Advice

Practical guidance

Four areas, written for people who intend to keep a vehicle for years rather than photograph it for a season.

Before you buy

Weights, licences, layouts and the questions that separate a shortlist from a purchase.

The recurring costs, checks and admin that follow the vehicle for as long as you keep it.

Driving, pitching, off-grid practice and travelling outside the season.

What you can do, what you should not, and what a workshop should charge.

Standards

The Road Co. carries commercial links. It is worth saying plainly how that sits alongside the editorial.

Where a manufacturer or brand supplies a vehicle or product, we state it on the page. Supplied items are returned or declared.

Recommendations are decided before any commercial arrangement is sought, and a partnership never changes a score or a conclusion.

Measured figures, test conditions and durations appear in the article so you can judge whether our conditions resemble yours.

From the Journal

Two hours at the dealership decides how the first year goes. A methodical handover finds the faults while someone else is still obliged to fix them.

Ellen Marsh · 12 August 2026

Four months standing still causes more damage than four months of touring. The remedies are cheap and almost entirely about moisture.

David Ferrier · 29 July 2026

Three weeks touring after the season closes: fewer sites, shorter days, and the best light of the year.

Ellen Marsh · 3 July 2026