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Quote: ...OH has been watching the gypsy sites and thinks that if Hobbies and Fendts are good enough to live in then they must be good quality and would do for us. He wants a decent sized van.

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Hi Pippa,

We are in a similar position that we are going from a tent to a caravan.  We did previously have a couple of caravans which were seasonally pitched so we never towed them.

There are just the two of us, and we had a good scout around some dealers at the weekend looking at layouts and getting ideas as to what would work for us.
There are tons of choices....it didn't make it very easy!!

Have a good look around, I have a thread called caravan prices in this section, and several people have mentioned a shortage of caravans and higher than usual prices, so it might be worth a read.

There is a really useful article on the caravan club website called Getting started - it made me consider things I hadn't, so maybe have a read of that.

Good luck - exciting ain't it!!

Some sites won't allow the vans on that are associated with travellers.  You must have a vehicle that weighs over 3.5 tonnes in order to pull one of the large imported vans that are 2.5 metres wide rather than the normal 2.3 metres.

Insurance can also be tricky for some brands.  Go around some dealers, have a look at layouts, take all the family and sit down, make up the beds etc and be sure the layout will work for you.  Picture a wet day when you are all inside for instance!

Budget for some decent security devices too, if you are attracted to Hobby/Fendt etc then it will be a stipulation by the insurers that you have wheel clamps, hitchlocks, an alarm and maybe a tracker.

Ali

Quote: Originally posted by Missizippi on 15/9/2009

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ok, after a few years of tenting it we are now thinking of getting a caravan. We do 2 to 3 weeks per year in France in the summer but would like to do maybe Oct half term in the UK and also weekends locally. I would like to do these on my own without my husband as he would be working so need to be able to manage it myself.

We are a family of 5 with 2 girls and 1 boy so the layout is quite important. Don't really want a child in a bunk above our bed.

OH has been watching the gypsy sites and thinks that if Hobbies and Fendts are good enough to live in then they must be good quality and would do for us. He wants a decent sized van.

Towing vehicle is a 3 lt 4x4 toyota landcruiser.

We have space beside our house for not much more than 23foot although with a small amount of landscape gardening we could accommodate slightly larger if necessary.

What else do we need to consider and any opinions/advice on any of the above? I'm thinking around 6 yrs old and hoping to get something under £5K - is this reasonable?

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Quote: Originally posted by Missizippi on 15/9/2009

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Thanks for all the replies! I had read on another post about the legalities of towing the larger vans but I presume that you can get Hobby or Fendt vans in 2.3m width then? maybe just harder to find?
Are there any other makes of caravan that people can recommend to be of good quality. (OH is a bit of a perfectionist)

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Quote: Originally posted by D S B on 16/9/2009

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Quote: Originally posted by Missizippi on 15/9/2009

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Thanks for all the replies! I had read on another post about the legalities of towing the larger vans but I presume that you can get Hobby or Fendt vans in 2.3m width then? maybe just harder to find?

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Are there any other makes of caravan that people can recommend to be of good quality. (OH is a bit of a perfectionist)

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I'm really not sure if you can.  Hobby/ Fendt are made primarily for mainland Europe, where it is legal to tow 2.5m wide.  I gather it's only here it is 2.3m.

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Quote: Originally posted by Missizippi on 15/9/2009

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OH has been watching the gypsy sites and thinks that if Hobbies and Fendts are good enough to live in then they must be good quality and would do for us. He wants a decent sized van.

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Quote: Originally posted by snowy747 on 15/9/2009

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Budget for some decent security devices too, if you are attracted to Hobby/Fendt etc then it will be a stipulation by the insurers that you have wheel clamps, hitchlocks, an alarm and maybe a tracker.

 

realistically you should have as much security as possible anyway no matter what van you plum for