Keith Gooden
Welcome back to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
I ask the silly questions and Matt is the industry expert.
Matt Sims
Oh, really?
Keith Gooden
It’s all brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com. In this episode, we’re going to be talking to somebody who is making a little bit of a profit on the motorhome that they ordered a couple of years ago. It’s been delivered now and the market has changed. We’re delving into that a little bit later.
See Matt at the Southwest Motorhome and Campervan Show this September
Keith Gooden
But first of all, let’s go into our news. Questions for the Shepton Show with Jon Gooch.
Matt Sims
It’s the Southwest Motorhome and Campervan show at the Shepton Mallet showgrand – the Royal Bath and West Showground, I should say. I’m onstage with Jon Gooch. I’m installing the pole and he’s dancing on it. No, that’s not what’s happening!
We’re doing a session together on the transition from diesel to electric, this whole big topic that’s coming in 2030 and 2035. And we want you to be part of this session. We’re anticipating it’s going to be a bit of a discussion and that we’re raising more questions than we are answers. So if you’re able to come along, it’s on Saturday at 2:30 at the show. We’d love to see you and have your participation in it.
If you can’t be there, then send us your comment, observation or query. You can do that at www.motorhomematt.co.uk/askmatt, and we may well include that in this discussion. It’s going to be an exciting session. Jon and I have never done anything like this together before. A lot of time and thought’s gone into it, so we’re looking forward to it. Saturday afternoon, 2:30, Southwest Motorhome Campervan Show – see you there.
Keith Gooden
And at the Western Motorhome and Campervan Show at Malven, you’ve got something to save people money, haven’t you?
Matt Sims
We have, and you can do this at the Shepton show as well. MOTORHOMEMATT – enter this discount code and get a discount on your ticket price. Happy days!
Keith Gooden
For both shows?
Matt Sims
For all Warners shows, actually. All the shows coming up this autumn.
Keith Gooden
Brilliant. Okay, so what website do you go to?
Matt Sims
Just go to www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/shows.
Keith Gooden
Put in MOTORHOMEMATT, all one word. And that website address again?
Matt Sims
www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/shows.
Keith Gooden
So save by putting the code MOTORHOMEMATT.
The government is on the side of motorists?
Keith Gooden
Rishi Sunak is on the side of motorists. I mentioned that a couple of weeks ago – he’s putting some clear blue water between him and the Labour Party with a general election on the way next year.
The Uxbridge and Hillingdon by-election showed, with the ULEZ London clean air zone being extended out from the centre of London to take in all London boroughs, that election that people feel strongly about it, and they voted for the Conservatives. They weren’t expected to hold the seat. It was expected to go to Labour, but they held on to it by about 495 votes. So Rishi Sunak sees that being the friend of the motorist is the place to be politically. More on this, Matt?
Matt Sims
I’m sure there will be, yeah. I saw the lovely Quentin Wilson put a post on LinkedIn about this and he said in his whole working life, he has never, ever had a leading politician on the side of the motorist ever until now – and not just a politician, the Prime Minister.
Keith Gooden
Well, it’s taken politicians a while to understand that motorists are also voters.
Matt Sims
Who’d have thought? Deary me. Well, we’ll see how this evolves. What impact will it have on us as motorhomers? Well, if the ULEZ is taken away and you’re driving a Euro 4 motorhome, it’s going to have a direct impact on your pocket. Do you think they’ll take them away?
Keith Gooden
I can’t see it happening. But you never know what might happen. Politics is a funny old business.
Matt Sims
A week in politics is a very long time, as Harold Wilson once said. Maybe they just won’t scale them out quite far into the peripherals of the city. They’re doing in Bristol. It’s a nightmare.
Keith Gooden
The thing with it is, if we’re going to go over to electric and more and more electric cars are being sold, what they’re not getting is the duty and VAT from fuel sales. So they have to make up all that money, which is billions and billions of pounds over the next few years with other taxes. And these clean air zones, whether you like it or not, are other taxes.
