Having bad bad thoughts about the dark side , let me explain. ...... (3 Viewers)

[EX51SSS]

Don`t do it..... been down the road of Tent`s... Small Camper vans... bigger camper vans... caravans... 5th wheel`s... small and big RV`s....

Then in October last year an all singing all dancing top of the range Mitsubishi Shogun Sport Warrior, and a 1 year old hardly used Twin axle Swift Challenger...

We never slept in it, couple of visitors did when we did not have enough beds in the house to put them up....

I was Ostrichized taken the *iss out of called names, so much so we have traded the lot in and bought a new Boxer Majestic Mo-Home...

So as of 10am this Monday we will be back in the fold.... and maybe "Funsters" will start to talk to us again... (Maybe not.. )

Never lost so much money in such a short time. .. so think carefully..

Just saying like.... but do what you think is best for you..

You know very well that lots and lots still speak to you @old-mo because you're a popular contributer

 

[Gellyneck]

Having done both (twin axle caravan to 7.6m moho) would mirror a number of comments already made. We bought twin axle caravan to give space without the requirement for an awning (or divorce in a bag!).

Both units have their pros and cons (as mentioned in previous posts) and would add the following -

• moho is more maneuverable than hitched caravan. You would probably want to factor in the cost of a motor mover to assist with this however, be aware, a twin axle is much less maneuverable than a single which can pivot on it's axle.
• we found running costs of car and caravan less than moho (road tax, mot, fuel, servicing, depreciation (as you can only use one at a time), etc.
• flexibility of car available at destination could be a big pro for you if you don't wild camp \ use Aires.
• be aware that a number of insurers demand wheel lock\s to be used which is fine on a single axle but a pain on a twin.

If you're looking for a decent caravan forum would recommend http://www.caravantalk.co.uk/

As said, two different ways of achieving a similar holiday experience.

 

[gus-lopez]

For me it is the fact that I can use most things in the motorhome whilst on the move, which you cannot in a caravan. As a trailer afficionado, caravans have never appealed to me. It might be down to the nightmare of having lived in Devon & ,spring through summer,getting trapped in the remains of a caravan destruction derby every week on the M5. That's when you need the motorhome so you have toilet facilities & can make tea.
I still have nightmares

Must be something appealing about caravans figures indicate almost 3 caravans for every motorhome. We're not set in our ways and keep an open mind and if a caravan suited our needs better we wouldn't hesitate to change.

& another report stated that 50% of all caravans being towed were "not in accordance with the drivers licence" . I.e. All towing illegally.

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[Rosemary1]

Horses for courses - there are advantages and disadvantages for both - one of the main reasons we like our motorhome is my hubby actually enjoys it. I would imagine the best ways is to have both at different times of your life depending on what type of holidays you want to enjoy.

I will still talk to youx

 

[Rosemary1]

Ps meant to say hubby enjoys driving it (sounded a bit kinky)

 

[gradyp]

Caravan for 20years => Motorhome for 3 years => Caravan for 1 year => back to motorhome

Caravan is fantastic for us when we had the kids , plenty of space we normally stayed in one place for extended periods , moved to 1st motorhome and realised we bought the wrong layout , bought it for grand kids which didn't come away with us , went back to caravan with fixed bed and realised this was the layout we should have had in the motorhome so reverted back to motorhome.
Suits us , just the 2 of us and the dog we enjoy pottering around this country and France , can be a pain sometimes getting into smaller villages and parking up. Overall for ourselves we are happy at the moment.
In fact this morning we drop off our current van to get the sat dish swapped over to our brand new Bailey 79-4 which we should pick up next Saturday

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[EX51SSS]

Ps meant to say hubby enjoys driving it (sounded a bit kinky)

Beat me to it

 

[suavecarve]

I know that motorhomes are better suited for what i want to do.
I get to see more of France/europe which is what I prefer to do.
Packing up is a piece of wee wee
Getting caught up in traffic in the heat or cold outside is a pleasure and less stressful as we just have an ice cream or cup of tea and walk up and down the queue looking at all the other drivers getting stressed and looking at their envy (we also hand out the odd ice cream to kids who are well behaved and might be next to us)
As a caravanner, I aspired to be a motorhomer. I dont have the same feeling in reverse, though i do think about a boat occasionally.
I also think that in general (or the majority of ppl i meet who have no experience of caravanning or motorhoming) love the idea of motorhoming and not so for a caravan.
At this stage, there is no argument for me and a motorhome wins hands down, 15 years ago, a caravan won. it may change again (cant see it but it may)

