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lots of visits to dealers.

find what suits you by looking around make a list of pros n cons

approach dealers letting them know what your after

choose size/ weight/ berth/layout

now may be a good idea to start looking i bet with this years lovly dry and sunny summer a few may give up

me never the rain is the reason i have a van

Hi nel373, do you still have your Adria or have you sold it ?

look here for all prices and choice of van.

www.caravanfinder.co.uk

You could have had ours up to about a month ago!  It's a year 2000 Swift Speedbird 490, 7ft 3in wide, 1134 kg miro, mtplm 1350, towed with a Ford Mondeo, which we were planning to sell.  (Some pictures on my gallery) However, we decided not to sell it after some silly valuations of £3,500 to £4,000 for a private sale and less in P ex!  It's a continental side door - but that doesn't bother us because we use it in France - and we've not had problems in this country, except occasionally being asked to pitch 'nose-in'.  We'd have to find at least £10,000 to £12,000 to exchange it for the van we wanted, and it's just not worth finding that amount of extra money - plus the newer vans are a lot heavier and we'd have had to have a heavier towcar too. 

Instead we're towing it to France, putting it into indoor storage for less than the price we pay here for outside on top of a wet and windy hill, and hopefully it will then last us for a lot longer once it's out of the rain (no water ingress). 

The problem is that fixed beds didn't become popular in this country until two or three years later - and therefore early (cheaper) models are not yet available on the second hand market. I presume that all those who have them are hanging on to them for the same reasons as us, in that a replacement is generally a lot heavier and will mean an upgraded towcar too. 

Quote: Originally posted by Val A on 01/10/2009

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You could have had ours up to about a month ago!  It's a year 2000 Swift Speedbird 490, 7ft 3in wide, 1134 kg miro, mtplm 1350, towed with a Ford Mondeo, which we were planning to sell.  (Some pictures on my gallery) However, we decided not to sell it after some silly valuations of £3,500 to £4,000 for a private sale and less in P ex!  It's a continental side door - but that doesn't bother us because we use it in France - and we've not had problems in this country, except occasionally being asked to pitch 'nose-in'.  We'd have to find at least £10,000 to £12,000 to exchange it for the van we wanted, and it's just not worth finding that amount of extra money - plus the newer vans are a lot heavier and we'd have had to have a heavier towcar too. 

Instead we're towing it to France, putting it into indoor storage for less than the price we pay here for outside on top of a wet and windy hill, and hopefully it will then last us for a lot longer once it's out of the rain (no water ingress). 

The problem is that fixed beds didn't become popular in this country until two or three years later - and therefore early (cheaper) models are not yet available on the second hand market. I presume that all those who have them are hanging on to them for the same reasons as us, in that a replacement is generally a lot heavier and will mean an upgraded towcar too. 

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I agree with Val A - I think it might be difficult.  There also seems to be quite a shortage of used vans for sale on the forecourts.  The dealers don't seem to be able to get them, generally.

I've just had a look at the website link above, and the cheapest van offered is £6,195.  The Swift Meridian which is next cheapest at £6,350 is very similar to our van, except ours is wider, and the door's on the wrong side.  Our van doesn't have an oven or the front chest (hence the lighter miro, despite the wider body).  However, we've just bought a brand new front chest of drawers from a Bailey Pageant which is exactly the right wood, and fits perfectly instead of the wrap-around seating, giving us the small flip-over table we've always wanted!  We also have just one large window at the front, and a mini-heki in the bedroom. 

Fancy that, almost £3.3k more than we were offered!  I'm not surprised dealers can't get them if they are making the sort of silly offers we received.

I know in Holland an identical van to ours (the Swift Toscane 490) has just sold for 8,000 euros - I keep an eye on the trade prices there.  We did seriously think about putting a For Sale/Te Koop/A Vendre notice in the window when we were on holiday in France in August!