being the proud owner of a 2001 lunar lexon ew, I find that the length is 8.06 meters , that .06 meters aint no good to anyone except apparently ferry operators and european breakdown service providers !, newer vans same model have shrunk and no longer hit the 8 meters so don't carry extra charges, if I don't state the year of manufacture can mine shrink as well?, has yours shrunk?
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My van is 7 and a smidge metres, the tow car is a smidge under 5 metres, together they're under 12 metres so when I'm booking a ferry I go for the 12 metre band - or 7 for the van and 5 for the car.
In all my years of catching a ferry to France I have yet to see a caravan being measured. I would lose the .06 metre and play dumb. Might be a bit more important to a recovery service though.
Carol
I reckon I could lose that by leaning on the back and giving it a good shove!!!, only concerned that someone may have different specs for different years on a computer. wondered how other 01 owners dealt with it .
thanks for replying
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My van is 7 and a smidge metres, the tow car is a smidge under 5 metres, together they're under 12 metres so when I'm booking a ferry I go for the 12 metre band - or 7 for the van and 5 for the car.
Likewise ditto our van is 7.14 metres but I always declare it as 7 metres as the car is under 5 metres and the total length is less than 12 metres. If you book ferries through the Caravan Club on the phone and if you have your outfit registered with them I have a feeling that they put the actual length measurements in when obtaining a quote.So for this reason I don't register my outfit with them.
------------- Mother Nature always wins in the end.
I do not think anyone checks the length and we travel on the Tunnel and book with the CC Club on-line and no one has ever queried the length of 8.05 mts. Our outfit is under the 12 metres. ADAC the German Breakdown club we use has a limit of 10 metres for the caravan so no problems there either. We have been travelling to Europe for 7 years now. You do have to be careful with all the Breakdown Clubs and Companies in the UK as we could not find one to cover over 7.50 mts van anyway. They say because it will not fit into the containers they use to ferry the caravan back to the UK if neccessarythey will not entertain it. The only people to cover you are the CC and C&CC using 2 of the same companies charging the earth. We pay 98.70 Euro's, for more cover than those, for a year and that covers my husband and I too driving or using any car, ours or a friends + caravan.
------------- Kia Sorento XS towing Elddis Crusader Storm.
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Our van is 7.95 metres shipping length, so we are just inside the 8 metres. With the car, the total outfit length is 12.75 metres.....remember there is a gap between van and car.
We have seen people measuring vans at the port, so I think it is better to be truthfull. If your booking is under-length and you are found out, it could cost you dearly.
Thanks Di thats what I wanted to know( like your site ) last thing you need is a repair bill for the van and be charged because they couldn't get it in the tin!! looks like ADAC is the answer
thanks Jenni our pug 609 is nearly 5 meters our Van 8+ so we are almost into our 14th meter
I think you will find your caravan is classed as an 8mtr caravan if its a production model, i e. not one speciallly made, because I dont know of one being built over 8mtr as it is illegal to tow one unless by HGV/commercial vehicle, An ALCO hitch put on after new could have added the diff, I have an 8mtr (7.95) Fleetwood Heritage this is the first year that I have disclosed its length as 8 mtr normally I say 6mtrs, had too this year booked North Sea Ferries with the caravan club and they have it registered, so could not get away with it. normally we do NF lines on & off before anyone gets the tape measure out, practice saying (How big do you say it is - well I would never have thought so) i,ll know next time!!!!! LOL
I have an 8mtr (7.95) Fleetwood Heritage this is the first year that I have disclosed its length as 8 mtr normally I say 6mtrs, had too this year booked North Sea Ferries with the caravan club and they have it registered, so could not get away with it. normally we do NF lines on & off before anyone gets the tape measure out, practice saying (How big do you say it is - well I would never have thought so) i,ll know next time!!!!! LOL
Ken
Sounds like you have been very lucky in the past, it is not exactly difficult to see the difference between 6 metres and 8 metres!!
Thanks all for taking time to answer, looking on line looks like its being over 7.5 meters that causes the problem booked ferry through CC even though year was stated came out as 8 meters so thats ok, ADAC for cover in Europe is cheaper than current one so will use them when renewal comes up