Hi I'm New and need some advice!

[Anniecorrie]

Recently fallen in love with the Romahome and now want to buy one but I know nothing about them and am looking for any help or advice from owners to assist with my purchase. I'm thinking of a second hand one, I've seen a few K reg vehicles, are these okay? 1993 seems a long time ago should I be looking at something newer? What sort of hight do the older models reach...I need to get it in my garage. Sorry for all the questions but very keen to get a Romahome and start my travels but a complete novice at this stuff!!

[cedas]

Recently fallen in love with the Romahome and now want to buy one but I know nothing about them and am looking for any help or advice from owners to assist with my purchase. I'm thinking of a second hand one, I've seen a few K reg vehicles, are these okay? 1993 seems a long time ago should I be looking at something newer? What sort of hight do the older models reach...I need to get it in my garage. Sorry for all the questions but very keen to get a Romahome and start my travels but a complete novice at this stuff!!

I am sure some more experienced people will give you advice - I am a newbie and mine is Y reg HiLO. But if you are concerned about your garage, look in the downloads section of the site you can download C15 manual which gives you the measurements so you can work out if it will fit into your garage

[Ian.C.S]

hello Annie corrie, you need to see some and explore.Your nearest Romahome stockist is Avon Motorcaravans just outside of Bristol.A HiLo,a van with a pop up top would probably suit you perfectly, the Avon M/C owner is Ant who has his own section on this forum.Freeborn in Southampton is the main dealer if you get down that way.
Look at the Romahome website to see the types and look at/telephone Ant to see what secondhand reconditioned romas he has.
You are doing the right thing.
Ian

[NomadSue]

Hi. Welcome to the forum

I am sure you will get plenty of helpful comments about choosing a good, used Romahome. There are a lot of the older vehicles still being run, often with remarkably low mileages as they may not have been used as main cars. And their owners seem very pleased, indeed rightly proud, of their vehicles.

To start the ball rolling, I'll put in my twopenny worth.

Obviously older vehicles do need to be inspected very carefully so that you are fully aware as to what you would be getting. Pay particular attention to the base vehicle (the vehicle on which the camping pod has been placed.) It needs to be thoroughly inspected by an expert eg the AA man for any important signs of deterioration (rust etc). The odds are that the base vehicle will be sound, but you can't be too careful.

The pod itself might / should have received regular habitation checks, for things such as the safety of the gas appliances. Obviously, there may be a few faults that you would need to deal with, some more serious than others.

Good luck with the search. I hope you find something that fits your budget and is safe and reliable.

[andyvan]

Hi Annie,
A warm welcome, you'll need a hylo model to go in a home garage but do check the dimensions of both!
Budget plays a big part in what you get, if you are at £9/10k+ you may just get a Berlingo based one, I'm sure these are a big improvement in refinement on the road and with rust.
The older C15 vans are quirky, prone to rust in some key areas and have relatively poor brakes and like any older vehicle benefit from regular servicing.
Don't let the above put you off!! Find one with power steering (94/95?onwards) Have it inspected and enjoy, they are great fun, practical and economic......
A good snoop around the 'Ask Ant' section on here will help, if you haven't looked at one there are a couple of videos on youtube and lots of images on google, of course better still to see one in the flesh.
All the best
Andyvan

[Tentpeg]

Hi Annie Corrie,
I also would recommend visiting Avon Motorhomes and Ant because they are not at all pushy. They are dealers but they are honest.

Secondly when buying anything like this I would look for the negatives about a motorhome, there are negatives about any motorhome, and see if they matter to you and you can live with them. The positives are easy, dealers will tell you about them and so will owners who are proud of there lovely vehicle. Then you do the balancing thing.

How do you find out the negatives? Well if you drift around a forum like this you will find out because people will post up for advice on any problem they are having..... Also look for ads on motorhomes generally you will find there are products out there designed to solve common problems.

How are you going to use the motorhome? What do you want to do with it? Will that fit in with your life... practicality is important. What will be your must haves in a camper?

