How much does a motorhome cost – this is going to be a tough one to answer while not being horribly vague.
Let’s give it a go though, let’s look at how much a usable used vehicle will cost right up to a top of the range new motorhome.
At Emm-Bee we have a bit of a reputation for answering these types of questions having previously looked at whether to buy or rent a motorhome and also the pros of cons of motorhomes vs caravans. We’re not just the north west’s leading motorhome dealer, we are also a motorhome agony aunt!
The cheapest motorhomes will of course be older used models. Extend the timeline far enough and choose a high-mile model and you could pick up a motorhome for under £5,000.
A quick look on Autotrader (other sites are available) found 27 motorhomes priced under £5,000 at the time of writing. That’s 27 across the whole of the UK out of almost 7,000 motorhomes listed.
Clearly that’s not a huge selection, so are motorhomes under £5,000 likely to be much use?
You might find a bargain, but it seems that most at this price range – and even up to £10,000 fall into three categories.
They are either vans that have been converted and it often looks somewhat dubious whether they are truly motorhomes. Many are somewhat lacking in the windows stakes and we suspect that if you took them to hot European climates and tried sleeping it would be like sleeping in an oven.
Others have a lot of miles on the clock. Motorhomes have great engines, but some of these have well over 100,000 miles on the clock, sometimes those miles accumulated in just over a decade. That is a lot of miles in a short space of time and suggests they haven’t been used purely for the occasional holiday.
The third category is the older motorhome. A motorhome from 1992 might not sound all that old, 1992 doesn’t sound so long ago, but it’s more than 25 years now! Even a motorhome from 2000 is approaching 20 years old – isn’t the relentless march of time depressing.
A lot of the motorhomes fall into two or even three categories; the ones in all three seem like something they’d buy for a Top Gear challenge.
In our opinion, you need to be getting closer to £15,000 or £20,000 before you can be guaranteed a quality used vehicle that will be reliable, a pleasure to drive and provide great holidays.
There is more choice available if you can stretch to the £30,000 to £40,000 range but if you have £20,000 you do have options.
Looking at the type of quality vehicles we see – and this is purely for reference, we’re honestly not trying to push these on you (after all, they’re probably sold by the time you’re reading this!).
For around £22,000 you would be looking at a four berth Chausson from 2005 with just 33,000 miles on the clock, then £28,000 would be a similar vehicle but five years younger and with 5,000 fewer miles on the clock.
Buying a vehicle from the last 15 years or so should guarantee a good spec, returning to the £22,000 Chausson from 2005, you’d have a parking camera, blown air central heating, swivel driver and passenger seats and even a double bike rack. It’s a great vehicle.
The £30k to £40k tends to mean a newer vehicle, fewer miles on the clock and with it a greater level of luxury and modern conveniences. We wouldn’t necessarily say more reliable though as the vehicles at £20k don’t have huge mileage and motorhomes have engines that can run for ever. As with any reputable dealer, you would get a guarantee and could be certain that the vehicle had been rigorously tested.
A mid £30k to £40k vehicle might be something like a 2013 Rollerteam T-line with just 14,000 miles on the clock. This vehicle has Italian design with a split kitchen and washroom – it also has cruise control, cab air conditioning and digital aerial.
Going up in price further might move you into more premium makes – even if you drop back to a slightly older vehicle.
At the time of writing, we have a 2011 Burstner Elegance 821g with 27,000 miles for £64,000 – so it’s older than the Rollerteam, has done more miles but costs close to double. It is also pure luxury!
This is a vehicle you really need to see, possibly in images or video, ideally in person – the lounge area sits eight comfortably, the kitchen is like something out of a Venetian hotel, the large main double bed can tilt up to make reading comfortable. It’s the sort of vehicle you’ll park up after a holiday and then not want to leave because it’s more luxurious than the house.
A newer used top-of-the-range Burstner is going to be getting closer still to a six-figure sum.
If a used motorhome is going to cost from around £20,000 upwards, how much will a new vehicle set you back?
This is easier to check, you know what you’re getting with a new vehicle, it’s easier to find a model you’re interested in and then compare prices.
A good starting point is roughly double the cost of a used vehicle, by which we mean a quality new motorhome is going to cost from around £35,000 upwards.
For more choice, the £40k to £50,000 bracket has a lot more vehicles, meaning you have a choice of makes and models catering for all needs – from two-berth vehicles for couples up to ones perfect for family holidays (and large enough to prevent everyone falling out (with each other, not literally)).
It won’t surprise you to learn that there are then vehicles for every budget beyond that. A new luxury Burstner could cost £110,000 and upwards, while down in the posher parts of Europe you’ll see bespoke vehicles that are pushing towards a seven-figure price tag.
With finance available and the ability to rent your vehicle out to help repay some of the cost, there really is a motorhome for everyone.
We hope this has given you a rough guide for what you can expect to pay – please do have a look round the site and do get in touch, even if it’s only to pick our brains. We’re always happy to chat about motorhomes.
