Wondering.....credit crunch? (1 Viewer)

Dawnbreak

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Hubby and I were just discussing, we were wondering how many families because of the credit crunch and the price of holidays abroad, went out and purchased a MH by whatever means..... with dreams of wonderful holidays. Only to find that they have proceeded with haste and repent at leisure. That in the next year or so there will be a influx of MH's up for sale with low mileage where the dreams don't reach reality....where it sits there quietly waiting for its next outing or next school holiday. Where the cost of purchase far outways other factors.......e.g. non use....hmmmmm!!!interesting, we shall see.
 

DESCO

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Quite possible but also quite a large number of old second-hand vans are about, some I think the dealers never thought they would sell and had been taken in part exchange, bet they can't believe their luck.


Dave:thumb::thumb:
 

mark e

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I agree :Eeek: Had my motorhome 2 years next month, and had it stood on the drive majority of the time. Used it on average every 4-5 weekends and all bank holidays and the 2 weeks in July/August. £20,000 bill. I love to go wildcamping, but Mrs Evans would rather go to sites :Doh:She thinks we would have been better off with a caravan :Angry: and a nice 4*4. But I beg to differ, as i know that we could'nt just up and go on a Friday 6pm.

Recently, well in March i sold my car, because i found it hard to finance 2 cars and the motorhome so at the moment still using it every day for work. But use misses car when she's not.

With the credit crunch, i have been offered between £13,000 - £15,000 for it.
Still undersided as to sell or not at this time and take the hit. Friends recently bought caravans, and feel left out when it comes to going out for the day, unless I take the motorhome and wonder if i can park it :cry:

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hilldweller

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Hubby and I were just discussing, we were wondering how many families because of the credit crunch and the price of holidays abroad, went out and purchased a MH by whatever means.

Strange logic.

"Dear we can't afford to spend £1000 on a holiday, I have an idea we'll spend £30000 instead".

You want cheap holidays, go to Thomsons.
 

Elvis

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soooo true

Strange logic.

"Dear we can't afford to spend £1000 on a holiday, I have an idea we'll spend £30000 instead".

You want cheap holidays, go to Thomsons.

Yes, that is soooo true, if you are only going to use it for a couple of weeks a year, then that is a serious bad investment :Eeek:

We knew that we would be using ours every other weekend in the winter, and pretty much every weekend in spring and summer for bike and music rallies (and other stuff now too!)so we knew it was a good investment and it has significantly improved our quality of life; we would not have spent that kind of money without doing some serious number crunching 1st :Eeek:
 

Peter JohnsCross MH

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The majority o MH's are underutilised and people do make or think they have made mistakes on the layouts etc or see another van somewhere that they like better.

Others who are well into MH's change their vans ever year, we have many customers whi come back to us and do that.

With interest rates on savings being abysmal now, many people think blow it, lets enjoy our savings and buy MH's.

I don't think people rush out and buy straight away, they take considerable time in choosing, you cannot sell someone a MH they don't all in love with unlesss you are a really hard nosed salesman and that is asking for trouble in the future doing that.

A MH is just like a house, you have to walk in and feel at home, location is obvioulsy not a factor!

The amount of hire enquiries we have had this year have quadrupled with new people shoing interest in a new leisure activity.

As regards cost, apart from the initial outlay, MH's are not that expensive to own, standing costs such as insurance, Road Tax and maintenance is under £1000 pa and that equates to less than £20 a week.

One holiday a year for a family of four costs considerably more than that and you don't have the airport hassle. Use it for a few weekends every year and you are well in pocket.

MHoming is also a way of life, meeting people on meets and sites, making good friends, is there a Thomsons FUN Forum?

Peter

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Dawnbreak

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Strange logic.

"Dear we can't afford to spend £1000 on a holiday, I have an idea we'll spend £30000 instead".

You want cheap holidays, go to Thomsons.

No....I personally don't think it strange logic at all. I know that families knowadays will justify having what they want when they want it. My 3 30 something married daughters included, don't want to wait huge TV's, all electronic gadgets....its all there for them and I know when chatting to them they will justify spenditure by whatever means. Families knowadays (and I'm not saying all) but quite a few will find that £5,000 deposit for the motorhome and will borrow the other £25,000 odd over how many years and will find the £300 odd repayments each month because its easy too. I often talk to my girls you know "Oh in my day I just had a 10shilling dinner service from Woollies."...whereas they have Denby and the like...but they all admit why should they wait.....and therein lies the thought I was making....lots of the families "Will because they can".

