Keith Gooden 0:00
In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast…
Matt Sims 0:02
There’s a lot of noise right now about Greece banning motorhomes and campervans. But what is the truth?
Keith Gooden 0:09
In the news, IQ Mobile is back.
Matt Sims 0:12
And we answer your questions on retrofitting isofix, Ford faults and left-handed motorhome dealers.
Keith Gooden 0:19
What?!
Matt Sims 0:20
Sorry, I mean left hand drive motorhome dealers!
Keith Gooden 0:28
Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims 0:30
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden 0:32
Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans. And it’s brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe.
Matt Sims 0:42
Now remember, please do follow on your favourite podcast app, or if you’re watching on YouTube, click subscribe.
Keith Gooden 0:48
Straight into the podcast, then – IQ Mobile has launched new products after IQ Gio had roaming charges applied. You might remember our recent episode with them, after which change was applied. What change was applied then, Matt?
Matt Sims 1:05
So it was a data usage cap. We did this episode. You could buy an IQ Go SIM from IQ Mobile, use it in the UK and go to Europe with no restrictions at all. Your data was available. Two weeks later, their network provider changed the rules. Really annoying. Anyway, they’ve reinvented themselves, and they are back with a new product, which is great. So IQ Go is still going strong, which is great for the UK and EU still, but subject to a 20% data usage cap. It might be 25%. But there is a data usage cap on how much you can use. You don’t need a VPN for UK streaming. It’s just £20 a year, and then you just top up the data when needed. And it’s ideal for light users.
Keith Gooden 1:49
Okay, so heavy duty SIM, then, for roaming across Europe, is that right?
Matt Sims 1:54
That’s IQ Connect. So this is their new product for heavy users. There are daily data limits, but there’s no cut off. If you do use all the data allowance, which is high, it just slows you if you rinse it.
Keith Gooden 2:07
Can you just explain that to me again, a bit slower? So can I use it? Can’t I use it? How much can I use and when can I use it?
Matt Sims 2:14
So IQ Go you can use in Europe, but there’s a data cap. You only get 25% of your data. So if you buy 100GB, you can only use 25GB.
Keith Gooden 2:22
And why is that? Can we just say?
Matt Sims 2:25
That is the fair usage policy across Europe for non territorial SIMs. So a UK going into Europe has restricted use.
Keith Gooden 2:33
And this is applied by the network providers, not by the IQ people.
Matt Sims 2:37
Correct. And this was the change. So IQ Go still exists. You can still use it. But IQ Mobile, the company behind it, have now launched IQ Connect, which is a data SIM where you can use all of your data. There’s no cap. There’s a cap per day, basically on how much you can use, but it doesn’t cut off. And once you’ve used it, it just slows you down. So your connection speed will slow down. You would need a VPN if you want to watch UK television from, say, Germany.
Keith Gooden 3:05
What’s a VPN?
Matt Sims 3:06
A virtual private network. So something like Nord VPN, who have sponsored the podcast in the past. It’s a great product for keeping secure, and it means you can tell the internet that you are in the UK, meaning you could watch Strictly on BBC, for example.
Keith Gooden 3:19
Right. So with IQ Direct, which has just launched, there’s no physical SIM card? Because I’m used to taking bits of plastic in and out of my phone.
Matt Sims 3:26
That’s right. So this is an eSIM. There’s no physical SIM card. It’s ideal for short holidays abroad. So if you’re going away for a week in Turkey, it’s just £4, and it will give you data for that trip.
Keith Gooden 3:38
So you download it as an app on your phone or on your device.
Matt Sims 3:42
You add an eSIM to your smartphone. Dead easy to do. There’s no SIM card. You just download it, and instantly you’re ready to go. And it’s a cheap way of getting data abroad and managing your data and not getting charged for roaming.
Keith Gooden 3:55
How do I get it?
Matt Sims 3:55
Dead easy. Head to helloiq.co.uk, and there’s a 10% discount code. Use the code MOTORHOMEMATT10, one word, at helloiq.co.uk. Have you ever connected to campsite Wi-Fi and thought, how secure actually is this? I’ve been there, especially abroad, trying to check my bank or watch TV, and that’s why I use Nord VPN.
