Buying new camper

Hi all,

I'm about to look for/buy my 1st camper and would greatly value feedback. My initial spec's.
Considerations:

• I'm 39, 6ft, Irish, living in Ireland and know the basics of looking after a car. change a wheel, checking oil, water, etc.
  I've a b licence and don't plan to apply for a C
  I will be buying new. Money no object.
  Camper will be used to tour UK, mainland Europe, possibility down as far as Greece, the Nordics, east to Poland.
  Must sleep 2 adults and Maximum of 2/3 children. (10, 12 and maybe a baby!)
  Must be manual and RHD
  While the camper must have comfortable and quality seats, beds, shower, etc, I will sacrifice unnecessary bling / luxuries over camper van reliability, proneness to rusting, etc.
  Looking for a mid sized but powerful / nippy engine, not a fuel thirsty thing.
  A camper that will hold its value after 5 years. Not that I might want to sell it but a vehicle that holds its value tends to be a good solid yoke.
  For example, if I were buying a second hand car I would go for a Toyota Avensis, Ford Focus or Audi. I would NOT buy a Renault, Peugeot, Fiat, Opel all of which suffer from electronic problems. Nor would I buy a Mercedes, BMW, Land Rover because I view them as been fuel hungry and say 'I'm inviting you to break into me'.
  must have toe bar.
  Space for wet cloths, child buggy.
  Reliable but economical heating.
  

Nice to haves:

• Would like to head for 1st trip in 4-6 weeks from now.
  Space on roof for a 15th foot sea kayak.
  Bicycle rack
  Some way of hanging out wet cloths.
  

What makes / models should I be looking at ? e,g best campers of the past few years, etc
What unnecessary bling / luxuries should I be looking out for ?
What if any after sales service should I be looking out for ?
What spare parts would you expect to get with a new camper or what must have spares would you buy if you were able to afford ? Snow shoes, etc

Most new RHD 5 birth motorhomes will have the features you mention.
Basic features and accessories are commonplace on most of the latest models. The bling as you call it is usually added by the owner as they see fit.

If money really is no object I suggest you go for build quality which generally includes better features too.
Most UK spec Motorhome are based on Fait / Peugeot chassis however some of the top end makes give the option to upgrade to Mercedes.

The Rapido range may interest you. Anything with a model name ending in F is Fiat based and M is Mercedes based.
Another option is Hymer who offer both chassis.

You problem may be your time scale as a lot are order only. You may be luck enough to be happy with something which is in stock.

Happy hunting.

The best advice I can give is to go around all of the dealers and look at all of the makes and layouts, the biggest issue you will have is that most of the dealers will not carry the full range in stock and there are other makes which are available in England or even on mainland Europe which we do not have a dealer for here in Ireland.

You will need to narrow your selection down, but bear in mind that the majority of motorhomes run on a Fiat base with a few using the Renault and Mercedes. As Mark has already stated, some of the manufacturers use more than one base, Hymer use both Fiat and Mercedes, Frankia likewise, whereas Hobby use Fiat, Renault and Ford. All of the base vehicles are tried and tested and while there are a few rogue ones which give more problems than most, its no different from any car or van manufacturer.

Hi New_Camper
If you want one for 4-6 weeks time then it will either have to be second hand or in stock with a dealer.

Having to accommodate 2+3 as opposed to 2+2 will greatly reduce the number of suitable motorhomes. If 2+3 you will need a 6 berth with 4 belted seats in the rear. Also you mentioned carrying a sea kayak. With this you will need to watch out for the hump in a coach built over cab.

Bailey do a 6 berth low profile (flat roof) but it's storage space is so poor that I think it is not practical for a family. So you need an A-Class (as they all have flat roofs) or a coach built (C-Class) with either a flat roof or enough space behind the hump to take your sea kayak. The problem in that a lot of, probably most, a-class are actually designed as 4 berths (this 6 berth being one of the exceptions). Think retirees with occasional grandkids and you a right on the money of the target market of the manufactures.

So the majority of family (ie 5/6 berths) are actually coach builds. But you require 15ft for the kayak so the only coach builds likely to have that space would be a tax axle (two axles) and they wont be under 3.5 ton. eg this one (it's actually a coach build with a flat roof). The other option is Thule Hull-a-Port kayak transporter (or similar) attached to the roof bars may be sufficient to raise the kayak over the hump.

I've been there done that with respect to trying to accommodate 2+3 and sea kayaks! Best of luck with it.

I would have a Fiat or Renault based camper any day of the week. I'm biased , but have a look at the Adria range . Euramobil and Frankia too.

I grew up as a FIAT fan(atic) , but we actually get less trouble from Renaults than ducatos. All I keep in stock for Renaults are hazard light switches!

I could say that about the Chausson too Jack! It's the best van we have ever owned
Admit tally it is the only one we ever owned, having said that we have it nearly four years and it passed its Tests first time every time. :hide: