# which motor home is best for full timing



## magdaline (Apr 18, 2010)

hi every one i a :roll: m now preparing to buy my motor home put my house on the market and embark on full timing my question is to all those who are full timing what motor home should i be looking for ? :roll:


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Need a bit more info.

how many of you are there
do you intend to travel or stay in one place etc

welcome to MHF by the way

stew


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## magdaline (Apr 18, 2010)

hi stew! sorry theirs me my old man and a dog kids are off now doing there own thing and we are still fit and healthy . :lol:


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## magdaline (Apr 18, 2010)

and yes forgot to say i intend to visit as many places as i can but in a leisurely pace


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## ourden (May 1, 2010)

When I go full timing, well 3/4 timing, will be getting a Fiver.


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

It's a bit of an open-ended question really.

So we know there's 2 adults and a dog. Are you intent on travelling abroad? More key, perhaps, is where you intend staying in the winter, because this will dictate the level of winterisation you need in the van.

Only you know how much space you need. Have you motorhomed before? If not, I suggest hiring one, to see how you get on with your travelling partners in a confined space. The thought of sitting on the beach watching the sun go down with a glass of wine in your hand might seem wonderful, but there'll be times when it's raining (AGAIN) and cold (AGAIN), and you might be driving each other nuts.

What do you do for leisure? Do you read? Or do you watch telly? Do you cycle or walk?

Generally, I would suggest you look for a motorhome with as much space as possible if you're full timing with others around. Sometimes, you might need to find a bit of space away from the others.

You need to look at layouts far more than any manufacturer. You need to sit in them, pretend you're cooking in them, imagine yourselves at leisure when you can't get out. How will you relax?

Have you read the beginners' guide to motorhomes?

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Beginners_Guide

Well worth a read, IMO, because it might focus your mind on what you need.

Sorry to be vague, but this is a question only you can answer, or maybe people can help but with much more information about you and how you live.

Gerald


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## Zepp (May 14, 2009)

There are so many M/H to choose from, 

I would start looking at vans with a fixed bed and a large garage for full timing in and a good heating system.We have met people fulltiming in RVs and some in very small vans so it all comes down to your needs.

Take your time and look at the pro's and con's of each van


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## carol (May 9, 2005)

Gerald put it all well

Something else to also put in the pot is payload - what weight do you have left to carry things you deem important 

Too large a gig and parking will be a problem. In Francefor instance over 8m can make it hard to fi d aires and some campsites have it as a limit

Personally if asking this question you haven't done your homework

Too many unknowns

Carol.


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

We were full timing, although for various reasons aren't at the moment. We found a book at Vicarious Books called Go Motorhoming invaluable. Its written by motorhomers and covers everything you can think of. We still use it occasionally even now.
It helped us to choose the best one for us.
Our top tips are:
remember you'll be living in it in all weathers so you need the right amount of space. Bigger vans don't always provide the actual living space you need
we like to shower in it - it can be cold in some shower blocks
you need space to store your hobbies, books etc - but its like at home; the more space you have the more you'll fill it
we like the rear lounge because it provides lounging space, visitors space, and we use the overhead cab for bedding, chairs etc.
Whatever you choose I know you'll enjoy yourselves. We did and will do again.


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

We were full timing, although for various reasons aren't at the moment. We found a book at Vicarious Books called Go Motorhoming invaluable. Its written by motorhomers and covers everything you can think of. We still use it occasionally even now.
It helped us to choose the best one for us.
Our top tips are:
remember you'll be living in it in all weathers so you need the right amount of space. Bigger vans don't always provide the actual living space you need
we like to shower in it - it can be cold in some shower blocks
you need space to store your hobbies, books etc - but its like at home; the more space you have the more you'll fill it
we like the rear lounge because it provides lounging space, visitors space, and we use the overhead cab for bedding, chairs etc.
Whatever you choose I know you'll enjoy yourselves. We did and will do again.


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi Magdaline

First thing to accept is there is no perfect motorhome    

We fulltimed in a european and then an RV. For us the RV was great but totally destroyed fulltiming for us. It took away the get up and go but the space was good.

We have recently built a motorhome. We are not fulltiming at the moment but used some of the knowledge we learnt whilst fulltiming. In 11 foot of internal space we have created two distinct areas, one at the back and one at the front. Because of how the shower room juts out the light does not spill from one to the other so we do not have to go to sleep and wake up at the same time, we can co-exist in the same small space but be free to live as two people

stew


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

You won't beat a reasonably large American RV for space and payload. This would be my personal choice.

But then you get into other problems like license, towing a car, repairs and parking. Again these problems didn't concern us as even the smallest of French villages have coaches and dust carts through them.

If you have only just started thinking about this then you will have quite a long learning curve to absorb.

Good luck.

Ray.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I suggest you look at as many as possible and try to establish what will suit you.

I don't agree that over 8 meters is a problem. Ours is 8.4m and we never have a problem fitting on Aires, carparks etc. or negotiating narrow roads. I am happy that if we change another metre in length would be fine. Living in a bigger van is easier than doing so in a small one. 

