Test Driving a Motorhome

New Motorhome

Make an appointment with your chosen dealer in advance. dealers will be able to make specific test vehicle available at short notice. It is to allow plenty of time to cover every detail, so ask the sales person about planning route and make any other specific requests, as loading and additional passengers. If you’re test driving demonstrator model, check it has the engine and specification

Used Motorhome

If it’s an motorhome you to try, ask if you can start it yourself. If the engine is warm when you arrive, it may have been pre-warmed to disguise any starting difficulties. If the clutch bites at the of the pedal’s travel, it’s probably worn, so ask about replacement. If the steering pulls to side, the tracking ns to be adjusted. If there’s lot of play in the steering wheel, the steering gear may be wo

Test Drive

Test drive using the maximum nr of passengers you are likely to be carrying on normal trip. Check if their feet can touch the floor? Is there for child booster seat? Will the heater or air-conditioning be to the job in extreme conditions? If possible, simulate load – if it’s garage model, ask the sales person if you can load your bikes or scooter to how the motorhome copes with the weight distribution. If you like to drive with water tank, ask to it. Ideally, visit weighbridge to check the motorhome’s weight, either unladen or, still, with your kit in it. (Remember, weighbridges

Plan your route to sample all pe driving conditions and make it lg so that you can get genuine feel for the comfort levels of the travel seats. Include steep hill, section of motorway or dual carriageway and some urban driving. Try hill start, to how the clutch feels. Consider long-trip factors: for example, will the stereo provide eh volume for all passengers to easily listen to audio bo

Overnight Parking

Does the motorhome fit in your driveway? If the dealer is local and your drive is difficult to get into, it’s worth checking to how easily you can park. Consider it will be difficult to negotiate at night and assess the security of where you intend to park. Check how easy it would be to the waste outlet on campsite with no dedicated service point. Can you fit an extension to the waste

Driving

Try parking the motorhome as you would on tour – if you prefer motorhomes and like to park in town centres, how this works. If it’s an motorhome, will else likely to drive the motorhome be able to cope power steering? If you ss drive alone, try parking on your own. If the motorhome is an A-class (which may have only cab door), or an import with an offside habitation door, wher

Accessories

Do any retro-fitted accessories, as reversing sensors, as they should? Consider which accessories you nd to fit and how these might affect visibility. An obvious is rear cycle carrier, which lengthens the vehicle and

Usability

Cover all the angles. Simulate any difficult visibility conditions you may face, particularly if driving abroad, sh as driving on the right-hand of the road and left hill, with poor visibility of oncoming traffic. Can your passenger to tell you when it’s safe to pull and will rea

Noise Test

Complete noise test. Drive the motorhome or an uneven road surface to its squeaks and rattles or sets your teeth on edge. But, you set out, make you’ve eg sensible to stop noise, sh as removing grill pans and baking trays from the cooker. Check the cupboard locks be you drive away, and that eg else is secure.

Maintenance and Repair

Identify the bt service agent for the base vehicle in terms of quality of service, size of workshop (availability of short-term servicing) and cost. Ideally, this will be the supplying dealer or of their sub-contractors. Consider spare parts costs and servicing cost the vehicle’s life span.

Finally

These are just steps to get you in the right frame of mind when viewing motorhome for the time. Motorhomes are big and so you should spend lot time examining than you would for buying car. If sg doesn’t feel right, ask the owner or dealer and make you are happy with the reply be moving on. If there are any doubts it is to walk giving yf time to reconsider, rather than buying the motorhome and hg the rest of your life to reconsider.