Buying a used motorhome

The impact of the sharing economy on our lives can’t be understated. We have both embraced the opportunities it provides to try something different and to try out the latest fad . The way we see it, you can try something out you might possibly have a passion for, no matter what doubts you might have, see how it goes, and if it fits you, fantastic! If not, sell it on again, generally for a very similar price for what you bought it for. They say that as soon as you drive a new vehicle out of the showroom you lose 30% of its value; we’d suggest that also applies to technology and furniture purchases. More again for fitness equipment!

With this mindset we’ve managed to have a regular rotation of mobile phones to try out, explore whether it is true that an exercise bike becomes an oddly shaped clothes rack within months of use, explore whether  home automation is a fad that is truly going to make us fat from lack of movement, and even trade succulent plants to expand our and other’s gardens. We’ve also digitised one of our parent’s, and her parents’, entire photo album and picked up a TV that the photos can play through as a slide show. All of this for a far lower cost than getting it done by a company.

This allows us to have fun with purchases and play around with things we normally wouldn’t explore. But how well do these little purchases translate into a large scale purchase such as a motorhome? There are some lessons that translate, but there’s a little more pressure on a $70,000 purchase than a $7 or $70 purchase. Like 1,000 times more pressure, that take a second hand flight of fancy well and truly into the ‘oh bugger’ territory.

For a motorhome, all of the considerations from buying a used car apply. Regular servicing history, checking for rust, making sure the seals are all in good order and there don’t appear to be any leaks, the number of kilometres travelled against whether it is a petrol or diesel engine (noting diesel tends pull heavy weight better), and whether it has cruise control to make driving the long Australian highways easier, are all important.

The brand of car, not just of the motorhome itself, is key, with reliability all of a sudden seeming like the only consideration if we get stuck in the middle of nowhere. There’s not much worse than being stuck somewhere in the top end with crocodiles in the water, having the motorhome break down, and having to ride a bike for several hundred kilometres just to get mobile phone reception to tell someone that we need to be towed. Given this, if we were looking solely at reliability, we might be prioritising buying a Mercedes and Volkswagen.

But then the flipside is the cost of repairs and the availability of parts. Having a Mercedes means taking a chance on the local mechanic having the part we need, and potentially having our home out of action whilst a part is flown in from wherever it needs to come from.  Having our home out of action for a couple of days is terrible, but waiting for a couple of weeks AND having to pay for the privilege is not where we want to be. In some cases it can cost upwards of $10,000 for a new gearbox. For us, this might mean our motorhome becomes a really expensive, really tiny and intimate house. Given this, we’ll likely end up with something more middle of the road, like a Ford Transit; not the most reliable vehicle, but good enough and reasonably cheap to fix.

But on top of all the mechanical considerations, there’s the small matter of what is attached to the chassis – the motorhome itself.

Given the number of motorhomes on the market, and how long they can be on sale for, we’ve got some criteria before we’ll consider seeing it in person. For us, we’ve decided a minimum of 4 berth. Not because we are planning to have random strays join us, but because we’ll be spending 6 months in a small tin box. The size associated with a 4 berth (or more) gives a little more breathing room and avoids needing to perform and intimate and slightly strange dance, to the rhythm of quietly uttered ‘sorry’s, that lasts 6 months as we try to squeeze past each other dozens of times every day.

Water damage is obviously another biggie, including making sure the wet areas are well sealed, and there is no sign of leakage in the cupboards under sinks or other areas. Additionally, with Australia having had some monster floods in the past 10 years, particularly in Queensland, a general check of the underbody is definitely warranted.

Other things we’re taking in mind are storage space; general space; the ability for a 6 foot 2 inch non-Grey Nomad to stretch out in one of the beds, making sure it have a decent size awning so that we aren’t forever stuck inside, and how well it drives. In any motorhome you’re going to get a cacophony of rattles, while you are on the road, but we trace them back to their source just to be sure it’s a cupboard door or a microwave plate, and not a rusted floor plate…

And of course, for us its important to simply sit in the space. Does it feel like a home or is it more plastic than a Mattel toy line? Can you sit in the chairs and have some hope of getting out again without needing a winch to pull you out? Are all the stains reasonably explained or is there one really weirdly positioned stain that boggles the mind as to the foreignness of the activity that got the stain just there?

As with any list of criteria, when buying second hand you may compromise in some areas to get better outcomes in others. The trick is knowing when we can compromise, and when a compromise will have a significant detriment to our holiday. A stain if in the completely wrong place may not affect how well the motorhome drives but might impact every day of the holiday…

These detriments are amplified by that same factor of 1,000 when living in a small space. This could lead to some very stressful situations… We’ve already starting telling family and friends that if one of us gets eaten by a crocodile, the first question to ask will be whether the other one pushed them. Let’s hope we don’t have a blog post about that. Or a suspicious sudden stop in postings…

Thoughts on what else we should look out for? Let us know in the comments.