Payload is all important so be very careful about that, Alan.


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## magdaline (Apr 18, 2010)

Thanks every one for your replies much appreciated and to carol believe it or not i have researched for 12 months now, even taking french and italian lessons i have also visited many exerbitions and sat in many motor homes also hired but found hires tend to be same sort of vans not made for full timing 'But we have motor homed in scotland in winter so i no we will cope with the extremes The reason i asked is because you cant beat experience but the van has to come before the experience and i dont want to make a mistake at the first hurdle that is why i asked if any one had an opinion about what is a good full time motor home .


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

The van is only part of fulltiming M, why do you want to fulltime?

stew


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

magdaline said:


> Thanks every one for your replies much appreciated and to carol believe it or not i have researched for 12 months now, even taking french and italian lessons i have also visited many exerbitions and sat in many motor homes also hired but found hires tend to be same sort of vans not made for full timing 'But we have motor homed in scotland in winter so i no we will cope with the extremes The reason i asked is because you cant beat experience but the van has to come before the experience and i dont want to make a mistake at the first hurdle that is why i asked if any one had an opinion about what is a good full time motor home .


Best to buy a cheap one then to start, use it for 1 year then you will find out whats good and bad about it, what you would change/keep etc.

That way you can sell and hopefully won't lose too much before buying your ideal van.

Paul.


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## magdaline (Apr 18, 2010)

Well Stew in a nut shell i want to be free i guess i have always thought i my self have put the chains around my self and have boged my self down with stuff i have a nice home lovely stuff but i work long hours to keep it all i want to be free of the constraints called Britain before we are taxed for the air we breath I am lucky that we will have enough money to keep us a long time on the road . May be its an age thing i dont know but the thought of being my own person is really exciting.


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

magdaline said:


> but found hires tend to be same sort of vans not made for full timing


That's a bit of a strange comment. You must have some idea, then, of what makes a van suitable for full timing, from your perspective?

We should also mention the budget / quality tradeoff. What sort of budget do you have in mind? You can get substantially the same van for £30,000 as you can for £70,000. After from a few frills, the main difference would be the hard-to-define parameter "quality".

I would suggest you want something well built and strong, since you'll be using it every day. Saying that might point some towards the German brands (Hymer, Burstner, Dethleffs, Frankia), but there has been some discussion that the very latest 'quality' brands may not be as solid as earlier versions. On the continent, there is more pressure to make motorhomes come in under 3.5t (due to licensing restrictions over there). But buyers want the fancy features you see on a lot of vans nowadays - for instance, swivelling front seats are commonplace, but the swivel mechanism has some weight to it, which (along with other things) could compromise the thickness and solidity of the cabinet work.

Motorhomes are made, in a lot of cases, by large group companies, and it may be that a 'quality' brand is made on the same production lines as a 'cost-effective' brand. It's hard to say whether the lower-cost motorhome in this case would be of a lesser quality than the 'better' brand.

Gerald


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

geraldandannie said:


> magdaline said:
> 
> 
> > but found hires tend to be same sort of vans not made for full timing
> ...


Come on Gerald don't beat around the bush, come out with it intead of talking in riddles.

You're telling her to buy a Chausson   

Paul.


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

coppo said:


> Come on Gerald don't beat around the bush, come out with it intead of talking in riddles. You're telling her to buy a Chausson


Did I ever once mention Chausson Paul? Did I? Hmm? :wink:

I do find it hard to measure 'quality', especially as attaining it hurts my pocket 

I've no idea if my van has solid wood or cardboard wood for its cupboards (I suspect the latter), but it looks nice, and it hasn't fallen apart (yet  ), although we've only done 12,000 or so miles in 3 years. I would guess we've spent 100 nights in it, or maybe 150. This is different to spending over 1000 nights in it during the same period.

I'm not knocking Hymers (or Dethleffs, Frankias or Burstner), but I *personally* find it difficult to justify the extra cost. At the time we bought ours, we paid around £38k, and could have bought something at £30k or something at £65k. I could see a small difference form ours to the cheaper one (the wood panels are shaped, and cupboard fronts are curved), and for us, that little bit extra was worth paying a few thousand more. We can't afford anything expensive, so this one does us nicely. If people have the money, and want the best, there's no reason why they shouldn't buy the best.

Look at PVCs, for instance. Trigano Tribute, £30k. Wildax maybe a bit less. Timberland and IH well over £40k, in some cases over £50k. But IH and Timberland sell well, and people are prepared to pay for the extra quality the get. Are they better assembled? Maybe. Is the wood thicker? Perhaps. Are the cushions thicker and comfier? Almost certainly. For some, it would be a status symbol (like some cars are).

So .... I don't know  If I were full timing, I'd want something that didn't fall apart over some years of use, and I'd probably want to buy one of the 'quality' motorhomes with a prestigious brand name. Whether I'd be right to do so or not is anyone's guess.

