Having made the decision to clear off into the sunset, we had no idea where to start when it came to choosing a Motorhome. No idea how much they cost, no idea about base vehicles or layouts, no idea if we needed to take an additional driving test…. We were clueless!
A few evenings with Mr Google quickly gave us an idea of cost, which made us swallow very hard. Further research indicated that although expensive, Motorhomes really depreciate slowly so if we had to sell we’d at least get a large proportion of our cash back.
As we both passed our driving tests somewhere in the Middle Ages we found that we are licensed to drive anything up to 7.5T so that was a relief as most coachbuilt Motorhomes in our price range are 3.5T or less.
When it came to base vehicles and layouts we were boggled by the number of variations. We quickly dismissed the wild, and wildly expensive American RV type vans with slide out lounges and optional jacuzzi. At the other end of the scale we weren’t keen on the smaller van conversions as several months away means a lot of time in each others’ company and we didn’t want to feel too claustrophobic.
We quickly settled on what’s described as a ‘coachbuilt’. This is where a Motorhome manufacturer takes a van chassis from a manufacturer such as Fiat or Ford then builds a wide bodied accommodation unit on top of it. This seemed to offer the best compromise for our needs with a little more space, but still manageable when it came to driving as we have little experience driving larger vehicles.
Everything we read suggested we hire a vehicle for a few days to really make sure we liked the layout and actually enjoyed the experience. But we thought….naaaaah! We may live to regret it…
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