Looking at Buying A Motorhome. Advice Welcome!

The biggest mistake people tend to make when swapping from caravan to MH is to try to replicate their caravan in the MH body. The result is usually a MH that's big and unwieldy and no good for taking to places for sightseeing, so then they start towing a car.....  Small is beautiful, big is not necessarily best.

A rigorous rethink of the equipment carried will be necessary and most of us dump around half of the gear we carried in the caravan because storage in a MH is more limited. Why is an outside table essential? Is there not one already in the MH which you can carry outside when needed?

The performance of the various engines differed with the base vehicles and with age and emission standards. For instance, the 2017 2 litre Peugeot 165 Euro 5 engine was a flyer. The equivalent Fiat was lumpier. The 2020 2.3 Fiat 140 Euro 6 engine is nearly as lively as the 2017 Peugeot. You will need to try them to see.

 PS. Welcome back.

The mere notion of just the choice between French Peugeot/PSA & Italian Fiat would make me stick to towing a caravan .... & yes, I do have experience of both (but just in a car)

Steve

You don't mention whether you want to take bikes with you? If not any motorhome with a bike rack can accept a Fiamma Back Box which (within the weight limits) can take things like chairs etc. We often use the shower for storage whilst travelling, we have nothing in the living area whilst travelling. I think you do have to reconsider everything you take with you. For instance do you need an outdoor table or could you use the one provided for internal use. In my previous motorhome I had a 130HP engine which seemed to lug the 7.5metre motorhome around perfect well! My now Bailey Alliance 66-2 has 165HP engine and is more than powerful enough. Personally I don't think I would entertain a motorhome which had an all up weight of less that 3500kgs. If you are prepared to look at European makes of motorhomes you could well find one of around 6 metres in length that had a garage for storage but the downside (from my point of view) is that the main sleeping bed would be higher up. In normal circumstances I would suggest to anyone thinking of buying a motorhome that they went to one of the NEC shows where they could see a massive range of different models but unfortunately due to COVID that is off the cards for the foreseeable. 

David

I'd go along with the addition of the Fiamma box. For many years we took small fold up camping chairs but have now swapped to full height chairs and these fit comfortably into our secondhand ebay purchase fiamma box. As also suggested you can use the van table inside or out but if you're out you might be glad of a roll out awning and maybe a side panel too. We've also got a roll up camping style table, it's full height and can replace the heavier van table (you could leave it at home for some trips.) The table is similar to this Argos one ...table LINK

We've never had a large motorhome, much easier with the smaller types especially for parking.

I know, I know, but conversions on the Sprinter are not that readily available other than AS and you do pay a hefty price for them. 

The new Fiat TC gearbox is a belter, though.

We switched to. MH in 2019, after extensive research and visiting several shows. Our must have list was fixed beds, a proper cooker and a garage. Initially for some of the stuff that used to travel in the car and to give us safe storage for electric bikes if we decided to get them. In the end we opted for a Hymer Exsis t at 6.94 metres long on a Fiat base with 150 HP euro 6 engine. Although considering the smaller version of the same layout at 6 metres, I rejected this as I just couldn’t get the driving seat back far enough to achieve a comfortable position. One thing we decide early on was to cut down on what we took, both for payload basis and limited work surface compared to our caravan. Having opted for refillable gas we decided to dispense with the electric kettle, toaster and coffee make. Makes for much quicker packing up and means 6 amps at many continental sites is plenty for everything else. I have found the 150HP gives plenty of power and not found it wanting. Although the beds are high due to the garage, a staircase between the two singles makes for very easy getting in an out.

Thanks for all the tips and advice. plenty of food for thought! Perhaps a Sunlight or similar would be a better option.

We will take bikes [for exercise and shopping trips].

Rethink on chairs and tables too.

Cooking tends to be by Remoska and/or slow cooker so 6 amp power supply is fine. We have low voltage kettle, toaster etc and are used to monitoring what's plugged in and the current consumption. We've got lists galore for this type of info, if only to avoid the 'Do you remember what we did last time?' questions.

We do tend to pack too much stuff. An unwitting duplication of food packing and a Mercadona Special Offer led to our having 26 packs of coffee last year, but we used it all eventually ...

We have plenty of time to find what we want, and time spent ruling some models out will help to avoid expensive mistakes.

Steve

When you have an idea of the sort of layout and size you want why not hire a similar van to try out?  It may save an expensive mistake and will certainly give you food for thought.  In addition you will get a much broader range of advice and help if you join MotorhomeFun.  Nearly 50,000 members world wide provides a very large pool of knowledge and experience.

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I think the OP has already stated a desire to travel without too much paraphernalia including caravan awnings etc. It's easier to do this with a m/h without too much of a compromise on comforts.