Pros and Cons of buying first time campervan

mogsmoo

My husband and I are(turning 60 ) thinking of buying 2nd hand campervan 4/5 berth with 10,000 euro max to spend. We dont have a clue what to look out for when buying one , we are hoping to travel England, France and maybe Spain,and of course weekends in Ireland, I would like if a few of the experienced campervanners could give us advice, Thanks in advance:)

mogsmoo

Me again, forgot to mention, not even sure if its for us,we were thinking of hiring one first just to see if we could enjoy it but its just too expensive to hire one out .

Benbecul97

If ye are not even sure if its for ye then definitely hire one for a weekend.
It will be money very well spent!

Rent now during low season - Nov to March - and you should get one for about €300 - €100 per night for 3 nights (usually the minimum amount of nights for rental).

spaceHopper

First thing is size, are you ok driving something big or do you want a camper van.
Do you want a shower and toilet onboard?
Will you be staying in camp sites or wild camping, or on AIRS in France…
If you are wild camping you may need bigger batteries and a good size water tank.

Do you want coach built or a converted van.

Age and millage are a consideration as would damp in a coach build motor home make sure there are no leaks in the panels, get it tested if you can.

Layout, so may options so look around and look on line at ads, some are good so you should run away from

http://www.donedeal.ie/find/campers/for-sale/Ireland/?sort=publishDate+desc&source=all&start=0

PS a 1.9 engine in the van might be a bit slow on hills

kind of like this one http://www.donedeal.ie/campers-for-sale/motor-home/6271263


You also should think about equiptment, a lot of vans only have a 2 ring cooker, a few have grills and veryfew have an oven. Storage also……

JonMac

We were in a similar situation to you last year. In June we decided to try it out and buy an older van from a dealer. We knew/know nothing about them and thought on our own we'd probably buy a lemon through inexperience. Ours came with 6 month warranty.
Right now we are on the Costa del Sol enjoying a nice winter!

odds_on

I bought my camper, 2 berth (fixed bed at rear, toilet shower, 3 ring hod, oven, and a fridge freezer. The best thing I have ever bought. Just load up a few things (bedding and food really) and head off to wherever I want. Brilliant.

Got it at the end of June, from a dealer (as there is a comeback if something is wrong and I knew nothing about campers (let alone engines).

If been to the North, Ring of Kerry (weather poor as usual!), Clare/Galway coast and across the Burren. More time in Co Cork, Waterford and a couple of spots beside the Shannon lakes.

As regards looking for a camper I would suggest checking with dealers and on Done Deal and look at as many as you can, taking note of the things you would like to have in it. The more I looked, the more I saw the need of certain things, especially as I hope to spend a good bit of time in France, Spain ant other European countries.

Don't be in a hurry to buy. And remember, some things are necessities, while others are for convenience and comfort, some things can be changed or modified while others are not.

Happy hunting.

demoreino

Hi Mogsmoo ,
As Benbecul 97 mentioned above there are very good deals for motorhome rental at the moment .
We would definitely reccommend that you try one before you buy one just in case it doesnt suit you .
The vast majority of our customers love the whole experience and cant wait to do it again . One family bought a camper about a week after been with us others are just happy to return regularly and avoid all the costs involved with ownership . ie Insurance , tax , depreciation.
But , we have a had a few families that have returned to us and swore that they would never try it again . Usually this is because they expected to see all of Ireland over a weekend with teenagers in the back which is one way of gauranteeing a family fallout.
Also , there are far too many campers that spend the majority of the year on the owners driveway. If your not willing to take your camper out in the wind and the rain and the frost and the snow then your not going to make the most out of it.

We have a special offer running until April 10 . Our top of the range 6 berth campers are available at € 100 per night including insurance.
Have a look at our website or email me for more infomation.
Kevin www.iwmotorhomes.ie

moodrater

demoreino wrote: »

We have a special offer running until April 10 . Our top of the range 6 berth campers are available at € 100 per night including insurance.

That sounds like a cracking deal. I'd suggest they take out a smaller van though as a spanking new 6 berth it might not be representative of what they could get with their budget.