Keith Gooden 4:24
So what does it actually do, then, for people who’ve never used a VPN?
Matt Sims 4:29
Good question. Well, it creates a secure and private connection, even on public Wi-Fi, so your data is protected and you can stream TV like you’re still in the UK. VPN stands for virtual private network, by the way.
Keith Gooden 4:42
That sounds complicated. Are you sure you don’t need to be a tech genius to set it up?
Matt Sims 4:47
Not at all. In fact, it takes minutes, and once it’s running, you don’t even notice it. It works on your phone, your laptop, whatever device you’re using.
Keith Gooden 4:54
So if you’re traveling and want to stay safe online or just want to watch your usual TV, it sounds like a smart move.
Matt Sims 5:02
It definitely is, and we’ve got an exclusive deal for you to get the best discount off your Nord VPN plan. Just go to nordvpn.com/motorhomematt.
Keith Gooden 5:13
That link gives you four extra months free on the two year plan, and there’s a 30 day money back guarantee, so you can try it risk free.
Matt Sims 5:22
That link again – it’s nordvpn.com/motorhomematt. The link’s also in the episode description.
Keith Gooden 5:30
It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast with me, Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims 5:33
And me, Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden 5:34
It’s brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe. Now, the main part of the podcast today -Greece is the word, is the word. You’re the van that I want. We’re here to separate facts from fear mongering. It’s what we always do here. We are your champion. The rules have changed, and you need to be more careful about where you park. But no, Greece hasn’t shut the doors to motorhomes.
Matt Sims 6:02
I’ve seen loads of this clickbait. It rules the world, doesn’t it? “Greece is no longer welcoming motorhomes.” That’s it, full stop. It’s not true. You can still go to Greece in your motorhome. The law has changed, though, on how you can use it. So in January, on the 20th of January, a law was passed this year in 2025.
Keith Gooden 6:20
That’s law 5170.
Matt Sims 6:22
There you go, if you want to know. And that restricted where you can park. So basically, they want you to take your motorhome to Greece and use a campsite. That’s it. They don’t want you to park anywhere else.
Keith Gooden 6:32
That’s Greek law we’re talking about.
Matt Sims 6:34
It is Greek law. So let’s just rewind a bit. So back in 1976 a law was passed – law 392, if you want to Google it – which prohibited camping in forests, beaches and archeological sites. And then in 2014…
Keith Gooden 6:48
Was that sandy beaches?
Matt Sims 6:49
Sandy beaches… lots of Greek film references today. Love it. These are the best jokes you’ve ever come out with. Law 4276 was passed in 2014 which reinforced those restrictions, plus there was a highway code article 34 in 1999 which meant you could only park in towns, unless in a fenced designated camping area. You could only park there for 24 hours. And this new law stops you doing that. So basically, it’s reinforcing all the things that went before, but it’s caused some confusion, because what about going to a supermarket? I want to buy a pint of milk, I park my motorhome outside the supermarket. I’m in breach of the law. Are you? So this is the grey area, and the Greek government were asked, why have you done this? And their comment was, we are protecting public interest and reinforcing legality. That was a comment from the ministry.
Keith Gooden 7:40
So what’s actually changed, then, under this new law, 5170/2025, which was introduced in January?
Matt Sims 7:47
It’s all it’s all about where you can’t park. So they don’t want you parking on beaches, so on the seafront, in forests or in archeological sites. That’s been the case forever. They don’t want you parking in public parks, in urban squares at supermarkets or shop car parks, which is a bit weird, and they don’t want you parking in towns or villages for more than 24 hours. So even in these places, a short stop is now potentially a violation. That’s what’s going on.
Speaker 1 8:16
So basically, they want you to bring your motorhome. They haven’t got a problem with that, but you’ve got to go on a campsite and you’ve got to leave it there.
Matt Sims 8:21
You’ve got to get the bus or cycle, it would seem. And it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. But how it’s been interpreted is that motorhomes are being banned from Greece, which is not true. They’re just trying to manage where they’re being parked. But of course, it’s created some contention going forward, about that pint of milk and that loaf of bread. Interestingly, as well, on private land – if you’ve got friends in Greece, you can park your campervan there, but they’re only allowed to have one campervan or motorhome on their drive without needing a licence. So if you’ve got two motorhomes visiting your house in Greece, you have to have a licence.
