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Subject Topic: At What Price Can You Get Decent?
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PersonBrandNewDay
05/3/2015 at 2:51pm
 Location: Greater Manchester
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Sorry for the obscure thread title - couldn't write out fully: "At What Price Point Can One Expect to Get A Decent Quality Caravan?"

I have bought a very cheap old thing just to give caravaning a try. I will never be able to afford anything new. I have hopes of being able to save up some money over the next 18 months or so to buy something better. Specifically, I would like a 6 berth 'van that will last 5-10 years without having too many horribly expensive issues. We are NOT handy with DIY (not experienced and don't have a workshop full of tools) so even things that others may consider minor could be very problematic for us.

I know you can get something viable that will keep the rain out pretty cheaply but I would like something that isn't secretly rotting away and about to fall apart.

What would be the minimum budget at which you should have a decent shot at getting something you can enjoy for a few years? And which issues (there will inevitably be issues) should be prioritised? Is a delaminated floor as big an issue as needing to redo the water or electrics? What sorts of things go wrong first?


Personkazo2014
05/3/2015 at 3:53pm
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the worst thing is damp, it creeps in slowly and is often hidden for a long time, til it has become a major problem, due to the way most caravans are made this is going to be a big job to fix involving ripping apart the interior, easily spotted if you know what your looking for tho, and keep an eye on the seals of a caravan and then all that work/expense is avoided, delamination although a messy job isn't that hard or expensive to fix just time consuming. if your looking for a caravan that would last you for the next 5-10 yrs then you need to be aiming at something around the £5-6000 mark now, around 2006 onwards, as for what is worst delamination or electrics? well my hubby always calls electrics voodoo magic!


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Personkawasakiversys
06/3/2015 at 10:55am
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I would say a realistic price for a six berth dry caravan would be around £8k, I cant imagine that there are many around less than that in good dry condition. That would be 2007 upwards.
Good luck.


Personbilly
06/3/2015 at 11:28am
 Location: North Essex
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You can buy a suitable caravan at any price & at any age. You only need to read this forum to see the problems owners have with quite new caravans. Theres 7yr old caravans riddled with damp & 27yr old carvans that are dry & dry caravans of any age that were once wet & have now been repaired.

You know how much you want to pay & all you do is look for a caravan in that price range that is in good condition. For example, I wanted a caravan that I could tow down to France & Spain in the summer & did not want to pay more than £500 so I bought one for £300 & sealed up the outside, serviced it & fitted new tyres. I'm still using it 5yrs later & its in better nick than when I bought it.

Rather than pay a lot for a caravan you think is going to get worse with age, pay little for a caravan & you can improve it as it gets older.


Persontrog100
06/3/2015 at 4:23pm
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for the handy expert billy i think your advice is good..

for the not so handy or cant fix anything up none expert your advice is bad.. he he

basically £300 mostly buys a piece of junk.. :)

but to the OP.. without expert knowledge short of buying a nearly new van you are at risk.. there is no price that guarantees good..

trog


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Personbilly
06/3/2015 at 6:16pm
 Location: North Essex
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If you can decorate your house you can fix a caravan if its no too damp. Seal up the outside with the usual PU sealant & get the running gear done at a caravan workshop. Its only brakes & wheelbearings, have new hitch damper put in & its like towing a new caravan, put new tyres on & its good to tow any distance, its not like an old car, theres no engine, my annual towing mileage is about 4k. Its totally cost effective, its not even worth insuring.

If you get a more modern caravan its got to be serviced & damp checked every yr & there are more bits & pieces to fix. If you don't keep it up to scratch it just goes downhill. The local workshop that services my running gear for £85 every 2yrs has always got a Bailey or whatever in there with the rails off having damp fixed.

If you can afford to buy a modern 'van & keep it up to scratch all well & good but tbf if you are on a budget then even running a 'van a few yrs old is going to require some diy skills for running repairs. The op may well find the 'van they have is the one they want, they just have to look at it from a different angle.


