Financing a new motorhome

Top Dog

I know this might be a personal thing that people don't want to discuss, but given its a Sunday I can't ring a dealer to ask.

What are the most common ways that people finance new motorhomes? I'm sure not everyone has a nice big inheritance or a lump of money sitting in their accounts, so are there finance deals like with cars? PCP? HP?

Anything up to 30k or so I'd imagine people use the traditional credit union or bank loan over a 5 year term, but when brand new or nearly new ones can cost 80k + can anyone suggest how their being paid for?

Thanks in advance

Buddy Bubs

They're not pcp anyway. Hp is of course an option.
Like everything in life, you have the option of paying for them from your own funds or borrowing, there's no 1 way people are paying for anything, be it a motor, a home or a motor home.
80k is not really massive money, a well specced premium car can run to that figure, audis and BMW and merc, and you wouldn't even get a look at their flagship models for under 100k.

Motorhomes to me says older people in general, so maybe pension lump sums and severance packages have something to do with it. My own father bought a brand new van (Opel Movano) and is building one himself at the moment.

I buy them cheap as commercials and spend the legacy adding bits. By the time I'm done the conversion is worth about 3 - 4 times what the base vehicle cost. I just do one thing at a time.

If I was buying something already converted I'd haveta pull it all out and up-spec it anyway.

Top Dog

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

I buy them cheap as commercials and spend the legacy adding bits. By the time I'm done the conversion is worth about 3 - 4 times what the base vehicle cost. I just do one thing at a time.

If I was buying something already converted I'd haveta pull it all out and up-spec it anyway.

We bought an older coach built 2 years ago not really knowing how much we'd use it or like it after years with a touring caravan. Turned out we loved it. That same camper needs work now though so I've been contemplating upgrading. 30-40k for a late noughties one doesn't strike me as fantastic value which was what led me to wondering if 80k on a brand new one to be kept a good number of years would be worth it - and if it was, what's the most common way of financing such a purchase. You never see finance deals mentioned on any of the bigger Irish dealers websites, it's always a case of ring us to find out more. It's like a big dark secret :rolleyes:

Sadly I haven't the time, the skills the space or the tools to fit out our own conversion.

killalanerr

As a previous posters says if you compare the price of a MH to that of a top end car if your in that sort of price range 80k is not that big of a whack .
Id say a lot of people that buy new have got there over a couple of years, say a 35k initial investment you decide you like this camping lark so after 3 years you upgrade say 7k pa so you have you have another 20k to invest ... you see where I'm going with this ... you do ok with the trade in ,you now have a 50k van and before you know it after a few trades your kicking tyres of a new yoke
not me unfortunately

niloc1951

I bought mine new in 2005, in the current climate it's worth over 50% of what I paid for it. That's 16 years of travel and holiday accommodation for about 35k. or put another way about €3,000 per year including tax, insurance, servicing and other incidentals.
My current car is an 03 reg Volvo with over 256k miles on the clock.
I'm a firm believer in buying quality and keeping longterm, I'm certainly not a numberplate snob.

Top Dog

killalanerr wrote: »

As a previous posters says if you compare the price of a MH to that of a top end car if your in that sort of price range 80k is not that big of a whack

Thing is though, finance deals are advertised all over the place to encourage you to buy the 80k car. 20% deposit with monthly repayments of X over 5 years. It's not hidden. There's no such advertising for motorhomes.

I can't help but think that buying new (if you can afford it) it's actually better value for money.

niloc1951 wrote: »

I bought mine new in 2005, in the current climate it's worth over 50% of what I paid for it. That's 16 years of travel and holiday accommodation for about 35k. or put another way about €3,000 per year including tax, insurance, servicing and other incidentals.

You also have the peace of mind of knowing the entire vehicle history with nothing hidden.


That was another part of my musing yesterday while browsing Donedeal - wouldn't it be nice to buy something that has never been abused, nothing hidden, enjoy it for 10 years and still be worth over 50% of the initial outlay at that stage should you want to go again. I wouldn't be a number plate snob either, and while it must be great to be a seller with 50% equity left in the vehicle, as a buyer is sometimes wonder are they really worth it. While we'll probably end up buying used again, I can't help but think that buying new (if you can afford it) it's actually better value for money.

