Hello! switching from motorhome to caravan
Hello everyone!
I just wanted to introduce us - Helen & Ian - we are waiting to take delivery of our Swift Fairway Platinum 480 having decided to switch to a caravan from a motorhome.
Although some of our knowledge is transferable, there is much about caravanning that will be new to us so apologies for the questions that are bound to follow.
Has anyone else made this switch and was it a good decision?
Thanks
Helen & Ian
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We have had both over the years a and had two motor caravans but returned to towing again ,after about 9yrs, Tthe reasons were numerous but we were finding as we got older and more difficult to find sites that we did not need to move off,as we found it was getting more of a problem finding parking,
We have not missed the motor caravans as we now have our support vehicle with us all the time (unless the bus passes are in use) there are no real differences between the two,when on sites ,and some will say "humping "water and waste is a pain but in reality,we only ever fill the aqua roll on arrival, then keep it topped up with watering cans,as it seems most motor caravaners do,,and if going out for the day there is no need to pack away,
As we have got even older we will probably be useing service pitches more that will eliminate the need to "hump"anything"
One piece of kit that as we have got older is very useful is a motor mover,
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T67, look for a poster called-‘Tammygirl’ She has done just what you are doing. If you seek her out on the forum I reckon her knowledge will be very relevant, good luck👍🏻
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My main problem is the Towcar.At the moment all of my driving when not touring is in a Toyota Yaris, £30 a year road tax, low insurance and about 45 mpg petrol.
A reasonable towcar has to be (or should be) 20% heavier than any caravan towed and powerful enough to pull it up steep hills. This usually means a diesel although not always, AND you use it all the time.
Our Motorhome costs of course, £255 tax, could do it for 6months, but like having it 'ready to go' at short notice.Plus insurance.
Have had both, its different strokes for different folks. Our present set up suits us fine at the moment. Good Luck and good touring with your choice.
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We use a Yaris but don't count it as an expensive second car. - 19.5 years old, bought at 3 years old and serviced every few years. It ows us for two year exhaust sections in the last 16.5 years, some tyres, 2 batteries and a few sets of wiper blades.
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Helen and Ian
Good luck with the change. We did it the other way about six years ago after 30 years of towing. I assume you are considering making the change because your holiday demands, or personal circumstances have changed? Perhaps the desire to stay in one place for longer? From that point of view a car and caravan has its advantages in those circumstances however for shorter stays of only a few days it might be less convenient.
David
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Never owned a MH so can't really comment but do have friends with a MH and once you are used to towing a big white box, the main difference is space and storage. There's only the two of us in a 4 berth with fixed bed but there is still loads of stretch out room and not in the cabin that you've just driven 250 miles in! Good luck.
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After owning 3 motorhomes for many years we swapped to a caravan a few years ago because we were beginning to find walking or cycling 10 or 12 miles to the nearest town or place we wanted to visit challenging. We used to have a small motorbike (think pizza deliveries!) we carried on the back of the MH but found it too heavy to lift on and off as we got older. Also so many rural bus routes are being withdrawn. The advantages have been that we have our own transport on tap whenever we want it which has made our holidays completely different as we can visit so many more places and stay on many different sites, not necessarily one which is close to a town, village or local transport. The space and comfort in the caravan is so much better. We can put up a permanent and robust awning if we want to which doubles our living space. The disadvantages are that it takes longer to start off and set up when we get to a site so shorter trips of only 2 or 3 days are not quite as easy. If we were on a site for longer with the MH we never did move it to fill up and empty the water as it was too much trouble. We used to fil up with a watering can and empty into a bucket and only used the MH service point on arrival and leaving. We never travelled with much water on board as it made the MH too heavy. Yes we had to buy a tow car but kept my little car to use around town as it is more convenient and fuel efficient We have noticed quite a few hybrid cars on sites these days which might be a consideration. In short the caravan is so much better when we are on site but possibly travelling is not quite as easy as with the MH. We have never regretted the change.