Keith Gooden 8:54
But when you think about it, in tourist areas in particular, that does stop people from renting out the front of their house or the back garden, you know, as a sort of ad hoc motorhome park, and taking money. So you can see the thinking behind it.
Matt Sims 9:06
You can see the thinking. And this is, I suppose, about the ministry trying to encourage people to use campsites. And I think there’s been a kind of an invasion – that’s probably unfair, but there’s certainly been a massive increase in the number of campervans and motorhomes that are parking not on a campsite, so off grid and parking with a lovely view of the sea from the beach, parking in a park or in a town or village on that village square. And this is what the ministry is trying to stop. And this came to light when – because this rule in ’25 was passed without any consultation. Suddenly, some campaigners to change the original rules were fined 300 euros per van – in fact, it can be per person – for parking off grid. Why am I being fined? And it’s this the new law, which they didn’t know about, and that’s offended people and repeat offenders can face court and jail time of up to three months. So this is a serious rule. If you break it, there are big consequences. And interestingly, the police and the Coast Guard can now issue fines of 300 euros on the spot per person in your van. So it’s a big deal, and there are serious consequences if you do break the rules.
Keith Gooden 10:20
But look at it from a Greek point of view. You know, if people are pulling up on nice beaches and parking or in parkland or in wild areas when they really shouldn’t be and bedding down for the night, you can understand from the Greek point of view that actually these people are abusing hospitality, and so we’re introducing these rules. Is it a big deal?
Matt Sims 10:42
Well, the question is, should they have been? You say where they shouldn’t be. I mean, okay, arguably they shouldn’t have been because of historical rules that have been passed, but it’s a big deal if you’re in your van and you want to park and enjoy that spot. And I guess the ministry are stepping in to say, well, we own this land, and we’re now going to govern it, and we’re going to actively stop you doing it by virtue of a fine or a prison sentence. And they want you to be on a campsite, so they are restricting where you can use your motorhome. And that’s the contentious bit.
Keith Gooden 11:12
But is motorhoming about bagging the best spot and being selfish about it and blighting an otherwise beautiful view with a big white van? I would say it’s not.
Matt Sims 11:24
That’s a residential issue, isn’t it? They probably spent millions of euros on that house on the sea front to enjoy that sea view, and suddenly there’s this row of white boxes all parked on the pavement, blocking that view, which is not very nice for those residents, perhaps. So there’s an element of NIMBY going on here, but we need to coexist.
Keith Gooden 11:43
Not in my back yard.
Matt Sims 11:45
Not in my back yard. But the thing is, this is not just a Greek thing. This is happening everywhere. It’s increasingly happening in the Netherlands, in Luxembourg, in Switzerland, you are not allowed to off grid camp, or wild camp, as it mistakenly gets called.
Keith Gooden 11:59
Pulling into a lay by and bedding down for the night.
Matt Sims 12:01
Yeah, and even in the UK, here at home, overnight bans – we see them being reported all the time in Scarborough and St Anne’s. Plus it’s happening in Italy and Czech Republic. There are selective or de facto bans happening there. So Greece isn’t banning motorhomes. They’re just following, I think, a European and potentially global trend of tighter regulation.
Keith Gooden 12:26
It’s just stopping people from pulling up where they fancy it and doing what they want to do when they want to do it. And that’s always been the case when we’ve parked our cars and such like. Why should people be exempted if they’re going on holiday? What gives people the right to do those things? We wouldn’t need these rules if people weren’t abusing them, would we?
Matt Sims 12:47
That’s a valid argument. Yeah. And I guess campsites have been created for motorhomes and campervans. The problem is we’ve got this trend, haven’t we, of motorhomes and campervans that are more and more capable of going off grid. I predicted this the beginning of the year, there will be a huge trend of people that don’t want to go on a campsite. And I think part of the problem, less so in Europe, but certainly here in the UK, is campsites have not innovated enough to attract us back to their campsite. It’s a field with a toilet block, which was updated 10 years ago, and they want to charge us £40 to spend the night there. Frankly, it’s rubbish, and I would much rather spend the night in a car park with a beautiful view of a lake or the sea and have a free night there.
