open question for motorhomers (1 Viewer)

finney

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May 9, 2010
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hi all,
an open question for all forumers,
we are wanting a motorhome but due to the cost, a tourer seems the cheaper alternative and giving us second thoughts.

What made you decide on a motorhome and not a caravan tourer?
What are the pros and cons of owning a motorhome over a tourer?
 
Oct 1, 2007
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plus side go out for the day
All the comfort of home toilet wise no penny to find
plenty of room to watch the rain
or eat your sadwiches/Sunday lunch

When on site
drive up a plastic hill if you wish
hook the(ehu) wire up
kettle on no suger ta:thumb:

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scran

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Jan 22, 2008
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motorhome or tourer

with a motorhome you can use it to go for a drive at weekends to the coast or country and park it with a caravan you need to go on a site motorhomes .you can park on the roadside overlooking lakes lochs whatever and also do a bit of wildcamping. we have done caravanning and motorhoming is far better :Smile:
 
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lorger

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Jul 11, 2008
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Hi Finney

Everyone is different but we had caravan before mh and after booking on to a site for 2 weeks of constant rain and driving everywhere in the car for days out we bought a mh and very rarely stay more than 3 night on one site if we do we just book a day at a time also if planning on going abroad then mh has loads more benifits.

You mention cost we had 2 cars when we had van now have 1 plus a 50cc scooter i use for work so what we save on running the 2 cars just about covers the mh and remember all though you dont need it legally you will need to insure your caravan ours was actually dearer than the mh so thats a saving there i know some folk dont insure theirs as car insurance covers it for towing but not theft.

So in a years cost we are actually better of we only insure 1 car, mh and scooter comes to about £600 plus have to tax them another £370 but scooter does 100mpg so save on fuel.

When we had van had to insure 2 cars and van was about £800 and foolishly bought a 4x4 so fuel cost where really high (get better economy in mh then 4x4) and the tax for the 4x4 was dearer than mh think 2 cars together cost about £450.

Sorry to go on a bit but hope it helps. We did enjoy our caravan and i would never put anyone off buying one but we love our mh loads more
Gerry
 
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Kon tiki

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This is a motorhome site so you will get a biased view towards motorhoming. Apart from the cost factor both have good & bad points & it's more what suits you as an individual there is no right wrong, better or worse there are just differences.
We like to travel, don't like campsites prefer wildcamping or using aires/stellplatz areas abroad (something not possible with a caravan). We don't tend to stay more than a couple of nights in one place thinking there is always a better place up the road. We never book anything other than the ferry or tunnel then just go wherever we want often changing plans.
If you like to maybe just visit an area park on a campsite for a couple of weeks then maybe a car/caravn suits you better.

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gazz

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Mar 16, 2010
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That wasnt going on a bit gerry... this is :RollEyes:

For me, a caravan is for people who plan their holidays, like to have sites booked, plan to stay on them for a week or more at a time,

a motorhome is for people who like to just drive down a road and see where it goes, choosing where to stay when they get there, and like to move on every day or 2,

or if they want to go abroad, a motorhome makes a lot more sense due to the aire/stellplatz network, where thanks to motorhomes being self contained they can stay in designated areas, usually for free and in the middle of a city/town, or lovely rural area,
they are not campsites, but intended for stop offs whilst touring, abroad they have figured out that if they let motorhomes spend a few nights near amenaties for free or very low cost, they will spend money in the local shops and leisure facilities, the least you'll get is a few designated spaces on a town centre car park, most will have a water tap and bog dump point, some will have lecky, almost all are near transport links and so on.

of course you can use a motorhome to stay in one place for a long time, lots of people take push bikes with them, or you can put a scooter on a rack, or tow a car, or use public transport, or just laze around for a week never moving more than 10 feet from the motorhome.

you can also be smug if you like when on a campsite, you just drive to the pitch, get the van level and that's it, then sit and watch the caravanner who arrived at the same time as they faff about leveling it side to side, unhitching it, level it front to back, unpack all the heavy items that have to travel on the floor over the axle to make it stable to tow, trundle off to get water, hook the water up, put the waste containers out, wrestle with the frame awning, bleed the water system, unpack everything else and put them in their places and so on.

