caravan or bus ?

clbn · Member

caravan or bus ?

Plendo · Guru

Hi Colin and Linda,

We also considered the option of a converted bus, while it looks a cheap way to get good space to travel with, there are a few facors that convinced us not to that way:

1. A decent sized bus requires a commercial licence, either an MR or HR, depending on the weight.

2. If you have a commecial licence and have any form of reportable medical event your licence is automatically suspended for six months (significant for me, as I am a stroke survivor).

3. Some places do not welcome buses.

4. The fuel consumption of a coach can be truly scarry.

5. I read some reports of people being charged very high insuranc costs.

We have resigned ourselves to buying a tow vehicle and van.

Gerty Dancer · Guru

Have you considered a fifth wheeler?

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

A purpose built motorhome is a better proposition than a converted bus, in my view.

Cheers,
Peter

clbn · Member

thank you every one :)

Mike C · Senior Member

Ours is a purpose build 28ft motor home and requires only a light rigid licence.

I did have a MR licence but had it down graded to LR due to medical conditions (diabetes and Sleep Apnea) for medical the LR is treated the same as a std car licence (in Vic).
the MR required specialist reports every 12 months the LR only a statement (form filled out) by any GP (much less hassle and far less cost)

With the LR you can drive up to to 8.5 ton which is a reasonable size (ours is 6.5 ton plus 3.5 towing capacity)

Have not had any issues in caravan parks at 28ft and feel so much more secure on the overnight free camping and find a motorhome far less stressfull on the road.

We still need to get a car sorted for the back but so far are loving it.

cheers

Mike

neilnruth · Guru

Welcome clbn. Glad you are getting some good replies. Every answer will reflect the needs/likes/wishes of each individual. We would say caravan but Mike above says motorhome. In the end you will have to weigh it all up and it will be your own personal choice. Have fun deciding.

Mike C · Senior Member

One other thing to mention is that I use approx 14-15l/100k in the motorhome..
My D4D Hilux averaged 14 just with a campertrailer in tow. These Iveco based Motor homes are pretty good on juice.

cheers

Mike

clbn · Member

Hi Mike what kind of weight can you put in it ? we did look at some motor homes but they didn't seem to have much storage in them .

Mike C · Senior Member

Hi clbn

The tare is 5.65 ton Gross 6.5 ton (tare was measured will full tanks of 350L)
So we have aprox 850kg carrying capacity.

Unfortunatly a lot of Motor homes try to get under the 4.5 ton (car licence) and more often than not you are giving up gear carrying capacity.
the current IVECO is now rated at 7 ton (still LR licence) so plenty of additional liqued refreshment can be carried.

Cheers
Mike

wendyv · Guru

We toured Aust extensively with 4WD and small off road caravan, over 13 years (not all full time on the road). However, we are getting older and the driver has developed some medical conditions. He wanted more travel comfort than we had in the basic van, but did not want to keep on with the hassles of towing a van. So that outfit was sold.

Now we have bought a Coaster LWB bus converted to a motorhome. It is actually shorter, at 7m, than our 4WD and van were. It is a fairly solid conversion (done for someone else) and the unit is rated at 4.9 tonne, so needs more than a car licence, but we both have endorsed licences, so no problem. Some Coaster conversions do seem to come in at under that.

We like the Coaster because, having spent much time up north, we have seen the sorts of roads they handle as community buses, and the places they can go. Toyota is not a hard vehcile to get serviced or get parts for up there, either.

I think we have as much storage space in the bus as we had in the van - it is just differently configured. Might even be a bit more. Have done one short trip in it, so far, which showed that we really do need a separate little vehicle for sightseeing around the base-camped bus.

We have just set up a Daihatsu Terios to flat tow behind the bus. Don't think it will be a issue to tow it - not like a van. Its hitch is really easy to put on and off, so I can do it - again, much easier than trying to hitch up a van.

clbn · Member

well motor homes look like an interesting option , we both have our h/r licenses so no problem there 'we have gone off the bus idea' thank you everyone .