Why did you do it!
Sorry if this has been discussed before but as I mentioned in another post I admired some of the fabulous looking Motorhomes at the club site I recently stayed on, and have in the past toyed with the idea of buying one instead of my caravan/car combination but a few reasons for not doing so came to mind, not least the capital outlay and ongoing maintenance costs versus the amount of usage I would likely get out of it.
However, parked amongst all these motorhomes I started to realise the perceived advantages by myself were not all I'd expected to say nothing of the disadvantages I'd already thought about.Overall I could see virtually no benefit at all.
So tell me folks, did you buy your Motorhome with no previous caravanning experience or if not, why did you change and why did you do it! If you have never had a caravan why buy a motorhome?
I'm not trying to stir up the pot but trying to understand what the benefits or regrets actually have been.
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Dave, the pros and cons of each and the reasons for our choices have been discussed scores of times before.
Each person has there own reasons and there is no definitive answer other than to say it’s personal choice. What's right for one isn't for the other and is beyond analysis.
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We had four hired motor caravans close to us on Ferry Meadows some weeks ago, three of the couples were really into the idea ,the fourth was not enamored by the idea as they were used to being looked after in it sounded like 5*hotels
But the three who were looking at doing it more often ,said the cost of buying what they were in ,could not be justified, with how often they could use them. And were going to hire each time they wanted to go away , also they were non members and considering it is an add £13per night on top of members prices they considered it a very reasonable price for their breaks and when I informed them of the add price the three couple were going to join the club so they could make their stays even. cheaper
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We have both a caravan and a motorhome. No regrets around either. They give a different holiday. One is all about pitching up and exploring a given radius by car. Out and back each day. The other is about linear touring, moving on and around taking all our comforts with us on a daily basis.
Dont fall into the mirage of thinking that use of many Motorhomes on Club Sites is the norm. Many are used just as a caravan with a wheel at each corner, pitched, an awning set up, water plumbed in and then they don’t roll a wheel for days, or weeks at a time.
As Tinny says, folks go with what suits their circumstances. There is no “one size fits all” for vans or Motorhomes.
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In my case no previous caravanning experience, but not interested in towing under any circumstances. Don’t think I’ve missed out and very happy with my motorhomes.
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Yup. We did camper van, small tent, big tent, caravan, another caravan, occasional tent, caravan, caravan and motorhome. Enjoyed every single option, it was right for us at the time. Our tent is up for sale this week, decided our old bones probably just won’t take it anymore.....
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Why does it bother you if motorhomes stay parked up on site? What does it matter whether they move off site or not? Not all of us want to stay just one night then move on the next day or want to use the MH once on site, but are perfectly happy to walk, cycle or use public transport and are also perfectly happy to not go off site on other days. I sometimes wander around a site to see what the rest of the site is like but I don't count how many motorhomes compared with caravans are on site, or notice how many MHs leave the site for the day. My main concern is that my pitch is reasonably pleasant and hopefully I can get TV reception and/or wifi, I am not too far from the facilities and that my neighbours don't make too much noise.
To answer the OPs question, I bought a MH as I did not want to tow with so much traffic around these days and it is a bit easier and quicker to set up site on arrival than it is in a caravan.
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I know some will dispute this but after 30 years of caravanning we just got fed up with what we saw as the inconvenience of towing plus the getting ready for the off and setting up on site. One major thing that started to stress us out was whether, once out of the garden, there would be room to hitch up and do all the required checks. Likewise the same on return. A good example of this was when we arrived home yesterday to find a delivery lorry at our neighbours which was blocking our drive. With the motorhome I could just park it on the side and wait for them to finish, with the caravan that would have been a lot more difficult and stress inducing. Even before we got the motorhome we were staying shorter and shorter times at sites, it is unusual for us to stay as long as a week so I think the motorhome suits this more nomadic style of touring.
David
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We came from 30 years of tenting to caravanning with a not so big Abbey in 2005. Although I had towed a luggage trailer with tenting equipment all over Europe, this was my first introduction to anything larger. We kept it for 8 years and towed to the south of France and far north of Scotland. However, we then decided to upgrade to a much larger and heavier Unicorn Cadiz. In retrospect this was a mistake. I found it much harder work to tow and although we took it to France we didn’t go much further than the Loire. Except for weekends when working, we generally spent a week at most places, as it was such a palaver moving on. The ease with which motor caravans just drove onto the pitch and were outside with cups of tea or a glass of wine 10 minutes later, definitely had an appeal.
In 2019 we switched to a MH. Changed our style of camping generally spending 2 / 4 days at a place. Our preferred style is not to move the van once on site and move on to the next place when we have seen / done what we came for. In September 2019 we took it to France and discovered Aires, which are available almost anywhere you want to visit. In 6 weeks we used 18 sites / Aires and are looking forward to doing it again as soon as we can. We most definitely do not regret the change and feel in a normal year we more than get value for money from our purchase.
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Must admit I never thought about storage and access to your home parking place as being a motivating factor.
I guessed that towing was a reason many won't entertain caravanning but I then I see some motorhomes towing a car and wonder what that is all about.
If no awnings are involved I don't think there is much difference in set up time between a motorhome and caravan.
The touring nomadic style isn't really suited to big motorhomes if you need to park up in towns and such I wouldn't have thought.
As I said, it's not an attempt to try and make one option better than the other but more trying to understand what motivates someone to make that choice.
I quite fancy a small motorhome to tour and make overnights trips but the cost of buying one and the upkeep is prohibitive for the use I'd get out of it I think. I might consider it when one of our cars needs replacing.
