Motorhome Shopping (by Gill, June 2024)

I’m partial to all sorts of shopping and motorhome shopping, it appears, is no exception!

I had a small idea of the different styles of “homes” and what I would prefer. It had been a dream of mine to own a home of wheels since before meeting Luke. (It’s just taken me a little while to convince him!)

With Luke and I putting on some pounds (sorry babe) and our Lewis being a big dog – I knew we needed something sizeable. Gone were the days of even sniffing at a VW Campervan or a converted Ford Transit.

We also wanted something that could be a home from home. For extended trips away, and if we didn’t want to, or couldn’t find space at a site with extra facilities. A home we knew that we would be OK to all be in, come rain or shine.

I’d spent a few minutes (OK… hours) looking at Auto Trader to see what was out there, and at what price. I started looking at photos, mileage, load capacity and the actual size of different motorhomes and I’m thinking, I can’t physically imagine what that looks like.

On the 27th May we visited Brownhills, the UK’s largest motorhome dealer. It really was massive! We parked easily, and there were lots of big signs providing us with the direction to different parts of the complex, including a field where you can stay, and a lovely little on-site restaurant.

We made our way to reception where we were greeted by a friendly lady, who instantly loved Lewis. She found us a motorhome expert, who instantly loved Lewis (there’s a theme here…). She walked us over to the second-hand motorhomes and gave us a general tour of that area, what to look out for, and how to read the information displayed in the screens.

We (I) wanted a 4-seater/4-berth, “decent” bed configuration and “decent” shower / toilet set up. We (Luke) wanted a “decent” size garage and “decent” storage space. I’m saying “decent” because neither of us really knew what “decent” looked like!

She encouraged us to look at as many homes as we could. To get an idea for what we like and what we didn’t like.

This place was motorhome heaven. Even if it wasn’t a 4-seater/4-berth, we hopped in and looked around. If the load capacity was too big for me to drive, we had a nosey. We looked at beds over the top & front, to the side, to the back, up high, fixed, removable. Honestly, I was as happy as Gill in a cake shop.

There was never any pressure put on us to buy at Brownhills. They knew from the beginning that we were browsing. Getting a feel for what’s for out there. They allowed us to look, touch, sit in and explore literally every style of motorhome, and they didn’t mind Lewis having a sniff around too.

If it wasn’t for their relaxed style, advice and openness with us, I’m not sure we would have been so determined to follow this way of life.

Thanks Brownhills Motorhomes. We’ll be back!