Matt Sims
Yeah, and what will happen to the cost of electricity? There’s a big campaign to cut the VAT on electricity because we’re going to be using that as fuel. That will never happen, surely?
Keith Gooden
Well, when the Brexit campaign was taking place, we were told that the 5% levy, the VAT, would be taken off after Brexit. It still hasn’t happened. We’re still waiting. Oh well, let’s carry on, shall we?
Product of the week: Outdoor Chef BBQs
Keith Gooden
This is the Motorhome Matt podcast brought to yiou with www.thatleisureshop.com with me, Keith Gooden and Motorhome Matt, our expert. Our product of the week this week is a brilliant one. Outdoor Chef barbecues.
Matt Sims
Yeah, we’ve got free standing ones, so you stand them on the floor and stand up and cook, or table top ones. And this week they’re all 20% off. So we are embracing the summer – it’s finally here.
Keith Gooden
20% off -that means you don’t have to do sausages on your barbecue. You could do fillet steak with the money you’ve saved!
Matt Sims
I always do fillet steak and spring onions. They’re my latest new fad.
Keith Gooden
Are they?
Matt Sims
On the barbecue, yeah, thanks to my Michelin star chef friend. Lemon drizzle. Just cut a lemon in half and squeeze it over them. I’ll tell you what, they’re amazing. My new favourite thing.
Keith Gooden
So that’s Outdoor Chef barbecues.
Matt Sims
Yeah. 20% off.
Keith Gooden
How can people see them?
Matt Sims
Go to www.thatleisureshop.com and you’ll find them on there. Just search barbecue or Outdoor Chef. They are superb. They’re all gas barbecues and they are brilliant. I’ve got one – superb.
Flipping motorhomes: a risk or a reward?
Keith Gooden
It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com. The main meat, after talking about barbecues, of our podcast this week is reselling and taking delivery of your pandemic motorhome. A quick explanation – a lot of people put orders in, didn’t they, after the pandemic for motorhomes. And they were told, “It’s going to be two years before you get it.” Apparently now, Matt…
Matt Sims
They were probably told it was going to be six months!
Keith Gooden
They’re being delivered now.
The market from 2020 till now
Matt Sims
They are. The stock is starting to come through and they are now arriving. And many people, as you say, bought them 18 months or two years ago, placed the order and it got delayed and delayed. And two years later, it’s arriving. But meanwhile, they’ve gone and bought maybe a secondhand one, or an ex-demo one. And so they’re enjoying their motorhome, but they chose to keep the deposit pegged on the new one, which had a price fees promise on it.
Keith Gooden
So they had a contract with the dealer with the deposit.
Matt Sims
Correct.
Keith Gooden
They’ve signed a contract.
Matt Sims
It might have been £500, and they keep the order in place. And then 18 months later it’s arrived. But the price freeze meant they may have paid, let’s say, £75,000 for it 18 months ago. It’s now retailling at £86,000.
And so these people are buying them and then putting them back on the open market and making some money, and this has been happening a lot throughout our industry. And some people have indeed made some money, but the market is starting to slow down. And I’m intrigued to know if you’ve done this and if you have caught cold. Are you stuck now with two motorhomes and facing a dilemma as to which one you sell?
Keith Gooden
So just to repeat it slowly for the likes of me, people placed their order. It could be 18 months or two years ago for a motorhome. They gave the deposit to the dealer and signed a contract for delivery of the motorhome.
Because of pandemic issues, war in Ukraine issues, the manufacture was delayed, but now they are being delivered. You agreed a price with the dealer, say £75,000, and in the meantime you went and bought your own secondhand just to see you through just to see you through. Now your motorhome is turning up and your £75,000 motorhome you know is now worth, say, £85,000. So what do you do?
Matt Sims
Yeah. Is that you? What do you do? What are you doing about it?
Can flipping a motorhome work? Clare’s story
Matt Sims
I actually saw a lady post something on social media of her story where she had done exactly this. She bought a motorhome and was told it was delayed. She didn’t want to wait. She had a trip of a lifetime planned. She headed off to Croatia and meanwhile, whilst she was there in her now owned secondhand motorhome, her new one arrived.
