buy my first Motorhome. I am looking for:
  1. Island bed
  2. Large garage for 2 E-Bikes
  3. 4 berth and 4 belts, however 90% of time will only be just the two of us
  4. As a new price looking to keep it below £100K
My current list all Auto is.

  1. Adria Matrix Supreme 670 DC 140 BHP £103K
  2. Fiat Swift Kon-Tiki 794 180 BHP £97K
  3. Fiat Rapido 696F Ultimate line 180 BHP £96K
  4. Chausson Titanium Ultimate 788 170 BHP £82K
which would people in the know suggest and is the Adria worth £20K more than the Chausson? Any advice greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
I don't know if you are basing your choices on seeing the various vans in the flesh or based on magazine reviews or the like, but if you haven't seen the vans you are interested in, I would strongly suggest a trip to the NEC Motorhome show in month and having a look at what is about.
Buying new, there is generally a massive delay from order to delivery unless you get lucky, so might well be worth seeing what is available used unless you were expecting a long wait?

As far as the vans listed, I have no idea of the various merits of each myself, but I would definately have a trip to the NEC regardless, not least to speak to dealers of your chosen shortlist to see what offers and availability they have for you.
 
which would people in the know suggest and is the Adria worth £20K more than the Chausson? Any advice greatly appreciated
[/QUOTE]
The cost difference is due to build quality. Adrias are built for more use than Chaussons.

Go round as many dealers and shows as you can to see what choices are out there.

It might also be worth renting a van to see if the layout you think you want actually works for you.
 
Biggarmac said:
The cost difference is due to build quality. Adrias are built for more use than Chaussons.

Go round as many dealers and shows as you can to see what choices are out there.

It might also be worth renting a van to see if the layout you think you want actually works for you.
Click to expand...
I wonder how many motorhomes someone typically goes through (bying or renting) until they find "the one"? Has anyone started off with just what they want from the start?
 
Although we would have grown out of it our first one was spot on David, only got rid as I was going to fit a reversing camera and went under the back and found the wood was wet through and rotten, so I PX it with a dealer who's mechanic went over it and said it wasn't a problem, the pile we PXd it for lasted a weekend and I took it back POS nothing worked.

We really liked it, we bought it from O'Learys in Beverly, lambs to the slaughter.

VW base and a really tight well laid out interior.

Autohomes Explorer

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Autohomes Explorer interior too

Shared with Dropbox
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VW T4 Autohomes Explorer

An information site about Volkswagen Autohomes T4 Transporter camper vans.
autohomes.vwt4camper.info
 
wildebus said:
I wonder how many motorhomes someone typically goes through (bying or renting) until they find "the one"? Has anyone started off with just what they want from the start?
Click to expand...
Not quite, David, as you will be aware! There are limitations with Brunhilde, our first M/Home, but if we change for a larger unit, we will immedaitely face problems with the on street Parking, and there will be other compromises, such as fuel economy. Thanks to your work with the electrical side [BTW, the Ablemail is STILL not working after the 22nd Dec 'upgrade' from working to buggered!], and various other changes such as Lithium LB, Refillable Gas etc, we THINK we have achieved the best compromise available to adapt Brunhilde to what we need her to do. If we ever get away this Winter, we'll find out!

Steve
 
Hope all our kit works once off the drive, (too steep to test) mainly the fridge and heater as being opposite each other they like to battle it out, the rest we can live without really.

I have two powerful lamps to see by, but we tend to watch stuff in the dark anyway and a stand alone gas hob and canisters, I also am taking the electric over-blanket, could try that I suppose, might save a drop or two of gas.
 
If you buy a Fiat they offered an extended guarantee, 5 years, at a reasonable price which included 5 years recovery etc. It had to be purchased within a few days of first registration.
I found it excellent when I had a gearbox problem.
Happy travelling.
 
marchie said:
Not quite, David, as you will be aware! There are limitations with Brunhilde, our first M/Home, but if we change for a larger unit, we will immedaitely face problems with the on street Parking, and there will be other compromises, such as fuel economy. Thanks to your work with the electrical side [BTW, the Ablemail is STILL not working after the 22nd Dec 'upgrade' from working to buggered!], and various other changes such as Lithium LB, Refillable Gas etc, we THINK we have achieved the best compromise available to adapt Brunhilde to what we need her to do. If we ever get away this Winter, we'll find out!

