New member with lots of questions can anyone help

[andybrass]

We are both now retired and struggling with do we purchase a caravan or a motorhome and there seems to be an awful lot of arguments for and against which ever way you go, we have seen a nice caravan and a nice motorhome and both tick all of the boxes as anyone ever found them selves in the same predicament and how did they resolve.

If you purchased a new model do you get a choice in the upholstery or as a particular model got the same fabric on the upholstery and curtains whether you purchase it in Lands End or John o Groats.
With me approaching 70 do I obtain the required medical form for the driving licence from my doctor or DVLA

Did I read somewhere that the PM magazine in an earlier issue did a top 100 sites and if so would anyone know at such a late date where this could be obtained from.
That's possibly enough questions to start with I don't want to get barred on my first day.

Many thanks

Andy

 

[LizziePope]

Hi Andy and a very warm welcome to the Practical Motorhome forum – it's great to have you on board! Thank you for posting.

Of course, your choice of caravan or motorhome is very subjective. It's down to you, what you want from your touring and the type of layout and lifestyle you want. One idea might be to hire a motorhome and go away for a holiday (see our guide to renting here). Then you can see if that lifestyle suits you and start to hone your ideas about layouts, spec levels and so on. While this is very general, motorhomes tend to be best suited to more itinerant holidays, where you move on after a night or two, whereas caravans are often pitched on site for days – or weeks – at a time, because it's easy to go off in the tow car to explore the surrounding area in a more manageably sized vehicle. But, of course, this is massively generalised and people use their motorhomes and caravans in a huge variety of ways!

If you're looking at buying your first motorhome, please click here to read our guide, as this might help refine your thinking, to make sure you buy the right ’van for you.

In terms of the Top 100 Sites Guide you asked about. This is something we publish every year with our sister title Practical Caravan. We don't have any hard copies left, however if you go to our sister magazine's website, you can view the 2017 guide here and you can download this and all previous guides here. And there's also our motorhome-specific Nightstops scheme.

I hope that helps as a start!

 

[TonyJones]

Hi Andy, good to hear from you. May I add my warm welcome to Lizzie's.
A caravan and a motorhome are two very different animals, so I'd suggest you start by thinking about how you'll be using your dream vehicle.
If the picture in your minds is of a campsite, where you'd stay for a number of days at a time, using it as a base to explore the surrounding area, then a caravan might be your solution. It would (usually) give you more living space, and can be left set up while you buzz off in the car. With a motorhome, everything has to be packed away for those day trips!
A motorhome comes into its own for touring, by which I mean spending the day in a mixture of travelling, sightseeing, and doing whatever you came there to do. Then stopping somewhere for the night (and maybe your evening meal), which may or may not be a campsite. (only motorhomers have that choice - see Lizzie's mention of Nightstops; other schemes are available).
In the real world, of course, most of us do some of each (I'm sitting in our motorhome right now, on a site where we're staying for three nights), but you need to think about which of those two "styles" suits you best, and cheerfully accept the drawbacks when you occasionally do the other!
As far as I know, buying new will usually give you quite a lot of choices, including upholstery patterns. You're the customer, ask for what you want and see what they say.
Hope that helps for starters - do keep asking (and don't worry about long posts, we love them!)

 

[Aspenshaw]

Andy, you need to get your head around what you want to do with your leisure vehicle whichever you buy. Tony and Lizzie have commented on this and I agree with them. I've caravanned and motorhomed. Each time we change the motorhome, we ask whether we want to revert to caravanning.

We rarely stopped on sites for less than a week when we had the caravan. We never stop on sites for more than a week in the motorhome. We use the motorhome for days out but we never considered towing our caravan to a country fair or air show etc. We never took our caravan on the continent but we took our motorhome. We couldn't get our motorhome in Tescos car park at their Bangor [Wales] shop but we could have got a car in if we left the caravan on site. We can't get a caravan on our current drive without extending the drive!

I doubt you will be able to come to a rational decision. More likely your decision will be based on what feels right. How you feel about what you buy will be with you for a long time so probably is going to be the deciding factor. If all else fails, toss a coin. And keeping tossing until you get the answer that sits with your gut feel.

If you order a 'van in advance, you will have some say in furnishings etc. If you buy one you see at the dealers, you won't.

Sorry, I can't comment on licences for over 70s.

 

[TonyJones]

As far as I know, you only need a medical at 70 if you want to keep C1 entitlement, to drive something over 3500kg. Otherwise, you just have to sign a declaration yourself.
Either way, I'm afraid it's DVLA first!

 

[chirene]

Can only reiterate what has been said.
Agree with Tony re licence. Medical if you want to drive over 3500. Not really necessary , IMO . Large vans can be a problem, cost more on ferry, some sites can't accommodate them
re Mh or caravan, well we almost changed to a caravan, but did not. We do not ride bikes , so some sites are out in the sticks, and not suitable. That is in the uk. We only go abroad in our van, and have to pick sites close to villages /towns , or close to bus stop. If you have any difficulty with getting about , then a caravan is best, and Mh are often to big for sightseeing .
I would either hire first, and not buy new, as if you get the layout wrong, it is very costly to change , and the first owner takes the 20% VAT , so a loss if you change your mind.
At 70 you are still in your prime these days. We are considerably older , and that is why we thought a caravan would suit us better, BUT we had one back in the 1970. s and did not like towing then! so are staying with the van and just having to find suitable sites , with easy access to places, due to mobility problems
So my advice, Dont buy new. Hire before you buy and make sure that the layout will suit the your lifestyle, and remember that it does rain, so you need space to relax inside !OH and do you have space to park?