Clare Howell
Yeah, so I ordered it and it was my first ever motorhome when I sold my house. And I was promised it in June of last year at the latest, okay? And it got to June and there was no sign of it. And I was like, okay, and I’d got plans for the summer.
Matt Sims
But when did you order it, Clare?
Clare Howell
I ordered it in January last year. And I’d had no indication that there were going to be major delays. The dealer seemed confident. I went online and I said, “Oh, I’ve got all these plans. Is anyone else experiencing these delays? Because I really don’t want to write off my summer.” I’d made arrangements to have a big block of time off in the summer.
The Motorhome Happiness Group came up with the name of another dealer who I’d never heard of and said to contact them. And they were really helpful. They had a whole fleet coming up for hire in July. And they said, “If you want one we’ve got a spec that suits your spec.”
And I didn’t even think about it, really. I just thought, “I can do this. I can now go off for three months in the summer,” – four months, actually, it turned out to be – “With a spec that I want,” an automatic, which was really important to me as a first time motorhomer. So he sent me a video walk around tour of the van. And I thought, “Yeah, that looks amazing,” and put a deposit down. And then I drove to pick it up and started my adventure.
Matt Sims
And I heard that you fell in love with it and then had a dilemma when the new one actually arrived, because you didn’t cancel the new one, did you?
Clare Howell
No, I kept the new one on order because I thought, “Well, it’s sensible. I want a new motorhome with low mileage, the full warranty, and all of those things.” I was trying to have my sensible head on. And literally two weeks before this trip was planned, so at the beginning of May of this year, I got a call from the dealer – and this is my obviously nearly 18 months after I’d ordered the first one, saying, “Oh, your motorhome is ready for collection from Italy.”
And I’m like, “Well, that’s not going to work. I’ve got all these plans, the Eurotunnel, my insurance, I’ve got everything sorted.” And I was still working. And I was like, “I’ve got no possibility at all of doing a transfer of this vehicle and everything that I’ve got involved with it to the new vehicle in time to be going away on the 10th of May. It’s just not going to happen.”
And I had two really bad sleepless nights. I phoned a couple of dealers. I spoke to a lot of people, and people were saying, “Oh, it’d be best to buy the new one.” And I just didn’t know what to do at all. And then I had a moment of clarity. And I just thought, “You love the van you’ve got. You’ve created memories in it. You’ve got used to it. Yeah, it’s got a higher mileage maybe than some. It’s a 21 plate, and it’s got about 25,000 miles on it now, but all the snagging issues have been dealt with.”
And I was really concerned that I was going to buy this new van, go abroad, and I was heading down to Croatia and Montenegro, and then I’d have all these snagging issues. And I’d be on the road and I would have no way of sorting them out. And that was what sold it to me, really. I went back to the dealer.
I said, “Look, I can’t do this in the timeframe. What do you think?” And he said, “Well, if you buy the van from us, we will then sell it to you. We will take a flat fee commission and sell it on for you. We won’t register it to you. So it’ll be a new registration for the people who buy it from you. And we’ll take a flat fee commission, and we’ll manage the stress of it and all the paperwork for you.” And at that moment in time, that seemed like the most sensible thing to do, so I went with it.
Matt Sims
So you now own two motorhomes.
Clare Howell
Yeah, we’re two months on, and I’d been led to believe that motorhomes were in high demand, especially automatic. People weren’t able to get them in time. So I got led to believe that this was going to be a quick turnaround. And we’re two months on and it hasn’t sold yet, and I don’t understand why.
Matt Sims
And financially, what’s the impact for you, Clare?
Clare Howell
Well, I sold some investments. So when I sold my house I put some of that money into investments, which is basically my pension pot. So the impact for me is not having a big lump sum or a chunk of money in my ownership anymore. It’s an asset, which at the moment is something I don’t want and don’t need. So that’s the impact for me, and it’s worrying. It is worrying, and I don’t really understand what the issue is.
