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Hi,

I am fed up with being damp in our tent (everytime we have been out over the last year it has rained solid!) and have decided to buy a caravan, but would like some advice.

There are 4 of us (kids 6&8) and I would appreciate some advice regarding the layout - too be honest just cannot decide between them and which one would suit us best.

My other question is; if i was buying a car i would have a fair idea of how much i should be paying for it from a dealer (2nd hand) but with a caravan i have no idea.  I'm assuming that I would haggle the price down but buy how much ?  Is there anywhere which lists 2nd hand prices for vans as a guide?

Thanks for all your help.

I have camped in a caravan a motor home,tent and folding camper with kids over the years. My advice would be to look at a Folding Camper first. With kids that age you really need space and room and unless you are prepared to tow an 18 foot plus caravan look at folding campers. I had three kids and we had a Pennie Pullman with awning and annexe, under bed storage areas etc which was absolutely perfect for a family and I didn't need a huge 4x4 to pull it with. They are much easier to tow witrh all the benefits of fixed made up beds etc  They have full size sprung one piece matresses. I hated having to make beds up each morning in the caravan-stressful! Not my idea of fun. You can also use a Pennine in the same way as you would a caravan for overnight stops. There is no pegging out to be done. They have all the luxuries nowadays that you would expect to find in a caravan, heating, fridges, flush toilet, running hot water, ovens etc. (no I am not on commission from Pennine) but even though the kids have now left home I wouldn't part with mine for the world! Certainly worth looking at. Good luck Jean

I think Jeans ideas is great.. Financially it would make sense. I love my caravan but I think this middle ground it a good option

Looking at caravans you would need

1. One with a side dinette (make into two bunk beds) and the double would be at the front

2. One with a fixed bed (you can close off the bedroom) and two singels/1 double at the front

Money wise you can only buy what you can afford but if you don't have a PX then look at getting the price down by at least 10%

Happy shopping

There are so many different caravans to choose from however from experience choose one that will suit your family, the main things to think about are where is everyone going to sleep, will you want any privacy, if so think about having kids beds separate from yours, eg yours at front of van theirs at back, also as kids tend to go to bed earlier will there room for you to relax, watch tv etc without disturbing kids, will there be room to play if its raining, check where everyone going to sit at mealtimes, are you going to cook in van, can you cook on 2 gas rings or would a microwave be more useful, if so will there be room for one, will there be room for the kids to play/keep out of your way whilst you cook, if you think about how your going to 'live' in it you should hopefully get the correct one for your family. ,

i think the first thing is to set yourself a budget you'll soon get an good idea of what you can get in that price range, whats overpriced etc have a wander around different dealers, look in the papers at private deals, you could also post caravan specs and price on here and see what everyone thinks,

The other thing to think about especially if buying from a dealer is extras you will probably need stuff like water carriers, a step, towing mirrors electric cable, gas bottle, maybe an awning if you want one, price these up in the shops and try to haggle to get these included.

Now is a good time to buy as its nearly the end of the season people aren't really buying caravans at the moment (similiar to no-one really buys cars near christmas) so you should be able to haggle quite sucessfully.

Another ex tenter fed up with pitching or packing up a wet tent.

We bought a caravan and love it.

As for layout, you really need to go to as amny dealers as you can to check out the various layouts. Imagine living in it and when the kids go to bed, what would you want to do. Could you still access the toilet when they are in bed, can you still stay up reading or whatever. Just think about how you would use the van.

No one can tell you what would be the best van for you, thats down to you and you only.

chaz

I find that the 5 berth that I have is ideal when we take the two grandchildren away with us, as you can leave their bed(s) made up all the time and can shut the area off when they go to bed. We can even squeeze the third child in if necessary with the small double and bunk at the rear.

The OH and I find that the extra space when we use it on our own is very beneficial and I do not believe that we would ever go back to a two berth van.

I wouldn't bother with a folding camper!

We have gone from tent to caravan to tent to folding camper back to caravan (abeit a diddy one!)

Folding campers are still cold, all zips and fappy canvas, you end up worrying about them getting wet just before you pack them up, and how you will dry it before it goes mouldy! Just like tents they are fab in the hot weather but if you fed up of tenting FC not much better! Also no matter what people say they take ages to put up and pack away, caravans are brill everything in them already just hook up and off you go! If you want to be in and out of it packing it ready you just open the door, where as FC you got to haul the thing out and open up just to pack up!

As other posts said you are best to visit loads of dealers to check out various layouts, then personally I would buy private, you will get LOADS more for your money, we bought ours in May for £1000 with awning, bedroom annexe and everything you need to hook up & go and that night searched dealers online and found exactly the same van on a dealer for 2.5k with nothing thrown in.

You will probably find that whatever you choose you will change it anyway after a year or so after living in it, although we love ours we have said we would like one with a large sunroof next.

Ours is a 21ft -er so it has enough space for a double at the front and one at the back. The kitchen is in the middle which is a litte bit of a pain when kids are about but we now realise the awning will allow the kids space to run around when it's raining.

At night the rear double has the kids, with a curtain across, while we are free to use the kitchen and toilet without having to walk past them. The noise of the kettle and the toilet door doesn't seem to wake them up.

As previous posts, it depends upon your own taste, but depending upon the car you have, a larger 4/5 berth would be better in my opinion, better to have too much room.