Welcome to Motorhomefacts, we are a thriving motorhome community (Largest in Europe). Why Not JOIN NOW and get instant access to more of the website. It costs nothing to join and only takes a few minutes. We have 200,000 different people visiting our site monthly and this amount of motorhomers in one place guarantees a fast response to any questions you may have. We also have unique facilities not found elsewhere such as our Online Logbook, stopover tracker, Motorhome directory with Ebay type feedback and the largest repository of motorhome campsites reviews found anywhere
Hi Folks, wife and i are planning a trip across Europe second half 2013. Am looking to buy / buy and sell back motor home. any advice greatfully received. I've seen a number of german sites that seem to have some good motorhomes, but its a bit difficult to know where to look, from Australia
Also, and there are probably already threads, suggestions on the best way to travel europe in 6 months (i know some people are still going after 6 years, but that will have to be later on). Suggestions on places to go and see, prefer the guieter country, but guess we will have to also include major sights.
travel routes and user recommendedcamp sites also greatfully received
comments on issues likely to be encountered etc etc
Most of the Australians I know have bought vans in the UK as from a language point of view things can be easier.
In Europe there are many companies who offer a 'buyback' scheme but in reality you usually pay an elevated price for the vehicle and get an unusually low price once you return it.
Many Australians simply purchase a vehicle in the UK and sell it privately on their return. You've not mentioned a budget but generally left hand drive UK registered european vans around £7,000 are in demand all year. Many Australian / Kiwi couples buy and sell from London using Gumtree.
If you google 'europe by camper buyers guide' you will find a post I wrote on my blog about buying a budget motorhome in the UK which may be of use. One thing to consider for a long term pan-european trip is a refillable LPG gas tank, I've read so many blogs about people spending days searching gas bottles so a refillable tank makes life so much easier.
Registering and Insuring is pretty easy - lots of UK insurance companies will accept an Australian licence and you just need either a mailbox setup to register the vehicle (make sure its does not have P.O Box in the address) or use a friend. If you Google Technomadics they are a young Australian couple who travel europe in their Hymer.
In terms of a route over 6 months is difficult to say since everyone likes different things. How many miles would you like to do a day? Again have a look at our blog 'europe by camper' we've been away 9 months now but some of what we've done could be condensed.
Comparing prices - UK pound to Euro against A$ - best value (at the moment) seems to be Germany and i thouht i'd do lots of research and deal with the language problem.
i dont mind doing the k's, but want to enjoy the time and see the sights. I'll go through your website more thoroughly and map out daily distances. (here, i could easily do 800 - 1000km's in a day, but over that 800 k's there may only be a few small country towns)
Best advice I can offer is to add a paltry £12.50 to your overall holiday costs by subscribing to the forum.
Then you will have access to the Search facility and will easily find loads of information on your current query, and all the others you are going to have.
I've never done it, but buying in Germany should not be too difficult . . . but think of selling at the end of your trip!
Dave
P.S. Your university library should be able to help with a lot of your research.
Hi. As an Australian who has done this I'd like to correct the impression that it is easy to obtain insurance. It is in fact just the opposite. Registration is no problem, insurance is difficult We had to use a broker and could only obtain 180 days of european cover. Very few insurance companies will take you on (Downunder state that they will but can be pricey). Make sure that the gross weight of the vehicle is less than 3500 kg as the DVLA will not let you register a vehicle over this weight on an Australian/international licence. If you find an easy insurance solution I'd love to hear about as we want to do the same thing again and dread the insurance run-around.
Cheers
Lisa
I've spend a day or so researching buying and insuring in Germany as an EU resident and it wasn't easy without residency. You can do so with temporary registration / export plates but then resale in Germany would be difficult as the plates are stamped with their expiry. You might find a dealer who can help you though.
The Dutch system is much more accommodating to foreigners and most of the sale and buyback schemes are run from here. However registration alone in the netherlands is nearly €1,000!
I will find out some more info on the insurance from my Australian friends before I post anymore on that.
Hi. As an Australian who has done this I'd like to correct the impression that it is easy to obtain insurance. It is in fact just the opposite. Registration is no problem, insurance is difficult We had to use a broker and could only obtain 180 days of european cover. Very few insurance companies will take you on (Downunder state that they will but can be pricey). Make sure that the gross weight of the vehicle is less than 3500 kg as the DVLA will not let you register a vehicle over this weight on an Australian/international licence. If you find an easy insurance solution I'd love to hear about as we want to do the same thing again and dread the insurance run-around.
Cheers
Lisa
Just what I was going to write - insurance is NOT easy for foreign licence holders in the UK and recent non-residence can even be a problem for UK licence holders.
It is even getting to be a problem with some "hire and reward" insurers as well.
Quote:
Make sure that the gross weight of the vehicle is less than 3500 kg as the DVLA will not let you register a vehicle over this weight on an Australian/international licence.
Clarification you cannot even drive an over 3500kg vehicle sourced in the UK on a non-EU licence whatever your entitlement at "home".
If you bring it into the UK you are OK but you cannot "start" here. There is a thread about it on here somewhere.
Provided your full licence or international driving permit remains valid, you may drive vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and with up to eight passenger seats. You will be able to drive for up to 12 months from the date of coming to GB. However, you may only drive large vehicles which have been registered outside GB and which you have driven into the country.
Sorry to say it but the UK is no longer a good place to start a Euro tour.
______________________________________________________________ Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
And indeed Wicked Campers have built their business model around renting campers to Australian travellers.
Many 100's of Australian and New Zealanders set off around Europe in UK registered vans on 'Van Tour' every year in their UK purchased vans so it is can't as difficult as some are making out.
Many of these vehicles are converted minibuses that must be over 3.5t so I'm not sure of the legality there - certainly best to stick under that in my opinion to be safe.
Apparently it is possible to buy a German van using your Australian licence using Ausfuhrkennzeichen plates as these come with third party / liability only insurance as standard.
Herts seem to flip flop on this cover all the time - they insured (at quite some cost) the Kiwis we did an exchange with in 2009 but then said they no longer did the cover when we wanted to do another swap the next year - now they seem to have started up again - I bet they still aren't cheap though.
As 2y2g says it isn't anywhere near as easy or cheap as it can look at first sight.
______________________________________________________________ Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Hi There, I think your estimate of 800to 1000k per day is not possible in UK or here in France, if you work on about 100m per two hours then this is a more realistic distance, don't let any one tell you different, I drive from UK from calais to home using M/W in my car and can manage 1000k in 12 to fourteen hours this is not possible in a motor home, especially now there are more motor way speed cameras on the french M/W systym, not that would make any difference to you as you would be back in OZ by the time that they caught up with you, except in this part of the world where you can get on the spot fines, any way good luck with your trip, if you are in this part of the world get in touch we can park you up for free
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
All times are GMT + 1 Hour Page 1 of 2Goto page 1, 2Next
UK