in my motorhome the hot water is heated up as i drive along from the engine, i can run the central heating whilst driving in winter so the living area is toasty when i park up, i am charging the leisure batteries with upto 90 amps from the 2nd alternator on the engine (the caravanners have to make do with 10 or so amps max through the very long run of undersized wire between the engine on the car and the battery in the caravan, through the 12S connection)


i tow a smart car, mainly because i have a dog who wants to come with me when i go out, but also i got fed up of it raining everytime i went out on the bikes, motorbike or scooters.

people say why dont i just get a caravan, as i'm just doing the same in reverse,

but i dont see it like that,
yes there's 2 engines and drivetrains to service, but i have 2 vehicles that can be used seperately, a caravan is no good without a tow vehicle.

my motorhome costs me 165 a year for tax, the smart costs me nothing (its the CDI version, and due to it being the least polluting car available, it's in the free tax bracket)
motorhome insurance is about £350 a year, smart insurance is £250, thats with the a-frame towing aditional premium.

at the moment i only have to mot the motorhome (and i pay £28.50) the smart isnt due it's first mot till 2012,
ok no mot for caravans, but on seeing some of them on the road, they need them badly,

Fuel economy, now if i were to tow a caravan, i'd need a large car, with a big engine, my GF's dad has a volvo to tow his caravan, he gets 21mpg solo, and 16mpg towing,

I get 21mpg solo in the motorhome, and 21 mpg towing my smart (just one of those things, the engine is big enough in the motorhome to not be fazed by another 740 kilo's being dragged along, it weighs 4.5 tons solo anyway)

BUT, my GF's dad still gets 21mpg when he's driving around sight seeing whilst the caravan is parked on the campsite,

Me, i get 75mpg when driving around in the smart whilst the motorhome is parked up on site.

i also personaly prefer being in charge of the larger vehicle in my combination, no chance of the tail wagging the dog.
i could always leave the smart car at home if i wanted, bit hard to leave the car at home when you go out in a caravan :Smile:
 
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AdgeRas

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The aires and stellplatze (what is the plural of that in English?) is definately reason in itself to buy a motorhome.

We went to Denmark at christmas and stopped in Brugge on our way home, but because of a change of plans, we decided to go to the night before originally planned and in Brugge arrived at midnight to find that the aire had closed at 10 pm.

The aire is quite close to the city centre and close to busses too, but as it was closed we went on the ring road just outside the medieval part of the city and parked in a parking bay besides the road, made the bed up and went to bed.

The day after, we moved to the aire and got a pitch with electricity and stayed for the next night.

The night before we went to Brugge, we stopped at a plaec called Steinhude (west of Hannover) because the other half had been looking around on Google Earth and thought it to be an interesting place to stop. I am led to believe that Adge (the other half) had not done any research into possible stellplatze in the area beforehand but decided to just go there and find a suitable place to stop. By following signs showing a motorhome we found this stellplatz http://www.steinhuder-meer.de/wohnmobilstellplatz and explored the area and have decided to return to that area at some point later.

Rasmus

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gazz

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Mar 16, 2010
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now that is a posh stellplatz,
theres a lovely one in frieburg (black forrest) like that, bloke was just installing wifi when i was last there

when i was in hanover, i stayed at the stellplatz at the VW factory, 1 euro charge to exit, free to get on, max stay 3 days, electric included!! usual 1 euro for 100 litres of water, free bog empyting sanistation.

was just a basic area set asside in the massive staff carpark next to the visitor centre building, a short walk to the tram stop, and 3 or 4 stops to the city centre, free tours of the vw factory available, but i was quite content to watch the parts being moved by the robots through the windows whilst sat in the van,

i remember it started snowing just as i arrived, stopped when i moved on but started up again when i was trying to make it to gutteslogh (cant spell that, even tho where i live is twinned with it :RollEyes:
snowed so bad i didnt make it, got snowed in at supermarket carpark for a couple of days with the snow laying higher than the bottom of the motorhome.
 
