Motorhome v caravan?
I'm am sure this question has been asked many times before so please let me apology in advance. Generally speaking what is cheaper to upkeep and run over the year an average size campervan and a small car or a large car and an averaged sized caravan?
Thank you all in anticipation of your replies.
Dean.
Comments
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There really isn't much in it and it depends so much on road tax classes, your insurance and servicing costs. There's no hard and fast answer.
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Not the exact same question but you might like to take a look at
this thread.
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We ran caravans then did 6 years with an american RV, now back to a caravan. From our experiece a caravan is a lot cheaper, but then we run an old towcar which doubles as my daily driver and running an RV wasnt cheap as all parts had to be imported.
Factors on a MH are tax (ours was lower than the car) insurance, MOT/repair costs..
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As an old footballing pal of mine used to say :--
What would you rather be or a wasp ??
It's an unanswerable question to pose really, so very much is dependant on your own conditions.
I have nowhere to park a caravan so it would have to be in storage of some sort -- a cost many don't have but some deliberately choose to go that way.
Likewise for many other items you pick your own way !
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Dean
I can only go by my recent experience of changing from a caravan to a motorhome about three years ago. Since having the motorhome its the first time in our lives we have ever had two vehicles!!! First of all road tax, I am still paying less per year if I add the Bailey 740 and my Kia Venga together compared to my previous Kia Sorento which was approaching £500 a year when I sold it. In terms of fuel economy I do no more miles than I did towing but I get more miles to the gallon. Insurance wise the motormome is about the same to insure as my caravan and my Venga far less to insure than the Sorento. With these two items I am showing a saving compared to caravanning of about £200 a year. Servicing costs are about the same as with a car and caravan except that the motorhome also needs a cab service which is where the additional money comes in but direct comparision suggests that overall it is only costing me a couple of hundred pounds more a year to have a motorhome and small car compared to having a caravan and a large tow car. These calculations completely ignore how much you invest in a motorhome or in a caravan and tow car be they new or secondhand.
Of course this is only part of the story and the decision on which one to go for very much depends on your style of camping, how often you can use your outfit and many more things!!
David
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I can only imagine the motorhome+car option being very expensive up front although David's running costs appear relatively little different.
Depending on your current transport, you may need to factor in changing your car to a suitable towcar, capital purchase of the caravan as against changing to a motorhome (very high capital cost unless you buy secondhand?) plus changing to a small car plus a trailer to carry it. I am no expert but for Europe towing a car with a drawbar/towing frame (?) appears to be illegal (?)
I think it's the capital investment and depreciation that may well be a deciding factor plus, as stated, the type of trips you want to do.It is really important to imagine yourself travelling and trying to weigh up which will be best for you.
You don't say what you currently do or what experience you have?
Whilst, if you have the capital for either option, I would certainly say "Go for it!" , we just couldn't justify spending many thousands on a new motorhome so went the caravan route and are happy with that choice so far although it is a steep learning curve to start either option from scratch especially if you have never towed before.
I'm interested to see how this one turns out.
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Of course this is only part of the story and the decision on which one to go for very much depends on your style of camping, how often you can use your outfit and many more things!!
Such as do you like to use buses.
Buses? What have they to fo with the cost of MH v Cvan?
For the record, I've not used a bus in 20 years.
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I tend to agree with David K, running costs are similar if you have something like a 7 meter 3.5 ton motorhome and small car. Larger heavy motorhomes can be more expensive especially on fuel costs. I had an Autotrail Mohican for 10years and the average maintence costs worked out at £650p.a, insurance and tax £513p.a. In use, inclusive of all costs other than depreciation it used to work out at 67p a mile or £48 per night.
peedee
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I doubt there is any hard and fast answer to which is cheaper to run. It all depends on what you buy, how you use it and many other factors.
If you want a large motorhome and need two cars then the motorhome has to be more expensive. That apart the costs are not that dissimilar and the way you use it and personal preferences should be the determining factor.
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We started with caravans (2) then went to motorhomes (3) now back to caravans (2) financially the caravan is by far the best option. You can run and get far more use out of a luxury towcar year round and change a caravan for about £7000 every three years.
With a motorhome you tend to end up with a small car and an expensive van that can be sat on a drive for months on end, the outlay about the same, running costs are not significantly different. Caravans are a little more time consuming as we are retired thats
not an issue, motorhomes are better for touring with frequent moves but are a unnecessary expense if you intend to sit on a site for any length of time. Just depends on how you want to use your vehicles really.0 -
We have got both! No hard and fast answer, depends how much you want to spend on either combo. We have an expensive go anywhere tow car, but a very old classic van. We have a small MH that is comfortable and doesn't need a car in tow. It is all about your
circumstances, how you want to holiday, and budget, not anyone else's, so the perfect answer has to be yours!
