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quoteShould motorhomes come with the hefty price tag? That was the question on our lips last month. We were interested to get your thoughts on the price of buying a new motorhome and whether you do in fact agree that you get what you pay for.
A few of you got in touch to tell us your thoughts…
Janet wrote to us to say, “I think some Motorhomes are overpriced as all that seems to be different from the previous year is the upholstery so why are they going up year on year?”
What you pay for a new motorhome usually depends on which type of model you choose but JT Thomas doesn’t think this is the case, “Why are van conversions sometimes the same price as or even more expensive than a coachbuilt? Lots of coachbuilts look like a caravan with a GRP adaptor joining them to the cab/chassis.”
Let’s find out how you voted
It was a close one this time around, but the majority of you feel that between £30,001 and £40,000 is an acceptable price for a new motorhome. What’s interesting though is that although 18% of you said you wouldn’t pay more that £30,000, another 18% told us £50,000 was their maximum.
Bill argues that whilst, “There is a lot of work in producing a motorhome and good quality materials are pricey as are good craftsmen; I sometimes think they are taking the mick with some of the prices.”
John Burgess suggests that it’s the economical climate that dictates prices, “Classical marketing suggests that convertors/manufacturers will charge what the market will bear so as long as they can sell them then they will continue to charge the prices they do. Big names sell in high-ish numbers so they should be able to take advantage of the economies of scale but their prices do not often reflect this. It is difficult for the smaller convertors to compete hence the relatively high numbers of insolvencies among this group.”
You can vote in our latest online poll now
Might be worth checking with your local VW commercial dealer, I know ours has a selection of 3/4 year old (ex-lease) vans, varying milages, some are high, some very low, and can arrange for them to have fresh plywood linings/flooring/windows put in at sensible prices. I’m sure a cabinet maker/chippy could cut the backs/sides down on IKEA or similar kitchen units to fit. The conversion companies seem to add a zero to any work like this, but if you could do it privately I’m sure its doable.
Very helpful – thanks James!
I am currently looking to buy a Motor-home or Camper-van. My current thinking is to buy a Camper-van so that I buy a dual purpose vehicle, The cost of these seems to be excessively high. Surely to convert an existing vehicle should be less than to create a completely new vehicle as a custom built Motor Home.
We were lucky enough to buy our motorhome in 2010 when we got offered a very good deal on a new van (only £3k more than I’d been looking at 3 year old used of same model), however prices seem to have rocketed since, I’m shocked at £40k+ for van conversions, when it does seem you could buy a new van and kit it out for not much more than half that ?? I feel the RRP’s are inflated so dealers can offer ‘special deals’ as I genuinely struggle to believe anyone would pay those sticker prices !