Keith Gooden 13:30
Because you can.
Matt Sims 13:31
Because I can. Now it would seem I can’t…! And I think it’s a double edged sword, this, where I think campsites need to be supported by government and by local councils, and they need to get their finger out and start attracting motorhomes and campervans to new locations. The boom in this pastime is off the scale.
Keith Gooden 13:50
But these restrictions and these bans around the world, they’re not going to encourage campsites to improve things, because they think, well, they haven’t got a choice. It’s 300 euros or pay 40 euros to stay on my rubbishy old campsite. I’m sure there are some very good ones…!
Matt Sims 14:05
There are some really lovely campsites everywhere. And to be fair to the UK campsites, I have stayed in some really lovely ones here in the UK, and especially on the continent. The value it seems you get there is massive compared to the UK. But I still make the point. I think the campsite industry has been very slow to respond to this growing trend. And I tell you what’s interesting is recently, at Campervan Campout, we saw hundreds of motorhomes and campervans which had been self converted, and the number of people that had done them themselves and were living in them full time or for long periods of time was amazing. And the end product they’d created was phenomenal. I was really impressed. And also the thing that struck me is a number of people who were silver surfers, let’s call them that -retirement age. So they had a home, bricks and mortar house, sold it or rented it out, and were now living in a van. And that van probably cost £100,000. I think this is all about the gentrification of van life. I think it has changed. I watched the video that Darran the Urban Motorhome, a friend of ours, put out. Seven years ago, he started living in his motorhome full time, and people would say to him, what to do for a living? I’m a truck driver. Where do you live? I live in my van. And the response was, I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully life will get better for you. He said, no, you’re joking. This is my choice. I’m living my best life.
Keith Gooden 15:24
This is my house.
Matt Sims 15:25
This is it. Yeah, I’m loving it. And I think there’s been an attitude shift. I think now, if you say, oh, I live in my motorhome full time, people now generally would say, oh, wow, I’d love to do that. And there’s been a big acceptance of van life. I think living in a van, whatever it’s like – it could be a Transit with a mattress in the back. It could be a £100,000 or more Hymer, or something very lovely like that. I think the acceptance of it, it’s become aspirational. And I think there’s been a massive shift in a relatively short space of time. I mean, living in a campervan has been around since the ’60s, hasn’t it? You go back to the hippie era of the 1960s and it was generally the pastime. You’ll remember this. I’m looking at you because I don’t.
Keith Gooden 16:08
Yeah, I was very small in the 1960s. But it was about making do, as you say yourself. You might have had a combi van or something in the 1960s or 1970s and a bucket – it’s true, though! – and a frying pan over a camping stove. But as you were saying just a little bit earlier in this podcast, you know, the technology has enabled people to live a reasonably luxurious lifestyle in the motorhome or in a van, and also they can work from it. The connected environment we’re in now means you can live your everyday life, and you don’t need a bricks and mortar home.
Matt Sims 16:44
And this is the other big impact of the lockdown, the pandemic, is that everyone was forced to work from home. And people thought, well, actually, I don’t need to work from this house. I can work from my van. And that changed everything. So there’s a whole load of things that have conspired together, and this big catalyst kind of happened where van life became the accepted norm. And it’s now become aspirational for people who’ve worked their entire life and have a desire to sell up or rent up and go and travel in a van.
Keith Gooden 17:13
They might have a home worth a couple of hundred thousand pounds and sell it and buy a campervan or a motorhome for £100,000, put £100,000 in the bank and live off the money. Well, you know, they are free to do what they want – or if you go to Greece, not so free!
Matt Sims 17:29
Not so free. And I’m one of those. I’d love to do that. I’d love to get the business here to a point where I could take a long period off and go and travel in my van, effectively living in it for six months or a year. That’s aspirational for us. It’s something we intend to do, to go traveling, and motohoming is a great way of doing that. But of course, there’s lots of sides to this. You’ve got kind of van dwellers and van lifers, and they are very different groups of people. And we live in Bristol, and here we’ve got a massive story here of… I think it’s 850 vans and caravans in the city of Bristol. There are people who are living in that circumstance because they’ve no choice. Or maybe it is their choice.
