Cost per night

Hallsontour
Hallsontour Forum Participant Posts: 199
edited August 2016 in Motorhomes #1

Has anyone worked out the cost per night stay they get out of their motorhome over a year?

I've thought about it this morning and taking into account running costs, storage, site fees and diesel I reckon our van has cost us about £64 per night which I see as good value for money for three adults and a dog! 

We don't always pay for overnight stops as some are staying on my daughters drive in Leeds or my Mum's driveway in Redcar but they are half the reasons of us running the van. Figures change slightly to a whopping £344 per night when depreciation is taken
into account but l've put that down to us buying brand new this year so you have to write off VAT to start with. Next year should be much better

 

Comments

  • Stewartwebr
    Stewartwebr Forum Participant Posts: 171
    edited August 2016 #2

    I would be too afraid to work it out. I get great fun and pleasure in my motorhome and will treat overall cost the same as the MPG figure. I enjoy so pay it.

  • QFour
    QFour Forum Participant Posts: 442
    edited August 2016 #3

    We do a mixture of Pub Stops , CL's and Wild Camping so we can keep the costs down. Spent two weeks on the South Coast earlier in the year £0.00 on campsites.

  • commeyras
    commeyras Club Member Posts: 1,853 ✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited August 2016 #4

    I caravan but if I worked out the nightly cost taking everything into account (depreciation, storage, maintenance, ferry, extra fuel etc etc) we would probably sell the caravan, get a sports car and stay in 5 * hotels!  BUT, that is not what it is all about. 
    We partake in a hobby, enjoying the freedom that it gives us.

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,146 ✭✭✭
    10,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited August 2016 #5

    No, I haven't worked it out and don't intend to. The MH is a means to an end and the only costs that matter to me are the overall purchase price and annual running costs.

  • huskydog
    huskydog Club Member Posts: 5,460 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited August 2016 #6

    haven't worked it out ,as if i didn't spend the money on the M/H i would only spend it on something else..............

  • BlueVanMan
    BlueVanMan Forum Participant Posts: 382
    100 Comments
    edited August 2016 #7

    The biggest cost particulalrly if you have a newish van is likely to be depreciation especially a big/expensive one. Conversely an older/cheaper one will depreciate less but this may be partially offset by other costs such as repairs. The parameters are
    consequently wide but somewhere in the range £1500 to £6000 p.a. So if you use your big expensive van for 100 days it can represent goood value compared with other holiday formats but if you use it for only 30 days a year (e.g. if you are working fill time)
    each day is pretty expensive with site fees in addition. My own cost is about £50 per day but I am willing to pay that for the lifestyle and ability to explore out of the way and remote places. Probably best not to over-analayse just relax and enjoy for hoever
    long life, health fianaces and inclination allow.   

  • Hallsontour
    Hallsontour Forum Participant Posts: 199
    edited August 2016 #8

    Don't get me wrong I love my van and don't begrudge the cost at all. Whilst I'm lucky enough to be able to enjoy a motorhome I'll have one. We've tried the trailer tent and caravan options and they weren't for us. I'm not a fan of hotels at all. I just was
    just wondering what my costs were over the year. Hopefully we'll get away much more in future years.....and won't change vans as much

  • Stevesie
    Stevesie Forum Participant Posts: 73
    edited August 2016 #9

    Has anyone worked out the cost per night stay they get out of their motorhome over a year?

    I've thought about it this morning and taking into account running costs, storage, site fees and diesel I reckon our van has cost us about £64 per night which I see as good value for money for three adults and a dog! 

    We don't always pay for overnight stops as some are staying on my daughters drive in Leeds or my Mum's driveway in Redcar but they are half the reasons of us running the van. Figures change slightly to a whopping £344 per night when depreciation is taken
    into account but l've put that down to us buying brand new this year so you have to write off VAT to start with. Next year should be much better

     

    Therein lies madness.  Believe me, as an ex boat owner I know!  I once worked the "per night" cost of keeping our yacht out!

    The wife was thankfully more pragmatic, her philosophy was, if we enjoy it and can afford it, does it matter!

  • spk
    spk Forum Participant Posts: 406
    edited August 2016 #10

    me too mate, had boats on Windermere for nine years last one a 28' sports cruiser V8 petrol. Marina berthed. The costs per annum with everything factored I was eye watering BUT at the time we lived it and stayed inboard every weekend all year so on that
    basis cost per night was not to bad. We sold it within a week and only lost equivalent of about 2k per year. We bought brand new motorhome the week after

  • cyberyacht
    cyberyacht Forum Participant Posts: 10,218
    1000 Comments
    edited August 2016 #11

    My base running costs with the last yacht I had worked out about £1000/1200 pa but that was maintaining my own mooring( what price mud, blood and backache?). Yachts hardly ever make economic sense. Probably like MHs, we do it 'cos we love it.

  • Aspenshaw
    Aspenshaw Forum Participant Posts: 611
    500 Comments
    edited August 2016 #12

    I worked it out a few years ago because I was asked. For us, it was the same as staying in a four star hotel for the equivalent nights away. 

  • young thomas
    young thomas Club Member Posts: 11,356 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited August 2016 #13

    I caravan but if I worked out the nightly cost taking everything into account (depreciation, storage, maintenance, ferry, extra fuel etc etc) we would probably sell the caravan, get a sports car and stay in 5 * hotels!  BUT, that is not what it is all about. 
    We partake in a hobby, enjoying the freedom that it gives us.

    Ha, we did it the other way round......it didnt make sense to have two cars when we bought the MH so one had to go....

    i had an economical, well built, comfortable, practical German estate car.....and my wife had a compact two seater.....

    she lost.....Sad

    the estate car then got 'transferred' to our sone and we have a tiny runabout.....funnily enough, twas only yesterday when we both thought about another open topped jobbie....must be this weather...

    as for understanding costs with a MH.....dont do itUndecided 

  • RoyandBev
    RoyandBev Forum Participant Posts: 84
    edited August 2016 #14

    Well walk along any campsite, on one pitch you will see a couple with an old Mondeo estate and a battered ageing van... it has a catherdial size awning and thay have 5 kids and 2 dogs in company with them.

    It is possible even likely that the couple are camping as it is the only way they can get away as many times as they want and take the family with them.

    Next to them there is a couple in a  brand new Range Rover with a luxurious top of the range caravan picked up just a few weeks ago, or a brand new Motor home, when driving it is a fortune going down the road.

    Now that couple is unlikely to be doing it because it is cheep they are doing it because it is a life style they love and enjoy

    Ironically they will probably get along fine and both couple will enjoy their holiday might even shear a glass of wine or a bear on a pleasant evening. They will from experience certainly help each other out is someone needs to borrow a gas bottle spanner
    or a can opener etc

    Both are doing it because it is what they want to do, I have no idea what it cost per night in our Motor home and I don’t care we can afford it and if we were not doing it could be doing something much less pleasant instead.

    All hobbies have a cost if we added it up most might not bother and what a dull boring world that would be as has been often said you can’t take it with you, there are no pockets in a shroud, if you like something and can afford it life is just to dam short
    not to do it.

    It isn’t always about value for money it is sometimes about quality of life

    Just my thoughts

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