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So who’s got a Motorhome ?

richardg said:
Had to buy the next one new, though Steve. People are asking for around 5% off new on a year old one at the moment, certainly could not find one with the normal hefty initial depreciation.. Eg mine that sold was 2 years old and listed at 50 new in 2018. I got it for 38 in May 2020. I was expecting 35 tops when I advertised it this month. Sold it in a week for 37,500, having advertised it cheekily at 38,500.
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Spare a thought for the person who bought your old one new and parted with ~12k Eu for 2 years. You could rent a house for that. Is the current price a reflection of Covid? It certainly is in the UK, I knew a few people with caravans etc, static and touring, and this summer they were a godsend. One woman I worked with was in hers every weekend, in the week they live in a house in Barnsley, come the weekend they are out into Derbyshire enjoying the scenery. Good for them, I wouldn't want to be stuck in Barnsley either.
The fact that you live in yours changes the sums a bit. For a more average user doing say 10 weekends a year, and a week or fortnigh away somewhere, it becomes expensive. £6k for 25 nights is £240 a night. Yowser. That gets you a nice hotel or self catering cottage.
 
stevec67 said:
The fact that you live in yours changes the sums a bit. For a more average user doing say 10 weekends a year, and a week or fortnigh away somewhere, it becomes expensive. £6k for 25 nights is £240 a night. Yowser. That gets you a nice hotel or self catering cottage.
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As with cars, changing after 2 years is always going to be pricey. I saw an article in one of the magazines that mentioned an older couple that had gone through something like 15 motorhomes in 12 years - all bought via the same dealer, trading in their previous one each time. Total madness and I hate to think what that cost them!
 
stevec67 said:
Spare a thought for the person who bought your old one new and parted with ~12k Eu for 2 years. You could rent a house for that. Is the current price a reflection of Covid? It certainly is in the UK, I knew a few people with caravans etc, static and touring, and this summer they were a godsend. One woman I worked with was in hers every weekend, in the week they live in a house in Barnsley, come the weekend they are out into Derbyshire enjoying the scenery. Good for them, I wouldn't want to be stuck in Barnsley either.
The fact that you live in yours changes the sums a bit. For a more average user doing say 10 weekends a year, and a week or fortnigh away somewhere, it becomes expensive. £6k for 25 nights is £240 a night. Yowser. That gets you a nice hotel or self catering cottage.
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Yes, covid is the problem...the buyers are newly retired and plan to live in it for a year, it's their first motorhome.....you declare it as your home on your attestation for the police spot checks and you can basically go where you want under lockdown.
 
SteveG said:
As with cars, changing after 2 years is always going to be pricey. I saw an article in one of the magazines that mentioned an older couple that had gone through something like 15 motorhomes in 12 years - all bought via the same dealer, trading in their previous one each time. Total madness and I hate to think what that cost them!
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I bet their dealer made sure they got fresh coffee and pastries every time they pulled up! I certainly would. Hamper at Christmas too, and a bottle with every new van. Customers like that pay your mortgage.
 
richardg said:
Yes, covid is the problem...the buyers are newly retired and plan to live in it for a year, it's their first motorhome.....you declare it as your home on your attestation for the police spot checks and you can basically go where you want under lockdown.
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In the UK it looks like motorhomes have been selling fast during Covid. Lots of stories of limited stock and high 2nd hand prices.
 
stevec67 said:
I bet their dealer made sure they got fresh coffee and pastries every time they pulled up! I certainly would. Hamper at Christmas too, and a bottle with every new van. Customers like that pay your mortgage.
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In the photo he did have a big smile on his face. The mag posted it as a kind of dealership good service article but my thinking was it came over more as a scam.
 
SteveG said:
We've had motorhomes since 2004. Initially one with bunk-beds when the kids still came with us, the changed that for one with a fixed rear bed over a large garage when it was mainly just going to be the two of us (and now 2 + dog). We've been as far north as Norway and Sweden with ours, and as far south as Gibraltar - as well as lots of UK trains, often to the west coast of Scotland and out to the Hebrides. In 2018 I decided to retire and we planned an year long Europe trip with it although we ended cutting it short to just a couple of months as I got headhunted for a job back in Edinburgh that was too good to turn down (although a big part of me still wishes I didn't answer that call!). We still managed 5000 miles and 10 countries on that trip though.

We updated it for longer term use with a few basic things:
- A little motorbike to take in its garage (a Honda MSX125)
- 180W of solar panels
- upgraded leisure battery capacity
- LED lights
- an LPG gas system
- folding bikes (we used to carry proper ones but with the motorbike in the garage as well there wasn't really the space)

We also have one of the Honda "silent" generators that we carry, although we rarely use it.

