Brock Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 To what extent was your decision to buy your motorhome governed by your emotion or objectivity? AWP's topic on buying a Swift Escape had me thinking about this. BMW's global sales and marketing chief believes people buy cars based on emotion and physical interaction. So objectivity is limited to internet based research and the emotional trip to the dealer is the clincher. The current head of MAN's Truck & Bus UK Division believes that his previous experience of the car industry shows that people make emotional decisions to buy cars. However, the commercial vehicle customers see it objectively with total cost of ownership often the deal maker. My first three vans were emotional purchases. There is no doubt we had a strong attachment to them but realistically they were poorly designed and badly built. Next came our most loved van bought probably 60:40 in favour of objectivity well built over emotion. The next one was a strongly objective purchase and performed perfectly for 8 years but we never really loved it! Does it matter? Well, yes. Emotional purchases can prove to be very expensive whilst our best time motorhoming was when we made the emotional connection with the van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Motorhomes are really places you live in and want to enjoy holidays in. I wonder if anyone buys a house other than emotionally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Some of us must be immune to salesmen toying with our spending emotions :D .......... Or are more faithful to our vehicles :-> .............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 If the purchasing decision was made purely on objectivity I doubt many would get sold, just like a package holiday they are selling a dream, which this forum often demonstrates can become just the opposite. I'm really sitting on the fence this year shall I pack it all in or not, my sensible head says it's not worth the expense ( £1500 so far this year and I've barely turned a wheel ) and the many hassles, my emotional head say's I'll miss my little Wendy house on wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 For my latest car the only 'emotional' part was the colour, everything else was what would give me what was needed for the lowest price. For the van, IMO it's nearly all emotional, it's a lifestyle choice so how can it be viewed as anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Enjoying something is an emotional rather than an objective experience, so choosing a MH is bound to have an emotional dimension. And buying MHs is difficult to justify on purely objective (eg value for money) grounds; not quite as bad as yachting perhaps (standing in a cold shower tearing up £20 notes) but it is still cheaper per night to stay in 5 start hotels than to pay the depreciation costs of a new MH. We can try to objectivise the process to some extent, for example by trying to be realistic in assessing the costs, but mostly we do it for fun, so we kid oursleves about the costs and do it anyway. I remember being at a Show years ago, when adding intercoolers were the way to get more performance out of your under-powered MH engine, saying to the salesman that I couldn't justify to myself spending £500 (doesn't seem much now, but it was then) because there wasn't the financial return on the investment. He put his hand on my shoulder in an avuncular way and said "but nothing about motorhoming pays a financial return" and he was absolutely right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjl Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 StuartO - 2015-05-05 8:38 AM Enjoying something is an emotional rather than an objective experience, so choosing a MH is bound to have an emotional dimension. And buying MHs is difficult to justify on purely objective (eg value for money) grounds; not quite as bad as yachting perhaps (standing in a cold shower tearing up £20 notes) but it is still cheaper per night to stay in 5 start hotels than to pay the depreciation costs of a new t. Hi The cost depends on usage. Having changed my three year old van a fortnight ago I calculated that depreciation plus insurance plus servicing etc costs us £45 per night away, to which must be added fuel and campsites. Certainly less than hotels. When I started the calculation my wife pointed out that it's all about lifestyle not cost. Her words "would you be happy in a hotel, definitely not". She is so right, had a few nights in 4 and 5 star hotels last autumn, they are not my favourite places. So is that emotion or objectivity? Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 peterjl - 2015-05-05 9:34 AM ....my wife pointed out that it's all about lifestyle not cost. Her words "would you be happy in a hotel, definitely not". She is so right, had a few nights in 4 and 5 star hotels last autumn, they are not my favourite places. So is that emotion or objectivity? Peter It's about preference, therefore feelings, therefore emotion. And I feel more comfortable sleeping in my own bed in my MH than in a hotel, although we did take a break in the canaries this winter which I also enoyed. You can't take it with you, so you either spend your money on something or your kids will do so after you've gone ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I never buy emotionally. Our Rapido was decided upon after research, had little interest if damaged or stolen. It was bought to do a job and for its design 987M, nothing else. I paid for it. I drive it. Had little interest in the interior colours, it had to be functional. Sold it when we had enough of it. Miss it never. Why, it did its job. Now back to VW's, its the best in all ways for us of a certain age extremely functional. Our house had to be in a certain village, high enough not to get flooded and positioned at a particular compass point. Our only house, been here 57 years, will die here. My working days officially stopped last week due to body ageing, always objective never emotional. Same with the wife, one only, decided 59 years ago, why have another? An objective decision ! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 Certainly seems to be an emotional attachment to motorhoming. Not surprising on this forum! Buying a motorhome also seems to pull on the strings as we are buy into a lifestyle. Owner drivers of lorries tend to bling their trucks more than fleets for the reason it is an extension of their home. They are reported to draw a slightly different line between emotion and objectivity to the fleets although cost of running remains vital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydney1 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Interesting question and made me think I purchased a new car recently, more or less decided on the preferred model and got the lowest price I could from a broker online. I then went to my local Mercedes dealer and gave him the opportunity to match the price. I explained it wasn't an emotional decision as I was equally happy buying an Audi, BMW or a Merc from the broker. It was a factory build so the car would be exactly the same. It was clear he was used to customers making an emotional purchase so was completely stumped.It took him a week but he matched the price. If the motorhome purchase was an objective one, I'd have bought a caravan! But very happy with my Autotrail Scout so must be an emotiona purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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