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Subject Topic: Initial Setting Up and Annual Costs
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24/11/2009 at 3:52pm
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: Camplet Concorde
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Can anyone advise what the initial setting-up costs for a new caravan are (e.g. additional purchases like 'security' systems not supplied with the unit, stabiliser/wing mirrors for the car and so on), please?

Also what the annual costs are, for example, insurance, storage, servicing and so on. The caravan we're thinking of is c.£12,000 new.

Thanks.


24/11/2009 at 4:18pm
 Location: Lancashire
 Outfit: Caravan now Sold
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The quick list of the essential kit you need to remember for every trip out in the caravan!

The Essential Kit

  • Caravan Brace for Corner Steadies £6
  • Caravan Step from £25
  • Rear Registration plate for Caravan £10
  • Extension Mirrors from £10 +
  • Waste Water Container & Connecting Pipe £12 +
  • Fresh Water Container & Submersible Pump  £40 + £40 pump
  • Mains Electric hook-up Lead £30
  • Leisure Battery £ from £35 +
  • LPG Gas £20 if you have gas bottle
  • Chemical Toilet NA
  • Spare Wheel and Jack £80 +
  • Caravan Wheelclamp from £35
  • Hitchlock from £ 35
  • Stabiliser.depends on type
  • Awning, Poles, Pegs and Mallet from £ 250 +

Fire Safety

  • Fire Extinquisher (Dry Powder Extinguisher 600g - 1Kg
  • Smoke Alarm (spare battery)
  • Fire Blanket (For Fat and Barbecue Fires)

Medical

  • First Aid kit


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24/11/2009 at 4:54pm
 Location: Surrey
 Outfit: Bailey Valencia + Lexus RX400h
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Quote: Originally posted by michael on 24/11/2009
The quick list of the essential kit you need to remember for every trip out in the caravan!

The Essential Kit

  • Caravan Brace for Corner Steadies £6
  • Caravan Step from £25
  • Rear Registration plate for Caravan £10
  • Extension Mirrors from £10 +
  • Waste Water Container & Connecting Pipe £12 +
  • Fresh Water Container & Submersible Pump  £40 + £40 pump
  • Mains Electric hook-up Lead £30
  • Leisure Battery £ from £35 +
  • LPG Gas £20 if you have gas bottle
  • Chemical Toilet NA
  • Spare Wheel and Jack £80 +
  • Caravan Wheelclamp from £35
  • Hitchlock from £ 35
  • Stabiliser.depends on type
  • Awning, Poles, Pegs and Mallet from £ 250 +

Fire Safety

  • Fire Extinquisher (Dry Powder Extinguisher 600g - 1Kg
  • Smoke Alarm (spare battery)
  • Fire Blanket (For Fat and Barbecue Fires)

Medical

  • First Aid kit


A bit optimistic on some of those - spare wheel and jack for £80? More like £150-£200 but then you could just use the car jack...and a battery is £80 at least...

If you're getting a new van, you should be able to get at least a leisure battery and spare wheel included. Probably more if you're a better haggler than me...17

Annual costs are:

Insurance (c.£250 depending on various factors).
Storage (if not on your driveway) - £350 average.
Service - £120 or so.

 



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'In later life, you will be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than with the things you did.' - Mark Twain


24/11/2009 at 5:12pm
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: Bailey Pageant
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A £12k caravan will I suspect come with a wheel brace, steps, electric hook up lead and smoke alarm (complete with battery)

It might or might not come with a spare wheel and carrier but I doubt if a jack is included.

Security wise the minimum requirement is dictated by your insurance but a decent hitchlock and wheel clamp will set you back around £200.

Most caravans come with a decent stabiliser. If yours doesn't then you need to check out the market as to what you can want/afford.

Make a list of the expensive items and negotiate a discount from the dealer. I'd expect 15% off minimum if you're buying a new caravan.

Thwack


24/11/2009 at 5:14pm
 Location: Rochdale
 Outfit: Hymer Nova 470 Mondeo titanium 140tdc
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For a new caravan the corner steady brace, the step, the number plate, the pump, the hook up leadall come as standard with the caravan. Though you might prefer a different step from the plastic one they generally supply.