In terms of the financial, I m sure if you were only going away for 6 weeks per year and taking into account all depreciation, interest, camping costs etc. You would probably be better off staying in a hotel. eg say depreciation of about 2-3k a year and tax insurance mot and general maintenance of 1k, ignoring storage fees and ferry fees and even campsite fees or aires a total of 3 -4 k p.a rather than a motorhome
42 nights in a hotel would work out at an average of 95 pound a night
For a caravan, say depreciation of 1k for the caravan and 2 k for the vehicle and you went away for the same 6 weeks why not rent a property in that area for 500 a week for even more comfort.

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

I don't get the " longer than a couple of days " thing , I can't imagine it takes an age to set up / dismantle a caravan set up .

It doesn't as long as your not one of those who have loads of tat. We had it down to an art.
But then again we are surprised at the amount of motorhomers we see with Teddies , ( even life size Lions and tigers) plants , vases of flowers , ornamental things to stick outside in the grass , free standing ornaments and lamps . Or if you don't put your awning up and fill it with stuff from your house to make it feel homely.
When we had caravans we only ever went on one week long holiday in it to a haven type camp site hated it ! It doesn't take long to pack up a caravan , but it's not as easy as a motorhome. Though new caravans gave everything onboard now , so that's easier. We very very rarely ever use hook up so You can't beat just turning the seats round and setting off !
We used our caravan mostly for weekends , going to rallies and CL 's. Preferring to have our proper holidays abroad in apartments .
As someone mentioned earlier I'd rather have a good towing car and roomy modern caravan than an old damp rusty ( " it's a classic don't you know" ) motorhome.
We loved our caravans and loved our previous motorhome. We like to get to the out of the way places . Hard to do with a caravan , not impossible though.

We think for us , now we don't take the kids anymore and with our style camping , that we have the right model for us.

Best of both worlds. We can park in towns , villages , wilds just like we would in a car. Never had a problem finding anywhere to park.

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[maison]

Having done both my own preferred option is m/h plus bikes on a rack.

However, after bilateral knee replacement my wife found cycling any distance difficult, even an e-bike was problematic once the "throttle only" option disappeared. We considered going back to tugging or towing a car behind the m/h.

We decided not to tug as

A). We love our present motorhome and don't want to change

B). We like being able to visit places en route which we would not risk while towing.

C). It is much easier to reverse a m/h out of a difficult spot than a caravan

D). The ease of pulling up for one night only without the set-up palaver.

So, what have we done?


Bought a Hydratrail for a motor scooter. Although it is a " trailer" it only adds about 1.5 metres to our length and, since it does not articulate, there is no problem reversing.

Our solution will not be suitable for everyone but that is the point! Everyone is different and we all have different priorities. We all love travelling. Surely we can all do what we want without being dictated to or ridiculed by others?

 

[skylinersi]

I know that motorhomes are better suited for what i want to do.
I get to see more of France/europe which is what I prefer to do.
Packing up is a piece of wee wee
Getting caught up in traffic in the heat or cold outside is a pleasure and less stressful as we just have an ice cream or cup of tea and walk up and down the queue looking at all the other drivers getting stressed and looking at their envy (we also hand out the odd ice cream to kids who are well behaved and might be next to us)
As a caravanner, I aspired to be a motorhomer. I dont have the same feeling in reverse, though i do think about a boat occasionally.
I also think that in general (or the majority of ppl i meet who have no experience of caravanning or motorhoming) love the idea of motorhoming and not so for a caravan.
At this stage, there is no argument for me and a motorhome wins hands down, 15 years ago, a caravan won. it may change again (cant see it but it may)

In terms of the financial, I m sure if you were only going away for 6 weeks per year and taking into account all depreciation, interest, camping costs etc. You would probably be better off staying in a hotel. eg say depreciation of about 2-3k a year and tax insurance mot and general maintenance of 1k, ignoring storage fees and ferry fees and even campsite fees or aires a total of 3 -4 k p.a rather than a motorhome
42 nights in a hotel would work out at an average of 95 pound a night
For a caravan, say depreciation of 1k for the caravan and 2 k for the vehicle and you went away for the same 6 weeks why not rent a property in that area for 500 a week for even more comfort.