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Further to Doug's point above about the upfront investment which I agree can be quite frightening!!! However you have look at the fact that if you are buying a new car that can cost £25000/30000 for a reasonable 4X4/SUV. Modern caravans, especially if you want more than a basic one are increasingly around the £20000 mark so is the difference that great. We might have changed to a motorhome earlier but the price always frightened us off. It was only when I started to look at new cars that I realised how much they cost. We got a good price for our caravan against the motorhome and an equally good deal by trading in our Sorento so not quite as scary as first thought. OK it did leave a hole in our savings but we have gradually recouped some of that by being able to save a bit over the years.
David
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Further to Doug's point above about the upfront investment which I agree can be quite frightening!!! However you have look at the fact that if you are buying a new car that can cost £25000/30000 for a reasonable 4X4/SUV. Modern caravans, especially if you
want more than a basic one are increasingly around the £20000 mark so is the difference that great. We might have changed to a motorhome earlier but the price always frightened us off. It was only when I started to look at new cars that I realised how much
they cost. We got a good price for our caravan against the motorhome and an equally good deal by trading in our Sorento so not quite as scary as first thought. OK it did leave a hole in our savings but we have gradually recouped some of that by being able
to save a bit over the years.David
Agreed, if buying new, larger cars/SUV are very expensive and caravans becoming increasingly outlandish for high spec models. Second hand has it's risks unless there is a solid warranty period left. Manufacturers seem to be ramping up their van prices IMHO.
Anything leisure and you just have to decide on your budget and buy within that.0 -
I'm am sure this question has been asked many times before so please let me apology in advance. Generally speaking what is cheaper to upkeep and run over the year an average size campervan and a small car or a large car and an averaged sized caravan?
Thank you all in anticipation of your replies.
Dean.
This was a dilema we struggled with after selling our Narrowboat and having sufficient funds to buy a decent car and 'van or a motorhome and keep the smallish car we already had. In the end the decising factor wasn't running costs but how we intended to
use the 'van or motorhome. We spoke to many peole and visited the Motorhome Show at Peterborough. We were already familiar with caravans having had several years ago when the kids were smaller. Our way of spending time on and off the site when we are holiday
meant that a caravan remained a logical choice for us and this is what we went for again.The running costs were not factored in,and the initial purchase costs (for both) were much the same anyway. Personally I would pay more intention to how you plan to holiday rather than running costs.
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Personally I would pay more intention to how you plan to holiday rather than running costs.
You can make ownership of either outfit as expensive or as cheap as your pockets will allow but given that there seems to be a large amount of agreement that costs can be very similar, I agree. The only other factor I would consider is levels of personal
fitness. Motorhomes are less arduous to use.peedee
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Are MH less arduous when you factor in trips 'off site' with perhaps a requirement to use a bike/ trek to bus stops etc? Possibly the same amount of effort but in different areas.
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i agree with both Peedee and CY....
PD is correct in that setting a MH up on site and packing up when leaving is easier and less arduous...
CY is correct in that, for those with larger vans, getting about can/might require other forms of transport, which could be construed as being more arduous...
ive always thought that, as OH and i get older, we might have to move away from our electric bikes and might end up with a Panel Van Conversion or medium car with small caravan, or even PVC with Eriba type van......best of all worlds?
i dont ever seeing us moving to busses as we like to ne under our own steam....if at all possible.
back to costs.....its really frightening looking at the cost of some of the larger towcars in the mags....and many of these are bought (have to be bought due to size of van?) by folk who only use the van a few weeks of the year.....
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I have to confess that I find myself getting a tad irritated at the "getting a Motorhome because we are less able/getting older" supposition, granted it may be a choice for some, but it certainly isn't/ wasn't for us! We had a camper van in our very fit
20's, because it was what we wanted, all we could afford. Now we have another because it suits our requirement to make the most of every single precious hour we can get to away. On drive at home, always ready to roll, we spend the whole of our first day away
doing something, right up to the very last moment we can, rather than wondering how early we can get to a site to set up and unhitch to be free of the box bed towed behind! Ten minute set up, ten minute pack up, meals at any time of the day in warmth and comfort,
where ever our fancy takes us.0 -
Trips off site in motorhomes are fun because you have all your facilities with you so you can stay out as late as you want - even overnight in some areas - and of course drink tea and eat cake all day rather than pay cafe prices or carry a flask of hot water.
You can easily cook meals. No 20p for a toilet with a motorhome and you should be able to guarantee the toilet is clean and graffiti free. And of course, a motorhome is a great base for an ordinary day out from home. Bus stop trips and bike trek are a personal
thing. We did both of these when we caravanned.My own take is that caravanning is cheaper but not necessarily more cost effective if you use a motorhome regularly. Caravanning and motorhoming both bring a similar amount of enjoyment. Horses for courses and you can pay as little or as much as you want.
