# Cost of motorhoming



## stb (May 13, 2011)

Just wondering roughly how much will it cost us to own a motorhome, both in terms of insurance, tax, upkeep and also in terms of how much they depreciate by? We plan to buy a 5 to 7 year old 6 berth motorhome.


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## OldWomble (Jul 6, 2008)

Difficult to answer but think of it like this; it will probably cost about the same per year as a good quality family package holiday abroad but it will be much much better!!!


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

Where to start? Motorhoming is not cheap, with tax, insurance, fuel and the initial purchase price only for starters. However, if having considered all of these and sold your Granny, it does get better.
Freedom is a good word.
You buy independance, you take your home and possessions with you. No cases to carry. Whenever you stop; you are 'there'.
The friendship is there too if you want it.
Enjoy!


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

I think motorhoming is expensive and difficult to justify from an economic perspective! If I invested my capital outlay, accounted for the depreciation and saved the tax, insurance etc, then I could have a few good holidays in France, using my car for local transport.

However, I would be stuck in the accomodation which I booked without seeing it or always going back to the same place. Every day, when I went out, I would know that I had to return to the same place.

With the MH I have a potential destination, but I rarely arrive there. I find somewhere interesting en-route, or hear some local ideas, and we change direction. When I do arrive, if it's not to my liking, I go somewhere else. When I've had my fill (usually 24-48h) I go to another destination, often incorporating a visit on the way.

I never have a problem finding a loo (a problem for the chronologically challenged) and I know exactly where to get a good cup of tea. If the weather is miserable, I can sit by the sea/river/mountain and read a book in comfort and warmth.

And to improve the financial aspect, I go to the local sea-side resorts during the winter (25mpg compared to 50mpg by car) but benefit from cheap meals/drinks and the pleasure of empty carparks and deserted amusement arcades.

As stated earlier, freedom is an important concept. When you are old, what will you value in your life?

Have fun - Gordon


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## PeterandLinda (Feb 21, 2009)

stb said:


> Just wondering roughly how much will it cost us to own a motorhome, both in terms of insurance, tax, upkeep and also in terms of how much they depreciate by? We plan to buy a 5 to 7 year old 6 berth motorhome.


Hi

Methinks (newly scrabble approved) you will have to be clearer about how you intend to use the van, are you intending to live in it all the time, travel all over Europe, or the world, doing what sort of distance a day, free/wild camping, using Aires where possible?... The van itself should depreciate less quickly than a car or commercial van and insurance rates will reflect that. Tax will depend on the gross weight and the emission rating (no - I don't understand it either).

P&L


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*costs*

Recently Discussed here

Hope this helps?

TM


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## Jagman (Feb 16, 2008)

Hello stb

We bought ours at 5 yrs old in 2007 for £25K from a dealer and after exactly 4 yrs its worth £21K which gives you some idea of depreciation (a grand a year?); obviously there is a drop between what you have to pay for it and what you might expect to get for it on resale, and you could probably close this gap by buying and selling privately.

Annual costs are below £1000 : road tax; insurance; service and MOT.

Last three years tax/insurance/service are thus:

2009 £185 / £399 / £322 = £906 
2010 £190 / £371 / £398 = £959 
2011 £205 / £223 / £378 = £806

Only other significant costs have been:

4 tyres total £400 new mixer tap £87

Thanks to MHF Insurance 2011 is the cheapest year so far!

Running costs obviously vary in direct proportion to use but we get about 25mpg for between 6K and 9K miles per year.

So for us using an initially 5 yr old (good quality) mh probably costs us very roughly £1000 p.a. to keep it on the road and £1,000 p.a. in depreciation.

Hope this helps.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Mh cost £38k 6 years ago this comming august.

Trade in or resale about £23 - £25 k now.



freedom to go where you want to is 


Priceless.

dave p


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

We had a small Autosleeper Trooper before so not really a motorhome as such but we bought it and sold it four years later at £1000 profit so it cost us nowt even after insurance and tax.

