Upgrading your motorhome / camper van

There may come a time when you decide to upgrade your ‘van’ to a different, usually newer, model. When doing so there are several things to consider.

 

Our strategy with our first motorhome was to go for a relatively cheap, and quite old, model to assess what we thought of the motorhome concept in general – and also to evaluate what works for us. People use motorhomes in different ways so the layout of the habitation area has to suit.

In fact, in our case, we realised that the layout – particularly the narrowness of the bed and the difficulty of setting it up each night – was actually deterring us from using the motorhome. This experience proved invaluable when the time came to upgrade because we knew exactly what sort of layout we needed.

Given that this is a big investment and merits taking the time to peruse all the options I would recommend starting the process at the end of the camping season (unless you’re a hardy all-year-round camper). Then you can take your time and still be ready to go when spring arrives.

How to go about it

With the decision made the next step, obviously, was to find a design to which we were better suited, or was better suited to us. This took account of size (not wanting anything that was much bigger), the layout, the age and of course the price. One key requirement was either a fixed bed or one that converted quickly and easily.

We also wanted a van conversion rather than a coach-built design. This was because coach-built models tend to have a very narrow side door. In contrast, a van has a wide sliding door so you can sit inside and still have a good view outside. It also makes it easier to get things in and out.

So those considerations narrowed things down quite a bit, which is very useful when you could potentially be scrolling through hundreds of different models on the internet. Some dealers have useful filters on their websites to make this process even easier.

Private or dealer

We also had to decide whether to buy and sell privately or go for a part-exchange through a dealer. We opted for part-exchange because we haven’t got space for two vans if we bought the new one before selling the old one.

Plus, of course, you tend to get a longer warranty with a dealer and, with reputable dealers at least, the reassurance that if they say they’ve serviced and MOT’d it, they almost certainly have. This certainly wasn’t the case with the very small (and as it turned out, unprofessional) dealer we bought our first van from.

It’s also worth asking about procedures when you buy a motorhome from a dealer. If they offer a detailed handover, where they take you through every aspect of your new van to make sure you know how to use and maintain it, that’s a very good sign.

As a guide, on the day I picked up the new model I had to allow for a 2-hour handover, which not only covered using the systems such as heating and hot water, but also how to drain systems for winter, etc.

Usefully, the handover also highlighted a couple of things that weren’t quite right so it had to take another quick trip to the workshop before I could leave with it.

Alternatively, if you are going for a private sale and purchase there are various ways of going about it. You could use a broker, such as Motorhome Depot, or through a more general auto site, such as AutoTrader. There are also sites like eBay and Gumtree that might be worth considering.

I have no experience (positive or negative) of any of the above so this isn’t a recommendation.

As I mentioned earlier, we decided a dealer was the best option for us and ended up trawling through various motorhome dealer websites to produce a short list of camper van conversions that fit our criteria. Then it was a case of finding out more.

Part-exchange challenges

The part-exchange aspects also proved trickier than anticipated. The first dealer we visited - which advertised ‘part exchange welcome’ all over its website - refused to take our camper in part-exchange – so that was a wasted 100 mile round trip.

In the light of that experience we ended up communicating with two dealers who were prepared to provide a quote for part-exchange without seeing the vehicle, though this too proved tricky. The key problem was that part-exchange prices are based on market value of known brands and models. Ours was neither, though we hadn’t realised that at the time.

It turned out that ours was a ‘DIY’ conversion – albeit a high quality one, as acknowledged by both dealers we were talking to. However, it made it difficult for them to put a price on it as their intention was to sell it on further down the motor trade.

Nevertheless, having sent over a huge selection of photos we eventually got an offer from one of them that was acceptable so the next step was to travel to the dealer to check out the potential purchase. This is a good time to get a feel for the professionalism of the dealer.

Potential extra costs

Gas bottles

One of the things we discovered was that the usual procedure is to take your gas bottles out of the motorhome you’re trading in and put them in the one you’re buying. If you’re getting a used motorhome the previous owner will have done the same.

BUT check that the gas bottles are compatible in terms of size and type of gas. For instance, we had 2 x 4.5kg butane bottles but our new motorhome takes 2 x 13kg propane bottles. These aren’t interchangeable and the connectors are different to ensure you can’t connect the wrong type of gas.

So we had the extra expense of getting compatible cylinders – and without old ones to ‘swap’ we had to pay the ‘hire charge’ for the cylinders as well as paying for the gas inside them. This may be something to include in the negotiations with the dealer.

Also, some motorhomes nowadays are designed to take LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) which has to be added at a garage that has an LPG pump. If you’re going down this route it’s worth checking how easy it will be to find a suitable garage nearby or en-route to site. As far as I can tell they are few and far between.

Canopies and awnings

If you’ve invested in a canopy or awning for your existing motorhome you may find that the new one you’re considering has a different type of rail. Or it may already have a canopy attached so fitting an awning rail is difficult. Not the end of the world, perhaps, but could be a deal maker/breaker if you’ve narrowed the choice down and are trying to make a final decision.

Test drive

A test drive is important as it may highlight potential areas of cost in the future. For example, one of the motorhomes I tested was really well laid out and drove very nicely except that the gears were very stiff. This suggested to me that the gear box could be a problem in the future.