Shopping for class c, daily cost to operate?

For our 24 foot E450 Class C motorhome, I roughly figure about 50 cents per mile to travel - not counting any camp site costs.

i.e. A 1000 mile trip will take a budgeted amount of around $500.

We don't want to spend too much, as we plan to buy a home in two years, and I don't know how the bank will look at that, even though it will be a VA loan.

It all depends what kind of traveling you are going to do and where. Also, the size and age of the unit you are going to purchase.

Personal example: I bought our 24' E450 C to use as a tow vehicle and home base at the track to support the family auto racing hobby. Definitely a better than breakeven deal most weekends, as where we go is for a couple of nights no more than 250 miles away. RV towing the trailer at 6 or 7 miles per gallon is a fuel expense of maybe $225, vs. towing with the truck and staying in a hotel, which while the fuel is 3/4 the cost, there is easily another $200 in lodging plus food on top of that. The RV really comes out ahead if we are somewhere for a week. An example is the week in March we spend in Sebring, Florida, where any hotel room you would want to stay in is at least $250/night with a 7 or 8 night minimum. We spent about $850 on fuel for the 2200 miles down and back, $100 for the camping pass at the track, and Wal-Marted the overnights each way. Food was what we would have eaten at home. Even if we had driven a 30mpg car there, and used a cheap allowance of $75 per day for eats, due to outrageous hotel rates the trip would have been almost $3,000 instead of the $1,300 it was.

I bought a new RV, negotiating a good deal, with the intent that I was going to keep it for 10+ years. While there are usually a few fix its required on a new one, and early depreciation can be a hit, if the unit is owned long term, the benefits of getting all the life-cycle out of the expensive components IMHO makes it a better deal that buying something older and dealing with 4-figure repairs on regular intervals for things like generators, refrigerators and a/c units.

I want to thank all of you for your advice and help. After consideration, we're going to look at some small class a rv's.

You have received lots of insight on costs. I wouldn't argue with any of them, either. However, there are 'other' costs associated with RV'ing that you need to take into account and be prepared for. Most of your appliances run about @$1,000 to replace. If you are handy you can save yourself a whack of change by doing many of the repairs yourself. But, you will still need to take care of them. If your fridge, furnace or hot water tank fail, depending of course where you are in a trip, but they do need to be looked after. Tires? they are about @200.

I am not trying to discourage you in any way, just asking you to try and plan for the eventuality of a major component failure. And get an ERS Plan. One tow job or flat tire call will pay for that.



Gary Haupt

Nobody has mentioned the added savings and convenience of not having to board your animals. We have 2 large dogs, so that is a considerable savings on top of all the other benefits already mentioned.
At the end of the day we have our motor home because it works for us and suits our lifestyle!!!

When on a month long cross-country tours in our Class C's, we sometimes took a break and checked into a nice motel with pool for a change of venue. When traveling, eating quick "bloney" sandwiches and sodas in the rig at rest stops can get old, and stopping for chinese food, etc. at restaurants is a welcome break. The more you do this the more the extra expense. BTW, decent RV parks usually cost us nearly $40 a night, so we parked at truck stops and malls wherever safe and permitted for just a night's sleep. RV'ing usually appeals more to one spouse than the other, that should be taken into account when thinking about taking up the hobby/lifestyle.

I toured along I-40 in my 19' C- from NC to AZ and back for 21 days in the fall of '09. As a bachelor, I had no issues with staying in rest areas and truck stops along the way, so used no campgrounds at all. My only 'extra' expenses were souvenirs & gas.

I ate what I'd have eaten at home, and ate out less often than I would have at home. At 11-12 MPG, I can't say it was 'cheap' exactly, but it wasn't near the budget buster auto travel with restaurants & motels would have been. I also made better time than using motels (or campgrounds) would have allowed. I was able to take naps when I wanted to, or sit in comfort & read for an hour if I wanted.

For that type of travel, you can't beat a small moho, IMO.

Jim, "Be careful reading the fine print. There's no way you're going to like it."

I doubt that RV's are cost effective with today's gas prices.

But what I'm paying for is convenience.

I have a competitive shooting event about 140 miles away, or 280 miles round trip.

In my little Mazda 2, which gets 33 MPG, I could make the trip for about $30 at $3.50 per gallon. I'd need a hotel for, say, $50 a night, for 2 nights, for another $100. So about $130 to make the trip and have a place to stay.

My RV gets about 8 MPG. It will cost about $123 to make the trip. Plus it costs $20 a night to stay in the campground, so the total cost is about $160 to make the trip and have a place to stay.

So it's about $30 more expensive to take the RV.

But, shooting usually starts by 7am. If I stay off-site at a hotel, I've got to get up super early to get ready to be on-site by 6:30am. And at the end of a long day of shooting, I've got to back everything up and drive back to a hotel, and then unload everything back into my hotel room (don't want to leave expensive guns and things in the car in the hotel parking lot), and then load it all back into the car again for the next day. With the RV I just get up, have my shower, get dressed, and step out to the event. I'm already there.

Plus, during the day with my RV there I have a place I can retreat to for a break and enjoy sodas and snacks out of my own refrigerator, and use my own toilet. I can fire up the air conditioner if I want a break from the summer heat.

That's worth an extra $30 for me.

Steve

It is hard to quantify this. For some, hotelling it might be fine. For others, a motorhome is the best way to travel.

I've found that how often you would use the motorhome plays a factor as well. If it is used only a few times a year, that is one thing. However, if it ends up being used every weekend and holiday, it might end up cheaper than hotels.

I know that if I take the difference between the new cost of my TT and its current value, even at 80% of NADA low, when amortizing that over the 100+ nights I've used it, it is a lot better than the cost of a hotel and eating out. After a year or two, even the cost of the entire trailer amortized over the nights I use it makes it more cost effective than the $120-$140 a night at the average place. To boot, I don't have to worry about bedbugs, sticky-fingered maids, or some drunk pounding on the wrong door thinking that their date won't let them in.

A motorhome may have a high initial cost, but if one buys a decent brand, the cost per mile can be pretty low, assuming basic maintenance is done (check the roof, reseal, have the scheduled upkeep done on the chassis, maintain appliances, etc.)