Comparing costs
Recently, motorhome manufacturers seem to be moving away from what was almost exclusively Fiat-based motorhomes, especially for coachbuilts. We are seeing more Fords and Mercedes, as well as Peugeots.
So, I thought it would be useful to know what the costs of vehicle servicing are, say over a five-year period, taking into account the different service intervals and the associated costs. We might all like to purchase a new Mercedes-based ‘Van, but will we come to regret it when it comes to paying for servicing?
Also knowing the availability of dealers/centres able to service such motorhomes would be useful. It would be no use to me buying a Mercedes motorhome only to find that the nearest dealer able to service it is 50 or more miles away.
This seems to me like the kind of article MMM is well positioned to cover and readers would find extremely useful.
Graham Connell
ED Yes, we can certainly look at this, what do other readers think? Is this information that would help you decide what new model to buy? We know that, when choosing a new motorhome, it is the layout that is the most important element so would you decide to buy or not based on the cost of the base vehicle's servicing?
Excellent Eura Mobil
Regarding the letter about Eura Mobil in (December 2022, pll), as an owner of a Terrestra A 570 HS built in 2009, I can say that internally the construction is first class. The external plastic trim is showing its age, though, tending to be brittle.
As to maintenance, most of the bits for things such as locker catches and light bulbs are obtainable.
I have found that, like many makers, Eura Mobil uses parts specially for the caravan or motorhome market so there is a not a great issue over maintaining it as such.
In the time we have had it, the weakest part is the internal locker catches, which are easily obtainable, but are not very strong, especially if you pull on them before the catch is fully disengaged. I bought 10 a couple of years ago and have so far replaced three or four.
Mine was built before the company went fully wood-free, but all the lockers internally are built on aluminium framing, although they look like wood.
The comment about dealing with the factory is worth commenting on, as I have contacted it several times at werkstatt@euramobil.de and always had a reply by the following day. The replies are in English even though I, out of courtesy, send them my message in a Google German translation of my English text.
It is usually very helpful and will, for spares that are Eura Mobil-specific, always direct us to Geoff Cox.
The only part I can think that's been tricky is the overcab bed light; it's a design I have not been able to track down anywhere as I would like to place an identical one on the opposite wall as we prefer to sleep that way round.
A feature of our motorhome is that they are mostly built with double floors; the Current Active has an interfloor height of 350mm like mine and has the identical layout, but is fractionally lower in overall height. I'd be very reluctant to go for another make when this one will have to go, as my wife hurt
