Blog

Does the ideal price motorhome exist in today's reality? Here we tell you our experience and the reality of the costs of a motorhome today, during the purchase and also after.

Lovers of the caravanning world know that acquiring a motorhome is making a dream come true, since, surely, we have been longing for it for years and many others saving or looking for ways to make it possible. But, in addition, how much is it going to cost me to maintain a motorhome each year? There's the quid of the question; the difficulty in acquiring it is not everything, since we are going to have to think about insuring it, maintaining it, attending to its taxes and revisions and finding a parking space for it when we do not use it. But of course, once we have reached that point where we are already owners, we accept the sacrifice with the same passion (there is no other) as when we enjoy our vacations on wheels.

Next, we explain how much a motorhome costs at the beginning, the average motorhome price according to type, and what are the expenses that we are going to have to face as owners of a motorhome. An important section within our Manual for traveling in a motorhome. Although we already anticipate that Acquiring one will cost you between €35.000 and €80.000, depending on whether it is second-hand or new, and that the average annual maintenance costs will range between 1.500 and 3.000 euros. We know that maintenance is not cheap and that the amortization of the vehicle will depend on the trips we make per year, but good maintenance will undoubtedly help to extend the useful life of our motorhome to the maximum.

Let's go there!

How much does a motorhome cost? Does the ideal price-quality motorhome exist?

new motorhomes

Nowadays, finding a second-hand or new motorhome has become quite a challenge. The boom in the sector due to Covid and the crisis suffered by raw material factories mean that production has slowed down. Also, there is an envelope excess of demand about the offer which has raised all prices of the caravanning sector in recent years.

An example Of course it is the price of our new motorhome. We bought our Challenger 396 4 years ago for a final price of €54.500, including taxes and extras such as remis, solar panel, TV, awning, mosquito nets, gas alarm and gas monocontrol. Today this same motorhome with all these extras and registration tax is worth close to 75.000 €. A Pair of €20.000 more than 4 years ago. Crazy, right?

Second hand market

At the same time, the increase in prices and delivery times in the new motorhomes has increased the demand in the market for second hand. This has meant that today you can find a motorhome like ours, 4 years old, for the same price we pay for it new! Another crazy, right?

Well, this is what there is today at the motorhome price level. A motorhome price to our way of seeing it a bit abusive due to today's boom situation.

If you are thinking of buying a second-hand motorhome, do not forget to read the article by 10 tips for buying a second-hand motorhome that we recently wrote.

Other solutions for a more reasonably priced motorhome

historical old ladies

Despite this, if you are looking for an older motorhome you can find a motorhome priced at €35.000 over 10 years old or even older cheaper. Although remember that the more years, the more repairs. We know this from our own experience, but we also know that it is a solution to our longing.

Buy outside of Spain

Finally, another solution to find lower priced motorhomes is to search markets outside of Spain. France and Germany are 30 years ahead of Spain in the camper world, so there is more supply of second-hand motorhomes where the motorhome price is better.

Now, if you are going to buy outside, remember add €6.000 minimum for papers and bring it to approval here. You also have to make sure that your papers do not state that the motorhome is 4200 kg, otherwise you will need a truck license or lose weight. In other countries such as France, they let you drive a motorhome with a B license even if it exceeds 3500 to 4200, so there is an issue to take into account during the purchase.

Now let's see the broken down expenses of the annual maintenance of our motorhome

Traveling in a motorhome is precisely that, traveling! The destination is not as important as the road traveled and for that reason, the maintenance of our vehicle is essential after its purchase. A motorhome that covers our needs, at 100% of its performance, and good insurance for unforeseen events are the pillars to be able to enjoy the freedom that our vehicle offers us.

Already after acquiring our long-awaited motorhome, the costs do not end. We begin to break down the maintenance costs of a motorhome according to typologies. Ready? Ready!

Annual taxes and fees on the vehicle

In this section of the expenses you will see that the total cost will depend a lot on the type of vehicle and how old it is and even on the municipality where you register the motorhome and the autonomous community where you live.

IVTM, Municipal tax on mechanical traction vehicles

This tax is annual and municipal and its amount depends on the municipality where we reside. It usually involves between 60-300 € per year.

Vehicle Technical Inspection (ITV)

Between 40-70 € from the fourth year after the registration of the vehicle. Between four and ten years we will pass the ITV every 2 years and from the tenth year, the review will be annually. 

Tax on CO2 emissions from vehicles

A new tax launched in 2021 by some autonomous communities in Spain, such as Catalonia. Depending on the category of pollution and CO2 emissions of the vehicle, you must pay € 0 to € 100 annually.

Motorhome insurance

This is, without a doubt, one of the most important items in the fixed annual cost of our motorhome. The cost will depend on the type of insurance chosen, fully comprehensive, with franchises or third parties, and on the company and contract coverage. Calculate, but, approximately, on average, between €400 to €600 per year for comprehensive insurance with an average excess for a motorhome. When it comes to traveling, we cannot skimp on security and, therefore, we must give ourselves the peace of mind that if any mishap occurs during our trip, we are always well covered.

It is very important, in our view, that the insurance is fully comprehensive, with or without excess, and that it covers specific situations in which we may find ourselves when traveling in a motorhome. Also, it is essential that the insurance company allows us to open incidents easily, be transparent and decisive.

As we know that the price is conditioning, you can benefit from our experience and our price comparison in the article that you will find in the following link https://www.kucavana.es/seguro-autocaravana/. Really, it is worth hiring a good insurer, the small print does a lot of damage when something happens, we know it from experience, so read the post and comparisons that we make you well.

Mechanical maintenance of our average price motorhome

If we want our motorhome to perform at 100%, consume just and necessary gasoline and work and last for many years, this part is vital.