Steve
Click to expand...
Ref Ablemail, they've confirmed there is an issue with the Android update (iOS is fine apparently) and are working on it.

I reckon most things in a motorhome or camper can be adapted or adjusted to suit, but there are a few that are more tricky, such as layout.
 
wildebus said:
Ref Ablemail, they've confirmed there is an issue with the Android update (iOS is fine apparently) and are working on it.

I reckon most things in a motorhome or camper can be adapted or adjusted to suit, but there are a few that are more tricky, such as layout.
Click to expand...
It came as a shock to the system to have to dig the Multimeter out to measure the VB voltage, leaning over the engine bay whilst the icy wind is blowing directly up my kilt! I began to sympathise with those Russians who have had their assets frozen ... :p

Steve
 
wildebus said:
I wonder how many motorhomes someone typically goes through (buying or renting) until they find "the one"? Has anyone started off with just what they want from the start?
Click to expand...
Yes! Had great difficulty replacing the first one (when it was stolen) with the same make/model and then adding some of the bells and whistles that had come with the original..
 
WhichMotorhome said:
I am looking to buy my first Motorhome. I am looking for:
  1. Island bed
  2. Large garage for 2 E-Bikes
  3. 4 berth and 4 belts, however 90% of time will only be just the two of us
  4. As a new price looking to keep it below £100K
My current list all Auto is.

  1. Adria Matrix Supreme 670 DC 140 BHP £103K
  2. Fiat Swift Kon-Tiki 794 180 BHP £97K
  3. Fiat Rapido 696F Ultimate line 180 BHP £96K
  4. Chausson Titanium Ultimate 788 170 BHP £82K
which would people in the know suggest and is the Adria worth £20K more than the Chausson? Any advice greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Hope you find what you're looking for it's not easy especially if it's your first van. I would make a list of what you want out of your 4 choices and compare them to see which one comes out top for your needs. Mind you they say you don't get the perfect van until your 3rd attempt good look 👍🏻
 
(but if you haven't seen the vans you are interested in, I would strongly suggest a trip to the NEC Motorhome show in month and having a look at what is about.)



I think this is a good idea, although we are happy with what we have 66 plate , new was just out of our range with the prices zooming up👍
 
Bear in mind that you may be committing to a dealership as well as the model of your choice. Investigate where it must get its warranty checks and what sort of service you are likely to receive if things go wrong. Driving to the opposite end of the country to leave your vehicle, perhaps returning by public transport, may become tedious.

To my eye, the Kontiki has less room at the foot of the bed than the others, which may pose problems in the middle of the night.
OTOH the Kontiki has 4 hobs, Matrix has 3 and others have 2: will you be doing a lot of cooking?
Who is going to travel in it? IF you will have the rear seats in use, are they comfortable, easy to use and suitably situated?

Only YOU know what is important to you: buying secondhand may well be the best bet if you are unfamiliar with the concept of mobile living. (We'd had tents, trailer tents and caravans before buying our ONE AND ONLY MH 16y ago: we knew what worked for us BUT against our initial thoughts we found that a drop-down bed was fine. Nothing beats getting inside them and trying all things out. My BiL bought a MH and then discovered that he couldn't sit comfortably on the toilet. Many folk have decided that their showers do not permit easy movement; some have found that there is nowhere to place dry clothes whilst in the shower. TRY EVERYTHING!)

Good luck - Gordon
 
One tip I picked up from an earlier Forum was to sit in the M/Home, and 'walk through' the process of the daily living activites to ensure that a] it does everything it needs to do; and b] that it is easy to make the changes, especially when it comes to the changeover between day and night, and then night and day on the following morning. Can you cope with doing 2 furniture removals every day, and the ceremonial flinging of cushions etc?

Steve
 
Day to night and vice versa is very important if you are not fit and bendy, some are truly awful needing infill cushions that live under the bed or in a locker, some are simple slide outs but once one side is done there is nowhere to stand to do the other side.
 
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