The pros and cons of buying a motorhome

Buying a campervan is a serious investment so you obviously want to ensure that the decision to purchase an RV is the right choice to make. Compared to hitching a caravan to the back of a car in the middle of a torrential downpour, taking a motorhome on holiday is a much more convenient option although owning a camper can have one or two downsides depending on how you look at things.

Here is useful and entirely objective list of benefits and disadvantages you should consider before committing to buy your dream holiday vehicle.

1) The thought of owning a motorhome is like a dream come true for most people. If you have ever seen one of the larger American RVs on television and they have convinced you to invest in your own campervan then bear in mind that the vast majority of UK motorhomes are quite a bit smaller and not as spacious as you might initially envisage. Also, if you want to drive a motorhome that weighs more than 3,500kg then you will need to ensure that your driving licence entitles you to drive a C1 category vehicle – otherwise you will have to pass an additional test. Of course, the main reason that UK motorhomes aren’t as big as their US counterparts is that the roads of Great Britain, particularly in the countryside, are much smaller than those huge American freeways!

2) Driving around in a motorhome is a lot trickier than driving about in a car. A caravan can be unhitched when you arrive at your destination which means you don’t have to take your holiday home with you when you go out on a day trip or go into town for supplies.

3) On the plus side, a campervan is much more flexible when it comes to going away on those weekend breaks or travelling to local festivals. An RV can be packed and ready to go in a matter of minutes and it’s so easy to move from one destination to the next when everything is onboard and ready to go almost instantly.

4) Fuel consumption is another issue where owning a campervan is concerned. However, the cost of driving a motorhome can be significantly lowered if you use a detachable storage facility for heavier items and you also take other modes of transport with you for when you arrive at your destination. This includes pushbikes and mopeds which will fit nicely inside an appropriate trailer.

In general, most people who have experienced the motorhome way of life by taking a campervan on holiday would never go back to using a caravan and the advantages of owning an RV easily outweigh the negatives in most sets of circumstances.