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Subject Topic: First caravan
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20/9/2015 at 10:25am
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View Henley64's Profile View Profile   Reply to Henley64 Reply   Quote Henley64 Quote  
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Looking to buy first caravan after selling beloved trailer tent, would like 2 birth but don't know where or what to look at ? Makes etc..any advice would be appreciated.


20/9/2015 at 10:37am
 Location: Royal Forest of Dean
 Outfit: Motorhome
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The first thing to consider is what your car can tow, the second thing is what your licence allows you to tow. If you look at caravan finder or similar websites you can look at different layouts and see what you like, also have a look at local caravan dealers to get a feel for the different layouts.

How big is your budget?

Rob


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20/9/2015 at 11:01am
 Location: Aberdeen
 Outfit: Coachman Pastiche 460 VW Tiguan Moti
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Have a visit to your local dealer and see what is on offer. Pick there brains and possible speak to other people who are also looking around. Just like car dealers most dealers have a stock of what they took as trade in, sometimes a bargain can be had. This is how we got our first van. Got a 3 month guarantee which we thought was good. Was back 9 months later to upgrade. Good luck.

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Robert (BoB)


20/9/2015 at 11:11am
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 Outfit: Tourer
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Been to boght from both dealers and privite and as long as you check for damp electric and water you seem to get more from privite


20/9/2015 at 11:47am
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No answer useful possible you supply more details, how much do you want to spend, what car are you using, what level of equipment do require in caravan & so on, but as pointed out you will get a better deal buying privately particularly with an older caravan where dealer guarantee won't amont to a great deal.


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20/9/2015 at 12:05pm
 Location: Argyll Scotland
 Outfit: 1997 Bailey Ranger 470 4
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Also, what kind of caravanning are you wanting to do.

Quick overnight stops and then moving on or staying for a week or two in one place and touring about from that site?

It all makes a difference as to what kind of unit would suit you best.

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Lobey.


20/9/2015 at 12:49pm
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Thank you for advice, are any makes/ models recommended. We are going to NEC Caravan & Motorhome show in October. Just don't know where to start.


20/9/2015 at 12:56pm
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Got Vauxhall Zafira with 1.6 engine, towed Trigano Trailer Tent with ease.Caravan will be used for weekends and also holidays, during the summer, want quite basic really as we used to trailer tent so we don't really need lots of mod cons. Budget possibly £10,000 not sure what we'd get for that though.


20/9/2015 at 1:53pm
 Location: Royal Forest of Dean
 Outfit: Motorhome
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How much can your car tow? You need to check that before you can choose a caravan. I think the 1.6 would have quite a low max tow weight.

Rob


20/9/2015 at 2:05pm
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If its 1.6 petrol you won't want to be towing much more than a tonne, less would be better. I suggest you go to caravan show, see what is available & then post for advice. Have a look at Freedom caravans & also Eriba touring, Puck, Familia or Triton. Do a bit of googling for them, all are small caravans though & not the usual 'white boxes'.

If you want a 'normal' smallish caravan, to get under a tonne you will have to look at much older caravans, 1990s, like ABI Sprinter or Monza, search ebay for them, usually at reasonable prices, under £2k.


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20/9/2015 at 2:46pm
 Location: Royal Forest of Dean
 Outfit: Motorhome
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Some 1.6 models have a limit of 1000kg so it's very important that the OP checks his vehicle, at the moment we are all guessing what he can tow.

Rob


20/9/2015 at 3:00pm
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Thank you for all replies will do my homework.


20/9/2015 at 3:32pm
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if you are towing a caravan of any size i would opt for at least 2ltr diesel engine,such as the mondeo.A 1.6 petrol will work hard and not return good mpg.

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i dont sell cheap tat.I sell tat cheap


21/9/2015 at 7:51pm
 Location: gateshead
 Outfit: Bailey senator indiana
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also consider what layout you wish to opt for even with the two berth there are different styles end kitchen, fixed end bathroom/dressingroom. My own experience i visited a dealer more choice to look at. first it helped to narrow down the likes dislikes before looking for specific makes but i still ended up buying private.


21/9/2015 at 8:12pm
 Location: West country
 Outfit: Mondeo
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Have a look at the Bailey Orion 400/2. Really light and quite short so easy to tow but really roomy and well equipped inside.

It's been replaced by the Pursuit which is the same but a lot less standard equipment.


22/9/2015 at 9:27am
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Thanks for advice, looks like it's going to be a folding camper! We're happy with the Zafira and not an option to change at the moment, dissapointed it won't happily tow a caravan but will think about it in the future. Regards everyone.



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