cant argue with that in terms of logic, but for us the downsides of renting / hotels, or caravanning, are:

we cant take the dog to every hotel, so kenneling costs etc have to be factored in, we like london, but £95 per night wont get much, if at all, there.

renting a property would have to be dog friendly, or the above applies again, and many dog friendly places are not the best, and tend to be dearer.
stuck in the same place with less flexibility to move on.


the downsides of the van (which we still havent got, not long tho mmmm) will be:
less freedom to go out and about compared to when we camped as no car
as above cos of the dog
greater initial cost
running costs tax, fuel, checks etc
im still filling my pants about driving it in case i hurt it
storage to a degree?
more stuff to go wrong....


the plus sides for us:

more freedom to just sod off on friday afternoon for a long weekend etc
freedom to move on if the site is pants been there with the tent!
we can take the dog (contradictory i know)
ease of use ( i so very lazy nowadays!) see below!
less hassle than towing a caravan etc
much less hassle than putting up a tent!
cosier than a tent too
if the weather is crappy, its a nicer place to be than a tent
and......

the dog is less likely to exit the van structure at speed compared to the tent
(48 kg dog on a mission vs nylon tent = fail)


just my thoughts at the moment, its fair to say do what suits best at that time i guess, each to their own........

im sure i'll think of more to add, but i have a wedding to go too shortly, and im so looking forward to it

 

[Ivory55]

For traveling across Europe a motor home wins. For long stay on sites the caravan wins. As for an awning it's not compulsory, if you don't have one on a motor home why would you need one on a caravan. The buccaneer gives lots of room being 8ft wide and benefits from having the self levelling system on it for when you park up. They have onboard water tank but yes you need to put out a waste carrier. If you pop out for days a motor home does give you a toilet and somewhere to make a cup of tea etc. It's all down to how you holiday. No one size fits all.

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[Sandancers]

We gave serious thought to buying a Camper Van, VW California or the like, and buying a small caravan to tow. This way we'd have a small Van for say weekend use and tow a caravan to somewhere for longer stays. We thought the VW would house the cooking equip and small beds and use the caravan as a better bedroom on longer trips.

But, looking at the VW at shows and then looking at at small caravans we realised that the sum of these two parts did not come close to being equal to our 6m motorhome !!

 

[suavecarve]

cant argue with that in terms of logic, but for us the downsides of renting / hotels, or caravanning, are:

we cant take the dog to every hotel, so kenneling costs etc have to be factored in, we like london, but £95 per night wont get much, if at all, there.

renting a property would have to be dog friendly, or the above applies again, and many dog friendly places are not the best, and tend to be dearer.
stuck in the same place with less flexibility to move on.


the downsides of the van (which we still havent got, not long tho mmmm) will be:
less freedom to go out and about compared to when we camped as no car
as above cos of the dog
greater initial cost
running costs tax, fuel, checks etc
im still filling my pants about driving it in case i hurt it
storage to a degree?
more stuff to go wrong....


the plus sides for us:

more freedom to just sod off on friday afternoon for a long weekend etc
freedom to move on if the site is pants been there with the tent!
we can take the dog (contradictory i know)
ease of use ( i so very lazy nowadays!) see below!
less hassle than towing a caravan etc
much less hassle than putting up a tent!
cosier than a tent too
if the weather is crappy, its a nicer place to be than a tent
and......

the dog is less likely to exit the van structure at speed compared to the tent
(48 kg dog on a mission vs nylon tent = fail)


just my thoughts at the moment, its fair to say do what suits best at that time i guess, each to their own........

im sure i'll think of more to add, but i have a wedding to go too shortly, and im so looking forward to it

Plus side you missed out on

If you break down with that mutt on board he can tow you the rest of the way !

 

[Ivory55]

Ps , get a motor mover fitted as it means you can put the caravan anywhere very easily.

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[magicsurfbus]

Witchcraft. A case of demonic possession if ever I saw one.

Next stage will be green puke and a swivelling head, unless somebody calls

 

[hilldweller]

& another report stated that 50% of all caravans being towed were "not in accordance with the drivers licence" . I.e. All towing illegally.

Probably the same with MHs given the weight threads in here.

