Newbie to motorhome

As I said originally- be careful.

If it is too god to be true then it probably is 🙃

‘good luck 

Hi all, thanks for all the advice given, we are getting colser to purchasing our first motorhome, we have found 2 that would suit our needs & would like any members comments about either of them, they are as follows

Fiat Ducato 2.3 JTD, 2003 Bessacarr E425 4 berth, 32,000 miles

Fiat Ducato 2.8 JTD, 2005 Swift Lifestyle 630L 6 berth, 26,000 miles

Both of these are within our budget & would suit us, (& occasionaly some of the grandchildren), we have suitable parking so could accomodate either, & our driving licences would allow wifey or i to drive them (both ex coach drivers)

Can anyone offer any good/bad points for either of them, as the dealers that have them for sale both say they are "brilliant & in good order"

damp may be the primary issue with older vans.

specifically on Swift/Bessacarr check the 'wooden' floor area immediately behind the rear wheels. a poke with a screwdriver will soon tell you of any issues.

often no rear mud flaps and even when fitted, road spray onto the often unprotected floor area caused rotting.

floors may have had a black 'protective paint' covering which was all but  ineffective.

both our Boleros succumbed to this known issue....

check the gearboxes carefully, again IIRC older Fiats had issues with top gear....not to be confused with the reversing issues of 2006 onward vans.

just for perspective, many, many Fiat/Swifts of this vintage are going strong, but check for service history and get a comprehensive inspection if you're not confident/competant to do this yourself.

good luck.

The  majority of pre owened motor caravans are low mileage for their years, as they tend not to get driven very often, but does not mean that the mechanics are in good order (because of lack of use) I would be carefull of buying from the tinernet,and go to a  recomended dealer if there is one in your area,  as you will have some recompense  if there is a problem,but with any LV buyer beware

I agree going to a reputable dealer (is there such a thing) especially after the couple of scams you have already come across.  You would get some warranty against damp (prevalent in SWIFT's as BB says and we had 2 caravans that leaked) as well as some mechanical cover. 

Make sure you get an in dependant engineer to look it over and give a full damp report and ensure dealer does full habitation service as well as any mechanical service that is due.  Look for full history for service, MOT and habitation service (not just stamps in a book that anyone can do)/  You may pay a bit more but as JVB says you would have some recompense and peace of mind should issues occur!!!!

Both vans are Swift conversions but, as far as the base vehicle goes, my instinct would be to go for the 2.8 Fiat JTD.

It was a very different animal from the later X250/290 series and by 2005, which was near the end of the JTD production run, it's thought most of the issues with them had been sorted. Then they started all over again with the X250s in late 2006 and a whole host of new problems materialised.😀

A few weeks ago I posted about cheap motorhome hire, from UHire Motorhomes in Knaresborough.  They have a special offer during November and December, of £50 per night for all their motorhomes.  Friends took advantage and hired one for four days.  They were seriously considering buying a £53,000 motorhome, but hired one of a similar size, with a similar layout. 

They decided it was the best £200 they'd spent, and saved them approximately £52,800!  They decided motorhomes are not for them - having previously had a Lunar caravan.  They thought it was too cramped, too noisy in travel, everything rattled, the shower and toilet were too small, they found parking difficult............... etc., etc.   And those were just the maor niggles - there were lots of others! They stayed on a site near Beamish which cost them £33 per night, and had to pay extra for showers as they felt the shower compartment was too small.

So, they think hiring is definitely the best thing they've ever done!

While things like rattles can be overcome and a wiser choice of sites can be made, that does prove the worth of hiring, Val. 

Valda not knocking your friends choice but in general the shower compartments on a MH are same as a caravan as is the toilet, fridge etc.  One thing difference is that about 1-1.5m is taken up by the engine so you have to make better use of space and the UK models do not always do that.  Maybe the layout was not right for them and a different one may suit better, but as you say trying before buying helped them.

On a similar note we used the tunnel for the first time this month instead of ferry, on the outward journey we were not impressed at all, it was a total faff compared to ferry and would hate to think what it was like when it was busy in the summer, park up till called, stop start, security checks (do not mind them), delays, smelly tunnel with fumes and dust.  Compare to ferry where you go thru border control, drive to checking where a person sorts your booking, drive to lane and wait to board, then have a wander, coffee or whatever.

However on return it was even quieter and a much better experience, went straight through, not much waiting to board etc. so moral of story for us was to give it a chance, we may even book again if the cost is not so high as its always over £300 versus £130-150 for ferry so that equates to £150-£170 for 40 minutes longer crossing

if agree with Michael in that most of the appliances are the same across  MH and caravans but the main difference is that caravan accommodation can be used right upto the front windows...

other than sleeping in an A class drop down bed (which swings forward towards the windscreen) there will be a chunk of the vehicle that can't be used.....other than for the important function of propulsion.....

so, the inside of a similarly sized MH will seem a bit cramped by comparison...But it is a MH not a caravan.....and doesn't need that expensive tow car to get about...

so a 6 m caravan will equate to (say) a 7.5m MH.....for a caravan, not large, but for a MH its starting to get towards the larger end....

in the 'friends' case, hiring certainly helped...but I would suggest that even preliminary browsing of the MH market would highlight the obvious differences....

parking a MH might be trickier than parking a car.....

space in a (similar sized) MH might seem a little more tight.....

there are layouts which have the equivalent 'across the rear' washrooms in the same way as many caravans do....

perhaps they hired the wrong van?