How to buy a motorhome

In everyday practical terms, buying a motorhome couldn’t be easier.

Assuming you have your financing sorted out, all you need to do is to go along to a reputable dealer, select a motorhome, pay for it and then drive it away.

However, positioning yourself so that six months later you’ll be able to say to the mirror “I did the right thing” requires a little more preparation.

The following motorhome buying tips might help you to achieve exactly that.

Sizing

Although it might not be commonplace, it’s perfectly possible to find yourself in the position of thinking that you should have purchased a smaller or larger motorhome than the one you selected.  That usually comes about after some months experience of using it and finding that it isn’t quite right for your requirements.

So, think carefully about the size of vehicle you need in advance.  Points you might wish to consider include:

• how frequently and over what typical durations you think you might use your vehicle. That’s because if you plan to take lots of relatively short duration breaks then you may find you can compromise a little on how much space you have available.

By contrast, if you plan to spend lots of continuous time in your vehicle, you may wish to select a larger one which gives you more breathing space;

• will you be accommodating others on a regular basis? The requirements of a family of four are likely to be quite different to those of a couple.  Even if you are retired though, do you plan on taking your children or grandchildren around with you at times?  If so, you may wish to look at larger vehicles;

• are you comfortable with driving larger vehicles? Some motorhomes can be very large indeed and if they make you uneasy, you may prefer smaller models.

Think through all these things in advance before signing any cheques.

Research the price versus quality issue

Just as in many other areas of life, there may be a relationship between the price you pay for a given vehicle and the quality of its engineering and equipment.

Purchasing the cheapest motorhome you can find might seem sensible at the time but later you may regret some of those equipment level compromises you made when selecting it.

Relax and take your time

Eager as you may be to purchase your vehicle and get out on the road, don’t rush to buy the first one you see.

Once again, do your research carefully and look at plenty of motorhomes before deciding which is going to be suitable for you.

This is, without doubt, one of the most important motorhome buying tips around.

Don’t spend every last penny you have on the purchase

At some time you’ll be deciding how much you can comfortably spend on your vehicle.

When doing so, remember that the whole point of owning a motorhome is to get it out on the road and enjoy it.  So, make sure you have some of your budget put to one side to enable you to get the most out of your motorhome immediately after purchase.

Speak to an expert sooner rather than later

There is only so much detail a brief article of this nature can go into in terms of motorhome buying tips.

There are a number of other important issues you need to take into account and it might be sensible to contact a reputable showroom to ask for some unbiased advice and guidance about how your requirements map against what’s available in the marketplace.