Why buy when you can hire?

[DirkSquareJaw]

Just got back from a 3 day hire of a cali se.
We had 3 wet days in the lakes and bar the last nite (hail,rain on max setting) we had a great time. It is one hell of a machine !
However, it wasn't all plain sailing.
The fuel eco never got above 33mpg (man 180 bhp-16,300 miles).Is the 140 bhp a better eco option, or is this a false eco due to less power meaning more gear changing...worse eco.

My wife reckons they're over priced for what they are and thinks hiring is the best way forward!?

Could any one say what's standard equipment, for example awning, heater..what do we really need?
Any way of silencing heavy rain on the roof. Would a topper help?

Insurance is nuts. The best quote we managed to get is £680. I live at two addresses, would use it to commute and at one dwelling it'd parked on the road, all be it designated on road/off road parking.
That's with a limit of 10,000 miles a yr Comfort wouldn't even look at us and did a total U-turn on a prev quote and flat refused us (and lied abt prev confirmed quote) . For crying out loud it's a bloody camper that's going to be parked in all manner of locations !!!!

answers on a post card

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

I agree, hire all the way

And the 180 is better on fuel, as it doesn't need to work as hard.

 

[SteveM]

We hired a number of times before buying ... but with hiring I was always worried about the kids or someone else damaging the van, and a lot of the fun comes from being ready to go and being spontaneous. I do understand the attraction of hiring and it may even make financial sense but owning from our experience relaxes the whole process.

In the end what should swing it is that we bought ours as a third car just for camping and after our very nice saab convertible had done less than a 1000 miles in 9 months we sold that and just drove the cali every day - it is a brilliant practical car and enjoyable to drive!

There are specific threads on insurance and economy elsewhere that will give you a broader view but MPG on my 140 is a real 36 (computer 38). If I try an drive it to keep up it drops massively though. Can't really help with insurance but I have not found it out of whack with what I have paid before for decent cars. Currently with Admiral for less than they wanted for my Smart! Perhaps give them a try (mines a Beach but doubt it makes much difference).

Steve.

 

[Meoncoast]

Because we OWN our Cali we can use it 365 days a year and go away at a drop of the hat works for me.

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

Ignoring our bigger trips, a lot of the time we decide to go away for a weekend on the thursday or even friday based on the weather. You couldn't do that complete lack of planning with a hire van.

But I imagine it could work very well if you don't or can't live like that, plenty of hire places out there.

dan

 

[bvddobb]

We'd say the same. We own one, also use it as our first and only car, and we love the spontaneous long weekend out every now and then, apart from the longer trips.

Other than that, I'd say Cali's are overpriced, yes. And if you only plan to do one or two longer trips a year, then hire!

 

[GrannyJen]

Without risking the wrath of Oli ....

I hired for a week before buying.

First consideration was economics. If you do not intend using it often then it makes sense, otherwise, for the 70 plus days a year I intend to use mine it made sense to buy, especially when I wanted the impromptu "oh, sunny day, lets saddle up Albert and go somewhere" freedom. THat means having the vehicle all packed and ready and sat outside, not in the hire company's yard.

Yes they are expensive things to own but even using the most pessimistic depreciation percentages the rock solid values of a Cali made the equation bend strongly towards buying. This became more apparent when I also factored in that it would be replacing another car in the drive, and like most cars one with a frightening rate of depreciation.

Then there was getting just what you want. Even BMVS with their large and varied fleet would not be able to provide quite the vehicle that I want wirth the extra's that I want in the colour that I want. If I am going to spend 20% of my life in the thing then I have to love it, not just like it, and loving it means putting my personality into the vehicle with mods, ornaments, trinkets, all at the spec that makes me want to love it.

I would always say to anyone new to a motor caravan, campervan whatever ... try before you buy, and just down the road from me (I live on the west sussex coast) there is a marvellous hire company who will do just that. However nothing beats having just what you want when you want.

 

[2into1]

Good points for hiring as well as owning. Of course it's not necessary to have £50k sat on the drive. The Westfalia t4 California's (on which the t5 is based) are currently going up in price, so £13k carefully spent may even yield a profit!
They are LHD but rock solid build quality. Then there is my smurf-top but they are not to everyone's taste (....at least until they've tried both ).

 

[KernowLad]

A major plus of the Cali is it's lack of depreciation.
It makes buying more attractive than pretty much any other fairly expensive vehicle I can think of, unless you get lucky on a classic car.

We just thought it was more fun to buy one than have cash doing sod all in the bank.

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

Without risking the wrath of Oli ....

:lol:

 

[MrsShambly]

Some friends of ours had a lot of trouble trying to find a hire company that would let them take a vehicle outside of the UK (they only wanted to go to northern France!), so might be worth bearing in mind if you plan to travel further afield…?

 

[James]

Dirk

simple question, do you have a mortgage?

James

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

Some friends of ours had a lot of trouble trying to find a hire company that would let them take a vehicle outside of the UK (they only wanted to go to northern France!), so might be worth bearing in mind if you plan to travel further afield…?

Ours go all over Europe

 

[DirkSquareJaw]

James

The whole point in looking at a Cali/camper is due to my failing health. I can't fly any more and don't know how long I have to enjoy the good things in life. In the past I enjoyed expeditions - being a keen climber, kayaker and mountain biker, much of which I can't do now.

We have recently sold our house and moved into rented accommodation. We decided to rent for a while as house ownership (in the price bracket we can afford) didn't really do it for us, bad neighbours and increasing home costs had a lot to do with our 'leftfield' approach.