Keith Gooden 18:10
They can’t afford a flat or a house.
Matt Sims 18:12
Yeah, they can’t afford the deposit. So a caravan or a motorhome or a campervan is the cheaper alternative. And Bristol has a challenge. It’s still trying to figure out how to deal with it, and they’re doing it through penalising these people and making them move on.
Keith Gooden 18:26
We’re not talking about travelers here.
Matt Sims 18:28
No, no, no.
Keith Gooden 18:29
We are talking about people who have made the choice because of accommodation issues. They just want to do it.
Matt Sims 18:34
And I’ve spoken to some of them. I’ve seen lots of stories in the press. They get up in the morning and they put a suit and tie on and they go to work in an office, as everyone else is doing, but they live in a van, and it’s a lifestyle choice either imposed on them or one they’ve made in order to survive and thrive in the city of Bristol. That’s a different group of people, but that has become another way of people engaging with this hashtag van life. It has grown at every level -these young millennials, if I can call them that, you know, 20 somethings are pursuing this lifestyle. And then you’ve got these silver surfers who also want to pursue this lifestyle, and there are more and more motorhomes on the road than ever before. And many of them are being lived in full time. And that’s why I think councils are responding to it with force, brute force, and trying to impose laws. What we need is more integration between the communities that want to spend time in their van, the campsites, the places that want to host motorhomes and campervans, pub stops. So Brit stops are booming. We need all these to kind of rethink what we’re doing. Why we can’t join the dots, especially in the UK, with the introduction of official places to stop – so we call them aires in Europe. Why councils can’t do this I really don’t know. I don’t know why we don’t do it. We just seem to have this inability to embrace one another and work together. And I don’t get why.
Keith Gooden 19:57
Let me drag you back to Greece, to Karpathos, which I understand is very popular with van lifers.
Matt Sims 20:04
It is. Or it was! Especially kitesurfers. The challenge here is this is a Greek island. There is no campsite on this island, and it’s really popular with people that want to go there in a motorhome or campervan. They now can’t.
Keith Gooden 20:18
They can’t because there’s nowhere to stay. Yeah, it’s a place called Afiartis, isn’t it?
Matt Sims 20:23
Afiartis.
Keith Gooden 20:23
Pfft.
Matt Sims 20:24
I knew it! I knew you’d do it. You couldn’t resist.
Keith Gooden 20:29
Technically there’s no campsite, so they can’t pull up to the beach, because they might get a 300 euro fine. So in Karpathos, do they just want to kill the tourist industry? Do they want to destroy this group of people who are enjoying it?
Matt Sims 20:42
I don’t know if they want to, but they’re going to. This is a segment of tourism that is no longer going to visit that place. Will the Greek ministry realise this and back down? There’s an opportunity there. Surely there’s an entrepreneurial opportunity for someone to go and set up a campsite.
Keith Gooden 20:56
I was just going to say that!
Matt Sims 20:58
Let’s go!
Keith Gooden 20:59
Yeah, the Greek sun…
Matt Sims 21:00
I just need an acre. Yeah! Love it. So maybe that’ll happen. And this is what I’m talking about – there needs to be this kind of joined up thinking. Surely there is space on this island that somebody could set up Karpathos camping, and then that would mean that motorhome and campervan people can go there. I don’t know. I’ve never been there, so I won’t be going there in my motorhome at the moment!
Keith Gooden 21:23
Let’s get some practical tips for you, because people are going to hear this and they’ll go, I can’t go. I’m not going to go. Or, even worse, they start paying attention to these keyboard warriors who really just put any nonsense out there.
Matt Sims 21:35
It’s just clickbait.
Keith Gooden 21:37
I’m sure some people just like the attention. Just sit at home, just say yes to this and no to that and just cause distress and confusion. So your practical tips now, what should people do?