P.S. I'm seriously trying _not_ to knock anyone's choice of motorhome. I know there's some very expensive homes on wheels on here, and they're beautiful, but just not for us.

Gerald


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

geraldandannie said:


> coppo said:
> 
> 
> > Come on Gerald don't beat around the bush, come out with it intead of talking in riddles. You're telling her to buy a Chausson
> ...


  Despite my joke i agree with you Gerald, a lot of them you pay for name/prestige.

We've looked in a few Chaussons and they do look good value/quality motorhomes for the price although i,m a big advocate of second hand and Caroline likes new. So we compromised and bought an although new one, it was a cheap unregistered old model saving us many many thousands on a merc as well. There we go again, people pay for the name. As long as they work well, don't fall to bits/break down etc thats the main thing.

I still say to the OP as my previous post, buy SECONDHAND cheap to start,(£10,000 ish) especially as she's obviously not sure what to do/get.

Paul.


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## spartacus (Jul 10, 2008)

As someone who is fulltimimg, and for similar reasons to the OP, I would suggest the following as essential requirements:

Good payload
Fixed bed
Large storage, either garage or underfloor/double floor
Winterised (probably rules out most British vans?)
Combined gas/electric heating

Whist I can see the appeal of an RV or a Fiver for living in, I think they become restrictive for travelling, lending themselves to fixed sites and utilising a secondary mode of transport that you have to tow around. You need to decide what sort of fulltiming you will be doing, moving around a lot free of needing to earn an income or more static based existence which lends itself to more a caravan or a Fiver really. But then you might as well have stayed at home??

We all have different lives and needs so what suits for one may not suit for you and you may not make exactly the right choice in terms of van, but what matters most is that you take the plunge and get on with it. The van is just the means to an end.

That end, for me, is freedom, adventure and getting away from the suffocating grasp of the state.


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## kevanna1959 (Apr 5, 2010)

*full time*

After caravaning for 13 years, we decided to buy a motorhome. we have full timed ever since although we have a large house, we have given that to the little ones. we spent december to march touring spain then june to sep touring eastern europe. we have a six berth with a double floor so everything fits in. the fixed bed is great and we can lounge in the front watching tv. We have added a 55 ltr underslung gas tank, a solar panel,ect. We have a season pitch in southport so we are at last "free"


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

My thoughts are that if you are going to spend LOTS of time in the van then the layout needs a dedicated place for HER and a dedicated place for HIM and of course one for the dog.

Your "toys" will need to come onboard so payload is very important. You will also end up requiring some ancillary transport be it a push bike to a towed car (another debate in itself).

Lots of traveling mean lots of fuel especially the big yanky RV,s with their V10 8 litre engines. (Engine replacement cost about £11,500 if you drop a paper clip doen a spark plug hole)

Our own van is quite capable of full timing but the longest time we have been away in it is 5 weeks, even then its up-plated to make the overweight legal as our toys include 2 motorcycles! (She has more sence than to ride pillion behind me!)

I take it you don,t have regular mother-in-law of grandchildren commitments. Lucky so and so.

Think very hard before you take the plunge.

Have a look at ours and others like it for some ideas.
http://www.motts.org/CONCORDE.htm

C.


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## magdaline (Apr 18, 2010)

thanks Gerald for your input im glad you think your van is great it means you choose wisely this is what i am trying to do i dont want to go down the road of bigger and exspensive are best because this is what i am trying to escape from. i just want something of quality without being ripped off (if that is possible these days )i need a van that is reliable and will not fall apart and go wrong in a couple of years I understand what stew says about their isn't a perfect motor home but i want to be close.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Swift Kontiki 640

Accept nothing less!


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

Dare I suggest that a well used German quality A class is likely to suit you more for full timing than most UK vans. (Exceptions being RS motorhomes and the like)
These big Germans depreciate a lot initially so you CAN get a quality van for a sensible price. Double floors so fully winterised, payload, SOLID quality construction.
C.


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## gromett (May 9, 2005)

I have been fulltiming for about 18 months now and have had 3 different vehicles. I started with a Eura Mobil 770HS which was excellent but the layout was no good for a solo fulltimer as it was designed for 7 ppl.

The second was a self build Bus conversion. this was too big and took the spontaneity out of the equation. I am now in a Self Build Ducato LWB conversion which is probably a little too small for me.

I will stick with this for a bit as I need some stability for a while but my next one will probably be a Eura again but I will rip out some of the internals and redo parts of the layout. The self builds I have done have given me the confidence to do this now.

The eura's are great for storage, insulation and payload and if you can find a layout that suites within your budget I would not hesitate to recommend one.

The two big issues I would look at are balancing storage with getting around. Too big and you can't move as often or as easily as you want, too small and you feel cramped getting the balance right is key. The second issue will be can you live with each other in the space.... If you can have a his and hers area it will make things a little easier. If you are going to follow the sun then it will be easier still as a lot of the time you will be outside.

Karl


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