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Hi All, Sorry if this has come up before, but I am thinking of buying a caravan, probably a small 2 berth second hand one in the hopes I can get the OH interested. Anyway he is bleating on about the ongoing costs once we have bought the van. I figured we would need insurance, storage (as we dont have the room at home), servicing and a one of cost of fitting a towbar. Am I missing anything?

Also, does anyone have a rough idea what these costs would be?

Thanks in advance.

Breeze

Hi

We too have recently bought a caravan (a new one 5 berth), however costs i would think are pretty similar excluding thr cost of the van. I will try to summarise our costs to date

1.caravan mover £800.00

2. Awning large £500.00

3. Porch awning £100.00

4. Storage CASSOA Gold site £440.00/yr

5. Insurance £240.00 with new for old.

6. 7 times away in the van with 2week main hol. £550.00

7. Towbar £130.00 fitted by myself.

8. Service £170.00 inc vat.

It all looks alt but given that things for caravan once bought you dont need again then the only cost is holidays away, storage, and insurance. We haven't looked back since getting the van last yr.

Enjoy. Chris W

storage here ranges from 200- 300 per annum silver cassoa

insurance we pay £314 per annum ( 6 berth single axel 2007)

tow bar was £250 but depends on your car

servicing is £170 + vat  at our dealer

hth 

you may get a deal that includes awning etc

are you looking for new or second hand ?

If you are buying second hand,try to find one that comes with an awning,that will cut some costs down,we didnt buy a motor mover,i have my husband LOL.Yes there will be a few things to initially outlay but seriously it's wonderful owning a 'van,and im sure you OH will enjoy it lots too.

good luck,just keep sowing the seeds into his subconcious,and in the end he will think it was his idea to buy a 'van LOL ^_^

Yeah the cost of upgrading cos you've seen a nicer/newer/better 'van lol.  Have you looked into how much storage is?  Some can go up to £600 a year.  Our towbar was £300 just a few weeks ago.  For a brand new caravan it was about £340 for the year to insure.  Our dealer charges about £160 to service the 'van i think.

I know the initial outlay sounds a lot but just hiring a static caravan for a week on a quiet site in August is around £500pw, to stay on a serviced pitch was £304 for 2 weeks for us this year.  Before we got our 'van we used to hire statics so we could only afford to go for 1 week a year and possibly a weekend away.  Now we go away on loads of weekends and have a 2 week holiday every summer.  Next year we are going away for a week in May too.  This year we have bought the van and a nearly new car and when my son was ill i promised i'd take him to see McFly at Butlins Nov so we can't go away again in her just yet but next year we will get away loads again.  Also with a 'van you can go away all year round if work doesn't get in the way lol

You'll be able use most of the stuff you take camping so won't have much more to buy.  Hopefully you'll get an aquaroll and wastemaster included when you buy a 'van

Fingers crossed that you can persuade him and if you need more help then just ask :)

Thanks for all the advice. I think I should be ok with the car, it's a Skoda Octavia estate, 1.9tdi. The chap at the caravan place said I could tow up to 1288kg, the ones we have been looking at are well within that limit, so even fully loaded it should be ok. As its a new one, I doubt OH would let me swap it again LOL!

Is an awning a must? I wasn't particularly bothered about one, as it will be mostly just me, with (hopefully) the OH occasionally. The mover sounds like a good idea though!

As I normally use a tent anyway, site fees aren't really an issue - might be slightly higher but OH doesnt know that, and I aint telling ;o).

B

Quote: Originally posted by Breeze on 04/10/2009

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Thanks for all the advice. I think I should be ok with the car, it's a Skoda Octavia estate, 1.9tdi. The chap at the caravan place said I could tow up to 1288kg, the ones we have been looking at are well within that limit, so even fully loaded it should be ok. As its a new one, I doubt OH would let me swap it again LOL!

Is an awning a must? I wasn't particularly bothered about one, as it will be mostly just me, with (hopefully) the OH occasionally. The mover sounds like a good idea though!

As I normally use a tent anyway, site fees aren't really an issue - might be slightly higher but OH doesnt know that, and I aint telling ;o).

B

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if you are buying new push for a starter pack

we got one which was awning, aqua roll ,wastemaster, hictch lock ,wheel clamp,jack chemicals ,loo roll ,pipe to attach aqua roll to van ,mirrors and other bits a pieces  

Quote: Originally posted by PeteDeFeet on 04/10/2009

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Insurance, anything from £100 ~ £400
Storage, £200 ~ £350
Service, £130 ~ £200
Towbar, £150 ~
Fuel consumption, minus 30% from usual
Oh, then theres the collection of accessories and nic-nacs that becomes an obsession, the visits to the Caravan Shows, and then theres the site fees from £10/£25 night,
Makes you wonder why a million van owners do it......

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As Im not sure where or not I will like it, I am hoping to start with a second hand one, so a starter kit might be a bit difficult. Where we went today the chap did say he would throw in extras without specifying what they were, and as we didnt have a van to part ex, he would also do a deal on the price quoted.

Am I better to buy from a dealer or private, at this stage, given my complete lack of caravan knowledge? Obviously there will be pluses and minuses on both sides, private would probably be cheaper, but you get some peice of mind from a dealer. The chap said he would spend an hour or so showing us how to operate everything, which I think would be very useful. I'm not sure I would get that from a private seller.

B

Quote: Originally posted by PeteDeFeet on 04/10/2009

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Insurance, anything from £100 ~ £400
Storage, £200 ~ £350
Service, £130 ~ £200
Towbar, £150 ~
Fuel consumption, minus 30% from usual
Oh, then theres the collection of accessories and nic-nacs that becomes an obsession, the visits to the Caravan Shows, and then theres the site fees from £10/£25 night,
Makes you wonder why a million van owners do it......

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Because we would rather have many holidays then just one package holiday.  

Quote: Originally posted by Breeze on 04/10/2009

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As Im not sure where or not I will like it, I am hoping to start with a second hand one, so a starter kit might be a bit difficult. Where we went today the chap did say he would throw in extras without specifying what they were, and as we didnt have a van to part ex, he would also do a deal on the price quoted.

Am I better to buy from a dealer or private, at this stage, given my complete lack of caravan knowledge? Obviously there will be pluses and minuses on both sides, private would probably be cheaper, but you get some peice of mind from a dealer. The chap said he would spend an hour or so showing us how to operate everything, which I think would be very useful. I'm not sure I would get that from a private seller.

B

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Thanks for all the useful advice everyone.

Dave I'll take on board what you say about a 4 berth, and widen my search.

B

Quote: Originally posted by Breeze on 04/10/2009

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Is an awning a must? I wasn't particularly bothered about one, as it will be mostly just me, with (hopefully) the OH occasionally. The mover sounds like a good idea though!

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