CelticRambler

Buddy Bubs wrote: »

Motorhomes to me says older people in general, so maybe pension lump sums and severance packages have something to do with it.

Not always! Twenty years ago - so mid-thirties for me - our Volvo 740 estate, with extra rear-facing seats in the boot, was getting a bit tight for space when filled with the Mrs & 4 children & shopping/luggage/Christmas tree/stuff the children collected when out for a walk ...

We looked into buying a new SUV, saw the cost was :eek: and figured out that it wouldn't actually improve our situation very much, as most of our holidays at the time were spent getting to wherever we were going. We realised that logically, it would make more sense to spend the same amount of money on something that had everything including a kitchen sink (we already had a stove, a coolbox and a toilet of sorts in the Volvo).

Fast forward twenty years, the Volvo is parked in the lane out the back; the camper is parked on the lane out the front, most recently used to collect a load of timber from the DIY shop. Second best £45k I ever spent (the best-best was the £45k on the house that we sold to pay for it, and our new house in France)

I have no idea what it's worth now, but it's too useful to sell.

Top Dog

Top Dog wrote: »

I can't help but think that buying new (if you can afford it) it's actually better value for money

I dunno...that first 10 miles costs ya €10k and then there's all that leisure market hardware they're charging you for fitment that wasn't worth the cost in the first place and needs an up-spec retrofit outtov the factory if you want to take yer tourer touring.

I like machines with no computers, no DPFs and no add blue. That means old time proven.

As regards the ideal; never abused...most people don't keep up with the maintenance or even know what's required, which can cause a hellova lottov issues.

niloc1951

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

..........................
I like machines with no computers, no DPFs and no add blue. That means old time proven.
.....................

The only problem with those kinds of machines is that they are banned from many cities and areas and the list is growing.
Worst still in some countries they are tolled at up to €0.27 per kilometre.

galwaytt

We're toying with the idea too, and it's a choice between updating a car or possibly, a camper/MH.

A friend of ours spend €70k on a VW and tbh, I think it's the way to go.

Otoh, my brother imported a 00 Hymer from NL last week, for a 1/3 what the VW and it looks like he got a great one.

Another friend went the other way and bought an old LT35 here. OMG. For all the tea in china I couldn't hack it, it's brutal.

Funny how I don't reallly see anyone actually pushing sales here at all.

harr

We purchased a second hand one about 10 years ago after getting a bit of inheritance. Normally motor homes are well looked after as they are a bit investment.
I honestly don’t think I could justify paying for a brand new one .. no matter how much I would love one.
Kept it for 2 years and sold it on and purchased a caravan. We actually sold it for same money we purchased it for.
Local garage near to me sells them and I know he does finance if you have a trade in .

CelticRambler

harr wrote: »

I honestly don’t think I could justify paying for a brand new one .. no matter how much I would love one.

One of the major advantages to us in buying new was that we were, to borrow a housing term, buying "off plan" and had the opportunity to change that plan in some ways. Prior to settling on one make and model, we took all four children around showrooms and motorhome fairs and got them to role-play living in each vehicle. That really highlighted for us various design features that were important, and others that were lovely to see but totally impractical in a lively family situation.

As was mentioned above, much of the motorhome market is aimed at the "older" age group, so buying new meant we were able to, for example, ask that a comfortable-looking sofa was replaced with a second table, an additional seat and an extra wardrobe. That didn't cost us a penny more (although perhaps it was partially responsible for a delay in delivery ... :rolleyes: ) but the new configuration has been invaluable throughout all the stages of evolution of our 'van's use. A few years ago, I visited a multi-marque dealer's open day and couldn't find a single vehicle there that felt like an improvement on what we bought.

It might not have been quite as detailed a custom build as SirLiamlot would recommend, but it was certainly a lot easier to re-draw a design on paper than retro-fit, retro-fix a secondhand model.

(Full disclosure: 15 years later, I'm still fixing&fiddling with various things in a quest for perfection ... but sure that's only the same as with any house! :pac: )

MJohnston

We recently took delivery of a brand new VW Grand California, which we've used financing to purchase. For us, it was worth the extra expense of buying new and manufacturer-built because I trust a company like VW to really put extra effort into the engineering and design of such things. Buying used obviously wasn't an option because the used market for Grand Californias doesn't exist yet, otherwise we'd have considered it.

