M wife and I are retired living in Melbourne and are looking to lap Australia and then the odd few days away every so often. We have no experience in RV'ing but have been looking around to see what is the best for us. On that note our preference at this stage is:
Sunliner Habitat 3 or;
Sunliner Trex
Unfortunately the Victorian dealer has neither for us to inspect and have to pretty much do a purchase order and then wait. The wait on the Habitat 3 is later this year and unknown for the Trex.
I am hoping someone in the Victoria (preferably the Melbourne area) who has an Habitat 3 and would allow us to inspect as we are not going to spend that amount of money with the dealer without seeing if it is right for us.
So does anyone live in Victoria who has a Habitat 3 and would allow us to inspect so we know what to expect.
Possum3 said
02:54 PM Jul 30, 2021
Welcome to GN's DaBo, Contact Colin Young at Caravan Council of Australia he may be able to advise you. www.caravancouncil.com.au/
CARAVAN COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA
3 Margaret Street, Parkdale VIC 3195
T: 0409 865 399
F: 03 9587 1828
If this dealers has any good will out there, in his dealership, he should be able to put you onto someone, that has bought from him, that ACTUALLY likes the RV, likes him and his company, and will let you look at one, if the dealer set's it up. It was the way it used to be done in the old days. Worth a try. If the dealer has no one whom will accept his inquiries on your behalf, I would run a mile. EDIT: Also look up maybe CMCA, a motorhome club, or a Sunliner club, it would be worth a try.
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Friday 30th of July 2021 06:52:17 PM
Mike Harding said
06:54 PM Jul 30, 2021
No way on this planet would I buy a caravan without inspecting one in the flesh and, very importantly, simply sitting in it for ten minutes without sales people in a 100m radius and simply "feeling" how I felt about it.
Having lived in my caravan for 2.5 years I am even more convinced of this philosophy.
DaBo said
10:07 AM Jul 31, 2021
Thank you, but my mistake in not being specific.....the Habitat 3 is a motorhome. Kind regards
DaBo said
10:13 AM Jul 31, 2021
The fellow we spoke to at the dealership seemed to be distracted and not very helpful. The restrictions dont help, the Office was closed off and he was by himself dealing with more than us. In fact we felt sorry for him but that didnt help us.
Kebbin said
10:42 AM Jul 31, 2021
The only thing I can offer is with these ute based motorhomes you will find the weight you can carry isn't that great. So check their specs very carefully.
goldenyears said
05:51 PM Jan 10, 2022
Hii have sunliner ha3 last few years small compact has everything a large motorhome has and for 2 people perfect ...look so much better than the sherwood campers .. although i do think they are overpriced ..! trex very nice . had no issues and being a 4wd able to see a little bit more but certainly not for bush bashing !!
vik351 said
06:06 PM Jan 30, 2022
goldenyears wrote:
Hii have sunliner ha3 last few years small compact has everything a large motorhome has and for 2 people perfect ...look so much better than the sherwood campers .. although i do think they are overpriced ..! trex very nice . had no issues and being a 4wd able to see a little bit more but certainly not for bush bashing !!
So how is the Ford holdin up to it's side of the humpy on wheels ...???
vik... ???
Peter_n_Margaret said
06:30 PM Jan 30, 2022
Kebbin wrote:
The only thing I can offer is with these ute based motorhomes you will find the weight you can carry isn't that great. So check their specs very carefully.
x2
By the time you have food, water, fuel & 2 people on board it will probably be overloaded.
That leads to all sorts of other problems including tyre failures. And they will all be in the most inconvenient and expensive places.
Find some owners to talk to, ask the weight questions, check the REAL rear axle loadings, hire a couple of motorhomes for a week to see what works for you and seriously consider buying second hand first because it is 90% likely that your first choice won't be what suits you.
Cheers,
Peter
86GTS said
07:08 PM Jan 30, 2022
Buyer beware, good luck, hope things work out well for you.
elliemike said
07:12 PM Jan 30, 2022
Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
Kebbin wrote:
The only thing I can offer is with these ute based motorhomes you will find the weight you can carry isn't that great. So check their specs very carefully.
x2
By the time you have food, water, fuel & 2 people on board it will probably be overloaded.
That leads to all sorts of other problems including tyre failures. And they will all be in the most inconvenient and expensive places.
Find some owners to talk to, ask the weight questions, check the REAL rear axle loadings, hire a couple of motorhomes for a week to see what works for you and seriously consider buying second hand first because it is 90% likely that your first choice won't be what suits you.
Cheers,
Peter
Good Advice above.
You might consider going to a few caravan parks near where you live, and have a leisurely walk around. Talking to owners who have M/H's in the configuration your thinking of.
Most M/H , Caravan. Camper, owners like to talk (some very enthusiastically) about their vans and experiences they've had in them Likes, Dislikes, Improvements. You will welcomed usually to have a look inside. You will hear of the mistakes they made, What they would do better next time, etc.
Ask and you will be surprised how many people will give you more info than any salesperson.
