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Hi all,

I'm new to this site and new to carvaning.

We are looking to buy our first caravan and are a family of 2 adults and 2 children ( 9 and 1 ). We have a budget of up to £3000 and would ideally like a 4 berth caravan with a shower and hot water. I realise with my relatively small budget I am looking at caravans around 10 - 15 years old.

I just wanted some advice on what make/model caravan we could expect to get.

Any info much appreciated.

Mark

Hi , and welcome to UKCS  , you will be able to pick up a very nice caravan from most makes Within your Budget , best advice i can give is to shop around for a few months to get an idea of the models and costs then you will have a better idea of what your money will buy . For example  we bought a 1994 swift corvette diamond 4 berth for approx £2000 as it needed the window rubbers replaced ,which we did ourselves at an approx cost of £150

Try scouting out your local dealers as sometimes at this time of the year they like to move their older stock and or their trade ins.

Ebay is another place to look , but i advice against buying anything from there unless the buyer is willing to let you go visit and check the van out yourself  in person .

Never be afraid to take a damp meter when buying just to check out the water tightness of your prospective purchase , if the owner /dealer doesnt allow you to check or provide a gaurantee its damp free then walk away , there will be plenty more out there who will .

Hope this helps

Mike

hi big welcome ,,,look here for an idea of what you can buy at the price.you need to buy a damp meter and use it in all the corners.

http://www.caravanfinder.co.uk/caravans.html

Avoid Caravan Crime
	Buying Secondhand

Don't forget to check what weight your car can tow - unless you're wanting to change car as well!   Older vans tend to be lighter - another advantage of buying second-hand.  Our van is 5 years old and the weight is 100kg less than this year's model which would be above our tow limit.

Carrie

Hi damp meters are good and so is your nose. Whenever you enter a caravan take a good breath through your nose, if it smells foosty or damp then yes get the damp meter going, esp in the corners. Also if there is an overwhelming smell of air freshners - are they trying to hide a damp smell.

This is a god time of year to buy, more supply less demand than in spring. But do have a good look around 

Thanks for the replys everyone.

You all seem to have advised me to buy a damp meter, any ideas where I could get one of these from and how much they cost.

Thanks again.

Mark

B&Q mate about £15, sharpen the prongs and shove them in everywhere mainly corners, inside of lockers, anywhere there is a join on the outside

dont forget to allow in your budget for fitting a bracket to the car, insurance, security on the van (wheelclamp/hitchlock) and other bits n bobs.

good luck matey, there is good dry vans out there but they are hard to find (looked at about 50 before I got mine)