Hi

Hi, There,
Just joined and not sure how to use this ,so here goes. My husband are just begining our sixties and thinking of buying a 2nd hand campervan, need a lot of advice as its a lot of money. We'r thinking of the continent for a few months and maybe Spring and Autumn in Ireland. I need all the advice I can get. Thanks.

When buying your first motorhome no matter new or used look at plenty, all different makes and especially layouts as no matter what you will have to make some sort of compromise over something. If you buy privately check it out well as there is no warranty, but from a dealer you get a warranty and pay a more.

You are doing the right thing by asking on here as we nearly all have different makes and layouts so keep asking the questions and we will help as much as possible with the advice.

As for your travel plans, have you thought about the opposite way round by spending autumn to spring touring Europe as the summers can be extremely hot in a motorhome depending on where you go.

My mum has told me, life is for living as you are a long time dead! So when it comes the time for me to retire no matter how many kids/grand kids etc I am off to live in and tour around Europe, they can reach me by skype

Thanks for advice .

Ally is right layout is king when choosing a Motorhome.

It is very difficult for first timers to know if they will live in the van or outside it more. If you plan to use it in our climate remember you will spend more time inside than out. With that in mind you will want a comfortable living area.

Another few things to take into account are ;

Bed comfort.
Fixed beds are usually more comfortable than the style you make up with seat cushions. Try making a bed up from cushions and see what I mean.

Body shape.
People will tell you that an overcab bed is great for storage (which it is) but a garage is better as it accessible from outside. Overcabs motorhomes tend to be much harder on fuel.

If you see one you think you like don't jump in and buy it. Come back on here whith the make and model and ask if anyone has one or has had one. An owner will be able to tell you the issues to look out for.
Remember, you are spending a lot of money on your Motorhome and you want to enjoy it.

This is the right place to ask questions. See if any of our members who live near you would be happy to show you round their Motorhome. They will show you why they chose the one they did.

You could try Westlink in Cork,or Cara campers in Limerick,just to mention a few,there is plenty dealers down the south of the country.

Do you know anyone that has a camper that could come with you on a viewing? Or that would show you how to view their own van as though you were going to buy it. Whatever you do, do not jump at the first one that you like. It is a buyers market and there is always another van. Take your time and get it right.

With respect to deciding what you want, research is your friend. DoneDeal is a great place to view lots of vans and most will have 8-10 pictures. Now I don't just mean having a quick little look. I mean a considered look at lots and lots of vans where you look at the detail in the photographs (it's amazing what you can 'see') and the detail in the description. Try to picture yourself in the van on a wet weekend! And think of simple scenarios: Where would you sit if he wanted to watch TV but you wanted to read? OR Where would we store the BBQ and sun-loungers.

When looking at vans on the net start to make a list of things that you see that you like and would want in your ideal van eg awning, garage space, extra security features, TV and satellite dish, reversing camera etc, etc. Make the list as long as you like. Then divide the list into 'must haves' and 'would like' to have.

Assuming you buy a structurally and mechanically sound camper as the others have said the most important thing to get right is the layout. Most other things can be fixed with a bit of cash but it is impractical to change the layout and you have to live with it every time you are in the camper. One thing that you will learn fairly quickly is that everything to do with campervans is about compromise. You might want a newish van with island bed, separate shower, large kitchen, comfortable sitting area, room for the grandkids and great storage but then the van becomes too large, too heavy or too expensive. So you have to start to decide what is important for you and what you are prepared to compromise on.

In your initial research look at everything don't rule anything in or out until you have decided that it is definitely not for you. That said you need to start making some decisions fairly quickly. The two big one are 1) body style and 2) layout. Once you have decided on these it will drastically cut down on the number of vans that you should look at.

Body style
The main styles are A-Class, Coachbuild (over cab), low profile and PVC (panel van conversion). Have a look at examples of each type and think about the advantages and disadvantages of each for you. If you opt for a PVC you will have far few layout choices but they do have their advantages.

Layout
Lots and lots of options. But think about day space and night space. Are you happy to climb into an overcab so that you can have a great big lounge for day use? Some low profiles are set up as a great big lounge but then you have to make you the bed every night and it may not be as comfortable as a fixed bed. Some A-Class campers have a very neat layout that is virtually all day space until you drop the double bed from the roof. This is great but not if you both don't want to go to be at the same time. Do you want a double be or two singles. etc etc One thing that is easy to overlook when looking at interior layouts is the impact on the garage space. Make sure that the layout that you go for also gives you enough garage space. Anyway, the bottom line is compromise - chances are you wont get the perfect camper so the best you can do is to get the best camper for you. So you need to think about your usage pattern. What is right for me is not necessarily right for you even if the numbers using the van were the same.


You can do all of the above online. It is then a good idea to go to a dealer or two that have lots of vans in stock that you can view. You can concentrate on vans that meet your short list criteria and spend some time in them. But then do take a wee look at what else is on offer. Remember, don't buy! This is still just the research stage. Come home think about it and make you final decision on the ideal type for you. You should now be ready to so start considering specific vans. Find a few that meet your criteria then take out that list and see how close it comes to meeting your wish list.

Last of all, but very importantly, especially if you are buying privately make sure you do a finance check. If its on HP it is the bank that owns it NOT the person selling it and NOT the person who buys it! Finance must be cleared before you buy it. So be careful.

My Citroen Mehari is LHD as they never made them in RHD. I must say I don't have any problems here and it's much better as Flipperdipper says you are in unfamiliar territory to be the same as the others. I don't think there's any cause for worry on that score.

Why not import it from France/Germany, by all reports motorhomes in general are a lot cheaper in Germany.

It can be done but the good ol day of being able to bring one in for €50 VRT are long gone (I missed out on that one ). Now the revenue will 'make up' a number for the VRT that you owe for importation. At best it will wipe out any saving that you made from buying abroad. [It can be worth it if it's a case that you just cannot get what you want here.] But it could be far worse than just levelling the pitch and you could get hit with a much higher VRT bill than you were expecting. It's very unfair because you have no certainty until you present your van for registration and then they magically compute a OMSP (open market selling price) on which the base the VRT. You then have to pay it there and then before you can appeal.

It's much better and quite straight forward for importing cars. They have a database that you can log onto to check the model, year and milage for a VRT estimate. So you can buy with a fair degree of certainty. Not so for campers. You are in no mans land :bandit: :bandit: :bandit:

No they put the price on,you could have got the van for nothing from your rich German uncle,and they price it at the open market price here,which will be high,and as far as i know you have to except the price.

Someone that has done this in the south might be able to fill us in with the details

We dont have VRT :bandit: . When you look at it properly you pay the VRT either through the dealer or direct yourself, there is no way around it. You purchase VAT free for export in for example Germany and then pay the VAT in which ever country you register it in.

We have a problem in the North that we cant register a LHD from new, it has to be done in England, just another of the quirks of the vehicle licensing.

With the dealer no problem, its the private buy which causes the problems.

When I bought my rebuilt Mehari last year I re registerednitnhere. Just went to Ballymena paid I think £55 and got a number. He looked up and there was nomVST on it so,happy days.

A wooden spoon

Ooooops another jackism!!!

Motorhomes were a lot cheaper in Germany, but I think they are cheaper in the south now since the recession, just you have less of a choice and many of the German vans have higher milage.

A lot if the prices both north and south are way out compared to England, never mind going into mainland Europe.