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After a few years of holidays in a van with a driveaway awning, we're thinking of upgrading to a coachbuilt motorhome. 2 adults, kids 9,9 and 6. We've squeezed into a t5 without pop top on occasion before now, but the kids are getting bigger and we'd like a bit more space, a shower and done beds we don't need to pack away before we can anywhere. Only just started looking at different lay outs, can anyone give any advice on what might be better than others and why? At the moment, I'm thinking of a fixed rear double bed, mainly for the large garage space underneath it, then an over cab double and a convertible dinette. For the time being, and if it's just a quick overnight sonewhere, the kids can share the rear double and we can go over the cab.
Also, what makes to look for/ avoid? Are burstner, adria, dethleffs worth the premium? We'd probably use it all year round. Want to avoid anything transit based because traveller look and security issues
Thanks in advance!
For how long will the kids share a double. If you get to a point where they want separate beds, will they go to bed before you? If so you would need to sleep on the converted dinette. Would that work?
Or would you be better with bunks at the back - generally (I think) the lower one folds up to create a 'garage', albeit narrower then under a double.
Get thyself over there, more advice than you can shake a hook up cable at
https://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/
Right, I've got a van that sounds like what you describe. It's a Hymer B644. Large rear fixed bed over garage, drop down double up front & the double dinette can be quickly converted into a large single or an adequate double & has six belted seats. Can't comment on the makes you list above but I've been inside most & the German built vans are definitely solid inside & built to last. I bought mine to transport 5 of us, which quickly became 4 as the eldest peeled off and did his own thing. It's now turning 50K and the inside still looks like new. The Fiat base IE the engine and transmission was a shared platform between Fiat/Peugeot/Citroen & also Iveco. The "Fix It Again Tomorrow" title has never reared its head & the Fiat part has never missed a beat. The garage has a bike rack for 4 bikes. There's room for a 5th but it turns into a bit of a jigsaw puzzle.
Happy to answer any questions.
Are you taking bikes and stuff? What out for the pitiful payload on 3.5 tonners especially if you go for a six berth with 5-6 belted seats.
Have a look at Sunlight campers. It’s the entry level from Dethleffs so part of the Hymer group. Their manufacturing techniques are some of the newest which is why they are a bit cheaper than a lot of the competition. They also build a lot for other companies.
We had the biggest one they did which had the bed area over the cab for the kids and a double bed at the back for us and a huge garage area which could accommodate our six bikes.
I would recommend getting one with the rear bed that is side facing rather than length facing as you gain so much more space for the other parts of the camper. The negative is that one of you has to climb over the other to get out of the bed for example toilet visits in the night.
We have just bought our 1st motorhome after several years of researching. We found loads of useful info from the motorhome fun site.
As spooky touched on the biggest thing that could catch you out that you won't have considered is payload. If you don't know about this, as i didn't, do some research as with 4 of you you might struggle to get a van with enough spare payload for all of you and your stuff that is under 3.5t so have you got c1 on your licence?
We have gone for a dethleffs and it seems that the German brands in general seem to be much better quality than British stuff and really well laid out.
We have gone fixed island bed at the rear. Only 2 of us but there were options with drop down double up front.
Was going to mention payload.
A 4 berth (plus) motorhome under 3500kg won’t have much payload at all and you may struggle to fit all the stuff you actually want to take in and still be under the weight limit especially with bikes.
The common consensus is that British built (especially Swift group) motorhomes of recent years aren’t built anywhere as well as the continental ones.
That said, we’ve got a ‘06 plate Autocruise and it’s really well built.
Id recommend hiring a few times to see how you get on, they say that most people end up with the ‘right’ layout on their 3rd attempt! (We’d had caravans for a while so had a good idea of what did and didn’t work)
2 9 year olds? in a few years time they will be orrible teenagers, no way would i want to be in a confined space with them! 😉
You're sacrificing a lot of space with a fixed bed.
Having two separate sitting areas (which most 'homes with a rear seating area and front dining area offer is really useful if you have kids - they have somewhere to sit while you're preparing food on the front dinign table or washign up etc without having to kick them out.
The internal storage for bikes etc sounds good but you may struggle to get all the familys bikes in there and interior space is probably a bigger concern.
I'd also consider where you tend to go for days out - anything over 2.1m tall becomes a real pain when you try and park. A lot of countryside parkign areas now have height restrctions to stop travellers etc and non-multi-storey town centre car parks aren't really designed for 6.5m vehicles (we've had tickets in some due to parking 'outside of the marked bay').
We had a caravan when our kids were younger and it probably made life easier (speed limtis aren't that different on motorway and you're capped at 50 on rural roads in a decent sized motorhome too) - we didn't need to pack up each day to go out, they had fixed bunks they coudl do what they liked with and a fixed awning gave more space. Days out were easier because we were in a car.
We've got a 7m motorhome now it's just us and the dog but it needs management to keep tidy enough to just be able to drive away when we want and we have to plan outings around height restrictions (also, single track roads with passing points are a nightmare on occasion - I've ended up reversing for 600m+ to get to a wide enough spot to allow oncoming traffic to pass).
Worth visiting one of the shows, you can look at most of the designs, sizes and configurations all in a day. Will give you a better idea of what will or wont work for you.
That's what we did 5 years ago and bought one on impulse as it was as near as possible to our wish list and cheaper than buying second hand with the deals that were on. Best thing we ever did, the only regret is that we should have had one when the girls were younger
One at the NEC in February
Caravan and Moho show this weekend at Event City in Manchester.
There is no substitute for going round all the manufactures and actually standing in them. I went last year and quickly discounted the initial moho that I had my eye on and went for one that I'd never even heard of prior to going to the show.
Wow! Thanks for the replies so far. I had considered the payload, I've got C1 so not as much of an issue but definitely something to look out for.
The ages of the kids is partly the reason we're looking at doing it now, while they still want to come on holiday with us and are generally pleasant to be around!
Hadn't thought of trade shows, were only calderdale so will probably have a trip over to Manchester this weekend for a mooch about
https://caravanman.seetickets.com/event/the-caravan-motorhome-show/eventcity/1385696#op1
Well worth going if your seriously thinking about one. Get some good deals at the shows too. I went and view them at Event city last year, then purchased one at The February NEC show.
What Lowey said, but if it were me I'd wait on the show at the NEC. Bigger & many more exhibitors of motorhomes. Have a look at the exhibitors list & make up your own mind. You will find sufficient vans there to come to a sensible conclusion about what will work for you & what won't.
My parents had one for a while. It was a rapido which I think is French? The layout might be good for a growing family as it had 2 single beds at the rear with a pull down double over the cab. The rear was big enough for the garage to be useable and it had an LPG heating system which had an external hook-up for a BBQ.
Edit: It was also based on the fiat chassis with the 3.0 lump and auto box. Seemed bulletproof mechanically.
I have hired a few with different layouts. for what you want I would have thought the ones with bunks in the rear best for the kids with a pull down double at the front for you. Bottom bunk folds up for to make a space to carry bikes. Once at your destination bikes under the van locked to the chassis and you have two bunks at the back. Using the seating area for sleeping is a pain
A full double at the back takes up a lot of space even tho you do get the garage
If you're going to be spending lots of time on the continent think about buying a lhd motor. It seems like there is loads of choice 2nd in the Netherlands.
Friends of ours just bought one from there.
Also keep in mind that anything over 3m high is extra charge on the French toll roads.