Financing a new motorhome

niloc1951

CubicleDweller wrote: »

CelticRambler : could I ask you to clarify something for me, please? What exactly are you saying about those countries? That they have cities where old motorhomes are banned, or that old motorhomes in those countries "are tolled at up to €0.27 per kilometre."

I own an 1994 Hymer with which we've travelled a bit in France, Spain and Portugal. I know that there are some cities with Low Emissions Zones that we can't visit with our van, which is fair enough. We sometimes use toll roads, but I'm not aware that the age of the vehicle or the type of engine had any effect on the tolls that we paid. Are you saying that all of those countries somehow toll our van differently to newer, cleaner vans? (That could possibly be true, I suppose, based on number plate recognition cameras, but this is the first I've heard of it, if so.) I'm genuinely interested, as we will hopefully take the van on the continent again once the restrictions are lifted. Thanks in advance.

There are two separate issues, tolls and access

In some countries, like Austria for instance, the tolls vary depending on the emission category where vehicles over 3.5t and rated at Euro III or older are charged €0.23730 per km and Euro VI are €0.20010 per km

Other countries like Germany ban access to older diesel rated below Euro IV from towns and cities while France have a variable system depending on pollution levels which they apply to whole geographic areas.
In the French system, it's possible to wake up in the morning and find that a restriction has been implemented which means you can't take your vehicle on the road that day or you can't complete your route.

In a nutshell, getting around Europe in pre-Euro IV engined vehicles can be expensive and present some difficulties at times, apart from the German model of being banned at all times in places.

CubicleDweller

Thanks, CelticRambler and niloc1951 for those replies.

niloc1951 wrote: »

In some countries, like Austria for instance, the tolls vary depending on the emission category where vehicles over 3.5t and rated at Euro III or older are charged €0.23730 per km and Euro VI are €0.20010 per km

Okay, so that's a difference of a little under 4c/km. Not completely insignificant but not a huge deal either I suppose, especially if we only use toll roads on occasion. Good to know about, though.

I realise that driving an older vehicle is going to get more and more difficult as time goes on. Looking just at the financial side, I'd have to be doing some fairly enormous mileage to justify the cost of "upgrading" to a newer van. On the environmental side, it's also probably more responsible to keep the old van running than to scrap it and buy a new one, with all the environmental costs of producing that.

It's something that the owner of an old van just has to deal with, I suppose, and the time will come when it's time to move on. I'm hoping to get a few more years out of our van. Who knows, maybe by then an electric conversion will be feasible?

CubicleDweller

CubicleDweller wrote: »

I realise that driving an older vehicle is going to get more and more difficult as time goes on. Looking just at the financial side, I'd have to be doing some fairly enormous mileage to justify the cost of "upgrading" to a newer van.

Haveya ever priced a DPF replacement? Or the add blue? Or a lambda sensor etc. etc..


Older are more environmentally friendly than new due to the embodied energy especially since most spend the majority of their lives sitting in driveways.


People paying €80k for a motorhome..to quote a hot-rodder..."sure that car is fast but it's not $100k fast"


If you gave me €10k for a base vehicle and €70k budget to convert it, it'd be one of the globally best examples.