Food for Thought

While the Hymers are undoubtedly a quality product, one thing that did put us off was the price for what was a pretty basic spec in some areas, and the cost and weight of adding what we considered essentials......auto  box, more powerful engine and cab air con for starters.

Then the extra things that we ideally wanted were very expensive to have added, everything MH connected seemed expensive!  In the end it was just all too much and we decided to stick with the caravan.  At 75,I do not know how many more active years I have left.  Feeling good right now, but one has to be realistic.

Had we been 15 years younger and looking forward to many more years of MHing, we may have made a different decision.

I would miss an oven due to UK touring all year round. I don't want to take any extra equipment, we travel light, the cooker, grill and microwave are all used. If we went somewhere warm it would be different, lighter meals, no oven on due to the heat. 

Kjell, interesting to compare prices of a mid range Hymer at (say) £80k and a Range Rover and hefty caravan....might even be more....

yes, the Hymer is expensive, but so are the options and spec upgrades on another premium product like the RR.

Unfortunately, this is how this type of product is priced.....any where between 'flexibly' and 'rip off' depending where you are on the scale between supplier and customer.....

when we bought this van, i sat down with our local dealer and went through everything we thought we wanted and everything which he thought was 'essential'.....we arrived at a price....way too high.

...negotiation?....not a lot....

outcome, back to the dealer we got our previous van from, picked a new one from three he had in stock....all specced about the same and at very 'favourable' prices and part-ex....

result, saving £XX k......very happy...

We could not afford a RR either!  Not that we would actually want one.  But you are right, a new large van and something that can tow it are not cheap.

We settled for a much reduced but unused, pre-registered Touareg, which will last us quite a while.

We will be keeping the old caravan for the forseeable  future, we have not seen anything new we like anyway.  We may downsize in a few years, once we see how things are going.  We will have grandparent duties starting next year, so our touring may be a bit curtailed in the future.

We also found the Hymer dealer unwilling to negotiate, very unco-operative, and he offered a seriously miserable trade in price for our caravan!

To the OP, we have not long come back from 5 weeks in France in our 6.6m m/h. We don't  lack space in the galley as its a uk van. However i never once cooked a meal using the hob or a cadac. I have recently bought a Morphy Richards Intelli chef (deep type fry pan) its a bit like a multi cooker as i can boil, fry, stew, roast, steam and slow cook in it. When the weather is good i cook outside, if its not good then it sits on top of the hob, prep is done on the chopping board which sits on the sink.

Hi

We have over the years tried everything food wise, Slow cooker, BBQ and hot plate but I have to say the best buy is our Remoska from Lakeland and it is a little expensive at around £110 but the quality of food produced is excellent. We have had ours five years now and not been disappointed  once and although I don't know I have been told you can cook almost everything.

Phil

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In 30 years of caravanning and motorhoming I can’t recall using an oven; maybe when we started out. Slow cooker we occasionally use at home but I can’t say I like meat cooked that way, particularly if there is any fat. Generally we are touring southern France and Italy in hot weather so we don’t cook the same dishes that we would at home. It’s really about the work surface space and there is some good advice here.