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It doesn’t bother me what others do with their outfits, absolutely their choice. But the OP was talking about Motorhomes on a Club Site. I merely pointed out that you do see more parked up on Club Sites, whereas on CLs and private sites they come and go more, used like a car. 😁
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"If no awnings are involved I don't think there is much difference in set up time between a motorhome and caravan."
Oh, yes, there is! A terrific difference unless you're a faffer. With a MH, no unhitching, manoeuvring with a mover, steadies to wind, water containers to connect, wheel lock to fit or car to shuffle. Instead, drive in, connect EHU, job done. On very rare occasions - once/twice a year - we may need the levelling ramps but that's it.
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If no awnings are involved I don't think there is much difference in set up time between a motorhome and caravan.
That depends on where you are stopping. If on an Aire, many of which are like small sites, it might not have EHU. Apart from perhaps put a bit of water in, there is really nothing to do but pull up and switch off the engine. On leaving drive to the waste point, open the valve from inside, drain and drive off.
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I gave up pondering on how some folks set up their outfit ages ago. With some it’s a few minutes, others commit to a good half a day faffing around doing this and that until they feel things are right.
It was 20 minutes for us with van, (including a porch awning), now five minutes with MH.
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I was surprised how many motorhomes, even the bigger ones , were using aqua rolls and cassette loos, I had assumed they were all onboard facilities on most. If you have to drive to the water/waste point that's added time , especially mid stay when you have to secure everything before you move.
On the Borrowdale Club Site most vehicles needed levelling blocks and to be honest, an electric drill will wind down the corner steadies in a couple of minutes. Two wheels are easier to level than four too!
Motor mover ? I don't have one, so with a bit of luck I just reverse in, level,unhook, and drop the steadies. In a race I'd lose to a motorhome especially on flat ground but not by much!
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Some choose to do it the hard way with water containers but I've no idea why when a MH is self contained. Cassette loos? Naturally. MH toilets are generally the same as in caravans.
We don't drive to the MHSP but stop at it about every 3 days when exiting/entering the site. What is to secure before moving? A kettle and cups are the only things out on our work tops.
I've never been to Borrowdale so can't pass comment.
In truth, it's all what you make it and we go for simple every time. Don't let those who enjoy using every gizmo under the sun convince you it's all necessary.
I can tell you're not a MH-er at heart, DW, so you're better off sticking to your caravan.👍
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We looked at MHs back in 2016 as we had decided we would otherwise need a new tow car. In the end we could not find what we thought we wanted at a price we could afford, so we bought the new car.
The main stumbling block was the shower, we have a very large shower space in the caravan, other compromises we could live with.
We also realised that we were looking at MHs that were too big for what we needed in other respects.
These days there seems to be more, sensibly sized, MHs on the market with better shower space, so OH is keen to look again, I am not so sure.
She has been looking at layouts on line, but finding info on dimensions of shower compartments is almost impossible, and we have very few MH dealers in our area so going to look is tricky.
Payload is also an issue as we would need to keep below 3500kg due to my licence, and of course with the present popularity of MHs, the cost is still an issue!
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You'll be referring to the Sevel vans of which mine is one. The front does dip minimally but, no, it does not need levelling on already flat ground as I’m sure your wink suggests you already know🙄😋
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Funny, I seem to recall our caravan had levelling ramps in it as well. Mind, we are adventurous, and don’t mind a bit of grass.....😂
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Like TW we generally use the MH service point on entry / exit. If on a service pitch we just drive straight on and sort it out at our leisure. We always travel with 20 litres, so there is no hurry. If stopping a bit longer or we use more than normal, it’s easy to top up with a watering can and empty a couple of buckets to make the tanks stretch. This last trip I did put our old waste master in the garage, as I didn’t know what facilities the C&CC and private site we were stopping at had. Needed it on the C&CC site, as I couldn’t get near without laying out lots of additional pipe.☹️ The private site had the best we have come across in the UK.😀 Overall I would rate the ease of sorting the water and waste at least 200% better than when we had a caravan.
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If the pitch slopes slightly towards the road, as many seem to, we can just drive straight on, as the forward pitch of the MH is offset and we are normally level. There is a bonus in that the door of our Hymer also ends up on the correct side.😂😉
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Impressions are not everything but, obviously, the longer the van, the more likely it is to need ramps.
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Excluding the last caravan we had which was large in comparison the previous vans which I could easily reverse into the back garden. However the final large van was more difficult so relied on a mover. Once when that failed we were in trouble and realised that we were no longer capable of manhandling a caravan. That brought the idea of a motorhome into sharper focus.
I completely understand what you mean about the end of "caravanning looming" I think COVID has denied us of perhaps two years normal use of our chosen leisure vehicle. OK we have made the best of a bad job but that has been very different from normal years. We are both in our mid seventies and we have just started to wonder how long we continue with this hobby. In the past when we have both had serious operations we have been keen to get back to our hobby, almost as part of the recovery process. Unfortunately COVID has robbed us of certainty and installed a feeling of things never quite returning to normal. I don't think either of us has the energy for long Continental tours anymore as much as there is a bit of the brain that says do it! Unfortunately post Brexit travelling is made a little more difficult by various changes which just adds to the concern about our robustness to cope with everything.
We will plod on and to that end having a motorhome does allow short stays to be a possibility which in a caravan wouldn't really be feasible. I think I have depressed myself now!!!
David
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We're having a similar thought process David. Approaching mid seventies with an aging caravan. Will the caravan last us until we decide we don't want to tow any more? We're not looking at changing it; just think that when it is no longer roadworthy/feasible to repair or service then we'll do other things but we're both agreed that we don't want a motorhome at this stage in our lives. It's difficult to say exactly why; l we just never fancied one. We'll do more cottages and good hotels.
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