We bought a used, converted VW T5 in the past and had incredible times with it, but there were just a few things here and there that were clearly compromised by the fact that it was post-converted and not built in a certain way from the start. It may even be that VW are doing a kind of post-conversion on already produced Crafters for the GC, but there's a level of access and knowledge there that I just don't think could be matched by a third-party converter.

There's lots of little details that I'm already loving, even though we obviously haven't been able to get away in it yet (picked it up before the VAT increase came in, otherwise we'd have stored it with the dealer for a while) — the built-in fly screens and how they work with the window blinds; the clever space-efficient design of the bathroom; the way the reversing camera is positioned so that a bicycle rack won't block it; the wonderful airplane style luggage cabinet; the ambient lighting; etc.

I'll praise one particular incredibly minor, but representative, detail that I love — there's a rooftop bed, and it has this slide-away design. It's supported on one side by the sliding mechanism, and on the other side there's a separate fold-away support hinge. The detail I love is this — when you slide the roof bed out, something in the internal mechanism causes that fold-away hinge to automatically fold-out, so you never forget about it.

Plus there are certain benefits from buying from an actual commercial manufacturer, which were hard to resist.

Buying new is not for everyone, and you need a fairly hefty deposit, but I think a lot of people write it off too much.

MJohnston

The other thing I'll say about this is more philosophical, perhaps. Motorhomes are one of those purchases where you just have to put a lot of financial logic aside and realise that what you're buying isn't an asset or an investment. You're buying years and years of incredible memories, and that's worth more than a whole lot of money.
We didn't want to be the people who spend their lives saving up for a happy retirement, only to croak at 65 full of regrets.

sumo12

MJohnston wrote: »

We recently took delivery of a brand new VW Grand California, which we've used financing to purchase.

Can I ask what way you financed it? Downpayment? Over 10 years? I would think of doing similar myself in next couple of years

MJohnston

sumo12 wrote: »

Can I ask what way you financed it? Downpayment? Over 10 years? I would think of doing similar myself in next couple of years

Hire Purchase, over 5 years, with just over 10% deposit.

We had the option of PCP too, but because that's limited to 3 years, it was actually a higher monthly payment, and in this case we absolutely want to keep the vehicle at the end, so it'd cost more at the end too.

We're in a (very fortunate) financial position where our assets are likely to grow a good bit more than the percentage we'll pay in interest over the HP period. So it didn't really make sense for us to cash-buy or even increase the deposit amount.

niloc1951

niloc1951 wrote: »

The only problem with those kinds of machines is that they are banned from many cities and areas and the list is growing.

Yeah but at least I'm guaranteed to get there. :pac:


Meh. Hasn't ever stoped me.
I never go further than an oil change in the rest of the EU anyway. (5k miles).
I do 10k mile a year in Éire



Those poor dolphins..:o

CelticRambler

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

I never go further than an oil change in the rest of the EU anyway. (5k miles).

(does quick conversion to real money) :P 8000km ??? - one way, round trip or total? And there I was thinking you were a serious globe-trotter/roller! :pac:

The access restrictions in continental Europe are becoming a real pain for me, with my Euro3 engine, so I would list that as another reason to opt for a shiny new Euro6 if you could get it. In the last year of free-and-easy travel, I had to make a significant detour, or stop short of my destination about half a dozen times because of access restrictions that only applied to older vehicles such as mine. The stopping shorts were much more of an inconvenience than the detours, as they were all times when I would previously have stayed overnight exactly where I needed to be, instead of xkm away.

Of course that depends on how one uses ones motorhome. If you're going to pay expensive campsite fees to stay in a glorified field on the outskirts of the LEZ anyway, even though you have everything you need to stay in the city centre, well that's a whole other discussion ...

sumo12

MJohnston wrote: »

Hire Purchase, over 5 years, with just over 10% deposit.

We had the option of PCP too, but because that's limited to 3 years, it was actually a higher monthly payment, and in this case we absolutely want to keep the vehicle at the end, so it'd cost more at the end too.

We're in a (very fortunate) financial position where our assets are likely to grow a good bit more than the percentage we'll pay in interest over the HP period. So it didn't really make sense for us to cash-buy or even increase the deposit amount.