Our Calypso Compass was £18500 15 months ago and is probably worth that now so other than out road tax and £200 insurance hasnt cost a lot.

I suspect you might have to take a bigger hit on your 6 berth thingie over a period of time but as said before you cannot put a price on the freedom a m/h gives


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Costs*

Depends how many of these you normally do and how many you would want to do along side motorhoming.

Cheap Flights
All Inclusive 
Hotel Breaks
Villa Holidays
Package Holidays
Caribbean Cruises 
Visiting Relatives on the other side of the world.

And so on.

Last year we had a Villa Holiday in Spain for less than going by motorhome. But those are few and far between.

Ask yourself these questions?

Where are you going to travel in the motorhome?
How often?
Who with?
All Year?
Will you use it for anything else? (think trips to Supermarkets, DIY Stores or as a second car).
Will you still take other types of holidays?


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## Westkirby01 (Jan 25, 2009)

Since 1980 our fuel outlay has been £23,037. We have taken at least 15 breaks per year and 2 large holidays every year. 

We spend whilst away, but then so will everyone who has a hotel break. Our accommodation is to an average of £8.00 per night, so that equates to approximately £640 a year. Therefore £19,000 for the 30 years. A total of £42,000 ish for 30 years.

Hotel accommodation for 30 years, 4 weeks and 15 long weekends per year ????? Add the outlay of the Motorhome, which we can recoup some if we sell, and insurance of £140 per year.

I think it's a bargain. We have Freedom.

Without the Motorhome. 30 years of hotel accomodation, fuel for car and travel to and from the hotels. So, really the only outlay difference is the purchase of the Motorhome. Ah, forgot, we can re-coup some when we finally hang up the boots. 

So, is it viable??????


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## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

We "two " have 6 weeks every year in France,Spain and reckon to spend around 2k - 2 1/2k .This includes eating out,once or twice a week.
And i dare say,it could be done a lot cheaper .
What would the price of a 2 week package hol be, in the school hols.

Les


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

Not suggesting disingenuousness on the part of posters but the OP's question is not being answered, comparisons about how much you save and thus its free are not what they wanted.

I bought a Niesmann Bischoff Flair 7000i 5 years ago for £75,000

It is now worth £50.000 trade in, cost £25,000 in depreciation

I have added a built in generator, air con, sat TV and sat internet, plus electric steady legs and a top range radio, sat nav, DVD, CD player, alarm and tracker system. I have had to replace the fridge, Total cost of these fixed items £20,000. They have not greatly increased its value. 

So, in effect, £750 per month before day to day running costs. 

However if you buy second hand and don't spec up it could be virtually free and the amount you lose in interest will be negligible at present.

Tax and insurance and servicing are not much more than another vehicle, so it depends if you use the motorhome to replace another vehicle or if it is an addition to your fleet. If its an addition say £1,000 per year. 

So actual cost to me has been a staggering £833 permonth

Of course I have had to pay for fuel, ferry fares and campsites plus road tolls, but I have saved on air fares and hotels. I really don't know what those sums will be.I can go away for the weekend here or take it to the UK or into Europe for longer breaks. Food does not enter into the equation because I have to pay for that whatever I do.

At the end of the day it is the convenience and the lifestyle. I'm not adding any more bits now and the price is stable so at present it only costs revenue.


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

Buying a £75000 motorhome and then adding £20000 is hardly representative of the m/h crowd is it 

I was saying that buying a 320K home and using it for three years and getting rid at a sensible price was unlikely to break the bank.

Personall i thing buying a brand new motorhome ranks up there with buyinf a new car - but even worse. You might as well flush money down the bog.


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

I agree in some ways, but it was the only one we could find with the configuration we needed.

I work from home and work whilst on vacation for an hour or two most mornings.

I woud anticipate keeping it until I can no longer drive it, so the monthly capital cost will reduce and reduce as time passes.

Plenty of people do buy new. I got a huge discount as it was a last years model and I was a cash buyer.

