How to calculate the cost of RVing

[Jayco-noslide]

I'll use a 2003 Class C motor home purchased 7 years ago as an example because that's what we have.
I paid $23000 for it. Let's assume I sell today for $15000. OK much of this has to be estimated. So I spent $8000 (Not the price I paid for it). I estimate I've spent 75 days per year using it(525 days) so = $15 per day for "lodging". Not bad. But to the $8000 I need to add Camping fees($2000), repair, service and improvements($5000), fuel that's over and above traveling in a car for 40000 miles(that's actual)= $3600 car versus $12000 MH = $8400. Plus Misc. cost of $1000
Grand total cost = $24000 for 7 years, 40000 miles and and estimated 525 days of living in it. Averages out to $45 per day.
I can live with that. But a new MH, fewer nights use and trading soon would raise that to way more than a luxury hotel for same number of nights.
Different viewpoints or math?

[fj12ryder]

Kind of interesting the OP never came back to comment on the differing viewpoints.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

toedtoes wrote:
I try not to confine myself to one corner of the world. I can enjoy my motorhome, my trailer, and hotels. I don't think any one is inherently better than the others. I do believe that any one is better in a given situation.

After years of sightseeing/travel in a class C; then a 5er and a truck camper, we have finally downsized to a converted cargo van after buying a Snowbird condo. (Now that we don't need to "live" in an RV, we are quite comfortable with just our "steel tent") Most of our travels now involve a mix of staying in hotels, AND camping in the beautiful places 🙂

[Slowmover]

1). Length of Ownership
2). Nights Aboard Per Annum

Finance, Storage, Insurance & Depreciation must all factor in. Not just operation costs, ground rent, etc. So must trading the family vehicle for that which can tow the trailer (and it’s added expense per mile).

I’d bet most of you are ABOVE $300/night.

“Economy” is length of ownership with an RV of sufficient quality.
My folks kept theirs 27-years. Two tow vehicles.

An RV still on the road 44-years later with new owner.

So, cheaply built = most expensive RV possible.

[ncrowley]

We also did the math because we are both engineers and want to know. We purchased a 9 year old diesel pusher. The math clearly showed it is considerably more expensive to travel in the coach than using motels.

We still have the coach 7 years later and we are very happy with our decision to buy it. We have been places where there was no close hotel. We have had camp sites in beautiful areas. Our dog gets to travel easily with us. We have our own bed. We get to cook our own food. We do not have to do the "bag drag" from hotel to hotel. We think traveling in the coach is great.

[toedtoes]

I try not to confine myself to one corner of the world. I can enjoy my motorhome, my trailer, and hotels. I don't think any one is inherently better than the others. I do believe that any one is better in a given situation.

[CincyGus]

I've yet to have a good nights sleep in a hotel room after 25+ years of traveling for work and pleasure. Not one. I sleep better in my camper than I do at home. Vacations in a campground with our truck and trailer are a whole lot cheaper than in a Air+Hotel+ Rental car situation. Not even close. Campgrounds are usually 10%-20% the cost of a hotel for the week. rental car are $60 a day after all the fees and taxes depending on what you rent. Gives us a lot of money left over to actually do things with while we are there.

If there's not a rush to get somewhere we have to fly to, I'd rather drive and take the RV anytime/everytime.
Lastly it's priceless to be doing what you want, the way you want with your stuff that is familiar to you.

[Walaby]

Cloud Dancer wrote:
Yes, the cost of the depreciation is easy to figure out, and to most people it makes us look like dumb lousy money managers. If it's true, I don't want to hear about it.

I agree.. I don't care how others spend their money, and I don't care about others opinions on how I spend mine.

Mike

[Cloud_Dancer]

Simply going cross country from A to B, even if it's 1,000 miles,...for my wife and I, and 2 small dogs,... the ONLY way to go is in our motorhome. If it takes 3 days, who cares,...after all we have everything with us, for our comfort and convenience. It's priceless, so why spend time doing the math?
Yes, the cost of the depreciation is easy to figure out, and to most people it makes us look like dumb lousy money managers. If it's true, I don't want to hear about it.

[RGar974417]

We bought our first camper, a pop up for $800. We stayed at mostly state parks and made our own meals. We usually took our 2 boys and my 2 nieces so with 2 adults and 4 kids ,camping was a bargain. Even today,I have the senior pass so get 1/2 price at any Federal Campground and we still make most of our own meals. But the best part is staying in your own camper at a place with views you will never get at a hotel.I remember in the late 80's we went to Disney World,stayed at Ft Wilderness.Our cost for gas,campground fees, food and park admission was about $1300. A friend of mine flew down with wife and 3 kids, stayed at a motel in the park,ate every meal out and their cost was $2500 so we saved about half of what they paid.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Hotels vs Camping

I just found this, and it's relative to what we've been talking about.....LOL!

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Whether it's meditation, a painful medical procedure, stress overload, etc - there are times when we need to mentally go to a "peaceful place" or "favorite memory".

Thanks to RVing, I have plenty of those to draw from; and I'm not sure how one could ever put a price on that? Some things just don't have a slot on a financial page 🙂

[BarabooBob]

Camping on top of the Bighorn Mtns with nobody in sight. During the night listening to wolves and elk. Get up in the morning after sleeping in MY bed, get up in the morning to cook breakfast for the wife and I, sit outside watching a light fog lift. PRICELESS.

If I have to justify evely expense, I don;t think that I can afford to live.

[Cloud_Dancer]

Motorcycles, Street Rods, Muscle Cars, Airplanes, Race Cars, Boats, Motorhomes......and still managed to send my daughter to private schools. I also taught her camping and fishing. I made money owning/operating a racetrack and also became a commercial pilot (yeah, got paid for it). I'm months from being eighty,....working on the Dutch Star, and still trying to have a good time. I never put a pencil to how much my hobbies cost. All I know is that I can't afford what I want NOW.

[Gjac]

Jayco I think you made an honest attempt at categorizing the cost of your RV. The only thing I would add is maintenance insurance and taxes to your math. There are several other ways to look at it such as cost per night or cost per mile. There are a lot of other intangible ways that we all use to try to justify buying a depreciating asset but I think the math makes sense on a used MH that is in the flat end of the depreciation curve, the owner does most of the work himself, and the MH is used for extended trips. I tracked all my expenses over 100k miles of travels for the past 16 years of ownership and what I have found is a cost per day between $70-$100/day. On the surface that is not bad because that includes gas for MH and tow car, CG fees, food at campsite and restaurants, propane, laundromats etc. You would be hard pressed to find a hotel for that price let a lone food and fuel per day just traveling by car or plane and car rental. My maintenance ,repair and modification cost were about $20k added to the initial cost minus deprecation cost is another $20k insurance and taxes at another $15k. That adds another $55k or $3500 per year. I spend at least $3500 a year on a weeks diving trip to the Caribbean. The most expensive RV trip was to Alaska which was about $9,000 but that was for 3 months or $100/day. Could you fly there and back, rent a car, stay at a hotel and eat out for that? So I believe the math does make sense on a used MH down the depreciation curve with the owner doing most of the work himself. I have a friend that has bought 3 new MH's since I had mine and has lost more than $55k in depreciation alone just trading in on a new one each time. In this case the math will never work out and you have to go back to intangible ways to justify the expense.

[goducks10]

jdb7566 wrote:
It costs nothing to stay home and do nothing. I have a brother-in-law who did a "cost analysis" in regards to RV'ing. My first sentence is what he does now.

Sad way to go through life.