Hubby is due to retire in 15/18 months but at the moment we are both only 75% that we would like to purchase one.....so we are looking/reading/enjoying the process of choosing our first M/H.......and we know that if and when we do it will be used to the hilt. We have done the cruises/holidays abroad etc for the last few years and will then look forward to touring around U.K in the M/H. But we don't want to make a big mistake and until we get nearer to us both being 90/95% sure, we won't purchase.
 

hilldweller

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As regards cost, apart from the initial outlay, MH's are not that expensive to own, standing costs such as insurance, Road Tax and maintenance is under £1000 pa and that equates to less than £20 a week.

One holiday a year for a family of four costs considerably more than that and you don't have the airport hassle.
Peter

Close but not quite right Peter. Once you move your MH you are paying pretty large sums of cash to the government and Arabs and usually to site owners.

We drove to the south coast of Spain - 3000+ miles - 120g fuel - say £600. 8 stops - say £240. Ferry - say £100. £940 and that is just travelling. £200 would fly two to Malaga.

I've just done a google for holidays ( sad or wot ! ) and got 3 weeks in an apartment in Nerja for £260 per person. Do you know, I'm tempted !!
 

6pm Cowboy

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.....so we are looking/reading/enjoying the process of choosing our first M/H.......and we know that if and when we do it will be used to the hilt. We have done the cruises/holidays abroad etc

Well there you go. You see it is not only the journey that is enjoyable. It is the journey towards the journey. :Smile:

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hilldweller

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My 3 30 something married daughters included, don't want to wait huge TV's, all electronic gadgets....its all there for them and I know when chatting to them they will justify spenditure by whatever means. Families knowadays (and I'm not saying all) but quite a few will find that £5,000 deposit for the motorhome and will borrow the other £25,000 odd over how many years and will find the £300 odd repayments each month because its easy too. I often talk to my girls you know "Oh in my day I just had a 10shilling dinner service from Woollies.".

I hadn't thought of it like that. You have just, perfectly, described why GB is going down the tubes faster than a vindaloo. Kids have been spoiled from birth and have the attitude that it is their right to have everything they want. I stand corrected, in part.

I don't think all kids are like that, my eldest daughter needs anaesthetic to spend a whole pound. Youngest daughter just the opposite. What I would expect is families buying tents rather than MHs.

You sound like you need to hire a MH to make or break the idea. Personally I'd not choose trying in the UK, so much more exciting over the channel. How about you contact John's Cross, organise a MH hire for a couple of weeks next May and follow some of us to Italy.
 

haganap

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MHoming is also a way of life, meeting people on meets and sites, making good friends, is there a Thomsons FUN Forum?

Peter

That Peter sort of sums it up for Me Nikki and my two kids. We have ours not just for the holidays but as a way of life. I have just sorned my van today and am already missing it, it will not be back until October when I have had the window fixed. We never normally leave it dosile, we are skiing in Winter, Summer holidays, at least 1 weekend a month, In fact we recently calculated that in 4 years we have spent over 8 months in our motorhome in way of nights away. We have seen the low countries, Germany Switzerland, France Luxembourg, italy and more beside. We love Scotland and are even giving Wales another go this year. We would not dream of having a van for a fortnights use a year although others are far more restricted than me. I have a motto in that if its costing money it must be used otherwise Im going to get a box and put £100+ per month in it and place it on my driveway.

No....I personally don't think it strange logic at all. I know that families knowadays will justify having what they want when they want it. My 3 30 something married daughters included, don't want to wait huge TV's, all electronic gadgets....its all there for them and I know when chatting to them they will justify spenditure by whatever means. Families knowadays (and I'm not saying all) but quite a few will find that £5,000 deposit for the motorhome and will borrow the other £25,000 odd over how many years and will find the £300 odd repayments each month because its easy too. I often talk to my girls you know "Oh in my day I just had a 10shilling dinner service from Woollies."...whereas they have Denby and the like...but they all admit why should they wait.....and therein lies the thought I was making....lots of the families "Will because they can".

Lots make sacrifices to do so as well. We work hard as Im sure you have done, and you have more or less described us. Why should we wait? If it's in our strict budget, we have it.

I hadn't thought of it like that. You have just, perfectly, described why GB is going down the tubes faster than a vindaloo. Kids have been spoiled from birth and have the attitude that it is their right to have everything they want. I stand corrected, in part.

I don't think all kids are like that, my eldest daughter needs anaesthetic to spend a whole pound. Youngest daughter just the opposite. What I would expect is families buying tents rather than MHs.

