What does it cost to own a caravan a year?

Beyond the purchase, a caravan costs registration, insurance, warrant, storage if you cannot keep it at home, servicing and the running costs of trips. Divided by the trips you take, a lightly used caravan can be expensive per holiday.

Is owning a caravan cheaper than renting?

It depends how often you use it. A caravan used many weekends a year can be good value; one used a few times can cost more per trip than hiring. Working out the cost per trip is the honest comparison.

If you cannot store a caravan at home, paid storage can be a significant yearly cost. Include it, as it applies whether or not you use the caravan.

Caravan Ownership Cost Calculator

This calculator works out the true annual cost of owning a caravan or motorhome in New Zealand, the running total that never appears on the price tag when you buy one. You enter your yearly rego and WOF, insurance, storage if you cannot keep the caravan at home, servicing and maintenance, how many trips you take a year, and the running cost per trip, covering fuel, campground fees and day to day expenses on the road. The calculator adds your fixed yearly costs together, adds the running costs for all your trips, and returns three figures: the true annual cost of the caravan, the fixed costs you pay whether or not you use it, and the cost per trip once the year's outlay is divided across the holidays you actually took. That last figure is the honest one, because a caravan sitting in storage most of the year can cost far more per trip than simply hiring one whenever you need it. Use the tool to see whether ownership stacks up for how often you actually travel, to decide whether extra trips would bring the cost per trip down, or to compare the result against motorhome hire rates before committing to a purchase. The figures exclude the purchase price and depreciation, so treat the result as an indicative estimate rather than the full cost of ownership.

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Rego and WOF per year

Insurance per year

Storage per year

Servicing and maintenance

Trips per year

Running cost per trip

true annual cost of the caravan

Cost per trip$0

Fixed costs (whether used or not)$0

Cost per trip divides the annual total by your trips, which is the honest figure to compare against hiring a caravan or staying elsewhere. Excludes the purchase price and depreciation. Estimate only.

How it works

The calculator adds the fixed yearly costs (rego, insurance, storage, servicing) to the running costs of your trips, then divides by the number of trips for the cost per trip. The fixed costs apply whether or not you use the caravan, which is why a lightly used van costs so much per holiday. Comparing the cost per trip with hire rates shows whether owning stacks up for you.

Worked example

With $200 rego, $600 insurance, $1,200 storage and $600 servicing, plus 6 trips at $150 running cost, the total is about $3,500 a year. Over 6 trips that is roughly $583 a trip, before the purchase price is even counted.

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