Caravan or Motorhome ? (2 Viewers)

[Billyboyrider]

I'm new here and looking for some advise, Am i to young to get a Motorhome, 39yrs ? I have a young family 2 kids and a wife, We have a big twin axle caravan at the moment, I wont to upgrade to a motorhome, i also have a WW11 willys jeep which i show and have trouble to get both there, 2 things to tow, We dont wont to do the happy medium with a tent sometimes, But my wife feels we are better as we are,
This year 2.5 weeks in france, 1 and a bit in the Uk + odd wekends, We do like to explore a bit when away,
Anybody been in this postion and made a mistake ? oh:
Marcus

 

[old-mo]

Hi and welcome.. :thumb:

Get yourself a desent sized engine motorhome and put the "Willy`" on an A frame,, job sorted.. :thumb:

 

[bald eagle]

How billyboyrider and :welcome:

regards
bald eagle:thumb:

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[carl65]

Hi Marcus, firstly welcome to the site, we had a caravan tent and now have a motorhome and love it we are a youngish family me being 43 wife 34 and kids and dog we get away often and love it the old thing does not apply these days !! whilst going to malvern and linkilon show the amount of young family with motorhomes is def on the up the great thing is you can tow ww11 jeep any were and camp in comfort go for it mate thats what i say and get on some meets/rallies come and enjoy yourself

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Motor Home owners are getting younger, there are many with young families now starting out on the road to fun as a family.

Far better than a package holiday packed in a sardine can to get there!

Peter

 

[hilldweller]

I wont to upgrade to a motorhome
Marcus

Why upgrade ?

I don't see MH as better, though I've never had a caravan.

The *big* problem with a MH is no transport once set up on site. OK, it's no big deal to lock the cupboard doors and unhook but it *is* a big deal to park a MH.

So my simple view is, MH for people who keep moving, caravan for those who stay put for many days.

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[buyer]

hi ,first answer is no you aren't to young. i was 23 when i had my first tiny british camper(commer pb) which beat tents hands down,that i used for the previous 10 years.then a load of caravans until i was 35 when i bought my first rv(c class winnebago)for about a year then onto a 5th wheel for about 10 years, then into a 34 foot rv,coach.which we sometimes tow our jeep wrangler behind on an a frame.but it is now very rare for our 2 sons 17/18 to come with us so we are now thinking of going back to a twin axle caravan .only problem is we can't decide whether to sell the rv and lose a lot of money,buy a caravan,then realise we just can't stand the lack of space and then have to sell the caravan ,and lose more money then try and buy another rv with whats left.iv'e always got plenty of towing motors around including a recovery truck so i can transprt a car and still tow a caravan if i need to,but i still can't decide.all ido know is which ever way i go i'm sure it will be the wrong way,i may just bite the bullit and buy the caravan and keep the rv and try it, that way ive only got to sell one and hopefully reduce the losses. sorry if iv'e bored you to death or confused you even more.good luck.steve.oh:

 

[lebesset]

spot on from brian ..I still look at my double axle tabbert with fond memories
kids grown up and gone , more time to travel , not just holiday and weekends ....motorhome

kids on holiday , weekends etc , do they want to on the road all the time ? no !
stick with what you have , far superior ! and taking your toy ? leave it home .. it's family time , make the most of it , it will soon pass unfortunately

 

[Wildman]

spot on from brian ..I still look at my double axle tabbert with fond memories

Why upgrade ?

I don't see MH as better, though I've never had a caravan.

Now if you guys had read the original post properly you would see he wanted to tow a willis jeep, so unless in Aus where road trains are legal he has to change unless of course he tows the caravan with the jeep.
Age has nowt to do with it. A motorhome is easier, just get in and drive. home goes with you. Go for it you won't regret it.

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[tony morris]

carvan or motorhome

Hi i retired nearly 3 years ago my dream was to have a motorhome it was not as expected just going back to caravanning pick up new caravan this friday 9th oct with m/h you have to take a car with you to get about etc started off camping when the children were young then on to caravanning 30 plus years ago just love caravanning we find it quite relaxing we have just sold our m/h 3435 bessacarr coachbuilt if you are not used to a high top with a luton on top the strong wind makes it rock and roll (sway) hope this may be of some help to you tony

 

[Kon tiki]

To some extent you will get a biased view asking this question on a motorhoming forum Age has nothing to do with it, it depends more on the type of use you are going to get out of what you choose. If you really think that it is important to be able to tow your jeep then the car+caravan obivously doesn't work. Typiclally motorhomer is more likely to have a holiday touring around where a caravanner would set up on a campsite & explore the area by car, this sometimes isn't suitable if you have kids who aren't keen on spending a lot of time on the road. If you are still working then the van will possibly sitting on the drive for extended periods, one of the reason I downsized to a small camper when we were still working fulltime. It might well be that the average motorhome owner is older than the average caravanner as it suits being retired & being able to make much more use of it.

These are my own views on some of the differences between the two but to me it has to be down to your personal choice.

 

[vwalan]

you may have all of them . have you parking for all ?we have a 5er .amazda bongo with a rooftent. a teardrop caravan. just sold a folding caravan. a vw t25 sat waiting. +god knows how many tents. just cleared my dads tent cuboard out,cant sell or throw anything out might be usefull. bit like buyer here have aframes harvey frost towboys,trailers ,bike specs ,tow a bike frames . keep every thing you know it makes sense. what you need is a big 5er to go behind the red truck.