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Same as us Aspenshaw! We have kept our old van, too good to sell for peanuts to be honest, and we have every intention of doing it up, perhaps leaving it somewhere we visit regular for long lazy holidays, as we did in the past.
Neither our vans or our MH were bought new, not our inclination, we bought what we needed, what suited us and our circumstances, what we could afford. Have had van for 20 years now, still in use, still damp free, still comfortable. We hummed and hawed about
MH, it cost more than our house did, but we haven't regretted it a single minute. Been fun, fun, fun for last 18 months.0 -
A big thank you to all who have taken the time to reply to my post. I think the general consensus is that the cost is about the same. This being the case I will draw up a list of pros and cons for both caravan and motor home to see whitch comes out tops. If I may trouble you all once more what in your view do you think should top the lists of pros and cons for a couple in their late 50s with no kids in tow? I am leaning towards a motorhme the wife a caravan.
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We changed to a m/h last year as with a change of job and shifts we found the caravan being used less and less. With the m/h we can make the most of any days off as we usually wildcamp meaning no time constraints on arriving or leaving sites.
One major pro for yourselves in my opinion is your location as you have a vast amount of areas with fantastic scenery right on your door step. With a m/h you could even have a day out ,make dinner watch a lovely sunset and then decide whether to go home
or stay in the m/h.0 -
Trips off site in motorhomes are fun because you have all your facilities with you so you can stay out as late as you want - even overnight in some areas - and of course drink tea and eat cake all day rather than pay cafe prices or carry a flask of hot water.
You can easily cook meals. No 20p for a toilet with a motorhome and you should be able to guarantee the toilet is clean and graffiti free. And of course, a motorhome is a great base for an ordinary day out from home. Bus stop trips and bike trek are a personal
thing. We did both of these when we caravanned.My own take is that caravanning is cheaper but not necessarily more cost effective if you use a motorhome regularly. Caravanning and motorhoming both bring a similar amount of enjoyment. Horses for courses and you can pay as little or as much as you want.
Write your comments here...I think this comment has sold me on a motorhome now to convince the wife!
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Soreinsky, you asked about the biggest pros and cons. We swapped from Cvan to MH mainly due to advancing age and lessening ability. The two biggest advantages of the MH are ease of setting up on site with no messing around emptying/filling water containers and the other big plus is at 3500kg we can travel at 70mph (or whatever limit applies) as would a solo car. We eat up the miles far faster than when we towed.
The biggest advantage of a cvan is the ability to leave it on site and travel around in your tow car whereas a MH lends itself more to the moving on type of holiday.
We travelled across the north of Scotland from Brora, to Dunnet Bay, Altnaharra, Durness, Scourie and Ardmair in our MH and it was no trouble at all. It is also doable with a large cvan but definitely easier in the MH. Your wife favours a cvan but will she tow it? In times of emergency it's very useful for both of you to be able to drive the rig.
I hope this might help. Good luck in your choice - there are no rights or wrongs, simply what suits you best.
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I agree entirely with TW's assessment. For us, a caravan is the best for the way we holiday, but to make life easier, I do tend to go more for full serviced pitches when they are available.
I don't know if it's just the sites we choose, but it certainly appears that many of the continental sites we use have water hook-up and drainage (although they seem to be a little more 'ad hoc' in 'the way they are presented')
David
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I also agree its what suits you best and how you holiday. We had a caravan for 34 years but almost 4 years ago we moved to a motorhome. They are both good ways to holiday, motorhomes are more quick and easy to set up and move, weight is usually less of an
issue (we have loads of capacity in ours) they are great for 1 nighters when travelling long distance like to Spain etc. if its raining you don't have to get out of the car when needing a comfort break (very important on long journies) in
winter the van is always nice and warm when you stop so no waiting in a cold van for it to heat up. Easy to move and grab the best pitch that someone has just vacated (joke)
plus I will drive the motorhome I wouldn't tow the caravan.Caravans are great for having transport once on site, they have much more space especially if you have a full awning, they are great for spending weeks on a site, usually not a problem on grass.
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the references to how 'getting older' might affect a decision can be read in more than one way...
for some, being less mobile (walking and, perhaps cycling becoming difficult) might mean being more dependent on their tow car to get about, with a caravan as the more obvious choice.
others might feel its getting harder to set up a caravan, getting more apprehensive about towing, finding it difficult to ship water about regularly....all these things might lean them towards a small MH where parking close to (or in) town is easy with none
of the other above worries.so, depemding on which of the 'challenges' age might bring (and what relevance they carry for the individual) its possible there might be a different choice of vanning mode.
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Our tag axle arapaho was cheaper road tax than our discovery that we bought to tow our old hymer caravan , and when we had the arapaho our runaround car was a toyota iq which was zero tax
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