At Emm-Bee, we are somewhat biased.
We love motorhomes, we love how they enable the holidaymaker to go off and make their own adventures rather than being tied to hotels and package holidays.
We also love the motorhomes themselves, especially nowadays with their modern conveniences and superb engines.
However, we all also remember buying our first motorhome. The nerves, the questions we had, the worries.
Here we take a look at a few of these common concerns and hopefully put your mind at rest a little.
Things have come a long way. If you go back a few decades, motorhomes had few driver aids, and roads themselves tended to have narrow carriageways.
Now, though, motorhomes are a genuine pleasure to drive. The driver has a great position, raised up, with superb visibility.
Driver aids depend on the make and model of course, but parking assistance is common, as to is a reversing camera – that certainly makes any maneuvering a lot easier!
Of course, having to do a tight bit of parking might get the pulse going a little the first time, but in truth such moments are rare.
What is far more common is driving on superb roads, especially the wide routes on the continent, then arriving at a motorhome site blessed with large pitches that you simply drive in to and park.
The best way to ease any nerves – head to a local dealer and have a test drive, they will be well used to treating first timers with care.
This one is partly up to the owner and how much they choose to use their motorhome.
What we do find though, is that for many weekend breaks away turn into motorhome breaks – rather than spending money on a hotel, they simply pack a few essentials into the home on wheels and set off.
Motorhome owners also have a tendency to take more breaks; any weekend can suddenly be an excuse to head off somewhere for rest, relaxation, or an explore. Out of season, there is no huge need to book in advance, simply head where the mood takes you.
But the concern is also built on an assumption that motorhomes depreciate quickly, after all, cars do. However, this often isn’t the case with a motorhome.
While new motorhomes of course suffer depreciation over the first few years of their life, it is not anywhere near as significant as that of a car – you won’t find it is only worth 30% of its initial value a couple of years after purchase.
Buy a used motorhome and the depreciation can be very minimal indeed. A four-year-old motorhome, a top of the range model when new, will have dropped little in value if you then sell it two or three years later.
Assuming you want to have some holidays over the next few years, buying a motorhome and using it a few times a year can prove far more economical than paying out for flights, hotels and more every time.
For more on how owning a motorhome can help you save money, read this blog post.
We also look at the possibilities of hiring out your motorhome in this post.
This is the greatest myth. There are thousands of great sites around Europe, sites for every type of holiday and every type of holidaymaker.
There are sites with pools and brim full of activities, or just quiet spots in forests, by rivers or on the coast (sometimes all three at once).
The real beauty though is that you can move around. If you find a site isn’t quite to your liking, simply move on. Have a chat with some of the other motorhome holidaymakers where you are and pick their brains as to where to head, where are the great spots?
It might not always be possible, but many of the best motorhome holidays start when there is just a general idea as to where you’re heading. Maybe a night or two booked, but after that just going with the flow.
On the continent, there are many great free motorhome spots – towns and villages happy to offer free facilities because of the benefits tourists bring to the local economy.
Motorhome shows can also be a great source of inspiration – there are several around the UK every year.
We also recommend picking up magazines such as Practical Motorhome – their site also has a great forum, a superb place for getting ideas and just chatting to other owners.
We hear this one occasionally. Trust us, they’ll love it! It’s a hotel on wheels, you can even get wifi nowadays for their tablets and phones.
Some youngsters might suggest it’s not cool at first, they might say their friends all stay in hotels.
However, when you park up at a superb beach-side site, with amazing views and loads of space for games. When they enjoy that barbecue, or relaxing in the motorhome after a swim in the sea; then they’ll be hooked. Hotels? They won’t want to go back to them.
There are other concerns too, everyone has their own little niggles and doubts.
But, if you are interested in buying a motorhomes, please do get in touch with a local dealer, or just head along to have a look at their stock and have a chat.
And if you can get to the north west, pop in to see us at Emm Bee, we are a leading UK dealer with a huge stock of new and used motorhomes. We’d be delighted to chat through your requirements, to answer any queries and to serve up some free tea and biscuits.