REALLY IMPORTANT. Make sure you take the vehicle for a drive... easily arranged at a dealers... and make sure you drive a different sort of vehicle for comparison. Personally I think it is is miserable if the vehicle does not drive well and you find the driving uncomfortable or difficult.

Is this your first motorhome? Unless you are mechanically minded this is my opinion either buy from Ant where you will not get a bargin but you will get a full years warranty, a straightforward deal, peace of mind, a sound vehicle and old fashioned good service and be REALLY REALLY looked after (I bought from Ant I spent years researching before I bought). The second option buying second hand I would suggest paying for an AA/RAC prebuy inspection and consider private sales. If you buy from a dealer do your homework on them first... really do your homeworks okay you have a legal protection from a dealer but it is a civil thing and enforcing it would be a nightmare so best to do homework on dealer first to check they have an excellent aftersales service, some dealers have a shocking track record.

I would personally not buy anything on ebay unless I had a sound mechanical check first it is buying from a auction site, for every successful purchase on ebay you hear of someone having a disaster. If you are a good mechanic or have somebody with you who is then okay it may be fine.

Finally if you look at the meeting up section you will notice there are meets often held around the country. I am sure if you posted and asked people would be happy if you visited and somebody would give you a conducted tour if that would be helpful. Personally would be happy to do that myself but Devon is a little distant from you....

I spent years before I finally took the plunge and glad I did my homework because I went in with my eyes fully open...

[di allen]

Welcome, Annie Corrie,

Can't give you any advice but folk here really know what they're talking about. I would endorse contacting Ant in Bristol; he's everything folk have said and more and he won't sell you any old rubbish. He insists on you driving any vehicle you're interested in to make sure it's the right one for you - how many other dealers do that?

Good luck with your search; hope to see you later in the year at one of the meets.

Di.

[jayjay]

Hi Annie and welcome to the forum and SMH site!

I think the other members have given you loads of advice here, nothing I can improve on!

Just watch out that you don't get carried away on a wave of enthusiasm and buy the first one you see, go and check out a few and see which suits you best. If its going in a garage and you are going to be using it as your main vehicle, a hi-lo is best, but they are quite expensive compared to the older C15s. I agree with all the others, see if you can get over to Ants at Bristol and have a look at his stock there before you make a decision or buy something 'blind'!

Good luck with your search.

[Graham]

Hello Annie

Welcome to the forum, you have had lots of good advice from the folk on here already, you are doing the right thing asking question, do lots of research before you make a final decision, the more you know the more it will help you.

As Tentpeg says why not come for the day to one of our meets, people will be only too pleased to show you their vans.

Here is my video tour of a C15, hope it helps.
http://youtu.be/ztWXz5yayzg

This one was taken at Avon Motor Caravans in Bristol, as others have said Ant will give you good advice and won't sell you any old rubbish. Freeborns in Southampton also have a good reputation if that is nearer, Neville will help you out all he can.

[Anniecorrie]

Huge Thank you to everyone who has helped here!

Very many thanks for all the advice here, its been very useful.

I am in Bristol next weekend and so will call in at Avon.

Thank you for all the tips on what to look for, these have been most useful, I'd not thought of rust and good to hear that I should check out the breaks on the older models.

Would love to join you on a weekend event but would I be allowed...Er i've no motorhome yet!!! Perhaps I could come with a tent for the time being.

Thank you also for the kind welcome you all gave. Hope to see you at an event in the not too distant future.

Annie

[Graham]

Would love to join you on a weekend event but would I be allowed...Er i've no motorhome yet!!! Perhaps I could come with a tent for the time being.

You would be very welcome at a meet with a tent, we welcome all units, we are Small Motorhome AND FRIENDS.

[karenw]

I can only repeat what others have said.

I've had my eye on Romahomes for years and visited Avon Motorhomes last year. Ant was excellent - not at all pushy and although I didn't buy then, I kept a close eye on his website.

I splashed out last month and have never looked back. I opted for a Hylo so it will fit under height barriers and benefit from great fuel economy. I looked at both C15 models but, as a former Kangoo owner, preferred the Berlingo for its improved driving position.

Enjoy hunting for yours. I'm sure that, like me, you won't regret your purchase and will be looking forward to years of cosy campin!