I’ve been thinking of using a Motorhome next year for a couple of weeks to tour round Scotland. It’s just a thought at the moment but I got a quote for hiring one just to see if it’s feasible. The first one back is £1450 for 2 weeks for a 3 berth one!!!!!

Surely there are cheaper camper hire options??

I know these things aren’t cheap to buy but that’s waaaaay too much IMHO. I can’t afford it to be honest!

So, anyone got any ideas? It’d just be me and Mrs Robdob, probably 2 road bikes, no pets, just in UK. Wouldnt be in school holidays either so that should be cheaper.

probably 2 road bikes, no pets,

The answer is in the question. Just add a tent

😉

B&B would be cheaper than that!

Try googling ?

Robdob doesn’t do camping. Unless he really has to like at BBB.
Camping too much faff, especially in poor weather, and miserable too. Want somewhere warm and dry to walk into with a minimum of hassle.

Obviously tried Googling, just wondering if anyone knew of anywhere in particular that might be cheap or would want to hire out their own camper.

I looked into similar a few months back and discovered what you did.
there is a site out there, cant remember it, that puts camper owners in touch with potential hirees, potentially a little cheaper direct…

take out a loan and get one of the new VWs, hire it out over the summer holidays so it pays for itself.

If there’s only 2 of you: http://www.bigtreecampervans.com/

I’m sure you could wangle a deal on a 2 week hire.

Stone the crows, that’s epensive! Then there’s fuel on top of that, which will be double what your Astra will use Rob…..

Re: Camping – It doesn’t rain anywhere near as much as you seem to think it does, you know…… 😉

Well, you could always do it properly, in style

…!

Under £500 a week if you go at the right time

http://www.camper4hire.co.uk/

I’ve always found campervan hire to be as expensive as a nice hotel. The letters W, T and F spring to mind.

We used Big Tree this year – had a great week in one of their vans and they were lovely to deal with.

Got a freind on ebay who was selling an original VW that she’d been restoring for not much more than that! – Just checked, was abit more, around £3k, but could pay for itself in a couple of years!

I followed someone last week driving one hired from here: http://www.lchire.com/

No idea what they are like or how much, but might be worth a look?

The big tree thing looks ok to be honest. However their vans use 2.9l petrol engines!! Yowser!
Wish I could afford to buy a camper van but it wouldn’t get enough use to make it worthwhile.

Have a look at a live-in horse box, usually cheaper an less bothered about mud.

http://www.campervantastic.com/ ??

Or a caravan, see previous thread 🙂

I know some people in Anglesey who rent them out if you’d prefer Wales to Scotland?!

They are expensive to hire but well worth it;.

I have used big tree camprevans and they were very good. Also used lothian motorhome hire for 6 berth ones.

hireing one of these is not like using a 30 yr old VW.

Got a freind on ebay who was selling an original VW that she’d been restoring for not much more than that! – Just checked, was abit more, around £3k, but could pay for itself in a couple of years!

..or back on ebay when you’re done

However their vans use 2.9l petrol engines!! Yowser!
Ours had a LPG dual fuel, so cheaper than it’d first appear. We did far north-west and although there’s not LPG all over the place we only had to run for about 25 miles on petrol (and that was mainly due to me not paying attention…).

Motor Home Hire Link

We had one from these people. They were really helpful and the van was like new.

Boss used one recently (£600? for a week). She reversed into a fence (minor scuffing she says) and it cost her her £500 deposit.

I’d love to hire one but like canal boats some of the costs etc are RIDICULOUS.

Build one!

I really don’t think the cost are ridiculous

These are expensive vehicles with high insurance costs and limited hire life

Hiring a motor home is not like having an old VW. Its just not comparable.
An astra costs a couple of hundred to hire for a week – these vehicles are worth many times what an astra is.

Once you have paid for the hire the rest of the trip is cheap.

for 2 weeks in a nice motorhome that sounds about right, they are horrendously expensive vehicles to start with. however for that much and if you don’t mind a bit of research/gambling 😉 you could be better off buying an old t25 and using that for the two weeks then selling afterwards for what you paid for it. we’ve had ours for about 9months now and its had plenty of use – a 2 week trip on the outer hebrides/highlands and 10+ long weekends inc wales/scotland/peaks/lakes etc 🙂 only problem is if you get a dud one it could be quite costly (ours has been fantastic with only issues being a loose hose on the engine after last trip)

maybe a bit too much to handle for just a 2 week holiday but could be an alternative…

I’d rather stay in a tent and spend the £1450 on.. well.. TONS of things you could spend it on and get to keep 🙂

We looked at doing the same but ended up buying a fairly shonky L reg T4 which had been fully converted inside for 1800 quid. We’ve been to fort bill for the world cup in it two years running (driven from Wales each time) and it’s been ace.

It’ll be going back on ebay soon and hopefully we won’t have lost too much on it.

one of the VW hire places i looked at dont actually have 30yo campers – they are exported from Brazil with modern engines in.
http://www.campinavdub.co.uk/aboutvans/aboutvans.html

still over £500/week outside peak season. Then there is fuel and the mileage was limited as well (charge per mile over the limit was about the same as fuel)

Toyota Hi Ace and convert as you go along.