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[buyer]

like alan says if thats your truck, you could try a 5th wheel toy hauler so you could put your jeep,or when you don't takeyour jeep then all the kids stuf in the back,that way no extra tax/mot/insurance,which will go someway to help with the large fuel bill that will come with running an artic. if you want a very cheap 5th wheel my mate has 1 for sale for under 2 grand you can view it on my website .www.shautos.co.uk.steve.:thumb:

 

[buyer]

just noticed a link to my website in my last post. lose ,steve off the end if you want to look at my mates trailer .and earch for Link Removed

 

[barryd]

Why upgrade ?

I don't see MH as better, though I've never had a caravan.

The *big* problem with a MH is no transport once set up on site. OK, it's no big deal to lock the cupboard doors and unhook but it *is* a big deal to park a MH.

So my simple view is, MH for people who keep moving, caravan for those who stay put for many days.

I have to agree with Brian (partly). If your going to tour and also maybe wildcamp or use Aires in France get a MH if you want to park on a site for two weeks get a caravan. However I dont totally agree that with a MH once you park you have no transport. You can get A Frames or traliers and many tow smart cars etc. No use to you but we have a 100cc scooter on the back and this allows us to park where we like and explore on the bike, often up to 100 miles in one day. Theres always the cost to consider of the intial purchase. A 5 year old (decent MH) will cost a lot more than a 5 year old caravan!

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[hilldweller]

You can get A Frames or traliers and many tow smart cars etc.

But are they doing the sensible thing ? I don't want the hassle of a trailer so not for me but look at it this way ---

Caravan = accommodation--->transport

MH = transport-->accommodation/transport

The MH costs two sets of running costs and the accommodation is lessened by a cab, a caravan has more room and is much cheaper. So there really is a good case for caravans. I've never owned a caravan so talking purely theoretically.

 

[DESCO]

Hi

I have done both MH and caravan both have their good and bad points.
It is very difficult to advise any one on either. What finally made the decision for us was in hiring a MH for a 3 week trip around Scotland we then knew that we wanted a MH.


Dave:thumb::thumb:

 

[barryd]

But are they doing the sensible thing ? I don't want the hassle of a trailer so not for me but look at it this way ---

Caravan = accommodation--->transport

MH = transport-->accommodation/transport

The MH costs two sets of running costs and the accommodation is lessened by a cab, a caravan has more room and is much cheaper. So there really is a good case for caravans. I've never owned a caravan so talking purely theoretically.

I think if I had a huge RV I might consider towing a smart car. I agree I wouldnt really want to tow anything either (hence the scooter). I guess you may as well have a caravan if your going to tow anything. I have seen small 4 berth vans towing medium size saloon cars! I think if I had kids I would probably go for a caravan. I generally dont like to be in the same place very long and intend to spend most of my MH time in Europe where MH's are pretty much allowed to park most places where caravans are not so this maybe something the OP should consider. Then again wild camping and Aires are not always suitable and entertaining enough for kids so if they are going to use campsites abroad again maybe the caravan wins.

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[vwalan]

i always said never tow a caravan. always had a camper wont find me towing a caravan. things changed a few years ago, still prefer campers .think most rv,s are too big , yes mine is 30ft. but 20ft is caravan the overhang makes it very usable even in tight places .small m,bike in back ,have car n bike if needed . have used aframes n trailers for work no thanks i prefer what i have now .aires wild camp never a prob. sites well i dont like them anyway. i think there will be more truck campers in uk soon its caught on a treat in germany n other euro countries. keeps the pric down leaves more for travelling.and you build what you want / need . not some tosser design bloke never been camping. have fun cheers alan.

 

[Supertractorman]

Hi,
Have had a caravan and now a motorhome, and with both have taken vintage tractors to rallies etc. With my M/H I have a car trailer which I can either put a tractor or car on the back if I want to park in one spot and tour around, or stay on a rally field. When I had my caravan I had a small Ford truck which the tractor went on with the caravan behind, but for touring holidays I used a car to tow with.
When the kids are small I found that we did not tour as much, but stayed on sites for a week with an awning on the caravan to store all necessities and it suited us best. Now it is only the two of us the M/H is better suited as we like to keep moving.

 

[JumboBeef]

Hello Marcus and welcome.

> two nights on any one site = caravan.
< two nights on any one site = motorhome

Sorted :thumb:

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[buttons]

Keep the caravan sell the tow car and get yourself a nice VW 174bhp pop top. You could use it for the school run and general use. You could tow the caravan with ease. You could toe the jeep to meets and stay in the pop top. They sleep 4 and have all the comforts of home with 5 belted seats. Will park anywhere and hight restrictions are not a problem and you still have the caravan. I do this it is great.
Best of all worlds

 

[finby]

You can use a motorhome for days out, but its unlikely that you would tow your caravan to the seaside for the day.:thumb:

 

[nicklb]

Hi, I think that the general reason why motorhome owners are older is because of the cost of the outfit and so it is quite possible that it could only be afforded in later years, but my family is youngish , I am 38 and loving it, I had a caravan and often thought it was more for older folk, but the camper is fantastic, as I do not like to spend more that 4 days on a site.:thumb:

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