Poll: Wondering if I am using my motorhome enough to make it worthwhile owning it

How many weeks a year do you use your motorhome for travelling about the place?

  • Total voters
    103
  • Poll closed .
A stroke and a cardiac episode for each of us in the last 6 months, on top of 2 x Jury Service citations, a property flood and a minor hospital procedure plus aftercare has well and truly buggered up our plans for this year and will probably stop us from getting to France and Spain. We will struggle to get 60 days away this year, but in a normal year we expect to get 120-150 days away

Steve
 
My wife has MS amongst other medical issues so we value the 'live for today' outlook. I dont worry too much about the finances and we feel fortunate because of that as there are no pockets in shrouds! Next year may be different as we may be moving house so it will affect both our travel plans and also the finances.

We also buy 2nd MH's and 2nd hand cars and hope to travel for many years to come. If foreign travel becomes too much we'll stay and tour in Blighty. If that becomes too much we'll decamp to a suitable site for a month at a time I expect.
 
I hate the travel back home so I'd stay away for weeks on end but Liz has kids and for some reason she likes to see them now and then and she likes to help out in their cafe, it's paid for so I'd like to use it more, I pay for the fuel and road tax, we pay the insurance and the repairs between us, although I'll be paying for the clutch to be done in the next week or so, I would be away every other month year round, I am considering going off on my own more, but need to sort out a folding electric wheelchair, scooter didn't work out.
 
Nowhere near enough. It is bought and payed for and we can afford to keep it going and still have a month in the Canary Islands, so we are fortunate and glad that is where we find ourselves. Spring trip next year to use a tunnel token. Quite a lot going on within our family for the time being which takes priority.

Cheers

H
 
The cost benefit balance is a tricky one, but mostly a good secondhand motorhome will not lose much (if any) value, so the costs are the standing and running costs, plus interest on finance or lost interest on capital tied up in it.

For me, the standing costs are about £600 per year, plus fuel. Then assume 4.25% interest lost on its value (about £1,250).

Typically I do about 5,500 miles a year at 24mpg, which is about £1,300 at current fuel prices.

So the costs add up to about £3,200 per year.

I'm not sure how to put a number on the benefits. When the van has been off the road for repairs (for example a few years ago it needed new springs custom made) we simply postponed trips away, rather than face staying in tents or hotels.

I suspect that if health issues or something similar stopped me driving it, I'd sell the motorhome, but apart from that, £260 per month seems a fair price for the benefits it gives, even at times when we don't use it much.
 
Being retired since 09 finances are always tight, I used to buy one sort it out, add value and then sell them to support keeping one but I'm not up to most jobs now so we're stuck with the one we have fortunately it's a later model so part are there and it's nicer to drive than the old 2.8 lumps, not sure if it's any better mechanically though, but it's the only holiday I'm interested in so when the day comes to not have one I'll be housebound more or less.
 
We love being away in our van but we also love being at home in our lovely house with 6 acres of land to look after and kids and grandkids to see. So for us it is basically being away when there isn’t too much to do in the garden and home when the garden needs us and the schools are on holiday. I reckon we manage 40 to 80 days each year overseas (shorter recently due to family commitments), two or three 7 to 10 day trips in the UK and quite a few 2 to 4 day breaks locally.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I hate the travel back home so I'd stay away for weeks on end but Liz has kids and for some reason she likes to see them now and then and she likes to help out in their cafe, it's paid for so I'd like to use it more, I pay for the fuel and road tax, we pay the insurance and the repairs between us, although I'll be paying for the clutch to be done in the next week or so, I would be away every other month year round, I am considering going off on my own more, but need to sort out a folding electric wheelchair, scooter didn't work out.
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I do Whittaker and Biggs auction most fortnight's, they regularly have mobility scooters, wheel chairs and stair lifts. They come from house clearances of deceased estates, more often than not they go for a fraction of the retail value. You can ask for condition reports or view at the auction house in Congleton. You can bid live online, telephone or place a bid via email.
If you look at last week's auction it will give you an idea of the price they go for. Any problems accessing the site I can send a link of the actual Lotted items.
 
It's usually life events that change things.

I recall having to scale back how much we used the motorhome when the kids started school. That was a bit of a pain, but we adjusted.

Now we've reached the next "difficult" stage with grandchildren to allow for, but a few years before they start school. So trips away are impacted by that.

The next snag will probably be health issues curtailing our motorhoming, but so far we have no health issues of any sort. Long may it continue!
 
We’ve only been motorhoming for 11 years, tent camped before that. Up to covid we spent 2 months a year in the US and around 100 nights away in the van. Post covid we’ve both had health problems (not covid related) which have curtailed our US trips and limited our time in the van. It proved very useful to stay in whilst work was done to our new house but it’s had little use recently as I’ve been physically unable to get in it. Now that I’m a bit more mobile we‘re looking forwards to being out and about in it again soon. I’d hate to give it up.
 
It depends what you would have done with the money if you hadn't spent it on a motorhome. (assuming you had the cash spare and spent it on a motorhome) Personally I don't like the idea of hiring one which might be cheaper than owning one and not using it much because it seems to me that you have to travel 200 miles to a hire place, you have to collect it Saturday afternoon or sunday, and have it back for friday night / saturday morning at the end of the hire. This prevents the "oh, look at that thing over there (cathedral, Alp, lake, tractor racing) let's stop and look" which is why I love the motorhome. I just wish they made one to my specification and price !:cry:
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I'm getting much worse Trev, I went to put the bin out first thing, I had to stop three times coming back to the house to rest my back, typical get the pump fixed and the machine breaks down.
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Think its getting us all as we pass along the road of life, make sure you eat lots of oily fish like mackrel.
 
Robmac said:
I've been known to take mine down to my local and sleep in it at the end of the night rather than get a taxi home at the end of the night.

Also, family do's, weddings, funerals or just visiting where I would have had trouble getting a hotel.
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Careful! very dangerous thing to do! Old Bill can still breathalise you as "Being in charge of a motor vehicle!"
 
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