 

[chaser]

Can't see a case for caravans at all I'm afraid, if you are going to Europe you can park anywhere with a motorhome even free if that's what grabs you, caravan got to be on site, if you are just staying here you might just as well have a smaller car and use the money saved renting a static on a site, without all the hassle of towing and setting up and down.
Or even b&b or hotels, if you are staying in one place.

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[Gorse Hill]

A part of the homework tho is seeking advise from others and their experience / experiences surely , thanks for the good wishes tho btw !

Seems like you already made your mind up

Your line of reasoning appeared apparent to you but appeared not actually valid to me , in my opinion therefore it was spurious .

I don't get the " longer than a couple of days " thing , I can't imagine it takes an age to set up / dismantle a caravan set up .

Good luck with the caravan

 

[pyro]

The M/H suits my way of life, we don't stop much more than a night en route to one destination or another, we like having a high driving position, not having all the kerfuffle in manoeuvring a owed trailer, having a cuppa en route, not having to find proper pitches for the night or faff about with setting up, the ability to park on our own front drive without world war 3 breaking out with neighbours (covenants apply around here), etc, etc

Sure a caravan offers an attractive and cost effective alternative to those who are more inclined to stay for longer than the odd night. Better space utilisation, the ability to use your vehicle independently of the caravan, cheaper to buy, etc.

"Horses for courses" as people have said here, and they're right. If we bothered with sites that much, or stayed more than a maximum of 48 hours in any place, or didn't spend most of our time overseas, or we didn't travel an average of 300 miles a day, or had youngsters to worry about, then perhaps we might think differently

I wouldn't shed any "tiers" about the whole issue, the OP has already made up his mind

 

[ABZSteve]

I said and meant spurious, I suggest you don't waste your time second guessing other people's use of vocabulary, it'll only end in tiers .

You might want to think about practising what you preach. Just saying like

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[ABZSteve]

Ah right, so on your post, nobody is allowed their comments without you saying that they are liars then?

 

[MR. FUSION]

In three years time i had fully intended to trade in the Bailey for something bigger / more luxurious and with a max outlay , including trade in , of approx 60K to 80K GBP, BUT now im seriously contemplating buying a brand new Rexton 4 x 4 ( replacing two cars that i now already own , a Tivoli and an old banger Focus ) and a top end caravan ( Buccaneer) trading in the Bailey for a total outlay of approx 30K GBP.
The maths look great tbh , i rarely wild camp or use Aires , am i missing nsomething here ? cheers in advance !

You are only missing something if you ever decide to avail yourself of everymans right to roam in much of Scandinavia, tuggers are not included

 

[Khizzie]

I use sites with my motorhome for a couple if days at a time then use buses to get me almost everywhere I need .no parking costs, problems or fuel used. Mind you I do have a bus pass . So no cost ..

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[EX51SSS]

As expected. And we all know what they say about abz.

 

[Foxy1956]

DON'T DO IT

Think with a motorhome you pull up check if your level switch on the gas and get the kettle on

with a caravan you
park on pitch
check if you're level if not get the wedges out from the bottom of the front box
hook up the electric switch on the gas
Fill the Aquaroll fit the water pump / connect the water up
set up the drain /wastemaster
switch on the gas
put up your choice of awning (Porch 15 minutes- full awning 30 minutes)

Collapse into a chair whilst swbo puts the kettle on

We had 9 caravans. I would never go back to them, but our situation is different as I have to drive, cook, wash up, take the wife to the loo, shower and then some. Horses for courses.

 

[EX51SSS]

As expected. And we all know what they say about abz.

That is a generalisation not individual

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[EX51SSS]

Whoa! Everyone stop trying to suggest the OP is better off in a Moho. It's a pure wind up. He's not interested in the whys and wherefores. Convince the OP that a tugger is the best thing since sliced bread then perhaps he'll decide to join a caravan forum and leave us in the ecstatic state that exists with Moho owmers

 

[Reallyretired]

I don't agree that with a motorhome you pull up, level, turn the gas on, kettle on.

I am not too fussy about level, just find a levellish spot, and I always travel with the gas on except on the tunnel, so only have to do one of the first three, and if its hot I prefer a beer.

You don't need an awning on a caravan, though for some reason most seem to. They are difficult to erect and collapse and restrict ventilation when its hot, can't see the attraction.

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

What about this

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