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wanttobeaway

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The way I see it if you stay on a site for a week are two at a time a caravan is the way to go but if you are happy to have a few nights and use public transport to get around a MH is best. The main reason we bought our mh was to tour Europe so it was ideal done 45000 miles in 3 years so cannot complain and still got Greece to do. I will say a lot of places we have stayed a car would have come in very handy as public transport is a long long way away and you cannot take a Mh to a lot of places . We also have a 125 scooter which done 600 miles the last trip be lost without it some times

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Feb 9, 2008
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We caravanned for 20 years or so, then, when the kids were up and away, found we were only staying on site 2 or three days at most. A motorhome seemed the obvious choice when we were due to change the van.

Towing we got 21 mpg and solo about 31, with the m/h we get 28 - 32 mpg and do or touring and sniffing around enroute. No regrets so far. Not considered a 'toad', if we do I'll probably go back to caravanning, got a bike rack instead, which we rarely use. Most of the time we just walk to wherever, usually the pub, and if we need a big shop we'll do it on the way somewhere. My wife has become expert in spotting Tesco/Sainbury/Asda from extreme range when on out of town roundabouts.

I have to say, I much prefer driving the m/h to towing the caravan, very relaxing by comparison.

Rgds
Bill
 
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lebesset

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it all depends ; I have both and it depends what you want to do
if you want to go and stay somewhere on a site for more than two or three days , the caravan is the way to go in my experience ; you have the car when you get there , and life is more convenient ; a lot cheaper to buy and you can tailor your outfit easily to your precise needs
but when I just want to travel around , I use the motorhome , more convenient for moving on every day

if you notice , the vast majority of people with motorhomes are couples ; a motorhome big enough to accomodate a family with the same comfort as a caravan is basically too big to use when you get somewhere , which is why you see people with quite small motorhomes tugging cars !

so frankly if you have kids don't consider a motorhome unless you are willing to encompass something really big and tow a car ...even so , a caravan is better and cheaper ...kids don't want to spend their time travelling down the road

if you are just a couple , a motorhome if you have gypsy blood and keep moving , but if you like to go somewhere for a holiday and stay a while , caravan again
 
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Dalek

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Worked for 21 years in the Caravan industry and never fancied one. We love our motorhome. You can set off, stop off and thats it, no messing about trying to get an awning up when its blowing a gale and lashing down with rain. Great entertainment watching them that do ::bigsmile:. Instant relaxation. The downside is you either take it with you and try and park it or you get yourself an A frame and tow a small car or bikes. Never found it a problem because it makes you get out and walk.

The best thing about having a M/H is you get to meet some lovely, mad, friendly, informative people who go by the name of Funsters :thumb:

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Several years ago, I wrote an article for a motorhome magazine comparing the cost of caravanning (which I had done) and the cost of motorhoming (which I was doing). If you compare like for like, eg a new caravan and tow car compared to a new motorhome, then there is not that much difference in overall costs. The same applies if you buy a second hand caravan and tow car or motorhome.

Many caravans are so heavy now, you need a large car, preferably a 4X4, to tow comfortably. The costs of running a 4x4 are not much different to a motorhome although they are cheaper to buy.

The killer is whether you need a vehicle for day to day uses such as commuting. If you do, a tow car (used for commuting) and caravan is probably a cheaper combination than a motorhome and second car.

Driving a motorhome is so much more relaxing than driving a car. Using the motorhome on days out such as airshows, truck shows, and country fairs, is so much more desirable. If you prefer to stay on sites for more than a few days, then a caravan is better. If you are a roamer by heart, then a motorhome is the way to go.

You could always consider a small VW or Ford camper as a tow car ....
 
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haganap

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We have had both.

Frankly? we miss our caravan sometimes, other times it would be reversed.

Simply ask yourself, what do you want to do?

If you like hassle free arrive on site, spend a week or two with your feet up then get yourself a nice caravan. They are getting so so much more on them these days like water tanks, waste water, etc they are becoming a TOWED motorhome.

So, what sort of person are you?

If you like adventure, never staying in one place for too long, Stopping in some outrageous places then get yourself a motor home.

If cost is a problem, why not get your self a quality van conversion? teh timberland and adria (of course) have everything a larger motorhome has and can be used realisticly as a everyday vechile. If there was just the two of us we would consider it.

a non biased, motorhomer, who will always remember his tent and caravan very fondly but chooses to tour differently:thumb:.

