Campernomics?

iolanthe07

I've had a series of motor homes over the years, and enjoyed them, but in retrospect a caravan would have been more practical and economical. I didn't need to take any special test and iirc could drive a motorhome up to 7.5 tonnes, though I never had one that big. I didn't need to take a test to tow a caravan, either, but the law may have changed.

Mercdriver

iolanthe07 wrote: »

I've had a series of motor homes over the years, and enjoyed them, but in retrospect a caravan would have been more practical and economical. I didn't need to take any special test and iirc could drive a motorhome up to 7.5 tonnes, though I never had one that big. I didn't need to take a test to tow a caravan, either, but the law may have changed.

The standard driving test now doesn't include towing anything worthwhile.

fred246

Mercdriver wrote: »

This sentence:

"They are always asking our running costs. Zero, zilch, none"

That's not comparative - that's an absolute.

They bought a motorhome that was 3 years old. Old enough to need an MOT. The dealer convinced them to have vehicle and 'habitation' service to protect the 'warranty'. So services, insurance, MOT, vehicle tax was costing them £3k a year. They kept on asking how much does the caravan cost Fred? I kept saying "nothing" which they couldn't believe. I should have said "well 2 tyres are £80 and they last 7 years £11.42 a year. Single shot nuts maybe £10 every 5 years. A few pounds here and there for other maintenance. In comparison to £3k it was nothing but I was wrong it was actually nearly nothing.

fred246

Mercdriver wrote: »

I find that very hard to believe. So you could drive with the same efficiency and effectively get worse economy not towing? fanciful.

We get about 45mpg without the caravan and 30 with the caravan. I don't think there is much difference between a caravan and motorhome in this respect. Both more expensive than tent or B&B in fuel usage terms.

Mercdriver

Ginalina wrote: »

Oh i can`t help you in this

Thanks for your honesty. Are you going to reply to every thread you can't help with in the same fashion?

Please, don't bother

fred246

You can tow with an RX8 but not much. More than a Yaris can. This is my first post regarding these dark subjects - hope I've got my facts right!

jackieblack

bertiewhite wrote: »

I've often had the Caravan vs Motorhome discussion with my wife.

The trouble is, I'd happily have a smallish van which I could even use as a daily driver but the trouble is, she wants something big which I'm against for the same reasons already mentioned.

So it looks like a choice for me at the moment between:

1. Replace my ageing car with something like a Bongo and see how she gets on with it. If she doesn't like it, I've still got something with useful space to carry stuff.

2. Get a caravan - BUT, I need to fit a tow bar to her car and it's leased so I'm reluctant to fit something for somebody else's benefit. Also, I don't like the idea of having a caravan sitting outside my house. Although I could probably find somewhere to store it.

Car_54 wrote: »

Or 3.New wife?

He's probably not thinking of spending THAT much...

Scrapit

Mercdriver wrote: »

The standard driving test now doesn't include towing anything worthwhile.

The standard driving test doesn't include any towing of any sort.
The driving licence you receive after passing said test may permit you to tow but it's an overly complicated and somewhat oft changed (relatively) system based on weights.

Vampgirl

The real question of motorhome Vs caravan shouldn't be about the running costs....it should be about your travelling style.

If you enjoy staying in the same place for a while then a caravan probably makes more sense as you have more living space and you have the car to explore with whilst you're there. If on the other hand you prefer moving on every day or two then a motorhome is a better choice as its much more convenient when on the road and certainly abroad there is a much wider choice of places to stay. There are compromises with both ways of travelling: neither is better than the other, just choose the one which best suits you.

In terms of cost.....we've had our motorhome for a few years now and according to my trusty Excel workbook our average annual running costs: tax, MOT, insurance and maintenance (servicing and repairs) are £1646. We work full time so we only use the motorhome on average around 35 nights per year, and our average fuel and accommodation costs on holiday are around £38 per night. So that means the motorhome costs us an average cost of £85 per night.

On top of that you have general camping equipment, club memberships, food and drink, sightseeing, etc. but you would also have these with a caravan or tent so there's no need to include them in the comparison.