Matt Sims 21:49
Plan ahead, especially in the busy months. So book sites and use apps to do it. There’s loads of apps. Park4night is brilliant. Campercontact is another one, but check the local laws. So Google is your friend. So there’s loads of apps you can use to go and find these campsites and use them and book them and plan ahead. If you are going to wild journey and just say, well, let’s see what we find, then ou need to know the laws. Because if you’re not allowed to park on the side of the road or in that village square, you need to be on a campsite. If there’s no space, what are you going to do?
Keith Gooden 22:21
Tavernas?
Matt Sims 22:23
I guess so. But then they run the risk. If the law is you’re not allowed to park outside the taverna, then…
Keith Gooden 22:29
But if you’ve got land, they can let one van on, can’t they?
Matt Sims 22:32
If they give you permission to park there, and it’s private land and you are the only van in Greece, you can stay there.
Keith Gooden 22:38
Now, they might charge you for that.
Matt Sims 22:39
They might charge you for that, and I wouldn’t blame them if they did. And I can see that loads of tavernas in Greece are going to see this as an opportunity, and maybe they’ll apply for a camping licence. Maybe suddenly, Greece is going to be blessed with loads of campsites where taverna owners go, we’ve got a car park. We can get 10 motorhomes in there overnight. Let’s get a licence. I don’t know what the licence going to cost, but let’s have a campsite. Let’s do it, and maybe that’s how this is going to change. But don’t assume that it’s only one night off grid, and that’s okay. It’s not. You are not allowed to do it unless you are on an allocated space.
Keith Gooden 23:11
Yeah. Don’t assume that.
Matt Sims 23:12
Yeah, and always, wherever you’re parking, leave no trace. Follow the rules.
Keith Gooden 23:18
It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast with me, Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims 23:20
And me, Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden 23:21
It’s brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com…
Matt Sims 23:24
And sponsored by Ripe. Get 15% off your insurance premium by using the code MOTORHOMEMATT over the phone or simply click the link in the episode description.
Keith Gooden 23:34
It’s time for the Q and A, the questions and answers, where you ask the questions and Motorhome Matt will give you the answers. If he doesn’t know, he’ll ask somebody who does. Darrell Carter is in Chichester.
Darrell Carter 23:46
We’re just about to take delivery of our C55 Rapido. As you’re probably aware, it’s got the front facing lounge with the two seat belt seats. And of course, we’ve got grandchildren, and would like to know whether there is an option to add isofix to these seats as an aftermarket option. I don’t know if you know anybody, or where you can get the isofix added, or if it’s possible, any information will be gratefully received. Thank you very much.
Keith Gooden 24:11
There you go, then, Matt – isofix. I know when it was introduced in cars, it would cause me a bit of confusion, because up to then, child seats in the back were secured with the seat belt going through a loop and all the rest of it. Then isofix are these metal tags, which are hidden down in there, in the right angle between the back of the seat and the front of the seat. That’s what he’s talking about, isn’t it?
Matt Sims 24:32
It is, yeah. And oddly, many motorhomes don’t have it. It seemed to be years before the motorhome industry adopted them, and even now it just it seems to be random as to whether they have got them. I think family targeted motorhomes do, and you can just tell if they have because there’s a little button right at the bottom of the seat back that says isofix on it. So if you’re looking at motorhomes, that’s the thing to look for. It is legally possible. As long as you’ve got a legally traveling seat in the back, then you could add isofix to it. It is a case by case scenario, because it depends on how the seat frame has been manufactured and how those seat belts are fixed to it. They can either be bolted to the seat frame or possibly welded.
Keith Gooden 25:13
Really, bolted? I’m surprised about that.
Matt Sims 25:15
So there are aftermarket kits that you can buy. If you Google it, you’ll find loads them for under £100, but it is about the right kit for your motorhome. And motorhome seat frames are very different to car seats, so I would definitely investigate a professional to do this. Take all the cushions out, look at the seat frame, look at the ones on offer, and see how you could fix them in. You’ve got to remember that that child seat is fixed to those little clips, and how they are fixed to the seat frame is critical in an accident. So you need to be really secure, either bolted or welded. But don’t be shy – get someone professional to help you do it.
