So you think you want a motorhome?

Some practical ownership experience

We've just sold our motorhome. After approximately four and a half years and 45,000 miles we thought we had given the experience of motorhoming a good go. We've greatly enjoyed the experience of using the 'van (important apostrophe). We've weekended in it; toured for a month in it; lived in it when between houses; slept in it on people's driveways, Scottish beaches, service station car parks, forestry commission pull-ins and, of course, paid-for campsites. We've used the van's carrying capacity (the seating was removable to create a space approximately half the van's size), and we've towed with it. If there is a camping experience better than waking on a sunny Scottish beach, then it is doing so with full breakfast-making capability on board. A highly recommended experience.

What we've enjoyed less was the experience of owning a motorhome. Not the cost so much (all vehicles depreciate and only you can judge whether you will use one enough to justify the cost), but the hard work and hassle. This article is about the downside of owning a motorhome. Many of the things we experienced were difficult to predict or understand in advance. If you are about to go motorcaravanning for the first time, these are things which we think you might want to take into account.

The vehicle

Motorcaravans are built on commercial vans. The sort that delivery companies use. We expected the base vehicle to be a bit crude, but robust. Our relatively highly specified van turned out to be the opposite. It was a pleasure to drive at any modest speed, but it was unrobust to the point of being fragile.

Yes, we heard the story about us having been unlucky. But the various failings and failures were unrelated, and included straightforward service items. And I also know that if I walk into a dealer to get a replacement part for a door lock that had just fallen off and have the dealer reach under the counter and bring out the exact part, then my bad luck was also being experienced by others.

Our van was made by Fiat. The majority of motorhome conversions are done on Fiat base vehicles. This is partly a matter of price, but also a result of the fact that they are (or, at least, were) the best shape for conversions. Be aware that Peugeot and Citroen vans come out of the same factory as the Fiats.

I won't list all the failures, but here are a few "highlights":

- two roadside recoveries in the first 18 months (brakes jammed on on one occasion, and the clutch master cylinder failed on another)

- all shock absorbers replaced in first 18 months

- central locking electrics that failed so many times that I had to pay somebody to disable them

- sliding door lock fell out (as did various other more minor items)

- the dashboard facia had to be removed at least three times

- a brand new fuel filter failed

Some of this was covered under warranty and some wasn't, but the important point as far as we were concerned was that every failure of this magnitude meant another trip to the dealer, another day hanging around waiting, and another set of checks to do and worries to worry.

The dealers

We did find a very good Fiat dealer, but it took some doing and a far portion of luck. Not all Fiat dealers have facilities for vans, and not all those who do are very interested. We understand that the situation is even worse for Renault vans as the vehicles are sold by a different company from Renault cars and the car dealerships have no interest at all in your motorhome.

The important point here is that you can't roll into a town with which you are unfamiliar, and expect help from the dealership with the manufacturer's name over the door.

Getting an MOT done was another problem. Even our helpful dealer didn't do MOTs for large vehicles. And although our remote home was a factor here, we couldn't find an MOT station that would accept the van within a 2 hour drive.

The conversion

A motorhome is a handbuilt craft product. There will be snags and quibbles with any complex product of this nature, no matter how up, or down, market. Our converter was excellent, but even so we had to visit the workshop twice for after sales work. And on another occasion we had to track down a specialist service centre for the heating system which had a fault (probably from new, and certainly accepted as a warranty claim). It all takes time.

When our van was about a year old we also uncovered a highly dangerous electrical fault. The sort of thing that if it had happened on a mass produced vehicle would have resulted in vehicle recalls and legal action. Our converter did exactly the right thing to sort the problem out, but it still meant two days driving for us. Again, we were 'unlucky', but these are not products of standardised production systems with testing and audit. Stuff will go wrong.

In addition to normal vehicle servicing, the conversion needs periodic servicing. The 'van is full of gas and water plumbing, electrical components, heating systems and so on. If nothing else, getting gas piping pressure tested regularly is a must. There are specialist motorhome service centres but unless you happen to live near one you need to budget for the drive and holiday time.

Routine maintenance

It may sound obvious, but we hadn't quite figured how dirty the inside of a bedroom and kitchen can get when you drive them around. Our conversion collected road grime inside right over the cooker area, which not only made that area less pleasant, but also meant that any normal grease or steam from cooking became grit infected very easily.

Another area that hadn't really dawned on us until we had to do it is the fact that the 'van contains drinking and dirty (grey) water in containters that you can't get at. Keeping these clean and/or sterile was another chore to add to the list. And no matter how much you are using a motorhome, the chances are that the next trip is too long after the last trip to ignore your clean water system. The grey water system was more an irritant than a chore as there was nothing much to be done except thorough emptying. Our motorhome, in common with most others, did not have U bends in the waste water pipes. That means that it is virtually impossible to keep stale water smells out of the interior.

And a final thought for this section. No matter how hard you try you'll not get all the water out of the convoluted pipes and fittings in the 'van. That means come winter you either run heating or risk frost damage. It may sound trivial, but if you need to spend a day sourcing some odd sized piping in order to get your 'van functioning before your first trip in March, then it is anything but amusing.

Care and repair

Our 'van was a high quality conversion, but even so we were amazed at the flimsy nature of many of the bought in components (stuff like taps, the notorious retractable step, the not really up to automotive use deadlocks and the rattle-itself-to-death cooker). Anything that the converter built was good and solid, but anything that they bought in was likely flimsy and breakable. And break it we did. When a wooden chopping board hits a plastic tap, the tap is going to break. Phone calls, postage, fitting time. All hassle.

High on our 'not fit for purpose' list are the retractable step, the flimsy fiddly internal blinds, the plastic taps and the fridge igntion system. Anything that isn't up to the job needs care and attention that detracts from the carefree image of motorhoming.

Conclusion

Is all of this too much? Well, only you can decide that. One of the things that you pay for when you stay in a hotel is the ability to walk away from it at the end of the holiday. Their plumbing is their problem. Tent camping, whilst undeniably less comfortable, is a lot less work.

We found that carefree mornings on sunny Scottish beaches came at quite a cost.