Here's our van, in a nice France Passion site (that one was a farm that made goats cheese):

171369163.ttcx0gXv.2018_01.jpg


And another, this time in the Picos mountains in Spain (both from our 2018 trip):

171369164.yEuF8nXt.2018_02.jpg


BTW on depreciation - we bought our first Motorhome new in 2004 for £25K and you'd be looking at £20K used for that 2nd hand now, more if it was in good condition. We were going to rent before buying but the costs for 2 weeks in summer was probably more than a years depreciation so decided to take a gamble and haven't looked back. The current van was about £40K (but with some extras like roof mounted air-con) when we bought it new in 2010 but the equivalent van now is over £52K and in some respects is a downgrade from ours - it's only plated to 3500kg (ours is 3850kg) so has lower payload and is about a foot shorter so has less interior space, and also has a lower gas bottle capacity. It does have some things as standard that ours didn't (like solar panels and cab aircon) but one reason we haven't replaced ours is because it'd be a fair bit of cash to change but without much (if anything) in the way of practical benefits. I think the current van might make £30K in a private sale - so that's under £1K per year depreciation, which isn't bad.
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I imagine the new look chocolate on cream interiors etc mean nothing once you have one. I found it hard to imgine myself enjoying being in a 15 year old one when I was looking. I wanted it to look chic. Could not give a toss about that now.

I am aware of old ones failing habitation certificates in France though. Even in good nick, I heard that you need to update them in some way. Sounds a bit tedious that. One pair came to look and the guy tried to sell his 25 year old one to me in px for 4k and his wife told my missus in a different conversation that it had failed and was now worth scrap.

I saved about 7 grand last year by living in it.
 
richardg said:
I imgine the new look chocolate on cream interiors etc mean nothing once you have one. I found it hard to imgine myself enjoying being in a 15 year old one when I was looking. i wanted it to look chic. Could not give a toss about that now.
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Ours still looks pretty much like new inside as the fabric seems pretty hard wearing and has coped well with our dog shedding loads of hair in it. I'd probably worry more about that stuff if I bought a new van now, but with this one I really don't mind at all.

I am aware of old ones failing habitation certificates in France though. Even in good nick, I heard that you need to update them in some way. Sounds a bit tedious that. One pair came to look and the guy tried to sell his 25 year old one to me in px for 4k and his wife told my missus in a different conversation that it had failed and was now worth scrap.
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We get a habitation check on ours each year and haven't had any issues so far. It's not a requirement in the UK but any sensible buyer is going to do a damp check (or get someone to do a habitation check) so it could have a big impact on 2nd hand value.

Here are some more pics of ours in use (mainly because I'm missing it in the current lockdown as the last time we were away in it was a few months back.

This is on the ferry between The Uists and Harris in 2019:

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This is Ludo giving me a hard time being outside the van while he was inside. That was his first proper trip away in it as we'd only had him about a month at that point:

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And this (also from that trip at Easter 2019) is it beside Luskentyre beach on Harris, in one of the motorhome spots provide by the West Harris Trust at £5 per night:

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SteveG said:
In the UK it looks like motorhomes have been selling fast during Covid. Lots of stories of limited stock and high 2nd hand prices.
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It’s nuts at the moment. My California is worth about £5K more than I paid for it as a private sale. I can get 12% discount on a new one but would have to wait about 6 months. I think most of this year is going to be a write off from a travel perspective so it’s a tempting option.
 
Ponty said:
It’s nuts at the moment. My California is worth about £5K more than I paid for it as a private sale. I can get 12% discount on a new one but would have to wait about 6 months. I think most of this year is going to be a write off from a travel perspective so it’s a tempting option.
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My move exactly, sell a used one high and still get a dealer discount on a new one.
 
richardg said:
I know what you mean, it's why I only really shower and sleep in mine...but this is nice by a German company no need to go to the US, the Morelo Liner. Its about 469,000 euros list price. It's a retirement goal for me right now.... a mini luxury apartment on wheels.
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MUM! LOOK! That bus has just shat a Porsche...
 
Campervans for us, a couple of VW Type 2s and currently a T6, the last T2 we fitted out ourselves and the T6 we did completely converting from a van which was a lot of fun. We have thought long and hard and almost bought a Swift 612 in November 21019 but decided we decided in the end we liked the ability to park in the average car park and easily through towns when abroad. We usually head over to France and end up wherever, going for anything between 1 and 5 months staying mostly in aires and a campsite once or twice a week for a proper shower and some laundry.

We do on the whole prefer the campervan but in the current times a motorhome has a lot of advantages with self containment, I think we may reconsider next year or even this year if things go well with the vaccinations, we'll see
 
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