Keith Gooden 25:48
But most child car seats will have isofix, but also you’ll be able to use the seat belt, as I said before.
Matt Sims 25:55
It depends on the type of car seat, and it’s not always the case that an isofix car seat will go in a non isofix car seat. That is a pain when you’re transitioning grandkids from car to car like we do. I hate isofix car seats. Getting them in and out is a nightmare. I fall out with our isofix car seat all the time.
Keith Gooden 26:14
They were invented to make life easier.
Matt Sims 26:16
Apparently so…
Keith Gooden 26:17
Karen Cotter’s in Carmarthenshire. They’re looking to buy another motorhome. She says she’s worried about the Ford faults everyone complains about, such as the injectors and the wet belt. You mentioned that a few podcasts ago. Same for the Peugeot and Citroen. “Is our instinct right to stick with Fiat? We had our last motorhome 11 years without a single issue. If the others are so bad, why are so many manufacturers changing to Ford?”
Matt Sims 26:45
It’s a good question. I think the issue was Stellantis group that owned Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen and many other brands imploded during the lockdown and had no stock, and Ford did. And so many motorhome manufacturers started building on Ford, but they also started building again on Mercedes. MAN have made a kind of return to the market, and this is why there’s been a big move to Ford. And they really have started to dominate the motorhome market. In fact, they’ve made it their agenda to do just that. And we’ve had Ryan Bowdidge on the podcast few times now.
Keith Gooden 27:17
It’s because they’ve got such a well-developed chassis, isn’t it? The Ford transit is tried and tested over a decade.
Matt Sims 27:27
And it does lend itself well for a motorhome, as the Stellantis chassis does, particularly Fiat, with what’s called a ladder chassis. It’s ideal for it. But you’re right. The Ford issues are real. The wet belt is a stupid design.
Keith Gooden 27:40
What is that, again? Just describe it one more time, because that struck me as really odd.
Matt Sims 27:43
It’s a cam belt. We know with a cam belt you should change it. If the cam belt snaps, you write your engine off. So the top of the engine ends up meeting the bottom of the engine, basically.
Keith Gooden 27:52
Very quickly. With explosions!
Matt Sims 27:55
And it’s happened to me – I had a cam belt snap on me, and the car just came to an instant halt. So the cam belt should be replaced, and the intervals for changing vary from car to car. The Ford manufacturing idea was to create a cam belt that is inside the engine, not outside, but in the engine, in the oil, and they’re made of rubber. Now, oil makes rubber degrade. So Ford had the idea – I know. Let’s put some fiber inside the rubber belt to ensure that when the rubber dissolves, the fiber dissolves as well, and then blocks all the oil ports inside the engine! It’s a ridiculous idea.
Keith Gooden 28:26
Why couldn’t they use the metal chain?
Matt Sims 28:28
There you go. So that’s called a timing chain, which is a brilliant idea, because that has an adapter that tightens it, and you can replace that. The tensioner, it’s called. So why didn’t they use a chain? Now you can upgrade your wet belt to a chain. It’s quite expensive. Or you can replace the wet belt, which is also very expensive. And when that wet belt snaps -engine over, that’s it. You need a new engine. So it’s a serious fault. The diesel injector fault – they fail. There’s a whole batch of them that kept failing. And the other issue is the rain gets down into the injector, which means they seize into the engine head, so you can’t get them out. So when they fail, they’re locked in, and you end up snapping them off. So two issues there. But that said, it’s not plain sailing with Stellantis either. So Fiat have had loads of reported issues with the EGR valve, the diesel particulate filter, lots of issues with Fiat. So none of them are immune to this.
Keith Gooden 29:22
They’re machines. They go wrong sometimes.
Matt Sims 29:23
They are mechanical, electrical machines. They’re exactly that, and things fail. I would suggest not to be put off buying a Ford motorhome at all. You may not have a choice. If it’s the layout you want and it’s only available on a Ford, you’rehaving a Ford. But look at the service history and plan to maintain it properly. Change the oil frequently, as per the manufacturer’s instructions, and when the wet belt needs doing, do it. It’s gonna cost you a grand, but do it. Plan for it and do it. But don’t be put off by any Ford issue. Even Volkswagen have issues. Our VW T6, adblue. What a nightmare that is.
