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Very expensive for a van of that age. Given the problems with damp, I wouldnt touch it with a bargepole

Hi, yes still here and still looking!

Can't say how much I appreciate all of the replies I've had and the offers of 'stuff'' which i will definitely bear in mind.

we've walked away from the fleetwood...they wouldn't come down from £3200, and I didn't 'love' it enough to pay that money. Husband thinks I'm bonkers but I do get a 'vibe' from a caravan...even though they are all similar ish and this just wasn't doing it for me.

I do love the swift but we've decided we cant afford it - even if we could haggle in the essentials....its just that couple of hundred too much to feel comfortable with the purchase. although we do keep thinking of other ways to be able to afford it!!!!!

seen another that was damp although the owner thought not - but it was more reasonably priced I thought being £2600 for a 95 swift challenger bit we're not buying anything we suspect is damp

also been to see a Bailey that is on ebay and it is lovely....we don't think there's any damp there and seems a very sound purchase. Bidding ends this weekend and we will have a go i think, but have a suspicion that the bids may go higher than we can afford or want to pay. Wish me luck!

Otherwise we have plans to go to a dealer tomorrow that has a 6 berth Eldiss wisp - but its £3900 and a 93 although the website says it comes with 12 mths warranty. Think its over priced but as we have 4 kids, the 6 berth would be better.

Husband has just phoned another person who was advertising a rather nice looking 1998 swift for £3300 with all the trimmings but was told that it has damp :-(    This search seems never ending! Its either damp or too expensive!

You might be surprised at the price the one on ebay goes for - we were with ours!  The seller had lots of people 'watching' it but only us & another couple had actually been to see it.  The other people were already bidding but below the reserve.  We put our bid in about an hour before the end & sat waiting for someone to try to outbid us.  Nothing happened & we ended up with a gorgeous 2005 van plus all the kit for £5250.

And I totally agree about getting a 'feeling' for a van - ours felt right as soon as we stepped into it & I was praying there wouldn't be any damp (there wasn't).  The Engineer that serviced it for us said he gets a gut feeling about vans too & he's usually right (told us we'd bought a good one).

Good luck if you decide to bid - let us know how you get on.

Does £6,250 seem a good price for a 2003 Bailey Ranger 550? I think it comes with a 6 month warrenty.

I've seen some lovely bargains on ebay but I'm fast learning that there are a lot of pitfalls to buying this way, and , as I know absolutely nothing about caravans I've decided even tho the van will cost more a dealer is probably safer for me.

fin

Quote: Originally posted by fin7 on 06/8/2011

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Does £6,250 seem a good price for a 2003 Bailey Ranger 550? I think it comes with a 6 month warrenty.

I've seen some lovely bargains on ebay but I'm fast learning that there are a lot of pitfalls to buying this way, and , as I know absolutely nothing about caravans I've decided even tho the van will cost more a dealer is probably safer for me.

fin

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After reading on the net some of the pitfalls I think in my case it probably is the safer option. If I'd had someone to come with me and look I think I would have felt more confident in buying from a private seller. I've seen some lovely ones on places like preowned and ebay.

Reading on the message boards has been a godsend really cause god only knows what I would have ended up with!!!! I've learnt about cris, something I'd never heard of before. I read about a scam where people wanted paying in cash, once the new owner took the van away the old owner reported it as stolen, I mean, how bad is that? I was warned on here to be wary of vans smelling of air freshner because they could be hiding the smell of damp, I was looking at a second hand one on the net last night and that bit of advice stuck because in the picture you could see plug in air freshners!

fin

Quote: Originally posted by fin7 on 06/8/2011

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Does £6,250 seem a good price for a 2003 Bailey Ranger 550? I think it comes with a 6 month warrenty.

I've seen some lovely bargains on ebay but I'm fast learning that there are a lot of pitfalls to buying this way, and , as I know absolutely nothing about caravans I've decided even tho the van will cost more a dealer is probably safer for me.

fin

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Congratulations Lemoncheesecake!!!  Just had a nosey on ebay - looks lovely.

If the van hasn't been serviced recently I'd recommend you get one done (around £150) - it'll give you peace of mind that all's well &.  It'd also be a good idea to check with the seller when it last had new tyres.

No idea re fitting your own tow-bar - we paid about £450 for a detachable one to be fitted to our Passat although 'fixed' ones are cheaper.  If you do get someone to fit it for you ring around for prices - they vary a lot!

Quote: Originally posted by lemoncheesecake on 06/8/2011

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Now for another question - has anyone fitted their own tow bar themselves??

Oh and thanks surfer for your kind offer - we did seriously take that into consideration when thinking about the swift.

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Quote: Originally posted by CaddyClan on 06/8/2011

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Quote: Originally posted by fin7 on 06/8/2011

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Does £6,250 seem a good price for a 2003 Bailey Ranger 550? I think it comes with a 6 month warrenty.

I've seen some lovely bargains on ebay but I'm fast learning that there are a lot of pitfalls to buying this way, and , as I know absolutely nothing about caravans I've decided even tho the van will cost more a dealer is probably safer for me.

fin

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We have our 2004 Bailey Ranger 550/6 on Ebay at the moment for £6500 though we have reduced it as we need to sell it quickly (we've just put a deposit down on another caravan!).

Also, another great caravan dealer is Capes McLeod - their stock changes often so keep an eye on their website! We are in the process of buying the Bailey Pageant Burgundy which they only put on their website last night and we put our deposit down on it today! They are VERY competitive and often have some older part-ex caravans which may suit those on a tight budget or just starting out.

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 It's beautiful!  I so wish you'd been nearer!

Post last edited on 07/08/2011 08:13:58

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