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It can be incredibly exciting to purchase your first motorhome; however, going into the deal ill-prepared and anything but entirely level-headed could end up with you making the wrong purchase or paying too much.
To make sure that you don’t fall into the same traps or make the rookie errors that others have made before you, you need to perform a few important tasks before handing over any money.
1. Do your research properly
List the features that you want your new motorhome to have. This is important as it’ll stop you from buying a motorhome that lacks the facilities that you want the most or paying out for features that you’ll never use. Take time to do your research and ensure that the motorhome models that you’re considering have everything that you need and want to provide you comfort.
Finding out a few weeks down the line that you have buyer’s remorse because you bought a motorhome that doesn’t provide the level of comfort that you want could mean that it doesn’t get used and sits idle on your drive until you decide to sell it on.
2. Make the most of your budget
You need to know what your budget is for buying your motorhome. When applying for a loan from a registered broker, you’ll be provided with a monthly payment plan; ensure that you can afford this payment and that it fits in with your monthly budget.
Be sure to read and understand the small print as a fixed rate of interest won’t change throughout the life of the loan (which will also be specified as the time you have to pay it back over). However, a variable interest rate is subject to fluctuation and change, in which case, your monthly payments could increase.
3. Take it for a test drive
It’s incredibly important to make time to take the vehicle that you’re considering for a test drive. Driving a large 4–6 sleeper motorhome, for instance, is a very different prospect from driving a small saloon car, and you’re likely to need lots of practice. Purchasing a multi-sleeper motorhome that you haven’t test-driven could have you paying for a vehicle that you’re too nervous to drive or feel that you can’t maneuver or control.
As with many other areas, a lot of campgrounds need motorhomes to be backed into parking bays for safety reasons. Not being able to do this could very well limit your site choices as well as make venturing out and about very stressful situations.
Final thoughts
You may think that buying a motorhome is just using your common sense, and yet so many people jump headfirst into ownership without fully understanding the payment plan they’ve signed or not having researched and test-driven the vehicle that they eventually purchase.
Every motorhome is different; there are variants in design, specifications, the way it has been looked after, as well as its general feel and even drivability. Ensuring that the one you buy ticks all your boxes and is a vehicle that you’ll be able to make full use of will see you making a wise investment and spending many happy hours and days enjoying your freedom.