We must estimate some 200-600 € for an annual overhaul like any other vehicle and around 400-600 € when we have to change the timing belt, around every 120 thousand kilometers or when we have to do the clutch.

Maintenance of the shoes of our motorhome average price

It is as or more important than the engine to fit our motorhomes well. On it, our security depends continuously. They are heavy vehicles and we cannot risk a blowout that will make our driving unstable and could cause an accident.

It is recommended that tires are specific for motorhomes, the so-called Camper and, depending on the brand, they can represent around €120-220 each, in total about € 500 to € 800 maximum every 50.000km, on average, you will have to change them. Thus, this will depend on the use you give to the motorhome. Of course, a piece of advice, watch your tires and never stretch them more than necessary.

Something else to keep in mind, are the winter tires. For lovers, like us, of winter sports, it is almost mandatory to wear winter tires or at least 4 seasons and always specific Camper tires. We took a non-Camper and due to the weight of the vehicle they were deformed and we almost suffered a blowout, so be careful.

In the case of wearing 4 seasons it will not require more, but in the case of wearing winter tires, as a general rule you will have to change them with the arrival of spring and that implies the cost of changing tires and if you do not have space at home to have your winter tires stored and stored. In total, this can cost you between €30- €200 al year, depending on where you live and the workshop that makes the change and saves it.

Maintenance of the guarantee of the watertightness of the motorhome

For new motorhomes, we must take into account something that few know at first, and that is that we have a "revolutionary tax" so that they keep the motorhome watertightness guarantee for the 5, 7 or 10 years that they promise us when buying it. : the annual tightness check. A review where they throw water at him with a hose and sometimes we are left with a foolish face since they ask us about some 100 € annual average. And either you pass it or when you have a crack or something, things can be much worse, someone who had a crack in the motorhome tells you and luckily we had the leak checks up to date.

Maintenance of the facilities of the motorhome average price

A motorhome implies a second residence and as such, the facilities must be reviewed from time to time and must be continuously maintained to incidents that usually happen such as traffic jams, solution of bad odors from the pipes, chemical toilets that need to be changed, etc, etc….  Not counting the cost of resolving incidents that they go out in our motorhome, we must count on making a good Preventive Maintenance.

Maintenance of water tanks, pipes and chemical toilets

First of all, we must count on making a good Maintenance especially of the water tanks, pipes and the chemical toilet to avoid blockages and bad odors. This will mean buying specific products that are not exactly cheap and doing the proper maintenance to avoid incidents and, above all, bad odours. For this maintenance in annual products calculates on average about s €50-100 per year.

Mandatory review of gas installations

In addition, just as water and heating do not require mandatory maintenance, the installation of gas should be checked officially every 5 years, or 4 in the Basque Country. Its regulation appears in RD 1085/1995, which approved the Technical Regulation for the distribution and use of gaseous fuels and its technical instructions. In conclusion, every 5 years you must review and pay between €50-100.

Auxiliary battery change

Our energy depends mainly on auxiliary batteries and solar panels, so it is important to guarantee good maintenance of all of this.

The normal lead battery can have an average life of about 2-5 years depending on its use (those of us who go to the snow I assure you that its useful life is greatly reduced) and its cost will depend on the range of the product. The high-end ones will far exceed the €300 and the cheap ones €100. In any case, it is important to buy a high-quality battery with the capacity to meet our needs, since in the long run the investment will compensate us in safety and durability.

In this case, just as we have in our motorhome, we recommend spending a little more on good lithium batteries and saving on maintenance and surprises. Lithium batteries last from 500 to 1000 discharge cycles, between 5 to 20 years that these can last depending on how good they are and depending on their use. That does calculate that the cost of a lithium battery plus the installation for the adaptation of the system can go up to €1000 the first time and every 10 years on average the change for each battery is about €500-600 one of the cheap ones.

Parking rental if we do not have a space to leave it

Knowing where we are going to park the motorhome is, perhaps, the first question that comes to mind before buying it. It is not recommended to leave it in the street due to the complications that it can cause us, and, without a doubt, in the event of being able to keep it in our house, this will be the first option.

If, on the contrary, we do not have space, we will have to add to our expenses the rental of an external car park that can represent between €50 and €300 per month depending on the location and services offered. There are open motorhome parkings that are cheaper than covered or closed ones and motorhome parkings that have more or less emptying and filling services that also make prices vary.

Thus, if we have to rent a parking lot for motorhomes, this will mean us between €600 to €3600 or more of this annual rent.

And put to ask, it will help us a lot that the car park is relatively close to our home both for its supervision and for the ease that it will provide us when we plan an outing.

Conclusions and totals on how much a motorhome costs annually on average

After breaking down one by one the expenses that we will have to pay for the maintenance of our motorhome, we can tell you that on average per year we will have to save €1.500 to maintain the motorhome or €3.000 in case you need a car park for her.

We have made this calculation with this breakdown, which is approximate and an average of the expenses that we and friends with a motorhome have:

• About €300 for taxes and ITV
• About €450 for insurance
• About €200 for tire maintenance
• About €400 for engine, sealing and gas revisions
• About €50 for maintenance cleaning products
• About €100 for the batteries
• About €1500 for parking rental

This is a summary, roughly, of the expenses involved in maintaining our motorhome to have it, at all times, ready for a new adventure and they are worth it as long as we integrate it into our way of life and continue enjoying it, which is known as experiential amortization. Only in this way, the expenses are diluted in favor of our safety and well-being. However, we come out badly when we abandon the maintenance of the vehicle and we start losing money since, even if we sell it, we will not recover the same for a maintained vehicle as for one without maintenance.