Thanks for the feedback. I feel finance over 5 years would be ball-crushingly expensive every month for me anyway. I wonder do any finance companies do it over longer period here like in UK

CelticRambler

CelticRambler wrote: »

(does quick conversion to real money) :P 8000km ??? - one way, round trip or total? And there I was thinking you were a serious globe-trotter/roller! :pac:

Berlin is only 1kmiles away similar to the Pyrenees.


Not a globe trotter. Full time live-aboard 5-years, part-time (6 month annual) live-aboard 4 years, I've been rebuilding a suspension about 2 years now and starting a truck conversion soon after I relaunch the original.


This is why I'm so intolerant about hardware that's leisure orientated. If you can't use it everyday like a normal person then it's junk. QED hands up who'd put a gas fridge in a house?
And go anywhere vehicles setup up to require a permanent mains tether...what a calamity of design...:rolleyes:..

...One of these days I'm gonna report myself to a moderator about off-topic conversations...:o

Alkers

MJohnston wrote: »

We recently took delivery of a brand new VW Grand California,

You should definitely do s thread, love.to see it! Did you sell the old van?

MJohnston

Alkers wrote: »

You should definitely do s thread, love.to see it! Did you sell the old van?

Yeah sold it back last September, used the money as deposit for the new one basically.

Casati

killalanerr wrote: »

As a previous posters says if you compare the price of a MH to that of a top end car if your in that sort of price range 80k is not that big of a whack .
Id say a lot of people that buy new have got there over a couple of years, say a 35k initial investment you decide you like this camping lark so after 3 years you upgrade say 7k pa so you have you have another 20k to invest ... you see where I'm going with this ... you do ok with the trade in ,you now have a 50k van and before you know it after a few trades your kicking tyres of a new yoke
not me unfortunately

Do you think lads buying 80k cars are buying them for cash? I bet most of them are PCP with 3% interest or less funded by the manufacture- not an option with motorhomes

For motorhomes I would go the credit union route who will likely give a longer finance option than they would for a car and a reasonable finance rate. They know that unlike a car, an 80k motorhomes isn’t going to shed 50% value in 3 years

covey123

niloc1951 wrote: »

The only problem with those kinds of machines is that they are banned from many cities and areas and the list is growing.
Worst still in some countries they are tolled at up to €0.27 per kilometre.

What countries would that include?

CelticRambler

covey123 wrote: »

What countries would that include?

GB, France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Cezchia and Poland for a start. Probably others, but they're the ones that bother me (all but the last two are effectively "home turf" for me)

covey123

CelticRambler wrote: »

GB, France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Cezchia and Poland for a start. Probably others, but they're the ones that bother me (all but the last two are effectively "home turf" for me)

Didn't realize that! Could be a costly drive down the coast of France!

CelticRambler

The hidden costs, unfortunately. There's a big difference, too, between how "small" MHs are treated and bigger ones. Anything over 3m high is prohibitively expensive on Pay As You Go motorways (France, tunnels, etc; not too bad in Austria and Switzerland where it's a flat rate for the week/year); and anything over 3.5t is penalised either by access restrictions or extra per-km tolls (e.g. Austria!)

killalanerr

Casati wrote: »

Do you think lads buying 80k cars are buying them for cash? I bet most of them are PCP with 3% interest or less funded by the manufacture- not an option with motorhomes

For motorhomes I would go the credit union route

I'd say there's a fair amount of retirement lump sums are used some of the figures bandied about by my civil service pal's would make your eyes water 🀔

I would agree that the credit union would be the best option, home improvements it might held your case if you didn't mention that the said home was on wheels 😅

CubicleDweller

niloc1951 wrote: »

The only problem with those kinds of machines is that they are banned from many cities and areas and the list is growing.
Worst still in some countries they are tolled at up to €0.27 per kilometre.

covey123 wrote: »

What countries would that include?

CelticRambler wrote: »

GB, France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Cezchia and Poland for a start. Probably others, but they're the ones that bother me (all but the last two are effectively "home turf" for me)

CelticRambler : could I ask you to clarify something for me, please? What exactly are you saying about those countries? That they have cities where old motorhomes are banned, or that old motorhomes in those countries "are tolled at up to €0.27 per kilometre."