Matt Sims
Thank you ever so much, Clare, for taking the time out from your trip to Croatia. It was beautiful in the background behind the camera. Amazing place. She’s there on the edge of a lake. Enjoy the rest of your trip, Clare, and thank you again for taking time out to speak to me. I really appreciate it.
What do dealers think about motorhome flipping?
Keith Gooden
What about the dealers in this? Because they’ve taken the deposit couple of years ago or 18 months ago. Finally, it’s been delivered. They’ve held on to the deposit. It’s a contract, people are getting the motorhomes. And I suppose some people will just say, “Just resell that motorhome for me. And we’ll split the the profit on it.” Does that work for a dealer?
Matt Sims
Yeah, it can do. I mean, observers are saying, “Well, just pull out. The dealer will sell it again for more money.” In actual fact, what’s happening for some manufacturers is that they are asking the dealer for the name of the customer who has placed the deposit. And then they’re asking to see the V5, so the registration document, with that name on to prove that the dealer has sold it and registered it to that customer.
And if the dealer doesn’t do that, so the customer pulls out and they sell it again for the increased price, the manufacturer is invoicing them the increased supply price. So people have this perception that the dealer’s paid, I don’t know, £65,000 for a £70,000 motorhome. And then they go and sell it for £86,000. Well, if that’s the case, they’re going to be billed £75,000 for it. And the manufacturers are asking for this evidence. And this is going on in the background, so it’s not as simple as you think.
And I see people throwing this accusation at the dealer network all the time. But it’s not that simple. It’s worth saying as well that dealers aren’t always very keen for you to pull out of a sale because the market has slowed down. So now trying to sell that motorhome for £86,000 is much more of a challenge than it was trying to sell it for £75,000.
And I think the market has slowed. People have got savvy. The cost of living crisis, we’ll come to that in a moment. But it interestingly, though, Clare has now sold that motorhome. The dealer has sold it for her. And she’s made over £8,500. So it worked for Clare – it just took longer than she anticipated. So it was a worthwhile venture for her in partnership with the dealer who has now managed to sell it.
Keith Gooden
But for the person who placed that order, it’s risk and reward, isn’t it? Because they were taking a risk. It’s easy to forget, isn’t it? After the pandemic and the beginning of the Ukraine war, we had those supply issues. It’s easy to forget just how dodgy, let’s face it, businesses were, just staying alive staying in business. And these people who’ve paid these deposits and shown faith in dealers and manufacturers, well, if it suddenly turns their way and they can make a bit of money, why not?
Matt Sims
Why not? Yeah, well, that’s true. Yeah, absolutely. Why not? It’s a free world, isn’t it? It’s a capitalist part of the world we live in, and to a point, you are free to do that. But my point is, if you are one of those people considering doing that, so you do fund the motorhome at the price that was promised, the frozen price, and then you go out to the market to sell it, it might not sell quite as quickly as it would have done 18 months ago.
Keith Gooden
Well, people are paying £5,000, £6,000, £7,000, £8,000 more on their mortgages if they’re in the 35-, 45-year-old age bracket. And outside that, I know that. But the cost of living crisis and the increase in interest rates for homeowners has made finances, again, that word, very dodgy. And motorhomes are going to be one of those things which are going to be relegated to the second division for a while, aren’t they?
Matt Sims
Potentially, yeah. I mean, we saw post-COVID that age group you referenced then, that 30- to 55-year-old group, was the boom age group that entered our market, many for the first time because let’s face it, they couldn’t go anywhere else on holiday. And motorhomes at that point were still £40,000, £50,000. Then the price hikes happened and the market went mad. And those motorhomes are now £50,000 £60,000 £70,000.
That’s a big stretch for a family with kids. That’s a lot more money than it used to be. Obviously it is, but do you know what I mean? It’s a big stretch to get that extra £20,000 or £30,000 over the line and into that motorhome. And so I’m seeing lots of these people are now able to go abroad and they’re selling the motorhome and making money on it. Again, it’s a free world for them to do that. But what I am seeing is that prices are becoming a little more, shall we say, sensible.