Brian it's just another world nowadays your quite right. However credit and the highspending family is what has kept the country going for the last 20 or so years. The days of saving hard are well and truly gone. Your probably right about the kids too. Mine are probably no different but sadly if I brought them up in the old fashioned way they would probably be taken of us.::bigsmile:

Life and generations change, thats a fact, its always worse when you listen to the older posters/persons, we must actually come are parents. Dont tell me your folks were too happy about you smoking pot, growing your hair long and listening to those beatles and stones tracks? It wasn't like that in their day they were so much better.:thumb:
live life and enjoy as I know you do:Cool:
 

Peter JohnsCross MH

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You sound like you need to hire a MH to make or break the idea. Personally I'd not choose trying in the UK, so much more exciting over the channel. How about you contact John's Cross, organise a MH hire for a couple of weeks next May and follow some of us to Italy.

An excellent idea to hire and go on a journey with fellow Funsters who will be happy to show you the ropes.:thumb:

You wont get that on a package tour!

Peter

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New Rover

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My van is 2 years old next month and has done just under 10,000 miles.
1,000 miles in Germany, about 300 miles in England and the rest in Scotland.
I/we don't go out at week-ends, preferring to travel mid-week and never spend more than 1 night at any location.
Before I/we got the van, I had travelled the major roads in Scotland as part of my job, whereas my wife had rarely seen anything of the countryside outside Glasgow.
We have now travelled all over Scotland and she still gets very excited when we round a corner and there stretched out before her is a vista that can change hourly with the differing weather conditions that we have here.
We never go away for a week or two, preferring to go out for trips of 3 or 4 days and nights and are still discovering "NEW" locations to park up and enjoy the view.
Maybe I will get "fed up" and resell the van in the future, but for now, overseas holidays are taking a back seat and there are still lots of smaller "A" roads and "B" roads in Scotland that I have to wander down for a "wee look".
Happy travels to all!!!!
 

hilldweller

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An excellent idea to hire and go on a journey with fellow Funsters who will be happy to show you the ropes.:thumb:

You wont get that on a package tour!

Peter

Usual 10% then Peter :)

Seriously, where you are placed and the service you give it's the best offer they'll get this month.

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nicklb

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We bought our first motorhome three months ago, saved up for a couple of years and paid cash(£23k) we used my brothers for a couple of years so we new we liked it, As for other holidays, last year went to florida with a 24 hour delay, this year was going to Mexico in May, no need to explain the issue, we are absoulutly fed up with tour operators, flights airports and ending up with chavs sat round a pool all day, so we took the plunge and we have had two seperate weeks in the uk, six weekends away so far and these cost less than a week in mexico , so we plan to off set some of the cost by having a fortnight in france as our main holiday next year.

My nine year old loves it, wife is happy and if we do not like the view we move, nobody tells us what time for lunch, tea, airport pick up etc.

HAPPY DAYS
Also lets face it ours is 2005 year if we sell it for 13k in five years time which i think is believable we will have lost 10, the mexico trip was £3800 before spends so I think the bank manager will be happy as well(I think):RollEyes:

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May 22, 2008
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I have just been into Southampton to do some shopping and from what I saw of the number of people in the shops buying things I am not so sure this recession worries too many people. they are spending as much as ever, the queue in W H Smith was 50 deep of people waiting to pay and four tills were operating. I got fed up of waiting and went home.:Angry::Angry:
 

nicklb

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Come to think of it I have heard that it is really hard to get credit due to the CC so you muct have to be really viable or have a lot of collatarol in your property, people can no longer borrow above their means, which surely can only be a good thing, :Smile:

the problem is when families do borrow up to the hilt and them something happens like the CC, or even illness or job loss, all to often the people living above their means are smug and flash when the going is good but most are not so now,

Maybe I am old fashioned but the only debt we have is our Mortgage and it is not that big.
 

barryd

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For us its been overall very cost effective owning our MH. We are however very lucky in that most of my work can be done remotely or fitted around our trips away. Since we got our Kontiki last May we have done 13000 miles which I think is quite a lot. Had many many weeks away in it and recently a three month European trip. Heres the stats for the last trip

Miles = around 5500 in the van 1500 on the scooter
Nights on campsite = 2
Nights on Aires where you had to pay = about 6
Free Aires = loads
Free / wildcamping = tons

Total cost including fuel, ferries, food, booze, repairs (including a belt shipped out from UK for the Peugeot Bike as the French said it would be 2 weeks!), root canal work in Brittany (Yep Im not joking) just a shade over £3000 which to me is the cost of a half decent "normal" 2 week sunshine hol for 2.

Im not trying to sound clever and I appreciate how lucky we are to be fortunate enough to take this kind of time off but I cant think of another way of seeing Europe as cheaply. :Smile:

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haganap

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Come to think of it I have heard that it is really hard to get credit due to the CC so you muct have to be really viable or have a lot of collatarol in your property, people can no longer borrow above their means, which surely can only be a good thing, :Smile:

the problem is when families do borrow up to the hilt and them something happens like the CC, or even illness or job loss, all to often the people living above their means are smug and flash when the going is good but most are not so now,

Maybe I am old fashioned but the only debt we have is our Mortgage and it is not that big.

