You’ve spent your nest egg on a motorhome, but the costs don’t end there. There’s registration, warrant of fitness (WOF), and if your vehicle weighs more than 3500 kgs, you’ll also need a certificate of fitness (COF). Because most motorhomes have diesel engines, you’ll be up for road user charges (RUC) as well. Then there’s insurance and other ongoing costs.
Here are some of the numbers:
Calculating RUC
All diesel-powered vehicles have to pay road-user charges. You should budget up to $70 per 1000 kilometres, but if your vehicle is big enough to carry 6000 kilos or more, the charges go up to $104 per 1000 kilometres. If you own the rare motorhome that runs on petrol, you may still have to pay RUC if the gross vehicle weight (GVW) is high enough.
Factor in that COF
For a motorhome that’s more than 3500 kgs, a warrant of fitness isn’t enough. All kinds of larger vehicles need COFs, including heavy trucks, commercial passenger vehicles and large motorhomes. A COF costs more than a WOF, because there are more checks needed, and they take longer. The bigger the vehicle, the more checks there are, and a COF can only be issued by an official testing station. Plus, if your motorhome requires a COF, you also have to pay road-user charges. You might pay $60 for a quarter-hour WOF check, and more than $100 for a COF that takes twice as long, and needs to be done every six months.
Don’t forget insurance
Whatever you do, wherever you go with your motorhome, you want to be covered by insurance. Depending on the price of your vehicle, you can face premiums between $450 for a small caravan, right up to $1750 for a $250k motorhome. Check with your insurance provider for an exact price of cover.
If you plan to spend a lot of time in your motorhome, you might consider contents insurance too, or make sure your vehicle’s contents are added to your home policy.
Sundries can add up
There are several smaller costs that may crop up for your motorhome. Maintenance of specialist systems, and repairs when any of them go wrong can be pricey. When you’re travelling, you’ll need to pay for the use of power and dumpsites at campsites, places to offload your used water and take on a clean supply, as well as diesel and any other fluids your systems need.
With freedom-camping, some local councils require that you buy a permit for these sites, in exchange for rubbish bags, dumpsites and other services. Once home, you’ll need to recharge batteries and other chores, each coming with a cost.
Don’t get caught out
If you do your research before buying a motorhome, you won’t be surprised at the ongoing costs. Adding these to your budget to begin with, means your holidays won’t be spoiled by money worries.