Is the motorhome market slowing down?
Matt Sims
We had a motorhome recently that we were advertising for £70,000. I happen to know that the current owner paid £58,000 for it over a year ago. And the market said, “It’s worth £70,000.” I went, “Really? Gosh.” I’m always a bit uneasy about this. So we were brokering it for them and in discussion with them.
We advertised it as £70,000 and it didn’t sell. Several weeks later they became very motivated to sell and advertised it at £60,000, which is where I felt it should be, and sold it in a few days. And I think the market saw the price come down. I think people are savvy. I think people are thinking, “I don’t want to pay these overinflated prices anymore.” I think the market knows that the prices are to a point overinflated. Yes, they’ve gone up. Costs have gone up. Motorhomes have. Everything’s gone up, hasn’t it?
But nonetheless, I think people have got savvy to what they did cost two years ago. That information is still available, if you know where to look, and think, “No, I’m not going to overpay for it. I’m going to have to pay a strong price. I get that. But I’m not overpaying.”
Keith Gooden
You mentioned capitalism. Things are only worth what people are prepared to pay for them, aren’t they?
Matt Sims
Well, of course, and if a dealer’s bought a motorhome in for £60,000 they’re not going to sell it for £50,000. You know, their charity reference number hasn’t arrived in the post yet.
What is the responsibility of the manufacturers?
Keith Gooden
Just referencing back to the manufacturers and their relationship with their dealerships, we talked about the contract between the dealership and the end customer, the end user, and it being a contract.
You’d think that contract would hold up between the motorhome manufacturer and the dealer when they place the order. But clearly, motorhome manufacturers are demanding more evidence and saying, “Hey, hang on, buddy. I’m going to sell you this motorhome. But I’m going to sell it to you at 2023 prices.”
Matt Sims
Yeah. Well, and it’s just fair play, isn’t it?
Keith Gooden
Do you think that’s fair? Because I don’t think that is fair. I think you’ve gone into a contract. You know, you’ve placed the order. The motorhome manufacturer and the dealership have a close relationship because they are dealers. I don’t think that is fair. I think that the manufacturers should swallow that.
Matt Sims
And many dealers would agree with you there, Keith, I have to say. And yeah, I hear what you’re saying. The problem for the manufacturer is their supply chain have put the prices up for them. So one small issue, Fiat, so Stellantis Group, started changing the spec of the chassis is that were being supplied to the motorhome converter, the manufacturer, and adding things like electric hand brakes, LED lights, driving lights, all these extra functions. None of that was in the original spec and they’ve changed the price as a result.
And the manufacturer said, “Well, we’ve got to pass this price increase on because actually, it’s not the same vehicle that you bought and that your customer ordered.” And some manufacturers have swallowed that. Others have said to the dealer, “No, we are going to have to pass this on. And we encourage you to pass that on to your customer.” And many people have had an experience where they’ve ordered for a price, it’s been frozen and promised but because the spec has changed, the price has gone up.
And there are people I know who have pulled out, and then the dealer has to find another buyer because they’ve committed to that chassis. So that has an impact for the dealer because they’ve only got a limited amount of money available on a credit line to fund this stock. They’ve committed to the stock. They know it’s in short supply. So they’re unlikely to fail on that commitment. And so they need another customer for it.
So I’d love to know what your experience has been if you can tell us. If that’s you in any of these scenarios, we’d love to hear your story because there’s a changing landscape. Again, I think the market has been like a pendulum swing. It’s gone all the way one way and it’s started to come back. How far beyond centre is it going to go? That’s what I’m interested to observe. And we’re doing that by getting your story. So what’s been your experience? You tell us. We’d love to know.
Keith Gooden
Absolutely. And if you’re a dealer or manufacturer who wants to remain anonymous but tell us some of the facts behind the story, we can arrange that as well and have your answers voiced by an actor or somebody else. It would be great to hear from you so we can get a real handle on what the industry is doing so we can help everybody.
