some promising figures justiying a CT

yep! They are the beez neez my man....

What type of camper do you have? - post some pics for us - mine is a Trackabout - 'bout same costs - going away again soon...

Grrr!!!

You should deduct the resale price say $12000 with accessories making the cost to be $2000 divided by 55 equals $36 per night.......the more u use it the cheaper it gets.......happy camping.

And after yet another night of me and the missus grovelling around on the ground (and not in the horizontal folk dancing sense) in my little tent I would have say you made the right decision too Tonester.

They are pure gold.

That's assuming you didn't pay for the nights stay as well in the form of camping fees. They don't add much though.

I'd spend a night in the camper than in a hotel any day (or is that night?)

onya Tonester,

with family of 5, it's probably getting you all out there more too I'd suggest.

Come on Tone , I think I could invent a set of figures to support a no camper case - I won't be getting a camper or automatic until physical restraints force them apon me , but my wife would love to see your figures - but I won't let her see them and I tell her that -->

It costs on average $56 a night for an onsite van (Port Germain recently)

Camper costs $26 a nite in same place - so nett cost is only $30 per night

we save 15% on fuel by not towing - ($25 per 600km day )

Campers depreciate

Campers require maintenance including tyres etc

With camper on van you take much more complex equipment with higher capital costs

Towing anything reduces your primary saftey factor

Towing anything reduces the number of tracks you can drive

Our latest tent cost $29

By working out all the above factors - we calculate that the further we drive the more we save with the $11000 in the bank espically as most of time we free camp.

By now I've won the arguement but I lock it in and terrifying her by saying she'd have to back in it sometimes

Only problem is snakes get into tents more easily - but I'm working on that !

Robin Miller

I think you have over simplified the sums a little Tone. Trailer registration, insurance & additional fuel to tow the camper have got to be added in too. Pre trip servicing & of course running repairs & new tyres will eventually come around. Then you've compared the cost of putting a family up in a serviced appartment ($200) Vs camping under canvas. When we stop in cabins the family & I rarely pay more than $130 anyway for a decent roof over over our head & it has air con & real beds for everyone. Then of course you forgot that if you had bought a tent then you would still have a lazy $10,000 to invest which this year would have made 15% in interest, that's $1500 compounding annually which means yet another 7 nights each year you need to camp to justify this purchase. Then if you do decide to stay in a caravan park they'll charge you almost double for a site compared to a tent & really you're still only camping.
A mate did the sums a few years ago & he found when the additional cost of the 4 wheel drive, assesories & camping equipment was taken into account it was actually cheaper to fly to his destination, stay in 4 star hotels & pay tour opperators to show his family of 4 around for the 3 weeks of holidays he took each year compared to camping.
Of course camping offers a completely different experience with far greater flexability so really shouldn't be compared but does go to show it is not quite as cheap as one would think particually when buying expensive items like camper trailers.
But don't worry too much though as you forgot that the trailer is still worth at least $8,000 & if you were to sell it then it would actually have only cost you $55 per night so far in real terms:-) (+ of course all those other expenses you forgot to add ;-)
Cheers Craig.................
PS: Not that I'm against camper trailers as I'm looking at building one myself.

Never mind the nay sayers Tone... We(the 5 of us) love our Tambo and the figures add up perfectly for me... If the missus buggers off with the kids, I can do 'handbrake-to-can' in 15 minutes (20 mins if I put up the kids bedroom, which we use for stays longer than 2 nights)... We are always packed up long before the others too, THAT is enough to make the outlay worthwhile... Nothing like watching others try to remember how they managed to get a family of 5's gear into the backseat of a cruiser/patrol.

Did a trip out to Lake Eyre a few years ago. Sydney to Ballina (scenic route) Ballina to Bourke then via Camerons Corner to Lyndhurst, Maree, Mulloorina, William Crk. Home via Flinders Ranges, motel in Broken Hill 'cause we felt like it. I kept logs on that trip and did the maths when we got home. WIth 5 on board it worked out at $28 per person per day, including souvenirs.

The crunch is that without the camper we would not have gone. Neither would we have gone to WA for 6 weeks, western Victoria, Cape Yorke, Simpson Desert, Flinders Ranges (more than once) Innamincka, or on any of the other outback trips. The camper is sooooo comfortable and quick, the missus won't camp any other way. I had a great tent, only took 45 min to put up. Then I got to start on all the other stuff. And because there are 5 of us I was towing a trailer anyway, might as well have the camper.

We have had ours for 11 years now. On tonesters maths I should be a millionaire, I should have paid more attnetion to Mr Cameron when I was at school.

Duncs

Duncs