I own an 1994 Hymer with which we've travelled a bit in France, Spain and Portugal. I know that there are some cities with Low Emissions Zones that we can't visit with our van, which is fair enough. We sometimes use toll roads, but I'm not aware that the age of the vehicle or the type of engine had any effect on the tolls that we paid. Are you saying that all of those countries somehow toll our van differently to newer, cleaner vans? (That could possibly be true, I suppose, based on number plate recognition cameras, but this is the first I've heard of it, if so.) I'm genuinely interested, as we will hopefully take the van on the continent again once the restrictions are lifted. Thanks in advance.

CelticRambler

CubicleDweller wrote: »

CelticRambler : could I ask you to clarify something for me, please? What exactly are you saying about those countries? That they have cities where old motorhomes are banned, or that old motorhomes in those countries "are tolled at up to €0.27 per kilometre."

It's a bit of all kinds of everything, and subject to change (e.g. France is on the point of re-introducing the contentious EcoTax polluter-pays-by-the-km system, but not in its previous form ... ) Some measures are engine-related (e.g. France's Crit'Air vignette), some are height and/or weight related.

For any particular trip, the most complete resource is probably this site: https://urbanaccessregulations.eu/

niloc1951

CubicleDweller wrote: »

CelticRambler : could I ask you to clarify something for me, please? What exactly are you saying about those countries? That they have cities where old motorhomes are banned, or that old motorhomes in those countries "are tolled at up to €0.27 per kilometre."

I own an 1994 Hymer with which we've travelled a bit in France, Spain and Portugal. I know that there are some cities with Low Emissions Zones that we can't visit with our van, which is fair enough. We sometimes use toll roads, but I'm not aware that the age of the vehicle or the type of engine had any effect on the tolls that we paid. Are you saying that all of those countries somehow toll our van differently to newer, cleaner vans? (That could possibly be true, I suppose, based on number plate recognition cameras, but this is the first I've heard of it, if so.) I'm genuinely interested, as we will hopefully take the van on the continent again once the restrictions are lifted. Thanks in advance.

There are two separate issues, tolls and access

In some countries, like Austria for instance, the tolls vary depending on the emission category where vehicles over 3.5t and rated at Euro III or older are charged €0.23730 per km and Euro VI are €0.20010 per km

Other countries like Germany ban access to older diesel rated below Euro IV from towns and cities while France have a variable system depending on pollution levels which they apply to whole geographic areas.
In the French system, it's possible to wake up in the morning and find that a restriction has been implemented which means you can't take your vehicle on the road that day or you can't complete your route.

In a nutshell, getting around Europe in pre-Euro IV engined vehicles can be expensive and present some difficulties at times, apart from the German model of being banned at all times in places.

CubicleDweller

Thanks, CelticRambler and niloc1951 for those replies.

niloc1951 wrote: »

In some countries, like Austria for instance, the tolls vary depending on the emission category where vehicles over 3.5t and rated at Euro III or older are charged €0.23730 per km and Euro VI are €0.20010 per km

Okay, so that's a difference of a little under 4c/km. Not completely insignificant but not a huge deal either I suppose, especially if we only use toll roads on occasion. Good to know about, though.

I realise that driving an older vehicle is going to get more and more difficult as time goes on. Looking just at the financial side, I'd have to be doing some fairly enormous mileage to justify the cost of "upgrading" to a newer van. On the environmental side, it's also probably more responsible to keep the old van running than to scrap it and buy a new one, with all the environmental costs of producing that.

It's something that the owner of an old van just has to deal with, I suppose, and the time will come when it's time to move on. I'm hoping to get a few more years out of our van. Who knows, maybe by then an electric conversion will be feasible?

CubicleDweller

CubicleDweller wrote: »

I realise that driving an older vehicle is going to get more and more difficult as time goes on. Looking just at the financial side, I'd have to be doing some fairly enormous mileage to justify the cost of "upgrading" to a newer van.

Haveya ever priced a DPF replacement? Or the add blue? Or a lambda sensor etc. etc..


Older are more environmentally friendly than new due to the embodied energy especially since most spend the majority of their lives sitting in driveways.


People paying €80k for a motorhome..to quote a hot-rodder..."sure that car is fast but it's not $100k fast"


If you gave me €10k for a base vehicle and €70k budget to convert it, it'd be one of the globally best examples.