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Many of us have changed one way or the other, some more than once. Some of us have even swapped to statics, hotels, cruising or glamping and back again. Thing is most of us involved in such 'swaps' do so due to personal circumstances, constraints, needs or wishes. Non are wrong, just right for that stage in our lives.
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Hi David
Our change was a lot to do with running costs. George (our moho) needed tax, insurance, MOT, servicing for van and habitation, on top of our 2 cars! We loved George and were always happy parking up and walking with our 2 dogs, but think the caravan may suit our needs a bit better for now and will eliminate the engine costs of a 3rd vehicle!
Fingers crossed it works out!
Helen
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Good point. We were taxing, insuring, servicing and MOTing the motorhome, 2 cars and a motorbike. Good luck. I do hope all goes well. Ask away. You will find plenty of help if you need it.
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Only advice I will give us to use a tow car that has a good towing capability, and that can cope on grass. It will extend your range of sites extensively. Hope the change goes well.😁
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I tow a 4 berth 'van with a Mazda CX-5, £30 a year road tax and averaging over 40 mpg around town. less when towing though, but not much. Diesel, of course.
I've back-packed, Trailer-tented and caravan'ed for years on and off, but now we have our new 'van, I find I'm back to the learning stage again. So far, so good though.
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Hello Helen and Ian. We did a swap from a motorhome to a caravan in 2011. We shared the motorhome with the in-laws, but sold it and bought a 2 berth caravan when father-in-law died because it suited (and still suits) our holiday requirements better. We like to visit towns and cities, as well as countryside/seaside etc., but found a motorhome restrictive in terms of access, parking, and just having to pack the whole lot up to do shopping, or relying on public transport. Of course, you’ll know all this. From our point of view, being able to park the caravan up and use it as a base, whilst having the car available for going out and about suits us much better. I hope you find you’ve made the right choice too.
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We have considered swapping the other way from caravan to motorhome, but after considering all the pros and cons of both we decided a caravan suits us best. The main thing I love is using our caravan as a base to return to after going out in the car to explore. Then there is the added benefit of an awning for table and chairs, dog stuff, fishing gear, walking gear and wet or muddy stuff, which can all be dumped there instead of having to pack it all away. I disagree that it's not convenient for short stays, as we do lots of weekends away between longer breaks and once we arrive on site it only takes about an hour to get all set up. Serviced pitches are a bonus, but I actually don't mind filling the water barrel too! Actually we've just bought a second barrel, so we have a prefilled spare for when the water runs out, just as you want to have a shower!!
One piece of advice I'd give you is to investigate routes to sites more closely than you may have had to with a motorhome. There's nothing worse than blithely following a satnav that doesn't know that some roads aren't suitable for caravans! We've had some very "interesting" experiences in The Lake District and Scotland 😉
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Helen
Interesting you say that because I suppose that was one of our concerns when we changed the other way. On balance we have found the difference in cost not to be much higher. We only had one car, a 4X4 auto, which was not so economic and road tax approaching £500 a year. (I appreciate more modern cars may have lower tax ratings) When we changed we traded the 4X4 in for a much smaller car with road tax of about £150 a year and with the motorhome tax only being £255 a year, even after six years we are still in pocket. Insurance wise I think the motorhome was a similar price to insure as the caravan and the small car a lot cheaper than the 4X4. The habitation service is about the same. The one extra you do have is an extra engine service compared to a car/caravan. So our experience thus far is that apart from that extra vehicle service costs are pretty similar. I should add that the motorhome is more economic on fuel than our previous towcar. That is of course if you ignore the elephant in the room call depreciation which is much higher on a motorhome than a caravan because of there, usually, much higher costs, although my next door neighbour has just paid just over £30000 for a new caravan! Whilst costs is important what is really more important is getting enjoyment out of your chosen mode. We have taken to the motorhome because we find it easier than the caravan and doubt we would ever go back.
David
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