Motiorhomes seem to hold value better than cars however


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## IanA (Oct 30, 2010)

Don't forget storage costs if you can't keep it at home - £500-600 per year.

My insurance is about £300, road tax £220, about 20 mpg. I haven't had it serviced or habitation checked as I've only had it six months. The freedom is priceless - and we haven't had a long holiday yet. Even a weekend is great.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Costs*



thieawin said:


> Not suggesting disingenuousness on the part of posters but the OP's question is not being answered, comparisons about how much you save and thus its free are not what they wanted.
> 
> I bought a Niesmann Bischoff Flair 7000i 5 years ago for £75,000
> 
> ...


And at the other end of the scale.

Bought our current motorhome in June 2009. January and May 2011 I have been offered at least 10% more than we paid for it.

As mentioned, Hardly lost anything on our previous motorhome after almost 4 years and 36,000 miles.

TM


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Costs*

In the period April 2010 - March 2011, I had quite a few holidays overseas.

April - Majorca - all inc - £229 (aircraft)

July - Garda by motorhome - me and a mate paid about £450 each inc fuel, food, campsites, tolls, channel tunnel etc

October - Spain by motorhome - same costs as Garda trip

November - Tenerife - £500 all inc for a week (aircraft)

January - Teneirfe all inc - £440 (aircraft)

This trip is a long one with the motorhome. Me and a mate, we both put £500 in the kitty each 4 week period. We bust the budget on month one, but this period has levelled it off as we have not done so many miles.

In my view, for longer hols, the motorhome is best value.

I know these are maybe not the costs you are asking about, but I hope they give you a comparison to air hols etc.


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## blongs (Jan 12, 2009)

stb said:


> Just wondering roughly how much will it cost us to own a motorhome, both in terms of insurance, tax, upkeep and also in terms of how much they depreciate by? We plan to buy a 5 to 7 year old 6 berth motorhome.


I bought a 6 berth CI 656 in December 2009. It is a 2006 model and was between 3- 3.5 years old when we got it and 7000 miles.
This was from a main CI dealer. - £24,500.

The tax is £205 a year

Insurance is approx £300 for us.

No storage costs as it lives at home.

We have done 1 MOT with no repairs needed.

No habitation service done yet (approx £100 apparently)

1 routine service at my brother in laws garage for £130 with oil and filter, air filter, pollen filter, fuel filter.

The fuel stats are in my signature at the bottom of this post. Every mile I travel costs 22p of diesel. (My car costs 11p a mile on LPG)

Looking on ebay, my model at the moment 18 months later

3 private sellers - £20,500 , £22,999 & £24,000
2 dealers - £25,999 & £24,999

We are keeping this for the very long term (all going well), I think the stats for us are about 46 nights away so far in the 18 months we have had Freddie jnr.

We all love the lifestyle and my step-daughter has a wonderful time away in the MH with us.

Ben


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## Senator (Apr 24, 2008)

Having just gone through a change of Motorhome it seems to me that a major part of the 'costs' associated with Motohomes hits you when you change vans.

It's great looking at all the nice new vans on dealers forecourt  but I always feel disappointed when I sit in the office and they tell me what I can have for mine as a trade in.  

That said, with our recent change we decided to try and sell ours privately, and were fortunate to sell it literally the next day! Added to that, we had the van for 3 years, increased the mileage from 10k to 17k and sold it for 2k more than we paid for it (private deal).

That van gave us countless holidays and short breaks, and owed us nothing. Our only real costs were tax and insurance over the three years, plus 4 tyres and servicing costs.

So, it doesn't always have to be expensive. I don't mean to knock dealers, I understand the costs they have to incur, but that Glasses Guide book they all use is the thing that sets your depreciation and thus makes up a big part of your annulised costs, if you take these into consideration.

Our new van came from a dealer and we take comfort from the warranty etc that we have from them. Plus they serviced the van, gave it a new MOT etc etc.

Mark


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Just reviewed mine and updated my >Live in Report< as follows



> *Cost of ownership[*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


peedee


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