Your not old fashioned Nick, more so sensible.
With us we never borrow above our means and never have done. We keep a firm grip to make sure we dont overspend. However I could say that by saving for two years you missed out on two great years of motorhoming :ROFLMAO:

In fairness its good to see other young families out in motorhomes as often we feel we are very much out numbered by the good retired folk spending all their kids inheritence. Makes me feel young though :whatthe:
 

vwalan

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hi barry in the winter most travel a little slower n dont spend anymore n have upto 6 months travelling. its the same or cheaper ferry and deisel is deisel only food n beer left to buy.will we see you this winter ?no heating bills just warm sunshine whoooopeeee. cheers alan.
 

barryd

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hi barry in the winter most travel a little slower n dont spend anymore n have upto 6 months travelling. its the same or cheaper ferry and deisel is deisel only food n beer left to buy.will we see you this winter ?no heating bills just warm sunshine whoooopeeee. cheers alan.

Hi VWAlan

You’re definitely right. As I mentioned before it was a kind of test to see if we could full time / part time for long periods but we did it all wrong really. Spent far too much time clashing around Europe as if we only had a couple of weeks and only really slowed down in the mid Pyrenees when the bike was out of action for a while. I reckon if we cut the mileage down by half we could survive on well under £1000 per month which would be within self sufficient budget for us providing I can persuade Mrs D to rent the house out! Don’t know about the winter yet. I reckon it would be a good idea to do another 3 months in the winter as this would test our metal a bit more than having a summer of fun lounging around sunbathing and drinking cheap beer and wine! Where is everyone going to be? We wondered about just wondering around France. Thought about Sicily, Corfu but I have no idea what they would be like in the Winter. Not too fussed if its hot or not, could always drop down to spain for a week or two. Flipping heck you got me planning another trip now! Lets organise it and tell Mrs D the day before!
 

nicklb

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Your not old fashioned Nick, more so sensible.
With us we never borrow above our means and never have done. We keep a firm grip to make sure we dont overspend. However I could say that by saving for two years you missed out on two great years of motorhoming :ROFLMAO:

In fairness its good to see other young families out in motorhomes as often we feel we are very much out numbered by the good retired folk spending all their kids inheritence. Makes me feel young though :whatthe:

I suppose we were lucky really as we used my brothers Auto trail scout for the last three years to ensure that we would use and enjoy our own, so we had the best of both for a while but just got fed up of the same old package holiday, we realised that what ever resort we were in they were all the same, coule have been crete, could have been Tenerife!
 

vwalan

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hi, barry france can be cold, think about passing through countries to get to sicily most will be under deep snow. it as to be southern spain/portugal or the magic land. having camped in cold climates in the past its not pleasant long term . also its alot of miles if you get it wrong. remember there is alot of snow in france n spaln in the hills. italy well do your homework .tell oh you are taking her shopping on a special trip. you know it makes sense. alan.

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pendy

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We spent a lot of time finding a MH to suit us, we deliberated for ever,then I was made redundant after 26 years in the same company and the rest was a no-brainer, we planned to buy a van after retiring but having been made redundant the decision was made for us.
I was fortunate enough to be able to pay cash and got a nice discount, I realise that not everyone is as fortunate but I worked hard for the money and was determined to have something which we can both enjoy and not have to wait until I retired.
We are usually away most weekends and thoroughly enjoy taking friends and family along,my eldest grandson treats it as an adventure and we hope for a lot more happy memories.:Smile:
 

barryd

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hi, barry france can be cold, think about passing through countries to get to sicily most will be under deep snow. it as to be southern spain/portugal or the magic land. having camped in cold climates in the past its not pleasant long term . also its alot of miles if you get it wrong. remember there is alot of snow in france n spaln in the hills. italy well do your homework .tell oh you are taking her shopping on a special trip. you know it makes sense. alan.

The only thing that puts me off spain and portugal is that I have heard that wild camping is hard in Spain and I don think there are free or cheap Aires. Im not sure we would want to stay on a site for a month in order to get a good rate. Michelle and I have vistied Spain, Marbella area and all along that stretch as far as Gib but to be honest didnt really like it. The Algarve we thought was ok. However perhaps there are all sorts of places inland that are worth visiting. We know nothing really. I also worry about the crime in Spain but only a bit. Our van has no securitly whatsover apart from the crummy door locks. We just took the chance in France and the the countries and had no bother at all. What sort of money would you expect to pay for sites in Portugal and Spain in the winter say for a week or twos stay?

Cheers
Barry
 

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