My wife suggested that we get a camper and see as much of the UK as we could while we could. A brilliant idea that would allow me/us to at least get back in touch with adventure.
So, our deposit for a house, or at least 75% of it will go to said idea .

I'm sure that folk can understand our dilemma......would you sacrifice a home for adventure?
My family thinks we're nuts or mad as a bag of Badgers as old friend said. Yup, mad but I'm not dying with regrets that I hadn't given it one last try! So, is it worth it....DAMN RIGHT IT IS!

Or as my wife says.... HOPE SO!! :?

 

[James]

James

The whole point in looking at a Cali/camper is due to my failing health. I can't fly any more and don't know how long I have to enjoy the good things in life. In the past I enjoyed expeditions - being a keen climber, kayaker and mountain biker, much of which I can't do now.

We have recently sold our house and moved into rented accommodation. We decided to rent for a while as house ownership (in the price bracket we can afford) didn't really do it for us, bad neighbours and increasing home costs had a lot to do with our 'leftfield' approach.

My wife suggested that we get a camper and see as much of the UK as we could while we could. A brilliant idea that would allow me/us to at least get back in touch with adventure.
So, our deposit for a house, or at least 75% of it will go to said idea .

I'm sure that folk can understand our dilemma......would you sacrifice a home for adventure?
My family thinks we're nuts or mad as a bag of Badgers as old friend said. Yup, mad but I'm not dying with regrets that I hadn't given it one last try! So, is it worth it....DAMN RIGHT IT IS!

Or as my wife says.... HOPE SO!! :?

Interestingly - we do something similar, we have a property but we rent it out - and rent somewhere nice that we could not ordinarily afford lol.

I think you have to do what you feel is right - I bought my Beach after my mum died and I could have spent the money on something sensible.

The Camper will give you a lifestyle choice and importantly - joint life experiences But it is a lot of money.

James

 

[DirkSquareJaw]

I've loved the advice and help offered by folk on this site. Its BRILL.

So ta you lot and good news may be given tomorrow ...

Now...what the fat is a topper (bar a training dinghy) and what other bits will we need as camper virgins ?

Peace

Dan

 

[PatH]

Definitely food for thought on this thread.

Sounds like a grand plan Mr Dan! What have you got to lose? I am seriously considering doing the same, my flat has been on the market for a few weeks now and with the proceeds I can rent somewhere wherever I want and buy a van, renting is viewed in a very dim light in this country, which is a shame. I only got this place after my mother sadly passed away before her time and to be honest I've been miserable since the novelty wore off, I was used to the flexibility of renting. I lived in Germany for a few years where the situation is totally different and renting is the norm.

Last year I read hundreds of travel blogs and a large percentage of people had put everything into their extended trips, including selling their property in many cases, but the thing they all had in common was no regrets and these are people from all age groups and backgrounds.

One thing that many of the long term travellers had really done their homework on was budget though. My plan is tooling round Europe for a year really, I'm working on a business idea that will hopefully enable me to work from anywhere using my existing skills, and I've got several months to really make this a reality. Mind you could take longer as no one has come to see my flat yet!

 

[PatH]

Surprised about the insurance though. Are you in a high risk area? From memory when I checked it out on gocompare or whatver it was about £500, which is not bad for such an expensive thing, but that's a homeowner, late 40's, 1 years ncb, professional (resting) desk jockey, and allocated parking, that would all change...

If you do a quick cost benefit analysis and have the cash to buy nearly new then you get a long warranty, and unlimited Euro roadside assistance, hopefully not needed but peace of mind, and those 20,000 mile service intervals :crazy .

So my two year budget for running costs are roughly £1000 on insurance, £4000 on diesel, let's call it £6000, or 3k per year, for a lot of touring.

Cost of living on a trip? Well, depends doesn't it? You can eat very cheaply if you do all your own cooking and are not bad at simple but interesting meals. Alcohol will knacker the budget/you, delete as appropriate. I estimate 7k for a year for everything else, to do it in style, or roughly 20 quid a day, this of course precludes the use of campsites for >75% of the time.

Lack of shower and loo?

A perennial question, I like the look of that fold up loo! Shower? Either a solar one for sunny climes or a campsite every weekend or get creative and get your morning ablutions done at an early refreshment stop.

Be adaptable, and don't worry about what hasn't happened yet! I think a quick tour of the UK will be my warm up trip which might not happen until summer is over! I love the year round practicality of the cali, those germans know about keeping warm and winter tyres, it's the law!

 

[DirkSquareJaw]

Well we plunged in and got one...whoop whoop . Pick up next week.
Insurance problems - two addresses ( stay at my dads mid week for treatments and work) and one of them has allocated parking but no drive (home),which seems to be causing a small melt down within insurance company ranks ?
No worries AF finally sorted it.

Check out Hasta Alaska on you tube and dream :smile

Dan

 

[PatH]

Imminent new van joy! I am 'well jell'.

Will look forward to reports, I think there's just about every bit of advice that you could need on this site.

Might be worth getting the delivery checklist if you sign up to VIP?

Great time of year to buy as well, couple of months to get used to ownership before the adventures begin.

Hasta Alaska is good fun, as were many of the blogs I read, but I did a couple of crazy road trips in the US when I was a lot younger and kind of don't need that 'running out of gas/money/luck' at my age, which ultimately ended those trips rather abruptly and you end up with the trip over and the change in your pocket to start everything from scratch again.

Exploring the UK is a great idea, we might dream of far off places but there's still so much to see here. You could be on the west coast of Scotland within a day or so. (Make sure your mosquito nets are working!).

I was reading about Isles of Arran and suchlike, lovely if you like bleak and windswept. Which I do.

Anyway, keep us posted. Follow that dream!