Technology World

Cottages on wheels

Today's motorhomes or caravans are well-equipped mobile homes that can offer virtually all modern conveniences. 

Tõnu Ojala, Pekka Virtanen

When going on a road trip, motorhomes are a useful means of transport and accommodation at the same time, regardless of the season or the destination - so you can head for the Mediterranean Riviera in summer and the Alpine ski resort in winter. And, compared to a summer cottage, the camper has one major advantage - a new view from the window every morning!

The advantages of travelling in a "house" are numerous. Your own bed is still your own bed, you have everything you need with you and at your fingertips, your activities are not limited by hotel bookings or delayed flights, etc. Plus there are the advantages of having a campervan. Hot water, shower, toilet, fridge, TV, kitchen with gas stove are all at hand, and in winter there's underfloor heating for extra comfort, etc. The mobile "cottage" can easily be moved to a new "plot" - if the surroundings get boring. And there's the added advantage that you don't have to mow the lawn, weed the garden and someone else can run the sauna!

Summer is the peak time for caravanning, but with modern motorhomes you can also travel in winter without any problems. This is why you'll find more and more motorhomes in all the ski resorts of Europe, from Scandinavia to the Pyrenees. Of course, not all motorhomes are equally winterproof, and all it takes is one sloppy fitting to freeze the whole system and ruin your holiday.

The biggest drawbacks are, of course, money. If a caravan is only used once or twice a year, it really is a rather pointless investment - the cost of such a trip is prohibitively high. But then, the same is true of a holiday home where you only mow the lawn during the summer, or a boat/yacht that takes you out to sea a few times a season. However, the price of real estate holds up better compared to a holiday home on wheels. But one thing is certain: whether or not you have a holiday home on wheels, it will cost money.

Of course, you can also buy a second-hand caravan. However, practically every manufacturer has several brands, and alongside the 'flagship' brand, there are also simpler and cheaper siblings - so that a new motorhome based on the Fiat Ducato can cost in the region of EUR 35 000 to EUR 150 000. In the case of the so-called eco-brands, savings are achieved through simpler finishes and interiors, and if cheaper sanitary ware or a smaller TV is no problem, the same cannot be said for cheaper doors and windows (which creak and increase the noise level of the car), inadequate heating or insulation materials. The details to look out for when choosing a motorhome (whether new or used) are therefore considerably more numerous than for a normal car or van.

Today's increasingly rich equipment levels mean that the weight of motorhomes has increased, and here the important figure is 3 500 - a kilogram figure that draws the line between B and C categories, and so most motorhomes are 'set' just below this 3.5 t limit. On the one hand, staying in the B category means a much wider range of potential users, but on the other hand, 'moving' to the truck category means additional costs for the car user in terms of higher tolls, additional transport costs and other possible extra costs and restrictions, depending on the country. And while in our part of the world kilograms may not be accurately counted, in Western Europe it is no wonder that a camper van, like a heavy goods vehicle, is weighed at the side of the motorway and, if there are problems, the journey can end there.

Whereas motorhomes used to have wooden frames, today's motorhome body frames are mostly made of polyurethane and insulated with XPS foam. The frame parts are joined together with pins. Most modern motorhomes have a fibreglass roof and floor, while the exterior walls of the more expensive and better cars are made of aluminium.

Whether as standard or with extras, motorhomes are packed with stuff. In addition to furniture and household appliances, you also need to consider water and fuel supplies. For example, water tanks are generally up to 85 litres, while waste water tanks are over 100 litres.

Only about half a hundred new caravans are sold in Estonia each year, but there are only five or six companies selling them. And although one might think that the market for these expensive vehicles, which have a rather limited range of uses, would be mainly in the rental sector, dealers say that more and more motorhomes are being bought for private use. This is particularly true of fully integrated motorhomes, with the lion's share of subcompacts going to rental companies.

There are many different brands in the world of motorhomes, and the better known and more common the manufacturer, the better. It is risky if the brand has no representative here, but it is even riskier if the manufacturer itself has gone out of business - and there are some. Meelis Adamson of matkasuvilad.ee always recommends checking the manufacturer's website and looking at whether and how many dealers a particular manufacturer has in the Nordic countries and especially Norway - if the brand has a decent presence in the region, it is a good bet that it is a serious player.

In Europe, the Fiat Ducato is by far the most popular "donor" of motorhomes and as many as 70-80% of motorhomes in Europe are built on Ducato bases. In this ranking, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter comes next, with the distinctive feature that the Sprinter is also available as a four-wheel drive vehicle. In the past, the Ford Transit was also widely used (e.g. a decade ago, the Transit's share of our motorhome market was comparable to that of the Ducato today), but today Transit-based motorhomes are rare.

However, conventional motorhomes are generally front-wheel drive, with Ducatos commonly powered by either 96 or 109 kW 2.3 litre diesel engines. There is also a 2 litre 85 kW diesel engine, which is usually adequate in terms of power, but the larger and more powerful engine also means a six-speed gearbox, which means less noise as well as a more comfortable ride. An automatic gearbox is available as an option on almost all motorhomes.

It should be borne in mind that, even if they are legally classified as passenger cars, motorhomes may still be subject to various restrictions - for example, when parking and when driving. The most elementary of these concerns the size of the car, since a caravan at least 2.5 m high cannot fit in a normal car park, but in many places caravans are also restricted in access to, for example, city centre zones.

And although the motorhome is an autonomous unit in itself, it is worth checking the local rules before staying overnight in any place, as in some places 'wild' overnight stays are prohibited (e.g. Croatia supports its campsites in this way). However, as long as you behave politely, don't set up camp and don't litter, it's usually no problem to stay in any car park - provided, of course, that the place itself is safe enough.

As motorhomes are a bit like cars, there are also some peculiarities in their warranty conditions. Aldo Dapon of Motorhome.ee explains that, as a general rule, the chassis of the vehicle is covered by the manufacturer's warranty, which then applies to the running parts of the vehicle (bridges, gearbox, engine, etc.). The warranty on the housing part is given by the manufacturer of the housing. This means that the owner has to go to the dealership once a year for routine maintenance - oil changes, filters, brake checks, belt checks, etc. - and the car is then serviced. However, in order to maintain the warranty on the motorhome, the motorhome must be taken to the motorhome dealer once a year, where the motorhome is checked and, if necessary, repaired.