Keith Gooden 29:59
Is it made of pigs’ wee, or something…?
Matt Sims 30:01
No, we’ve covered this before! It’s not, and why pigs? Are they easier to catch? So base your motorhome choice on the layout and the design of the back of it, the living area. And if there’s a choice on chassis, great. If there isn’t, don’t worry about it. You know, go for it, make sure you’ve got service centers. Someone asked me a really good question yesterday, and they left it on the podcast. We might include it in the future, but they asked us, should I consider this make of motorhome? It’s built on a particular chassis brand. And I said, check your service centers for that chassis brand. There aren’t many around you, to my knowledge. And they hadn’t even considered that, and so it was a decision they put off to wait for another brand of chassis to come along. So consider that, and make sure you follow the service schedule.
Keith Gooden 30:49
There you go. Karen, it’s the service schedule, because if you don’t and you leave it 5,000 miles over when it says to change something or maintain something, your insurer might have something to say about that if you make a claim. Pete Hatfield is in Weston-super-Mare. “Hi, Matt. We’re planning to purchase a used motorhome to travel through Europe, returning to the UK within our 90-day window. We would like a left hand drive vehicle, as we intend to emigrate to Spain in the near future, and would be taking it with us. Can you recommend anyone who specialises in left hand drive motorhomes based in the UK, or should we consider purchasing a used motorhome from a Spanish dealership? Thanks in advance. And as always, we love the podcast.”
Matt Sims 31:33
Thanks, Pete, that’s very kind of you. I don’t know any left hand drive specialist motorhome dealers. There was one around years ago, but they didn’t survive. Probably they would these days. I would suggest, if you’re shopping in the UK for a left hand drive motorhome, look for one that sells new or used European motorhomes, because they may have taken them in new as left hand drive ahead of the right hand drive models being available. So when I had my motorhome dealership that we sold new, we had the Laika franchise. And very often the case was that Laika would produce all the models in left hand drive. We’d bring them into the UK, and it would be six months or a year before the right hand drives became available. So we’d often launched the new model on a left hand drive chassis. And that’s often the case when you go to shows in the NEC, for example, where it’s all new motorhomes. You often see European manufacturers with only left hand drive available at that point, because it’s been launched and the right hand drive is not available yet. So I would consider shopping around for European models. Used ones in the UK, you may find left hand drive, but obviously in Spain, they’re probably all going to be left hand drive. Left hand drive in the UK tends to take longer to sell, and they tend to be a little bit cheaper because there’s fewer people that want them.
Keith Gooden 32:47
They might get a deal.
Matt Sims 32:47
So you might get a better price in the UK if you can find one.
Keith Gooden 32:51
I watch Wheeler Dealers. They did a swap out. They converted a European Transit to a British one. They swapped over the side, left hand to right hand drive. And it was a question of, you know, a template and drilling more holes and a couple of bits of welded metal, and hey presto. It was done. Is that not an option?
Matt Sims 33:12
It could be an option. Really, though? I mean, that’s time consuming and expensive.
Keith Gooden 33:18
Yeah, I suppose so.
Matt Sims 33:19
Where that leaves you with warranty I have no idea. If it’s old enough to be out of warranty, then, yeah, maybe it’s a good project. I imagine that would make good TV more than it would make good common sense.
Keith Gooden 33:30
If people want to get in touch with you then, Matt, what should they do?
Matt Sims 33:33
We’d love it if you did. If you have a question, you can ask it at mhmp.info/askmatt. We’d love it if you recorded your question. Please tell us where in the world you are. You just click the orange button. Record it. You can listen back to it, and when you’re happy, just press submit. And then we’ll play it into the podcast for you and hopefully answer it!
Keith Gooden 33:51
And if you’re looking for trusted brands and services, then make sure you visit the Motorhome Matt Approved directory. It’s at mhmp.info/approved.
Thanks for listening to the Motorhome Matt podcast. Remember to check back here for more episodes full of hints and tips and helpful advice. We’ll see you soon for another Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com.
