To Motorhome or not ??? Forums

joggerman

Hi,
I currently have a Hobby caravan and am considering changing to a motorhome (ease of pitching, moving on etc).

However, I do have doubts as to whether I can justify the cost! I hear stories of the vehicles just sitting on the drive for most of the year and not getting sufficiently used. I have certainly seen older motorhomes with incredibly low mileages on the clock.

I would welcome anyone's views on this.

Regards

bsb2000

Hi joggerman & welcome, I suppose the question you need to answer first is how often are you using your caravan at the moment. In my opinion you will use a motorhome a lot more than a caravan, [i:af1f854114]when was the last time you towed your caravan to the coast for a day out??[/i:af1f854114]

As has been posted here many times, once you've had a motorhome you'll wonder why you ever bothered with a caravan.

Ian

autostratus · Moderator

Hi joggerman and welcome.

The answer to your question lies with you. It depends on how you will use it.

We bought our first caravan in 1974 and happily toured with a caravan until a couple of years ago. We had bought our first motorhome 18 months earlier and for that 18 months we had both because we weren't sure.
Our current motorhome (bought new) has done over 14000 miles since March 2003 mostly in France which is so motorhome friendly and we use it much more than we would a caravan.

Having said that there are many people with motorhomes who do nothing like the mileage that we do but use their motorhome on a regular and frequent basis without going abroad.

BarryandSue

Welcome, joggerman.

This post:

stella2

We never even contemplated having a caravan - having moaned for years when following them in queues! It all depends on how much you are going to use it - we work full time & can only get away for weekends apart from our main holiday, and we try to fit in one long weekend a month. Outside these times it's used for days out - especially in the winter - we can go to Hayling or Wittering locally & watch the windsurfers in the freezing water with the heating on & cooking up a nice lunch. Yes it can be a big outlay, but the depreciation is relatively low if you keep it a reasonable period. I see caravans being towed by huge 4x4's which cost a fortune to buy (and run), and think how much is that going to be worth in 2-3 years time, and would they need one of them if they didn't have a bloody huge 2 axle caravan to tow around.

HelenB · Moderator

My only vehicle is a MH, it is used for everything as there's only half a bus a week where I live, so it goes to the supermarket, vets, work and even occasionally to the pub! When I decided to buy a MH rather than a caravan I based decision on :-
1 Only one vehicle to maintain for servicing etc
2 Would be a lot easier to be on my own in the MH for siting etc
3 If I wanted to go to ag shows or horsy things would have a good base
4 Lot easiet to manouver round Scotish roads when touring than a towed outfit
5 Easier to tour round using different sites each night so I could go for a walk then crash out at the end of a day's walk rather than driving back to a central location.
6 And having bought a MH, it's the best driving position I've ever been in, high up can see whats ahead easier and can also look over hedgerows etc.
As previous posters have said it depends on your life style, but I'm happy I made the right choice for me Smile

Anonymous

I look back to those halcyon vanless days of Jan - Mar 2004 and do you know what - I really don't know what made us buy a m/h over a caravan.

Obviously the thought of towing something was atrocious, but at the same time there's nothing about a van that a caravan couldn't do for us.

We're quite frequent channel hoppers tho so I imagine it comes into its own then.

We don't use the van for day trips and stuff because it's on a storage compound.

chuggalugs

Oh Joggerman - you knew the answer before you posted didnt you hee hee. What did you expect asking a bunch of MH maniacs if you should buy one Rolling Eyes

We have a VW T4 Hightop - perfect for a cossey twosum Wink

and soooooo relaxing to drive, its my only means of transport. Vans have come on leaps and bounds - ours is 10 years old but has power steering 1.9tdi and does 32+ to the gallon. I dont want a car ever again!! looking over hedgerows etc as Helen says. I am assuming you need a Coach build since you are used to the space but even they are suprisingly compact even for supermarkets. Our T4 is smaller than a Volvo Estate or alot of 4x4's (used to tow caravans) on plan and have no trouble parking or small lanes which we bought it for (Welsh mountains etc). One of our favourite wild camping spots has a sign 'Unsuitable for caravans' along the road. We havent even started on the joys of wild camping or frantic waving Very Happy

Convinced yet? Razz

A