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Hi there

I would like some advice from you people who are experienced in this area. I have recently beocme a bit obsessed with getting our own tent. Our post children holiddays (children 2 and 4) have all been in caravans both in the UK and abroard. France has been with Eurocamp. The plan was the sawitch to tents when we had top start going in the school holidays. Having checked out the price of a tent on a site we liked though in august next year - it was nearly £1200!! A pitch on the same site is about £400. As we might also go away a couple of times during the half terms, I think financially we will be much better off.

Having looked at the options, I think a trailer tent will suit us best - it seems to have the right combination of space (I like a lot), not too difficult to set up??, hopefully not too difficult to tow (we have never towed before). We would be getting a second hand one and it looks like you could get a reasonable one for around £750 on ebay.

My inital questions are:

Where is the best place to buy a used TT?

Is there anything I should be particularly looking for or avoiding?

IS there usually room to pack other things you will need (bedding, cooking utensils, table and chairs) into the trailer? Although I have a VW Touran, it gets pretty full for our 2 week break without having to add in a fridge!

I have been put off booking direct to France as we usually travel Brittany ferries, and booking direct with them is much more expensive than booking with Eurocamp. Are there other ways of booking to get a discount off the direct price?

How many months of the year can you use a TT in the UK (I am thinking weather/warmth wise? Would we get in the October half term, and maybe Easter?

I am sure there are plenty more questions to come - so thanks in advance for your help!

Andrea

Everything the Stuart as said is a ditto. Get the best t.t OR folding camper you can get. The prices hold and there are some very old ones that other members have still. Well looked after & cared for not matter how old they can still be good ones.

But having been burnt already on eBay personally me only is a no unless I can personally go and see it before buying as a decent seller would not mind that especially if you have the money already and can tow it away "as seen". But there is a lot on here in the free ads section as Stuart said.

We have our fridge onboard and a porta potti that is separate but as there is only my OH and myself it stays inside the little unit without putting the big awning up. It suits us. So each to their own,try to see it first all up & open.

try Camperlands manchester they have a website as well

We have a folding camper...bought it 2 weeks after we had paid for our usual fortnight in France with Keycamp...we could have saved £1000+ taking our own unit, so that's definitely the plan for next year.

We went for a folding camper because I'm basically a wuss and if I were to tolerate camping, then it had to be with a little luxury - had to be warm, be able to plug in the hairdryer & straighteners and have a loo...and it's dead easy to put up and take down.

Having said that, we've been out in it a few times and have seen some fab trailer tents and tents that have a vast amount of space and I suppose you can make them as luxurious as you want with all the equipment that is available.  And even though we have a loo, we do tend to use the site loos and facilities during the day and only use our loo at night.

At the end of the day, you've got to weigh up what you want and what you can afford and get the best you can for that money.  We got ours from Caseys Outdoor Leisure at Chester and they have a good variety of what's available on display along with second hand units too...you need to have a look at them when they are up so you can see what you are getting.

Have fun...I really enjoyed the shopping around for all the stuff we needed...

Quote: Originally posted by SGThomas on 08/8/2011

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We would be getting a second hand one and it looks like you could get a reasonable one for around £750 on ebay.
It is very unlikely that £750 will buy you anything really substantial
My inital questions are:

Where is the best place to buy a used TT?
look on here on the For Sale section

Is there anything I should be particularly looking for or avoiding?
State of canvas is paramount

IS there usually room to pack other things you will need (bedding, cooking utensils, table and chairs) into the trailer? Although I have a VW Touran, it gets pretty full for our 2 week break without having to add in a fridge!
There is normall y a lot of room and in some the fridge is on board the trailer

I have been put off booking direct to France as we usually travel Brittany ferries, and booking direct with them is much more expensive than booking with Eurocamp. Are there other ways of booking to get a discount off the direct price?
Look on here for the DFDS offers on ferries or the Camping cheque/Brittany ferries offer

How many months of the year can you use a TT in the UK (I am thinking weather/warmth wise? Would we get in the October half term, and maybe Easter?
we go from about February to November, with electric hook ups you can take heaters

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bear in mind that once you start looking you may end up spending more than planned .....

we initially started looking at TT's ( with a budget of say £1k )  then decided ( after doing research and looking round at some) that a FC would suit us better ( we do lots of short trips and can use just the main cabin easily )

ended up buying a 2007 FC and spending £3.5k ! lol

we love it though and it will extend our camping season  ( now Easter - Oct instead of June - Sept lol )

with EHU and heaters it's really cosy

We've just bought a folding camper and I would advise you not to rule out one of them yet over a TT.

If you get a 6 berth FC there's plenty of room.  With 2 fixed beds, you still have the eating area next to the kitchen which can stay up all the time.

We bought ours from ebay and I would recommend if buying from there to view before you buy as we didn't get an entirely honest opinion from the seller on ours but we've made our bed and must lie in it!

Rather than ebay I would go on some of the other sites - Conway owners, Gumtree, Freeads, etc.  You may get somebody who is giving up/retiring/upgrading who has put a lot of love into their unit instead of someone trying to make a quick buck off of something on an auction site.

Thats great info - thanks all.

We will try Camperlands and Caseys - both easy for us in southport. That should give us a better idea. Given how long these things seem to last, I don't mind stretching the budget as we will save money in the long run.

cheers

Andrea

Quote: Originally posted by blitzer109 on 08/8/2011

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Hi,

we were in your position last year and set a similar budget to you for a trailer tent to see how we got on and ended up picking up a Raclet Quickstop on eBay at a bargain price half way through the summer last year and having used it 6/7 times now we love and are looking to upgrade next year to a larger model.

A few things our experience has taught us that you might not consider

1) Not all trailer tent beds are equal ! The ones in our quickstop are comfortable but they are one of the narrowest at 130cm. We will be looking for one with wider beds next year.

2) As Stuart said the state of the canvas is paramount, if the storm flaps are a little worn that's ok but avoid ones that are advertised as reproofed. Our Raclet's canvas is good for 20 years use without any need for treatment

3) Get a heater, we have a small electric halogen heater that we bought for a tenner that keeps the awning nice and warm.

4) We have 3 children under 10 and you ned to consider how you are going to light the tent, we have some UFO LED lights we hang up for the kids when it is time for bed.

5) Kitchen, look for one with a decent sized kitchen especially if you are trying to boil a kettle and cook hot dogs for the kids ! Also if you can get one where the kitchen hangs outside the trailer it increases the amount of room for stuff to be packed. Again this will be a consideration for us next year.

6) A front box is really useful for extra storage

THis ebay search will give you all Raclet, Trigano, and Cabanon Trailer Tents under £750 on eBay at the moment
eBay Link

There are a couple that stand out for me:

This Cabanon Evasion II looks good, one of our friends has the same model and sleeps their 3 children in one side (all under 10) and they sleep in the other and meets my criteria above

Raclet Herald with big awning

Trigano Chantill GL with kitchen on back

You can get a lot for your money if you are patient and pick your potential purchases carefully, good luck

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The kitchen 'hanging' outside the trailer. Do you mean a trailer tent where the kitchen is inside in the awning part. As  folding campers all kitchens are inside. Unless you mean that the kitchen part sticks out at the end of the trailer so the middle bit has more room than some caravans as that is what a fc is a caravan with a canvas roof. But with beds already made up and not having to pack them away every morning. They stick out either over the sides or ends of the trailer depending on your unit.

So I got a bit puzzled on your kitchen hanging out