Persontrog100
07/3/2015 at 11:27am
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i think it all comes down to knowing what you are buying in the first place.. i bought my first van last year..

without much thought i ask my son who owned a caravan and had already done some research..

how much can i buy a small caravan for.. he said £500 will get you one and £1500 should get you a nice one..

i think he was about right.. i paid £999 for a local ebay one the next day.. i was a bit lucky it was basically a sound van.. since owning it last summer i have spent around another £1000 on it.. new damper.. used mover.. shock absorbers.. floor fix.. jacking points... plus much do it yourself titivating and many little bits..

its now an old but extra good van with a few years left in it yet..

making it better became a bit of a hobby for me.. all it really needed was the new damper.. apart from that i could have simply just used it as it was..

if i sold it i would not get my money back but i dont intend to sell it so that dosnt matter..

i would say to the none skilled cheapo buyer.. buy privately and maybe pay more than the average price for any given van.. people that own good ones dont let them go cheap..

ebay has vans like mine on it for anything between £500 and £2000.. i would expect to get a better (private) example for £2000 than i would £500..

i would not contemplate selling my own van for less than £2000.. people will not pay that so i keep it.. he he..

having said that it would be possible to buy a newer van for £5000 and it would not be as good as mine.. :)

one could thing about buying very cheap is you dont have much to lose.. if £500 only gets a single season its not all that bad.. as holiday costs go its still good value for money..

trog







Post last edited on 07/03/2015 11:36:50


Persongreenhill
07/3/2015 at 4:16pm
 Location: Norfolk
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Does very much depend how you define decent but to give you an idea I'll tell you what we found. We bought our first caravan 18mths ago. It's a 2007 6 berth Ace and paid £7.5k, having negotiated £500 off form the dealer.

Inside ours have chrome fittings, sleek cupboard doors and more modern upholstery. For that price range we found the swift group had the preferred styling for our tastes with the 2006 and 2008 baileys and lunars we looked at with more dated interior. We do however put throws on the upholstery as our son is not the cleanest of beings and it's a whole lot easier just to chuck the throws in the wash every so often.

Damp is the biggest thing to look out for however old and beyond that it will come down to layout and then styling. We think the twin dinette with bunk beds is likely to work well for us in the future but was not in the price range at the end as the vans were too new.

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PersonBrandNewDay
07/3/2015 at 5:55pm
 Location: Greater Manchester
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I know that the layout I want is the one with a king bed in front, a double bed in back and then two bunks either next to the back bed or somewhere else. it's hard to tell from classifieds what the layout is, and even the little schematics aren't always clear on where the bunks are.

The one we've got will be big enough for us for a little while. My husband is a very large man and can share a double with a small child. I can share with two children, but that won't last too much longer. Eventually, it will have to be my husband in the smaller double, me int the larger double with the smallest child, and the other two boys in bunks.

I can't imagine having more than £3000 or so to pay for a van at any point, and that will take some dedicated saving up over the next year or two.


Personjim oldham
07/3/2015 at 6:00pm
 Location: Wigan
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This site may help you to choose.

http://www.caravanfinder.co.uk/caravan_layouts.html?berth=6


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PersonBrandNewDay
07/3/2015 at 6:47pm
 Location: Greater Manchester
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I looked at that page, Jim, but it's not always clear where the bunks are.


Persongreenhill
07/3/2015 at 7:29pm
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Go to the site Jim has given, click on 6 berth and then bunk beds. The fixed bunk beds are the orange/yellow ones. The additional side dinette (or wherever else it happened to be) will be green and I think fair to assume in 6 berth that they will turn into bunk beds but you can check this by looking at some of the vans for that layout.

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PersonBrandNewDay
07/3/2015 at 7:58pm
 Location: Greater Manchester
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I can see the fixed ones. What's not always clear is if a bunk bed folds down out of the wall.


PersonBrandNewDay
07/3/2015 at 8:06pm
 Location: Greater Manchester
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Here is a caravan I like the look of and in my price range (I won't be buying it, though. I'll be looking in a year or two). I like that it has bunks that flip down over the back seating area. If I understand correctly, that back seating area can also be made into a double bed and so it's not necessary to use the bunks. Or maybe just use one bunk.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Elldis-wisp-510-lightweight-6-berth-touring-caravan-1994-/301554844831?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item463611c49f


Personkazo2014
07/3/2015 at 8:41pm
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bit overpriced for its age, Avondale did that same layout tho


PersonBrandNewDay
07/3/2015 at 10:05pm
 Location: Greater Manchester
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If it were in good condition I would be happy to pay that much. That is, if it hasn't had any leaks, etc. I would expect that it has, though, as the rubber around the windows will have gone hard, etc.



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