Matt Sims
Yeah, that’s right. We genuinely would love to engage with you on that. So if you are a manufacturer, but you’d rather not have us say who you are, we totally respect that. What we’re interested in is the facts, what’s actually happening for you. What is happening in your supply chain?
We’re still trying to get Stellantis Group onto the podcast. They manufacture Fiat, Peugeot and Citroen. And we’re still trying to get them to come on and talk about their experience and the issues that they have been facing. So if you are listening, you are very, very welcome. And I promise, we’re not throwing anyone under the bus here.
We just want to know the facts of what’s been happening behind the scenes and what the future holds. Because it’s really important to us as. We’re committing big sums of money into this fantastic pastime. And we all want to continue doing that. So having that certainty of what’s happening in the future is really important.
What does the future of the motorhome market look like?
Keith Gooden
Absolutely. We want happy campers all the way down the line, don’t we? Okay, so we’ve covered if it is fair to capitalise on your price freeze promise. Why is the slowdown happening? Cost of living crisis and supply chain issues which have been there for the last couple of years, but what does the future hold, Matt, in your opinion?
Matt Sims
Well, it’s going to be an interesting year. I think we could see some change and some casualties as we go into the autumn and into the spring next year. Certainly on the retail side it has been very quiet. And we’re fortunate as a small family and friends business here that our shop is growing. It’s new. It’s 18 months old, and every day we get a new customer either walk in the shop or buy something from us online. It’s fantastic.
Every day someone comes in says, “Wow, what an amazing little shop. It’s an Aladdin’s cave.” And I love hearing it. And so we’re growing, but at a much slower rate than we anticipated or we wanted to experience. But our wholesalers are saying, “Matt, it’s just dire. Our order books are just really slow.” They’re stockpiling stock. There’s a backup of stock, where retailers and certainly the bigger ones who traditionally would be ordering thousands of chairs and just aren’t.
I had a report that one retailer said, “We’ve got enough stock to last us to the end of next season.” Well, why is this happening? The only thing I can deduce is that everybody went out last year and bought new tables and chairs and accessories and stuff because they bought a motorhome. They don’t need to buy it again this year. So there’s not the appetite to buy the volume that we used to see.
And I think, again, back to the cost of living crisis, people are looking at products and thinking, “Gosh, it’s all going up in price,” which a lot of it has. Not all of it, I have to say. But people are saying, “I don’t want to spend that. I’m going to buy a cheaper one from Asda.” And that happens.
But that said, interestingly, we are often talking about Crespo as a brand of outdoor furniture. I love it for lots of reasons. And it is a premium price product. It is a stunning product. If you buy one, if you buy a Crespo chair, you probably won’t buy another one for 10 years. It’s going to last. And we sell loads of them.
So I think certainly there’s an element of our customer base that are saying, “Well, we want to spend a larger amount of money once and we want it to last,” and they have a six year warranty. And they are a product that you invest in and you can enjoy for a long period of time rather than every year having to go and buy another one because something in the arm’s broken or something’s ripped.
Keith Gooden
So people are spending, but they’re spending more wisely and much more thoughtfully, aren’t they, on quality products. So do you think businesses will hold up and hold out?
Matt Sims
I think they will, if businesses are investing in that quality product. The risk comes for those who just stack it high and sell it cheap. And I think that market is having its pockets squeezed. And they may find that they just don’t have enough footfall. But we’ll see. The general consensus in the tourism industry is that if you can survive, whether you’re in catering, self catering, holidays, campsites, if you can survive this winter and get to next spring, you’ll still be there next summer. So let’s see.
Audience Q&A
Keith Gooden
It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com. I’m Keith Gooden. And…
Matt Sims
Who are you?
Keith Gooden
I’m Keith Gooden. And…
Matt Sims
I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
Ah! He’s the expert. I ask the silly questions. My favourite part of every podcast is where you talk directly to us. John Alexander got in touch.
What is the best motorhome fridge?
