To expect the price of motor homes to fall next year or after?

[Witchinthesticks]

We’ve always enjoyed camping, but we’re getting in a bit and fancy the idea of a motorhome?
But they are ££££! to buy!

We recently hired one to try it out and to buy that exact model a few years old appears to be around 40-50K. This is just a simple 2 berth.

Did anyone buy something similar pre COVID? How much have the prices gone up? And are they likely to fall again once everyone goes back to holidays abroad?

I paid 17K for ours in 2016 and was offered 19K a few months ago.
I almost sold it but that would mean no holiday at all so i kept it and we spend nearly three weeks going around scotland.
I think i will sell next spring as i have some more trips planned this year.

I’m hoping they will fall too. We want to get one when dh retires so we can go away with the dogs. I am reluctant to hire one because of the dogs and I won’t be able to relax. We started looking just to get an idea of what is out there. The one we loved was 48k. 2 years old and 4 berth. It will be hard to justify spending that amount so we will see what happens over the next year.

I certainly hope so. Failing that it would good if at least the hire price comes down again.

Not quite the same - but - I have been thinking about buying a static caravan on the same site I used to be on a few years ago. At the time of leaving there were always available pitches - as of now there Is currently a waiting list with no set time of when one is available. I think that a lot of people will have purchased due to no hols abroad and will sell when they realise it's not for them or when the demand for UK holidays falls and the rental income drops off. So in short, yes, worth waiting.

My dad paid 9k for his 4 years ago - sold it for 12k

We looked at one but couldn’t justify the cost

They've always been expensive. Friends paid £15k for a professional conversion of a van a few years ago (all bells and whistles) and someone else I know bought a bargain 2018 model hymer in 2019 for £40k (which had problems needing 5k of work, still arguing who pays). We got a caravan last year ahead of the curve at the start of lock down for a home office and anticipated holidays. The model we paid £17k for is now £20k with a slightly higher spec but no cheaper option. The waiting list is beyond this year.

If I had to guess I think even of people have other holidays they won't sell their new pride and joy immediately as they will lose a lot. I expect a glut of barely used optimistically priced campers and caravans in about 3-5 years after the world opens up again.

Manufacturing/importing has also been affected by covid and brexit. I had to buy a car quickly last month and garages where struggling to find stuff to show me - second hand cars where flying out the door.

If I had to guess I think even of people have other holidays they won't sell their new pride and joy immediately as they will lose a lot. I expect a glut of barely used optimistically priced campers and caravans in about 3-5 years after the world opens up again.

Sadly, I suspect you may be right.
And if this thread is anything to go by there’s plenty of us waiting in the shadows to keep the prices of used vans high for a bit

I have a converted MPV thats now a camper. Bought it in 2019 for 12k. Now fetching twice that for the same age van. Utter nonsense!

Could always buy an old transit van and convert it into a camper van, it be cheaper.

Learn to tow and get a caravan - more availability of older models

We did briefly consider a caravan, but it’s not quite the same.
I like the spontaneity of a motorhome. More manoeuvrable (if small enough) and able to stop cook breakfast and have a wee if you stumble on a nice spot.

I’ve always had ideas above my station.

@EddieVeddersfoxymop

Wow!

Anything that floats has gone crazy price wise too

My friend bought his campervan 3 years ago for £34k & has just sold it for £40k

Buy a van and convert it

My inlaws bought one new (not huge) probably nearly 20 years ago and got over 20k for it about 5 years ago.
Other family bought an amazing one a few years ago for 66k

We bought a small van and converted it. Its not top spec, but its got solar panels, electric, table and chairs that convert into a bed and a kitchen area. It's possible if you have a bit of knowledge. DH is good with his hands and has always dabbled in making things and youtube videos really helped.
All in we spent about £3k.
The plan is to keep saving and upgrade when we can afford it.

I have a 15 k small motorhome. People have asked to buy it.
I wdnt be able ro afford another so what i wd do next time is buy a van and shove a bed mattress in it and get someone to put a window in .mates have done this themselves and lined it thermally but i dont have the skill or the tools. What i am saying is if prices dont go down .. perhaps this is an option. ?

I think they’ll drop. We have a caravan now but have had a few motorhomes. Prices have gone crazy. Even the crappiest caravans are selling for loads.

We are caravanners. We recently had our 'van serviced and went away for a week or so. The dealer that serviced it offered us what we paid for it (new) 6 years ago if we wanted to part with it. Not interested!
On the site we were on, lots of young couples with Motorhomes. Talking to some of them, they had post 1979 licenses so could not tow a heavy caravan but can drive a Motorhome. Most of them were normally sun seekers abroad but covid had made them look closer to home. They had the Motorhomes on finance and were looking to sell them when they could go abroad again. The view of one couple was that if they lost less than £10K per year of ownership, that equated their annual spend on holidays!

Can you convert a trailer?

Must admit I'm feeling quite positive reading these!
We bought ours (2006 plates) for just under £20K 5 years ago with the idea that we'd just jump in it and go away on spontaneous weekends and we had a year or so of it and then Covid. We use it as a second vehicle because otherwise the battery runs flat if it doesn;t get a 40minute runout every week, but it's a bloody big thing (transit) and it's expensive to run.
The age of it and the mileage (41k) we were expecting to see something like £5K. Thanks all, looks like DH will be holding out for a lot more when he takes it in to the dealers next week.

Go for a caravan. Can get a lovely one for as little as a few thousand and not have to pack everything up just to go shopping once you've arrived. We love our caravan. Off to Spain in the ferry next year with it.

I wouldn’t expect prices to come down anytime soon - I ordered last month a Ford Landseer camper van -only because I wanted one next year and price increase made it better to order now 🚐