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Nov 30, 2009
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so frankly if you have kids don't consider a motorhome unless you are willing to encompass something really big and tow a car ...even so , a caravan is better and cheaper ...kids don't want to spend their time traveling down the road

We've had large twin wheel caravans, and smaller single axle ones , a trailer tent and normal tents. So we've tried everything except a 5th wheeler, i wanted 1 instead of the MH till we saw our model.
We bought our 1st MH in Dec 09 and haven't looked back. Its so much easier once you've got from A to B. Infact its easier getting from A to B in the first place.
We got the correct layout for us , 1st time with having previous caravaning experience.
We have 3 kids 13 , 13 , 15 and 2 dogs and we dont tow a car , and ours have always traveled well. In what ever vehicle they are in . Start , at a young age , as you mean to go on with them.
Also having a good cattle prod to hand works:ROFLMAO:
We walk ride bikes or catch a bus . We never had holidays in the caravan , preferring weekend breaks and rallies anyway, so we used the caravan like a MH anyway.
The layout in the MH means we dont have to make up any beds ::bigsmile: we take it out just for the day or a meal out and stay over in the pub car park, something we wouldn't have done with the caravan.
The fridge is more than twice the size as is the freezer , and ours has a proper shower with a bi fold door, a real plus for us . Oh and loads more storage for everything .
It also costs us less to insure the MH than it did the caravan , though the MH is worth 3 times as much :Doh:
Depending on how much you have to spend look at a 5th wheeler. You can get them new for not that much more than a new good quality caravan , granted you'd need a towing vehicle , but i still think they are the best of both worlds.
Bev
 
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haganap

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i

so frankly if you have kids don't consider a motorhome unless you are willing to encompass something really big and tow a car ...even so , a caravan is better and cheaper ...kids don't want to spend their time travelling down the road

Wow, I missed this bit.
Sorry Lebesset, but that's tosh, as said we have had both and are in to our 6 year of motorhoming with kids aged 13-12. My kids love it. They love the travelling and we have been all over Europe.
They helped us choose our motorhomes and got as excited as we did. Ok, so they do complain about going away now but not because of the travelling. They have on board sat, and computer games when they are travelling and as long as they are map reading, or taking turns sitting in the front they are happy as Larry. They simply love touring.
 
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lebesset

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I suppose it depends on you attitude
mine has always been is they will spend too much time watching TV/playing games machines etc
I feel that holidays with kids should be to get out and see the world , learn what's there etc

kids sitting in a vehicle as you drive along doesn't do it for me , however happy they are ;
all academic for me anyway , all in the past

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haganap

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I suppose it depends on you attitude
mine has always been is they will spend too much time watching TV/playing games machines etc
I feel that holidays with kids should be to get out and see the world , learn what's there etc

kids sitting in a vehicle as you drive along doesn't do it for me , however happy they are ;
all academic for me anyway , all in the past

Of course your right,
But kids touring and stopping a few nights in eastern europe, meeting real people of the country as opposed to some tower block hotel in the middle of a sunny destination has got to teach them more.
A "normal" travel agent holiday is not going to get kids out seeing the world, just the beach and sunshine. there is something really nice about kids meeting others when your away. :thumb:
 
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vwalan

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hi, i used to have a vw camper for everything. now i have a mazda bongo for uk weekend camping. in the winter i have my mini artic or 5er as its called . i like the truck best of all but its too big some times .try not to use campsites do all the things motorhomers do and lots caravaners do. the truck is abit dear for every day travel but dont want to tow a car. we have used aires in france or truck stops all over europe sometimes its easier to park a truck than a camper. especially abroad.
we toured south wales with it last year after malvern. across brecon beacons onto swansea then followed the coast back to cornwall ,found lots of nice places .if there is a road between the sea and you .then you are on the wrong road. have fun we do .cheers alan.
we also use a teardrop caravan behind the bongo .did have a folding caravan but got fed up packing away.
 
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geoff1947

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For me, a caravan is for people who plan their holidays, like to have sites booked, plan to stay on them for a week or more at a time,

a motorhome is for people who like to just drive down a road and see where it goes, choosing where to stay when they get there, and like to move on every day or 2,



My thought entirely ""FREEDOM"":thumb:
 
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