Buying a Motorhome? Why You Should Hire the Same Type First

A motorhome is a big purchase. When you look round one in a showroom or on a dealer's forecourt, it's parked, level, clean and dry. You sit at the table, lie on the bed for half a minute, open a few lockers and imagine the rest.

What you don't do is take it down a Cornish lane, make the bed up at 11pm while it's raining, or try to squeeze it into a pub car park.

That's where hiring before you buy comes in. If you're weighing up a 7m low-profile coachbuilt with a fixed rear bed, hire a 7m low-profile with a fixed rear bed for a long weekend. You'll come home knowing whether it suits you, or knowing exactly what you'd change.

In this guide, we'll cover why the type you hire matters, what to test, how to check your licence and weights, and where to find the right vehicle.

Why the Type You Hire Matters

A 6m van conversion and a 7.5m over-cab coachbuilt drive, park and live very differently. A hire trip only answers your questions if it's in something close to what you'd buy.

Try to match:

• Type: van conversion, low-profile coachbuilt, over-cab coachbuilt or A-class
• Size: length, width and height
• Bed layout: fixed rear bed, beds made up from the lounge, over-cab bed or drop-down bed
• Washroom: where it sits and whether there's a separate shower
• Gearbox: manual or automatic
• Seatbelts and berths: enough of both for everyone who'll travel with you

You won't always find the exact make and model for hire, and that's fine. Length and layout matter far more than the badge on the front.

A Quick Refresher on Motorhome Types

Van Conversions

Built inside a panel van. They're the easiest to drive and park, but space is tight and the washroom, if there is one, is small. Many use a bed you make up each night.

Low-Profile Coachbuilts

The living area is built behind the base vehicle's own cab, with no overhang above the cab. You get more room than in a van conversion, often with a proper washroom and a fixed bed.

Over-Cab Coachbuilts

Similar, but with an extra bed or storage area over the cab. Families like them, though the extra height is something to keep an eye on with low bridges and car park barriers.

A-Class Motorhomes

The whole body, cab included, is built by the motorhome maker on a bare chassis. Big windscreen, lots of space, and usually the largest and priciest of the four.

What to Test on Your Hire Trip

Treat the hire as a test drive that lasts several days. Write a list before you go, and jot down notes each evening while it's fresh.

Driving

• Narrow country lanes and single-track roads with passing places
• Town centres, mini roundabouts and tight junctions
• Motorways and dual carriageways on a windy day
• Reversing, mirrors and blind spots
• How tired you feel after a full day at the wheel

Parking

• Supermarket and pub car parks
• Height barriers and low bridges
• Where it would live at home

If it won't fit on your drive, read up on whether you can park a motorhome on the street before you commit, or budget for storage.

Living

• Make the bed up and pack it away a few times. Could you do that every night for two weeks?
• Two people in the kitchen or aisle at the same time
• A wet day inside: where do the coats, boots and dog go?
• The washroom: can you actually shower in it?
• Night-time loo trips: do you have to climb over or walk past someone?
• Storage: pack what you'd normally take and see if it fits

On-Board Systems

• Emptying the cassette toilet and waste water
• Filling the fresh water tank
• Heating, gas and hot water
• Running on hook-up and without it

If you plan to use stopovers without hook-up, watch how long the battery and water last. That's a big part of whether a layout works for you.

Check Your Licence and Weights While You're at It

A hire trip is a good time to sort out the boring but important bits.

Driving Licence

If you passed your car test on or after 1 January 1997, a standard category B licence covers petrol and diesel vehicles up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass (MAM). Anything between 3,500kg and 7,500kg needs C1. If you passed before 1 January 1997, you'll usually have C1 already, which covers vehicles between 3,500kg and 7,500kg. GOV.UK sets out all the driving licence categories. Licence rules can change, so check your own entitlements online before you book.

Worth knowing if you're planning long term: once you're 70, C1 can only be renewed by post, and that renewal needs a medical report (form D4) completed by a doctor. Check the latest DVLA guidance for your own situation.

Weight and Payload

MAM is the weight of the vehicle including the maximum load it can safely carry, and it's normally shown on a plate or sticker fitted to the vehicle. GOV.UK has a page explaining vehicle weights if the terms are new to you.

The gap between what the motorhome weighs ready for the road and its MAM is what you can carry: people, water, food, bikes, the lot. Load the hire van the way you'd load your own, and if you're unsure, a public weighbridge will tell you where you stand. Check the MAM on the plate against everything you plan to carry.

Test It on the Kind of Trip You'll Actually Take

The best hire trip looks like the trips you're buying the motorhome for.

• Campsite holidays? Book a couple of sites with hook-up and live the routine.
• Touring with one-night stops? Move on every day and see how quickly you can pack up and go.
• Pub and farm stopovers? Try a few. Brit Stops hosts list a maximum vehicle size, and you can filter hosts by vehicle length in the app, so a hire trip shows you how much choice a given length leaves you. Brit Stops is for self-contained vehicles, so check your hire motorhome meets the requirements before you set off.
• Off-season trips? Hire in autumn or winter and see how the heating and insulation cope.

Where to Hire the Type You Want

Our motorhome rental guide covers the main places to look and what to check before booking.

If you're after a specific length or layout, a booking platform saves a lot of tab-hopping. Campstar lets you compare motorhome hire from a range of hire companies in one search, which makes it easier to find something close to the model you're eyeing up.

Before you book, ask the hire company for

• The exact model and layout
• The length and MAM
• What's included, such as bedding, kitchen kit and a hook-up cable
• Whether it's manual or automatic

Your Hire-Before-You-Buy Checklist

• Hire the same type, length and layout you're considering
• Check your licence covers its MAM
• Pack and load it the way you would your own
• Drive the roads you'll actually use
• Park it somewhere tight, and work out where it'll live at home
• Make the beds up, cook, shower and empty the toilet
• Spend at least one night without hook-up
• Write down what you'd change

Final Thoughts

A motorhome that looks perfect in a showroom can feel very different after three days on British roads. Hiring the same type first lets you find that out before you buy, and you'll walk into the dealer knowing exactly what you want.

And once you've found the right one, Brit Stops is there for the pub, farm shop and vineyard stopovers that make owning a motorhome worth it.