Hi we are thinking about buying a folding camper, but we are totally new to this adventure, we are about to retire and want to travel the British isles with out 2 dogs. We did buy a 2 birth caravan last year but it was totally riddled with damp and unfortunately we had to scrap it not spending 1night away,tried to get our money back but not to be, so I'm very nervous about dipping my toe back into this big ocean, any advise would be really appreciated. Many thanks
I would try going to a dealer I bought my trailer tent from camperlands in Manchester and had excellent service have a look on their website for new or used folding campers
We went and looked around Highbridge caravans who were our nearest Pennine dealer for both new and used folding campers but, in the end we did do a private purchase. Everyone on here gave us great advice and things to look for especially for the Pathfinder which was the model we wanted for family holidays. We put together a list of checkpoints and made sure the seller was happy with us testing everything. On arriving the seller had pitched the camper on the drive and showed us round everything before leaving us to go through it ourselves and check what we wanted. The owners also had a record of the camper having a service history from a local dealer.
The advantage the dealer purchase has was they would do a full chasis inspection etc and offer a warranty but this meant we would only be able to get an older camper for the same budget.
Suppose only advice I can give is make sure you have points you want to check and ensure you are able to without question. Don't feel pressured or feel you don't have time to check things and make sure you do test everything. One dealer we went to wouldn't let me test the water pump even though it just needed a bucket of clean water to put the pump in and test.
If you decide to buy privately make sure they show you the correct way of putting the camper up and putting it down, also check electrics, gas and if possible water all work, also make sure you check the canvas for tears and mould and be prepared to walk away if it has the last two as a new canvas can cost you upwards of £1500, I have had 2 folding campers over the years, a pennine fiest and a pennine pullman, two very different designs but both great bits of kit, lastly you would need to be able to put it up when you return home if you have put it down wet, so would probably need a drive to put it on, good luck whatever you decide
Thank you for both replies very much appreciated, what would the pointers be that I need to check, it looks like I will have to buy privately as I can't seem to find any with the dealerships. Thank you for all your help.