Thinking of changing from a caravan to a motorhome after 40 years of caravanning but now find putting up awning,dragging water etc to be a chore not a pleasure..anyone got any experience of the changeover,what are the pros and cons ? thanks ,all advice welcome
We are in a similar situation and often wonder if a Motorhome would be our next move if ever my husband decided that the hitching and de-hitching had become too much for him. Some of the chores such as emptying toilet cassette and doing the hook up cable and tv hook up remain the same, and infact the latter two becomes more frequent with a motorhome, as you have to pack everything away internally and externally everytime you want to go out in it, and you dont have the option of just nipping down to the pub, shop or takeaway on a whim by just jumping into your car.
Then there is the parking to consider, unless you go for a van convertion type of motorhome, you are going to be very restricted as to where you can go, and how you can park your motorhome due to its bulky size and the restrictions that a lot of councils impose on their carparks regarding motorhomes, and especially any overnight sleeping in veichles.
For us we would also need something suitable of taking my mobility scooter with us, at the moment we have a specialist hoist fitted to allow it to be carried in the boot of our car, but this is not an optio with a motorhome, and l would not feel safe having to leave it out on a bike rack overnight whilst we slept, as im unable to walk more than a couple of steps at a time, and a scooter is essential to my everyday living.
On the plus side, it must be nice to be able to have a motorhome that you can use as a day van for trips out into the countryside for picnics and bbqs wd do see quite a lot of people enjoying their motorhome in this way around the main carpark of Carsington Water, although the powers that be have now put a stop to motorhomes enjoying the Sheep wash carpark by installing height barriers.
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
If you want to tour in France buy a motorhome, if you only do UK stick with a caravan. If you want a motorhome & stop on sites for a fortnight then take bikes on the back or stop on sites on bus routes into town. In UK its difficult to park in towns so you probably won't be pottering around exploring local area as you do if stopping on site with caravan for some time but obviously you can shop in large supermkts & park at back of carpark.
After that its down to how you are fixed financially. If loaded by big M/H & tow a small car on a trailer. Alternatively, if still fairly loaded buy med size M/H & take bikes on back but you will still need a car to use at home.
But from basis of pure cost effectiveness then car/caravan wins every time. For less than cost of brand new med sized M/H you have new car & new caravan larger than M/H & you still have a car to use at home.
Or take that right down the scale, secondhand car/caravan still more cost effective than s/h M/H.
Plus if you have a car and caravan and the car breaks down, you still have accommodation, not so with a motorhome. We have a big twin axle caravan so we don't need an awning.
We are newbies and went through this in the decision process.
Our decision was based on SWMBO retiring but I have been semi-retired for some time and we wanted a life change.
I wanted to just buy a motorhome and bugger off for a year or two.
We discussed it and I had to concede that was not her idea at all, but she would be happy with six or eight (or more :-))x 2 week breaks down to the Med and into Germany and up to Scandinavia in the summer.
Then we realised we could leave a caravan over there and that sold us on a caravan.
The idea of driving all those miles each time in a big juicy motorhome when we could do it in a more economical car, was the deciding factor.
After all 8 x 2000 miles trips in a car at 50mpg is a site cheaper than at about 20 mpg in a motorhome when the site costs are the same.
There are down sides in the caravan but you already know those.
i treat my car and caravan rather like an articulated motorhome.. i cant see much difference to be honest..
awnings and other stuff are not an essential with a caravan or a motorhome.. mine does bend in the middle as one large motorhome owner said to me last summer..
my tractor unit also comes off.. but only if i want it to.. mostly it all stays connected up when in use.. :)
caravan or motorhome one comes apart in the middle the other dosnt.. the rest is what you do with it..
We had a small caravan for 8 years and upgraded to a new 6metre coach built MH last year.
The caravan was fine for short breaks in the UK but now I'm semi retired we are going abroad and the MH is far better for the job. The freedom to stop where we want in the aires just wouldn't happen towing a van, and we have a honda 110cc scooter on the back for getting about on. Yes it's a more costly set up but you can't take it with you can you 😃
We had a caravan and then changed to a motorhome, After four years we have sold the motor home and gone back to caravanning.
I enjoyed the motorhome but I like having a car to get around in. I know you can tow a car but that wasn't for us.
Giving you the benefit of the doubt fleck2
I'm assuming you meant jolly or fun when you wrote " We got a little gay 1000cc Volkswagen". Otherwise I would love to know exactly what makes a 1000cc VW or any other car "gay"
Quote: Originally posted by Harpmaker on 16/3/2015
Giving you the benefit of the doubt fleck2
I'm assuming you meant jolly or fun when you wrote " We got a little gay 1000cc Volkswagen". Otherwise I would love to know exactly what makes a 1000cc VW or any other car "gay"
Jolly and fun to drive yes, but also a happy wee car 😍
Thanks for all the helpful replies...decided on car and caravan combo ..mostly because of the inconvenience of having to use M/H for trips from site..going to invest in a mover and probably an air awning
"Giving you the benefit of the doubt fleck2
I'm assuming you meant jolly or fun when you wrote " We got a little gay 1000cc Volkswagen". Otherwise I would love to know exactly what makes a 1000cc VW or any other car "gay" "
tis a shame a good old English word was highjacked some years back for public relations purposes.. he he
you tread on dodgy ground if you use the word to mean what it really used to mean.. take a telling off fleck.. :)
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Topic: caravan OR motorhome ?