Good advise from those who actually travel in them, Live in them
And hiring something for a week or more will give you an idea of what living in a small space is like. Some people cant hack it.
Good luck.
Rob Driver said
07:18 PM Jan 30, 2022
There seems to be a few topics from the past being resurrected on here over the last few days.
*Ghosts of Topics Past*
All good in this case if a current member is considering a similar selection of unit.
Peter_n_Margaret said
07:26 PM Jan 30, 2022
elliemike wrote:
And hiring something for a week or more will give you an idea of what living in a small space is like. Some people cant hack it.
Some couples have never spent time together 24/7 for a month or more in their whole married lives and when they try it for the first time, it does not work.
Travelling together for months on end is different. The more things you try before spending a fortune, the better.
That problem provides a steady stream of barely used and highly discounted RVs to the second hand market. "It is just 3 years old and has only done 20,000km" is a common story. Nothing wrong with the RVs, the lifestyle simply did not suit the buyers, and it was a surprise to them. You can take advantage of that to buy something better or add to it for someone elses benefit.
M wife and I are retired living in Melbourne and are looking to lap Australia and then the odd few days away every so often. We have no experience in RV'ing but have been looking around to see what is the best for us. On that note our preference at this stage is:
Unfortunately the Victorian dealer has neither for us to inspect and have to pretty much do a purchase order and then wait. The wait on the Habitat 3 is later this year and unknown for the Trex.
I am hoping someone in the Victoria (preferably the Melbourne area) who has an Habitat 3 and would allow us to inspect as we are not going to spend that amount of money with the dealer without seeing if it is right for us.
So does anyone live in Victoria who has a Habitat 3 and would allow us to inspect so we know what to expect.
CARAVAN COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA
3 Margaret Street, Parkdale VIC 3195
T: 0409 865 399
F: 03 9587 1828
caravancouncil@optusnet.com.au
If this dealers has any good will out there, in his dealership, he should be able to put you onto someone, that has bought from him, that ACTUALLY likes the RV, likes him and his company, and will let you look at one, if the dealer set's it up. It was the way it used to be done in the old days. Worth a try. If the dealer has no one whom will accept his inquiries on your behalf, I would run a mile. EDIT: Also look up maybe CMCA, a motorhome club, or a Sunliner club, it would be worth a try.
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Friday 30th of July 2021 06:52:17 PM
No way on this planet would I buy a caravan without inspecting one in the flesh and, very importantly, simply sitting in it for ten minutes without sales people in a 100m radius and simply "feeling" how I felt about it.
Having lived in my caravan for 2.5 years I am even more convinced of this philosophy.
Thank you, but my mistake in not being specific.....the Habitat 3 is a motorhome. Kind regards
The fellow we spoke to at the dealership seemed to be distracted and not very helpful. The restrictions dont help, the Office was closed off and he was by himself dealing with more than us. In fact we felt sorry for him but that didnt help us.
Hii have sunliner ha3 last few years small compact has everything a large motorhome has and for 2 people perfect ...look so much better than the sherwood campers .. although i do think they are overpriced ..! trex very nice . had no issues and being a 4wd able to see a little bit more but certainly not for bush bashing !!
So how is the Ford holdin up to it's side of the humpy on wheels ...???
vik... ???
x2
By the time you have food, water, fuel & 2 people on board it will probably be overloaded.
That leads to all sorts of other problems including tyre failures. And they will all be in the most inconvenient and expensive places.
Find some owners to talk to, ask the weight questions, check the REAL rear axle loadings, hire a couple of motorhomes for a week to see what works for you and seriously consider buying second hand first because it is 90% likely that your first choice won't be what suits you.
Cheers,
Peter
Good Advice above.
You might consider going to a few caravan parks near where you live, and have a leisurely walk around. Talking to owners who have M/H's in the configuration your thinking of.
Most M/H , Caravan. Camper, owners like to talk (some very enthusiastically) about their vans and experiences they've had in them Likes, Dislikes, Improvements. You will welcomed usually to have a look inside. You will hear of the mistakes they made, What they would do better next time, etc.
Ask and you will be surprised how many people will give you more info than any salesperson.
Good advise from those who actually travel in them, Live in them
And hiring something for a week or more will give you an idea of what living in a small space is like. Some people cant hack it.
Good luck.
There seems to be a few topics from the past being resurrected on here over the last few days.
*Ghosts of Topics Past*
All good in this case if a current member is considering a similar selection of unit.
Some couples have never spent time together 24/7 for a month or more in their whole married lives and when they try it for the first time, it does not work.
Travelling together for months on end is different. The more things you try before spending a fortune, the better.
That problem provides a steady stream of barely used and highly discounted RVs to the second hand market. "It is just 3 years old and has only done 20,000km" is a common story. Nothing wrong with the RVs, the lifestyle simply did not suit the buyers, and it was a surprise to them. You can take advantage of that to buy something better or add to it for someone elses benefit.
Do not rush in.
Cheers,
Peter