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We are seasoned campers but want to 'upgrade'. One choice is to a 4 bed/4 seatbelt motorhome. Something like a Compass Avantgarde a few years old, and circa £18k. 

Can anyone advise the sort of fixed costs we will incur? Just to give us an idea of minimum cost. You know...MOT, fully comp insurance, taxes, services (anything else thats fixed cost . Not repairs, depreciation or storage.

Is there a general rule on % depreciation when a MH is looked after, and does approx 2k per annum mileage?

Do the RAC/AA offer services to check over vehicles which we may think of buying privately?

Cheers,

Kes

Hey, Keswick

My van costs approx:- road tax £170, insurance £235 comp. Annual van service £200ish. Annual habitation service £150ish. Allow for a set of tyres when they're 5 years old, £ 350ish. mot at present is £44.15, same as a car. Remember, nothings set in stone!

The AA/Rac do I think do checks for a price, & I would be very suspicious of any private seller who shys away from it. I don't think there's a % rule at all, depreciation on most vans is pretty reasonable. A dealer will look at mileage, as well as overall condition, probably a bit different if you went private.

You'll save money long term by doing your homework on the right van for you, & don't rush in.

Cheers CREAKY.

Thanks Creaky. Thats a great help. As I anticipated, I missed the habitation service completely.

We are trying to work out, as a family of four destined now to have holidays in the peak periods, whether to go for a MH or go for a TT for 8 years (when the children will be circa 16) and then get a smaller MH for the just the two of us.

We can afford both (if the MH is second hand) as we are about to change our car and can get a cheaper car and MH or more expensive car and TT. At the moment we are seasoned Khyam campers.

We will take our time. We mean to change the car in the next year (perhaps even two years, if necessary) to make the right decision. Neither of us are impulse buyers.

Thank you, but we are 18k tops.

Don't know what area you are in but have a look at Brownhills Leisure they have some good deals on there,  need a good half day to look at the stock.

We pick up our first MH on Monday - definately like a kid a christmas now.  Is it ready yet? how much longer?

Hi,

Thanks for the post. Apart from being above budget (we have decided we will not budge as otherwise it will keep going up and up and we do have plenty of time on our side) I also expect its miles away from us (not his fault we live miles away from civiliisation) - Cornwall.

Thank you for thinking of us and good luck to him in moving her on.