More on caravan versus motorhome

well Practical Motorhome is about as limp a critical publication as its sister, Practical Caravan. if their surveys as as 'thorough' as their tests, this wont be particularly skin deep....

tests are little better than the typical 'club mag' kow towing....with the most critical points being aimed at carpet/curtain colour or other deal breaking issues.....with the most 'practical' issues being glossed over..

also, i think Swift needs to read its own forum if it truly believes its now the 'king of damp prevention'...and the CT 'caravan' section usually has plenty of 'poor quality/damp' threads and theyre not from Adria, Fendt, Hobby, Bürstner or Hymer owners, are they?

On the other hand, the 'real' test of long term, all weather suitability is to look at the the vans being used of this harshest of continuous live-in 'tests', they arent Bailey, Elddis or Swift, thats for sure....

perhaps, one day, all the 'snowbirds' will be touring spain for six months in their Elddis' once Hymer has decided how it wishes to work with them, or even a Swift once word gets round that theyre highly rated by PM....

I'll take my chances as i am.....

PS....you didn't mention the actual Swift 'damp van ratio'....how high was the bar set?

Blimey this is terrifying we are looking to make the change in 2018 .

Had 3 caravans currently pull a 2012 Swift and we have had no problems

Disciding on a lay out is differcult , do we buy a new entry range ? 

Do we spend the same on a 2 , 3 year old  more expensive model ? 

I read about  Bailey issues  along with Eliddis its a minefield !

Just the first family who were willing to admit they had bought a well known brand ,that was not what the "marketing" of them would like you to believe( and built in their own country

As so few are noted in the UK compared to UK built LVs it was good to hear the views of an honest owner

well done, you can dust that post off and get it out again (with subtitles) in a few weeks time when this subject comes up again....keep your powder warm, eh?

by the way, your 'emoji' doesnt mean 'cool'.....its 'blind' 

merry Christmas to you and yours, JVB

Just keeping alive the debate that some think with rose tinted glasses, anything other than UK is "wonderfull"

Have a good one BB,

i think that those who come from caravanning tend to look at the equvalent home caravan brands when looking for a MH (probably, what they are familiar with, as relatively very few Continental caravans sold in the UK).

however, those who get straight into MHing (without the previous 'baggage/brand preconception' of UK caravan marques) see the field as a much more open place with many more looking at (and buying) Continental brands...

layout is (obviously) a prime consideration, and different markets favour different layouts, but the Continentals are far more innovative in their designs, for instance Hymer (and a few others) providing rear lounge vans with a full bike garage as well.....whereas uk vans give puny externally accessed storage in this 'default' layout.

if its any comfort, Id be 'terrified' if i felt 'forced' into one particular market (UK)....theres a whole world of vans out there and not all are built here....

will do....thanks.....im getting some more specs this year

The problem as far as we are concerned is that we do not like the layout of any of the continental motorhomes as they do not suit our needs.  A proper auto transmission is also essential.  That leaves us with Auto-Sleeper.

Our AS sprinter based M/H has been very  good. 

Having changed to a motorhome, from a caravan, five years ago I would suggest you need to decide two things initially. One is obviously the layout and the second is the approximate size/length. I think a common mistake is to try and replicate what you have in your last caravan. This is what we did and now with the benefit of hindsight feel that we should have purchased a shorter motorhome rather than the 7.5 metre one we did. Once you have made that decision I think it easier to make a choice from the many and varied motorhomes available. I should also add that I have a Bailey and I would be perfectly happy to buy another. 

David