Advice on TC for 12 month trip to Europe

RoyB wrote:
Doesn't sound like much fun with big dually TC camper...

The only way I would do this would be a much smaller ROADTREK campers...


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Roy Ken

Thanks. I hear ya and am on the fence with this (use my own truck and buy a used TC option). The best rigs are German 20-21 foot semi-integrated (class C) motorhomes. It's so frustrating, but unless one is a resident, you can't buy the **** things and get them registered and insured. There is one option to buy a vehicle in Europe, which is a sale-buy back program that keeps the insurance in the seller's name. Essentially, one ends up paying about 8,000 after selling it back, which is the loss in value of the vehicle. But these are older motorhomes so that the depreciation is less and more predictable If you did a sale-buy back with a newer motorhomes, the spread between purchase and sale back would be too large. My preference is to buy 2-3 years old, not 10, but I may have to do the European buy back scheme, or worse, just rent.

People buy "overland expedition vehicles" that are build on Mercedes or similar chassis, which mitigates the risk of breaking down in remote countries. Anyone can fix a Mercedies, compared to Ford, for example. But these vehicles are better suited for many years of traveling abroad, because they are way more than I'm willing to pay. They range in the $175,000 to $400,000 range new.

I'm just looking for an option using what I already own. But you are correct, my truck is wide and as long as you'd ever want to be. A "campervan" as you suggest is better sized for the conditions over there. Hyper just bought Roadtrek, so maybe this German company will introduce some of their fine small class C (semi-integrated) motorhomes in North America. Our selection is very poor because fuel is so cheap here and roads/ campgrounds are so much bigger.