John Alexander
Hi, Matt. Your podcast is brilliant and very informative. I have a question about my fridge freezer in my 23 year old Herald Squire motorhome. It’s not very good. It’s not cooling properly and I feel like I need to change it.
Do I stay with the three way power, so gas electric, 12 volt, 240? Or is there another technology out there which would be better? I’m also running an inverter compressor fridge as a second option and it’s brilliant. It doesn’t trouble the battery. I can go for 20 plus hours without dropping the battery. And I’m wondering, are there other options out there which would be better and do the job?
Keith Gooden
So that’s John Alexander. He didn’t say where he was from. Please, when you do record your questions, put where you’re from. It helps us put a little pin on the map. We love doing that. With over 100,000 downloads and the top 2% of podcasts in the whole wide world, that pin collection has got very big. But anyway, can you cool John’s ardour for him?
Matt Sims
I will try. So if your fridge has lasted 23 years, John, that’s very impressive. So I would say you’ve already answered the question, actually. An absorption fridge, which is the three way fridge that you’ve got fitted, struggles in the heat. I would say a compressor fridge – we’re seeing more and more of them installed in new motorhomes – is way more efficient.
It’s slightly noisier, very slightly, but they work in all temperatures whereas the gas and electric, even on gas the fridge struggles. If it gets the 20 degrees outside or more, then that fridge becomes quite inefficient. I would say consider a fitted compressor fridge. There are more and more of them on the market.
Battery power and battery life is the consideration there because they do flatten the leisure battery really quickly. So I would consider a compressor fridge and a lithium battery setup if your budget stretches to it with solar to keep it topped up. And then when you hook up you recharge the battery. But you’re right, 20 hours of a compressor fridge running will take the life of the battery. So that’s the only consideration – that they will kill the battery quite quickly.
Can I store my motorhome on a slop?
Keith Gooden
I hope that’s helped you John, and helps cool you down for the future. Andy Burnley is in Skipton. “Hey Matt. Great YouTube vids.” He’s been watching you on the YouTube channel. “Just getting into this motorhome stuff and maybe buying one this year. Your site really helps. A question on parking and storing a motorhome. I’m hoping to park next to my house on a grassed area, but it’s sloped. It’s not a big one, but a slope nonetheless. Would this be an issue? Would you advise to store on levelling wedges for long periods? Any advice would be most appreciated.”
Matt Sims
Thanks, Andy, thanks for watching. Great question. The first thing I’d flag is not the slope but actually the grass. So the problem with grass is it attracts mice and rodents. It’s going to keep water there. And having that under your motorhome is never a good idea.
You definitely don’t want to be inviting mice into the motorhome at all. So I would consider patio slabbing it or doing something so that it’s on hard standing rather than on grass. It being on a slope is not really an issue. In fact, arguably, it can be a benefit because it means the water is going to run off the roof. It’s not going to pool on the roof and is not going to make the roof filthy dirty.
A top tip we had recently from Caravan Guard is to park it nose in. So drive onto your drive and then put the steering wheel on a full lock. It makes them very, very difficult to tow away and steal. I thought that was a genius top tip from them. Otherwise, if you want to run the fridge in the camper before you go away, being on a slope might be an issue because if you’re running it on gas, then that little burner needs to get the carbon monoxide up the flue and out of the roof.
And if it’s on a slope, that can be a bit of a challenge. It depends how big the slope is. So yeah, levelling ramps will fix that or levelling jacks or whatever you use, But I’d say reconsider the grass before anything else.
Keith Gooden
And if he doesn’t have a choice, can he put something on top of the grass?
Matt Sims
Yeah, I guess so. But, I mean, it’s about water retention, really. And having that moisture under the motorhome… it depends on what the motorhome is. Andy hasn’t said what the motorhome is.
If it’s got a wooden floor and it’s living less than a foot above a wet surface, that moisture is going to get absorbed by the floor, and you’re going to end up with a damp problem. So yeah, just a consideration. If you’re buying a newer motor and it’s got no wood in it, then it’s less of an issue. So that may be fine, but certainly that’s something to consider.
