Travel independently of hotel reservations, freely from one place to another: holidays in a campervan or motorhome are popular. However, owning your own car can quickly lead to financial dependence.
Immediately after waking up, the door of the motorhome opens and the sea spreads out right in front of him, the gentle sound of the waves mixing with the fresh breeze. For many people, this awakening is the embodiment of the camper’s dream: freedom, independence and the feeling of being able to find a home anywhere.
This has led to a boom in self-driving travel, especially during the pandemic, with 78,000 motorhomes registered in 2020, up 41 percent from the previous year, according to the Federal Highway Administration. And the popularity has not diminished since then: in recent years – since 2021 – the number of approvals has always been around 77 thousand.
Height Acquisition costs
You’ll have to dig deep into your pockets for that dream vacation, even if you want to buy a “cheap” RV. Even simple used cars often start with purchase prices in the five figures. New, fully equipped cars usually cost between 60,000 and 80,000 euros, with premium upgrades even more expensive.
Many vehicles are also customized and customized after purchase. Then they get a solar system, a new interior design or additional heating—adjustments that cost extra money. This is why many people finance their mobile home purchase with a loan.
“The problem with current consumer credit is that my disposable family income is decreasing,” says Holger Graf from the University of Economics and the Environment Nürtingen-Geislingen in the current video. Financial format ARD 50k on YouTube. This money is then lost “if there is any doubt about obtaining another loan, for example when purchasing real estate.”
Short repayment and high interest?
Calculation examples from 50 thousand show what a burden such financing with a consumer loan can entail. The estimated purchase price is 50,000 euros. Financing without equity for three years, for example with an effective annual interest rate of six percent, means a monthly payment of more than 1,500 euros – for a car that you often cannot use in everyday life due to its characteristics and dimensions.
That’s why it’s definitely advisable to accumulate equity first: “This capital may be lacking elsewhere, for example when buying real estate,” says expert Graf. But from his point of view, topping up debt financing with equity shares still makes sense: “It could be positive if I can prove that I can handle the debt and pay the installments regularly. This way, I can show a potential new lender that I have discipline and am not overextending myself financially,” says the expert.
Moreover, the monthly equity burden is also lower: in the calculation example above, the monthly burden is reduced to approximately 910 euros with a retained equity capital of 20,000 euros and a loan of 30,000 euros for a three-year term.
Conservative with a checking account
However, saving the amount of 20,000 euros must be well planned. Anyone planning to buy a campervan or motorhome in three years is looking at a short to medium term investment horizon. During such a period, the focus is not on maximizing profits, but on planning and risk control.
More conservative forms of investment, such as a checking account, are especially suitable for this. There are big differences here too, “especially when you look at marketing and attractive offers. But there are several comparison portals you can use that show you where the highest interest rates are and how good the conditions are,” says Holger Graf. 50 thousand
ETFs carry short-term risks
There is also the option to combine overnight money and an ETF savings plan. If you want to accumulate a personal contribution of €20,000 over three years using daily money and ETFs, you should plan on a monthly savings rate of around €526. This amount can be divided into two parts: 70 percent goes into overnight money with a three percent interest rate per year, and 30 percent goes into an ETF with a seven percent expected return per year.
However, Graf also stresses that with a three-year savings plan, you should only use an ETF if you can financially handle the fact that it won’t turn out the way you’d like: “With broad stock investing, it’s really just a gamble with a short investment period.” Especially these days, you never know when the US President will send out a tweet or something like that that could then completely upend the market for the next six months,” the expert says. ETFs are a smart option, especially if you’re saving for the long term.
Height Maintenance costs
However, campers or mobile homes are still a major investment, even though they are barely used: surveys show that mobile homes are only garaged ten months out of the year. And even if they’re just standing there, they’re quite expensive, as data from Caravana, AutoScout24, Allianz and Inselcamper shows.
You should budget between 400 and 1,200 euros per year for insurance and another 200 to 400 euros per year for taxes. There are also maintenance and repair costs: from 800 to 2500 euros per year. And accommodation also costs money; A parking space can cost from 30 to 80 euros or more per month. In total, it will cost you about 1500-3500 euros per year – and this is without having to drive a meter or breathe the sea air for a second.
And here one important aspect has not yet been taken into account: the issue of loss of value. As with other vehicles, a motorhome’s value declines, with online platforms such as Caravana and AutoScout24 reporting an average loss in value of between five and nine per cent per year. In the first years it can be even higher – up to 15 percent. For a car costing 50,000 euros, the loss in value over the first two years will be at least 7,500 euros. There is also wear and tear.
Good deal now?
It doesn’t take much math to realize that buying a caravan for around €50,000 is not exactly a “cheap alternative” to a hotel holiday. Moreover, traveling in your own car is not free – after all, you have to pay for gasoline and campsites.
Anyone dreaming of a holiday in their own caravan, despite the high costs, can now get a good deal. Because after the corona high, prices have fallen again since 2024. This is because after the boom the market is saturated: many retailers have warehouses full and there is room to negotiate discounts.