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Hi All

Just looekd for advice from some seasoned veterans!

We are a new family with a 1 year old and looking to put a caravan on a seasonal pitch (thankfully we have a place held for the next 2 weeks)

Question i have really is what would be a good van ?

For certain we need a bedroom area which can be shut off for the baby to sleep in, also we expect to have family members wanting to join us the odd weekend so we are looking at the "bigger end" of the market and with toys, bikes and other bits i suspect anything 4 berth and below will be too tight for comfort especially if it rains!

I have checked out the Elddis Crusader Super Storm and this seems ideal - currently going to look at a 2000 model which is for sale at £2500 - but any other models and older vans I am happy to look at we have a budget of around £3k realistically

I have seem that the European makes (hobby, etc) could be bigger (i read posts regarding the towing restrictions) but these may be a good option as we have a van with a tow bar and the van wont be moved execpt in and out of storage

Not looking to spend a large amount as not sure if we will take to the camping lark (me and the wife had a capmervan an toured cornwall and nearly killed each other) but would like to have a go with a home away from home

Any comments very much appreciated!

It's very exciting looking for a new van, and it will take ages to find the perfect van and layout but I honestly don't think there is such a thing.  We all have to make a compromise of one sort or another as the perfect van excists for very few people.  Our first van we thought was perfect, compromise was having to make up bunks at night for the kids (not great with a few glasses of wine taken!), and our current van was 90% perfect we had to settle on smaller bathroom to allow for fixed bunks!

Have a look here http://www.practicalcaravan.com/features/layouts.html to give you an idea of layouts, once you decide what the best layouts are then you can look at just those layouts in different vans.

This shape of van usually has a door to shut off the end of the van, as do some 6/7 berths.  A copy of practical caravan lists all the makes of vans and layouts.

If you have a seasonal pitch you can use an awning and bedroom for extra visitors, sometimes it's nicer having them outside, it doesn't get too crowded inside..

Have fun, I love caravan viewing!

& a very warm welcome to UKCS you will be hooked in no time..

Wendy

We've got an '03 Avondale Rialto 535/5 which has a door to shut off the end bedroom containing three fixed bunks (no messing around putting beds up, taking beds down, storing the bedding etc etc).  I could quite happily sleep in one of the bunks.  It has a huge double bed at the front end (converted from the lounge seating area). The Avondale Dart also has a sliding door to close off an end bedroom I believe.  We have adapted a bed rail which now sits neatly on the bottom bunk to stop our 3 year old from rolling out.  The bottom bunk is very close to the floor anyway so even if he did tumble out he's not got far to go.....

There will be a few people saying stay away from Avondale's because the company has gone bust but if you are anything like us you'll be able to pick up a great bargain.  The build quality is sometimes called into question but at the end of the day it's a pretty big yet still pretty lightweight, single axle, 5 berth van so the interior is going to be made of lightweight materials.  We need to rectify a couple of signs of early damp due to some stress cracks which had crept in to the back panel (becoming common on newer caravans across a few makes) so check for these before you buy.   I completely agree with Skellei's post.  Don't be worried about taking a damp meter.  If the seller said to you "I'll throw in a water carrier, waste carrier and bill for £xxxx's in about 3 months time" would you still buy it?  P.S. we didn't take our own advice .  £18 for a damp meter is such a small price to pay.  Don't be put off a damp caravan though.  It's not rocket science to put right just time consuming and occasionally messy.  I wouldn't be put off buying a dirt cheap damp caravan if I thought I could put it right.  Hope this helps! Natalie

I totally agree with Natalie, hubby bought us our swift challenger from up in manchester and when he brought it home we thought we had a real bargain....then we discovered the dreaded damp! The area around the sky light was bubbled but the guy stated he had left it open and rain had got in. Hubby pulled the whole sheet down to discover it was soaked so had to dry it out and put a new sheet up. We then noticed the seats were damp after spending one night in it in Feb. The handles were missing off the front end and this had been letting rain in...arghhh! Hubby took all the rubbers off around the windows and had to replace sheets on the wall and make a new shelf behind the cushions.

We are getting rid of it asap as its left a bad taste in our mouths. The tell tale signs were there ie the old air freshener trick! The van still smells musty but all the damps been solved now. I would hang onto it but its been a squeeze for all 6 of us.

Natalie where can u get these damp readers from? Once bitten twice shy! I've said to hubby next time give a van a thorough going through,  I'm going to try and save for a bit first as this van only stands me in at £1000, im expecting another grand back from loan insurance which we got ripped off with so hopefully i'll be able to save another grand by the end of the summer and grab a bargain as a lot of peeps sell vans cheap at the end of season.

Good luck with your search...had to laugh at the nearly killing eachother comment. The first nights in our van have had us having choice words too lol!

Thanks all!!

We are off to look at some local trader to see what they have and get a feel for the different layouts

Just need to make sure i can get the tv, Sky, PS3 and other "homecomforts" for the rainy days......only kidding the Mrs would string me up....Scrabble and card games on wet days!

Quote: Originally posted by carmey33 on 08/4/2009

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Natalie where can u get these damp readers from?

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http://www.diytools.co.uk/diy/Main/sp-1-5282-13623-rapitest-dtm-118-damp-test-meter.asp

Hi Carmey33, sounds like a nightmare!  Sadly probably one that will be all too familiar with other folks on here.  There are some ruthless sellers out there - my conscience wouldn't let me sell on a caravan like that.  It's good to hear someone putting the damp right before selling it on though!!  We're about to start the repair job in a week or so (weather permitting) but the good thing for us is that we absolutely love our caravan.  It suits us perfectly on all counts - from the basic layout through to the fact it fits on our narrow drive. 

The link above is for the damp meter we bought.  Seems to be absolutely spot on.  Well worth the £18!  Make sure you push the needles into the wallboard though for an accurate reading.  It will leave pin holes so check with the seller first!  If he's honest he won't mind you testing.  If you go to view a caravan, pull the damp meter out of your pocket and ask him/her if you can check for damp and watch their face.  That's the first 'damp check'.  If they develop a nervous twitch you'll know!  To be fair, there will be sellers out there who genuinely don't know their van has damp.  Our damp issues weren't apparent when we bought it in November.  We checked every wallboard surface carefully then suddenly a few weeks ago we noticed some hard, small lumps.  It's very early ingress so no fingers going through soggy wallboards just yet (which is good!).  Check all around the windows (but don't touch the rubber window seals as this apparently can show damp when there isn't any), check in all of the cupboards high and low, check all around the door and rooflights, check everywhere!  If the needle is in green this is usually 'normal' moisture.  If the needle goes into yellow there could be an issue starting so keep an eye on it. If the needle goes into red there's defintely something going on so get the toolbox/wallet out.  If the needle goes off the scale either run screaming or renegotiate the price.  I think most folks will hopefully agree with all of this - if not they'll correct me!  All the best, Natalie