What’s the difference between A-Class and Coachbuilt motorhomes?
Keith Gooden
Matthew’s in Wakefield. Do you think I can call him Matt? Welcome, Matt.
Matt Sims
What do we call you?
Keith Gooden
Anything you like. “It would be good to hear what you have to say,” says Matt, “About differences between A class and coachbuilt motorhomes. A lot of people,” he says, “Are curious about A class and why they look so different to the coachbuilts.”
Matt Sims
I’m guessing they’re the green-eyed people, then, looking at the A classes going, “Oh, that’s nice.” Or maybe they think, “Oh, here they come, the Fockers.” So we actually did an episode on this, didn’t we, on different types of motorhomes, where we talked about A class, B class and C class or coachbuilt. Generally though, an A class motorhome is a motorhome with a great big windscreen. It looks like a bus. Can I call it that? That’s a bit crude.
A coachbuilt motorhome is usually built on a van. So it’s the original cab, the original front doors, the original bonnet. And then the back end is a box that’s put on. I’m being very crude here. An A class is supplied to the manufacturer as a chassis, usually with the steering wheel on the dashboard. And that’s it. And then the manufacturer adds the seats and an extended dashboard and a great big windscreen. So it’s the same width from front to back, i.e., it’s wide all the way to the front.
They cost a lot more, A classes, because they have a lot more crash testing. They have a lot more development and a lot more cost to manufacture. So these days, for an A class motorhome you can spend in excess of… well, a quarter of a million pounds, easily. If you think of an American RV, then that is the classic A class motorhome. And of course we have them in here in Europe and the UK, but they do cost quite a lot more money.
So I always joke, you know, you don’t really get any more room in an A class. What you get is more heads turning when you arrive on the campsite as people say, “Oh, look at them in their posh motorhome.” I’ve had one and they are lovely. It’s great.
The biggest fear for me with an A class, I’ll just add this, is the cost of the windscreen if you break it. We had an A class on an American RV and it was £8,000. We broke a windscreen on our Adria Sonic years ago. That’s another A class motorhome. And from memory, I think that was £800.
And my other biggest fear with A class motorhomes is the wing mirrors. So normally they dropped down like on a coach. So they’re attached at the top rather than at the bottom on an arm that drops down. If you hit one of those, you can be into £1,000 plus to replace or repair. And they can do quite a lot of damage to the body work, because they’re attached to the motorhome body rather than the metal body of the door like a coachbuilt. So if you ever hit the mirror, it can be very expensive.
Get in touch with Matt and Keith
Keith Gooden
There you go, Matthew, I hope that’s answered some questions. If you’ve got bottomless pockets, go for that one in Meet the Fockers. That’s by the way what Matt was referring to, which is an American film where their surname is Focker and Robert De Niro was the daddy with a very nice RV. How do people get in touch then, Matt?
Matt Sims
You can do it really easily. Go to our website, www.motorhomematt.co.uk/askmatt, where you can leave us a question. We’d love it if you record it. Just hit the orange button. Record your question. You can play it back and check you’re happy with it.
Please tell us where you are in the country. We love to know where our listeners are. If you’d rather not record a question, you can fill in the form and submit it there. And you will also find us on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok and also on YouTube where you can watch the podcast. Two fat old men being recorded at a table.
Keith Gooden
Speak for yourself. I’m not old. Apple and Spotify consumers – what can they do?
Matt Sims
Well, you can leave us a review there. And we would love that. It really helps us spread the word of the podcast. If you’d leave us a five star review on Apple or on Spotify, we’d be ever so grateful. And if you’d share it with a friend as well, we would love that too. Maybe we can help them with a query they’ve got or a question they’re too scared to ask.
Keith Gooden
And of course we’re always looking for partners for the Motorhome Matt podcast because we’re talking directly to your customers. What can people do – dealers and retailers?
Matt Sims
Yeah, well, if you’ve got a product or a brand that you’d like to give some exposure to with our fantastic growing audience, you can find out more on our website – www.motorhomematt.co.uk. We’d love to hear from you.
