Motorhome v caravan?

We started with caravans (2) then went to motorhomes (3) now back to caravans (2) financially the caravan is by far the best option. You can run and get far more use out of a luxury towcar year round and change a caravan for about £7000 every three years. With a motorhome you tend to end up with a small car and an expensive van that can be sat on a drive for months on end, the outlay about the same, running costs are not significantly different. Caravans are a little more time consuming as we are retired thats not an issue, motorhomes are better for touring with frequent moves but are a unnecessary expense if you intend to sit on a site for any length of time. Just depends on how you want to use your vehicles really.

We have got both! No hard and fast answer, depends how much you want to spend on either combo. We have an expensive go anywhere tow car, but a very old classic van. We have a small MH that is comfortable and doesn't need a car in tow.  It is all about your circumstances, how you want to holiday, and budget, not anyone else's, so the perfect answer has to be yours!

Further to Doug's point above about the upfront investment which I agree can be quite frightening!!! However you have look at the fact that if you are buying a new car that can cost £25000/30000 for a reasonable 4X4/SUV. Modern caravans, especially if you want more than a basic one are increasingly around the £20000 mark so is the difference that great. We might have changed to a motorhome earlier but the price always frightened us off. It was only when I started to look at new cars that I realised how much they cost. We got a good price for our caravan against the motorhome and an equally good deal by trading in our Sorento so not quite as scary as first thought. OK it did leave a hole in our savings but we have gradually recouped some of that by being able to save a bit over the years. 

David

Further to Doug's point above about the upfront investment which I agree can be quite frightening!!! However you have look at the fact that if you are buying a new car that can cost £25000/30000 for a reasonable 4X4/SUV. Modern caravans, especially if you want more than a basic one are increasingly around the £20000 mark so is the difference that great. We might have changed to a motorhome earlier but the price always frightened us off. It was only when I started to look at new cars that I realised how much they cost. We got a good price for our caravan against the motorhome and an equally good deal by trading in our Sorento so not quite as scary as first thought. OK it did leave a hole in our savings but we have gradually recouped some of that by being able to save a bit over the years. 

David

Agreed, if buying new, larger cars/SUV are very expensive and caravans becoming increasingly outlandish for high spec models. Second hand has it's risks unless there is a solid warranty period left.  Manufacturers seem to be ramping up their van prices IMHO. Anything leisure and you just have to decide on your budget and buy within that.

I'm am sure this question has been asked many times before so please let me apology in advance. Generally speaking what is cheaper to upkeep and run over the year an average size campervan and a small car or a large car and an averaged sized caravan?

Thank you all in anticipation of your replies.

Dean.

This was a dilema we struggled with after selling our Narrowboat and having sufficient funds to buy a decent car and 'van or a motorhome and keep the smallish car we already had. In the end the decising factor wasn't running costs but how we intended to use the 'van or motorhome. We spoke to many peole and visited the Motorhome Show at Peterborough. We were already familiar with caravans having had several years ago when the kids were smaller. Our way of spending time on and off the site when we are holiday meant that a caravan remained a logical choice for us and this is what we went for again.

The running costs were not factored in,and  the initial purchase costs (for both) were much the same anyway. Personally I would pay more intention to how you plan to holiday rather than running costs.

Personally I would pay more intention to how you plan to holiday rather than running costs.

You can make ownership of either outfit as expensive or as cheap as your pockets will allow but given that there seems to be a large amount of agreement that costs can be very similar, I agree. The only other factor I would consider is levels of personal fitness. Motorhomes are less arduous to use.

peedee

Are MH less arduous when you factor in trips 'off site' with perhaps a requirement to use a bike/ trek to bus stops etc? Possibly the same amount of effort but in different areas.

i agree with both Peedee and CY....

PD is correct in that setting a MH up on site and packing up when leaving is easier and less arduous...

CY is correct in that, for those with larger vans, getting about can/might require other forms of transport, which could be construed as being more arduous...

ive always thought that, as OH and i get older, we might have to move away from our electric bikes and might end up with a Panel Van Conversion or medium car with small caravan, or even PVC with Eriba type van......best of all worlds?

i dont ever seeing us moving to busses as we like to ne under our own steam....if at all possible.

back to costs.....its really frightening looking at the cost of some of the larger towcars in the mags....and many of these are bought (have to be bought due to size of van?) by folk who only use the van a few weeks of the year.....

I have to confess that I find myself getting a tad irritated at the "getting a Motorhome because we are less able/getting older" supposition, granted it may be a choice for some, but it certainly isn't/ wasn't for us! We had a camper van in our very fit 20's, because it was what we wanted, all we could afford. Now we have another because it suits our requirement to make the most of every single precious hour we can get to away. On drive at home, always ready to roll, we spend the whole of our first day away doing something, right up to the very last moment we can, rather than wondering how early we can get to a site to set up and unhitch to be free of the box bed towed behind! Ten minute set up, ten minute pack up, meals at any time of the day in warmth and comfort, where ever our fancy takes us. 

Trips off site in motorhomes are fun because you have all your facilities with you so you can stay out as late as you want - even overnight in some areas - and of course drink tea and eat cake all day rather than pay cafe prices or carry a flask of hot water. You can easily cook meals. No 20p for a toilet with a motorhome and you should be able to guarantee the toilet is clean and graffiti free. And of course, a motorhome is a great base for an ordinary day out from home. Bus stop trips and bike trek are a personal thing. We did both of these when we caravanned.

My own take is that caravanning is cheaper but not necessarily more cost effective if you use a motorhome regularly. Caravanning and motorhoming both bring a similar amount of enjoyment. Horses for courses and you can pay as little or as much as you want.