Moomat

You should seriously consider a model with a fixed bed if it will be mostly the 2 of you. If you are planning to travel in Europe during the summer a fixed bed will be a huge benefit. There's nothing worse than trying to make a bed up in 30º heat before you get into it.
You should give it a try, France has so much to see and is unbelievably campervan friendly, you won't want to come home.
Best of luck!

mogsmoo

Thanks so much for all the good and practical advice. looking at a model tomorrow, its a Peugeot Compass 1995 and its going for 9,500 euro (which is too old for that money I think ) anyway it will be the first one to view, so maybe I'll be back again tomorrow for more advice, Thanks Again

moodrater

mogsmoo wrote: »

Thanks so much for all the good and practical advice. looking at a model tomorrow, its a Peugeot Compass 1995 and its going for 9,500 euro (which is too old for that money I think ) anyway it will be the first one to view, so maybe I'll be back again tomorrow for more advice, Thanks Again

Be sure too look under seats, into every nook and cranny for moisture. Check for corrosion underneath esp. front crossmembers and forward members and signs of corrosion being covered up with underseal. Its 2.5 straight diesel simple,reliable but slow going on hills and accelleration.

bluethunder

mogsmoo wrote: »

Thanks so much for all the good and practical advice. looking at a model tomorrow, its a Peugeot Compass 1995 and its going for 9,500 euro (which is too old for that money I think ) anyway it will be the first one to view, so maybe I'll be back again tomorrow for more advice, Thanks Again

Being only the tender age of 33 I must say I envy you both. My wife and I have a campervan and the last couple of years using it have endeared us to that mode of travel. Our hope is to be in your shoes and be able to travel a lot more in retirement.

I think I have spotted the van you are looking at in Cork. That would be suitable and offer a lot of space for you both. However, I would be concerned at the age and would strongly advise that you buy it on the condition that it has been well maintained (good service history) and that you have a habitation check done which will root out any leaks/damp etc.

My advice, if you could do it, would be to increase your budget to maybe 15k. That would offer you more choice and newer models such as the likes of this: http://www.donedeal.ie/campers-for-sale/camper-2004-dethleffs-globetrotter/6264540

Or this A Class: http://www.donedeal.ie/campers-for-sale/what-a-deal-98-a-class/5806423

Look at the van as a 5 year investment, you'll get a lot of use out of it and it's best to spend top dollar now rather than being caught for expensive repairs with an older model.

Best advice is take your time in buying. Fly to France/Spain and rent one in the off season, you'd get good rates and a much better idea of the services on offer on the continent.

mogsmoo

Great advice, and we will def be taking it. Went to view the Peugeut today, my God I nearly got sick ,it looked like showroom condition on Done Deal, unfortunetly the damp smell and total grottiness finished me altogether, so I'm still on the lookout ,accecpting advice from all out there .

odds_on

mogsmoo wrote: »

Great advice, and we will def be taking it. Went to view the Peugeut today, my God I nearly got sick ,it looked like showroom condition on Done Deal, unfortunetly the damp smell and total grottiness finished me altogether, so I'm still on the lookout ,accecpting advice from all out there .

Keep looking and don't rush. Take you time, and make a list of the things you would like to have in the camper.

Moomat

There's alot of rubbish on Donedeal, try some other websites like adverts.ie and gumtree.ie. You should also have a look at the likes of motorhomecraic.com and see if any members are selling anything.

This crowd have been around for years:
http://www.adverts.ie/4585920

moodrater

Moomat wrote: »

This crowd have been around for years:
http://www.adverts.ie/4585920

Looking at that reminds me of another thing to look out for. You can only drive 3500kg gvw on a B licence so consequently a lot of motorhomes are built to 3500kg or less. A lot of those enormous motorhomes have as a result very little payload.

For example you may find the empty van might already weight 3200kg and be only rated to 3400kg. Meaning you can only legally carry a piddly 200kg and that has to include passengers, food, clothes, bed linen, water, gas, sewage, bikes etc. etc.

Worse still a lot of vans have been uprated to over 3500kg, 3850kg or 4500kg meaning you might not be able to drive it without a c licence. So make sure to check the plates under the bonnet, often there is a second plate with new gvw.

CJhaughey

Moomat wrote: »

There's alot of rubbish on Donedeal, try some other websites like adverts.ie and gumtree.ie. You should also have a look at the likes of motorhomecraic.com and see if any members are selling anything.

There is plenty of rubbish around for sure, the amount of 'vans I have looked at that are completely rotten has been astounding. Mainly ones that have been left outside.
I would say that a good dealer is probably a much safer prospect if you don't know what you are looking for/at with regards to damp.
That said I went to a large dealer and looked at a 7 berth with a rotten rear. I didn't ask and wasn't told that there was damp, Only the fact that I was scrabbling around underneath with a torch showed it up.

joed571

i would say just keep looking and dont be scared to walk away.. i bought the fifth one i looked at and its a 1995 1.9 turbo diesel that had very low miles and has since been all around ireland and spent three weeks driving around france in a july heat with no problems.