30 APR 2021

SPRINGTIME MAINTAINANCE: READY FOR THE NEXT ADVENTURE?

TRAVELLING BY MOTORHOME

The flowers open, the first warm breezes breathe, the colours explode wherever you look: spring is certainly one of the best seasons to dream adventures with our beloved Fiat Ducato-based campervan! Before leaving, as usual, it’s a good idea to prepare things as best as possible, so nothing will spoil our journey.

Routine checks

All mobile home owners know the basics of caring for their dream-home on its Fiat Ducato base: and between end-of-season cleaning and winter vehicle maintenance, more road travellers should have perfected their skills!
But what should we check at the end of the cold season? Coolant, engine oil and battery fluid are certainly the starting point for any vehicle check... so let's first make sure that their various levels are as they should be. Once the necessary checks have been carried out, it’s also important to check that the lighting systems both outside and inside the vehicle, are working correctly. Nobody wants to set off on their first springtime adventure and then find themselves with non-functioning headlights after sunset!
The final routine checks are equally important: windscreen wipers, tire pressure and a general water system check, to check for signs of damage caused by the winter freezing.

Spring Cleaning

As it does at home, the arrival of spring means time for stricter cleaning on board our Fiat Ducato-based interiors, which need extra attention if left standing during the cold months. So, cleaning tools and products in hand! It's time to thoroughly clean all the interior spaces of our vehicle! When spring arrives, so do insects and animals, so let's make sure we don't have any food scraps hanging around, or we may find ourselves having to launch a major disinfection campaign!
The windows will also need special care, as well as the external bodywork. After all, unless the vehicle has been shut in the garage, or you don’t live in a cold-winter country, salt sprinkled on the roads in winter to prevent accidents caused by ice could corrode both the bodywork and the external parts of our four-wheeled friend: it will need thorough washing, in order to avoid damage to our campervan or motorhome on its Fiat Ducato base, especially in the long term.

Planning our first journey

Once you are sure that your vehicle is in top shape, it will be time to pack your bags too! Obviously, we can't suggest what to wear, but there are a few items that can often get forgotten.
So let's arm ourselves with anti-insect sprays, to prevent (or exterminate?) the invasion of ants that nearly all motorhome owners experience at least once in their lives. Our Fiat Ducato-based campervan offer us freedom, it's true, but not the freedom to leave that dirty plate in the sink while sunbathing. For a relaxing holiday, a talent for organisation is a priceless talent!

A useful tip – even for those who normally prefer holidays tending towards relaxation rather than adventure – is to bring along some trekking equipment, such as comfortable shoes, waterproof clothes and torches: you may want to plunge into the rediscovered warmth of the sun while surrounded by nature!

We've come to the end of this short guide on how to best prepare for our first springtime holiday. We hope that even for the more experienced camping connoisseurs it will be useful as a checklist before departure, and more so for beginners, who will find useful ideas and information for using their new campervans on a Fiat Ducato base. So ends our short guide on how to plan your first motorhome experiences. May all your travels be magical!