I am a single 70 year old male thinking of buying a motor home and hitting the road but I am afraid of the ongoing financial costs. Can anyone give me a guide on what to expect such traveling to cost? I realise it will in large part depend on how far I travel so lets say I plan on year around traveling at a modest pace say around six stops a year. I don't want to buy a motor hoe and then find I can't afford to maintain and actually travel anywhere. Anyone able to help? Thanks.
Hi old man. Welcome to the forum. Have a read of "Knowing our budgets - advice sought" and links, currently in the General Section of this forum. You may be able to get some ideas from that on expenses and what people spend. Cheers. ( I'm not single or a full time traveler but do pop into this section from time to time for a read.)
Welcome to the gang old man, enjoy here and out in the playground.
If you will be set up to camp 'off grid' (Solar power etc) it helps a lot. I find the the cost of fuel and CVP's or similar if used are the costly bits. The rest is whatever you do or wherever you are anyway.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
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TUG.......2014 Holden LT Colorado Twin Cab Ute with Canopy
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Hi Old man Fuel is your biggest cost and did say you were going to move slowly , A friend who live on a single pension work out how much he want to spend on fuel every 2 weeks , If he dosen't travel much for 4 weeks he has more money to spend on fuel when he move .
Welcome - I note you are in NSW if you intend on being on road permanently consider changing your licence, rego and insurances, to another State, every other State is much cheaper than NSW.
If you plan on keeping a "NSW Home Base" you're stuck with all the Ned Kelly rates and insurances.
Other than that there is not else to do than prepare for tyres, services and budget repairs. You do need to make out a spread sheet of all you recurring costs insurances, etc - Open an "Oh Buggar" account only to be used for emergencies and try and top it up on a weekly basis - say 5% of your weekly budget - the longer you are on the road there is a greater likelihood of needing it.
Have a ball out there - see you on the road somewhere.
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Hi oldman, welcome mate. One thing I have discovered is being a grey nomad is great fun! If your rig is in good repair/new when you buy, suitable for purpose then you can learn to live within your means. Catch you out there somewhere, Stretch.
I use the camp book think is camp 9 out now, gives you free campsites, rest areas, plus dump points etc, can save you lots of money, I was able to go through Aust military bank for my insurance, went from $1300 in N.S.W to registering in QLD dropped down to $760, don't have to be a member of bank, I have a nephew in the Navy, was told if have family member in military ok to insure through, they never asked me anything re nephew, anyway worth a try.
Hello oldman and a very warm welcome. Strop n i live full time on the road. Live within our budget. Mostly stay in showgrounds, free camp n housesitting. Aussie housesitters is a good site. We 4 seeing australia n loving every minute. I have kept a diary of expenses over last 3 years, if u want to know more send me a private email. I have a friend who travels in a volkswagon van. She chose the pop up canvas roof n she now regrets not getting a hardtop because the canvas goes mouldy. Other than that she loves her van. There r many single people on the road. There is 4 people where we r at the moment. One in a small slide on camper, one in a station wagon n one in a tent and one in a small pop top caravan. There is a site for backpackers on facebook where they often sell there vans. Worth a look anyway. Good luck n c u in the playground sometime.
As others have pointed out, it is hard to give a cost, as we are all different, and there are just too many variables to take into account
I have the motorhome in my Avatar, it is a 2006 Fiat Ducato Maxi 2.8 JTD, with a Jayco built on the back A brother has a Ford with a Winnebago built on the back These are the only two motorhomes, I am familiar with
Below are what I know of the cost of mine, over the previous three years, as I purchased it second hand for $60,000, with 30,000 kilometres on the clock It is now only just ready to tick over the 80,000 kilometre mark
The services are supposed to be 30,000 kilometres intervals, but (from speaking to others), about $1,000 cost I service it myself for around $100 changing good full synthetic oil, and filters, (I also do more frequent services)
Fuel economy depends on the terrain, the speed, and the wind direction Best economy on my 2,460 kilometre shake down trip, (going very easy) was 8.9 kilometres for every litre, or 11.23 litres per 100 kilometres Worst fuel economy on my most recent 11,001 kilometre trip was only 7.6 kilometres for every litre, or 13.15 litres per 100 kilometres
Worst scenario fuel economy (recent trip), was on flattish ground I went up the west coast of WA, across the top on bitumen to Darwin, down to Alice springs, Adelaide, and home across the Nullarbor I was travelling between 95 to 100 KPH, and I encountered a lot of head wind I assume that at this speed, I will get worse fuel economy going over the hills
Talking with my brother, his fuel economy is compatible to mine
I will not give a recommendation for my vehicle for two reasons
Firstly, there are not many Fiat service agents away from the cities, and there are none, to my knowledge, in the NT
Secondly, Jayco do not have a wiring diagram for their motorhomes
Hope that this info is useful to give a bit of food for thought
Motorhomes are more exxy to buy. Register and run.
if you a bit lean in back pocket. Look at a slider van, or caravan with Ute. Car, Small 4wd.
A cheap M.Home "with any sort of mechanical reliabilty"" will start around the $70k min.
Cheap Front wheel drives CAN get very expensive for repairs. Rear wheel drives be good for 400k and more. Basically being a commercial small truck with truck rolling gear under it. Clutch. Gearbox. Prop shaft Rear axles. Basic and simple.
Those Front wheel drives are just oversized front wheel drive cars. and NO decent size truck runs on Front wheel drive systems that I know of. Think about it. Cheaper to build. But. Longevity and drive?.
Yep. I'm biased. the next one I've towed up the boat ramp with it's boat. WON'T be the first.
-- Edited by macka17 on Sunday 29th of October 2017 02:53:21 PM
I had a Motorhome for a year it served me fine I had an electric bike to get around I decided to get a companion 4 legged one so Ive decided to purchase a caravan and vehicle to suit as it is easier to explore with hopefully I have made the right decision all you can do is see what suits your means cost wise it was cheaper for the motorhome
From one old B_____ to another, we have a Coaster, this year will be our tenth year, we love it, there very quick to set up we do it easily in about 10 minutes, if there's bugs or it's raining you don't even have to get out. We paid 23k for it over 9 years ago, it's very fuel efficient using about 13 L/100km that's about 20mpg.
Hi old man. It can be done. I still maintain a house and travel part time in a HiAce 4WD. Just be prepared to find a nice free camp to stay and wait for the next pension day when you've overspent a bit. Maybe you planned to spend 2 nights at that nice camp spot but have to wait 6 day for the next pension payment? So what. Just stay 6 days instead! Only thing, make sure you have a stock of food for the unexpected longer stay