Starting from fresh I would buy an Aquaroll in preference to any other fresh water container simply because they are so much easier to handel, I would not have any water container that did not have wheels on it, cost is about £40. The a wastemaster another £40, same reason wheels make for easy carrying water is very very heavy in large quantities. You would be advised to carry a spare wheel and some form of Jack £120( or have some sort of rescue service that would come out and fit your spare wheel ), I have never needed mine in 17 years but sods law would say that if I did not carry it I would need it. Then you  need some security devices, either one or tweo depending on your insurance company ( insurance is essential as no matter how much you spend on security the thieves have ways around it ) so say a minimum of £80 per device ( wheel clamp and hitchlock )

Then inside the van , you need pots and pans ( you can take the ones you use at home but it is a pain in the neck remembering them and loading them ), then you need a battery ( even if you are using Electric Hook Up ( EHU ) £35 the battery supplies an even level of voltage to the 12V electrics of the caravan and provides a supplement to the 12V supply when you use more than the charger can supply directly. You need a supply of chemicals £12 for the loo blue for the cassette and pink for the flush reservoir ( unless the caravan flush is supplied direct from the caravan supply ). You then need some gas bottles it is worthwhile making a visit to your local tip to see if they have either calor 4.5kg or 7kg butane ( blue ) or 3.9kg or 6kg propane ( red ) bottles. The important thing is that they say calor on the side, you can use others but calor is available everywhere. If you get empty bottles and swap them for full ones it will cost about £20 per bottle ( it is worthwhile having two bottles ) but if you have to buy them then it will cost you £30 per bottle plus the gas.

Other things are optional, you might like a TV or a radio, an awning is useful especially if you take a pet with you or have young children especially when it is wet.

So my total would be £460+



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Bill

For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013

Mondeo Titanium 140 tdci


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24/11/2009 at 5:46pm
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 Outfit: 
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Sometimes if you analyse every single cost you would probably say its not worth it. Mind you if you anaylse how much its costs to have children you would probably say you couldnt afford that either. I have probably spent thousands on caravan kit other than a solar panel I have every thing. Even down to a flat pack Tesco bottle carrier for the wine so they dont bang together.

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A barman is just a pharmacist
with a limited inventory


24/11/2009 at 5:51pm
 Location: hants wilts dorset
 Outfit: GT60 540 6 + Terrano
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We've just spent £320 on "stuff" (mostly bits from the essentials list)

Prior to this we bought battery for about £80 (for a 110Amp one, you can get cheaper)

Don't have much more to get, but we already have camping things to use to start with (sleeping bags, crockery & cooking equipment).

Not got awning / tv / motor mover / mattress topper yet.

Insurance quote is about £250.

Storage seems to vary hugely, we were quoted £40 / month but hope to store at home.

-------------
Email


24/11/2009 at 6:10pm
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: Bailey Pageant
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One major cost could be a motor mover (from £600 to £1300 depending on size, model etc).

It depends how easily you can maneouvre it unaided.

Thwack


24/11/2009 at 6:43pm
 Location: Argyll Scotland
 Outfit: 1997 Bailey Ranger 470 4
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I am quite startled by some of the replies here.
Our new van came with everything on the above lists, right down to the fire extinguisher and the mover. The only 2 items missing from the list was the first aid kit and the fire blanket. We already had these though.

I would have presumed that the awning, water carriers, gas cylinders, battery, hitch and wheel lock, spare wheel and jack would be standard fittings and not things that I would expect to have to buy "as extras".

All of these items were included in the min vehicle weight so it is only right that they were included in the van to start with.



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Lobey.


24/11/2009 at 6:53pm
 Location: nr Derby
 Outfit: Phoenix 440+
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Lobey - you must tell us the dealer who gives all that stuff away.


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24/11/2009 at 7:05pm
 Location: Argyll Scotland
 Outfit: 1997 Bailey Ranger 470 4
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Quote: Originally posted by jaiash on 24/11/2009
Lobey - you must tell us the dealer who gives all that stuff away.

The Dealer is also the manufacturer and his webpage is at;-
http://www.btinternet.com/~wheelhome/page7.html

You can see a video of the van at;-
http://www.caravanchannel.co.uk/v2players/sprintaway.html

We did have some extras built into our van during the manufacturing stage but these were for our own particular needs and we would not have expected these to come "as standard".

It is also in our gallery.



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Lobey.


24/11/2009 at 7:55pm
 Location: Derby.
 Outfit: Abbey Vogue 495 Vauxhall Omega 2.5TD
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At £14,500 I would expect everything to be included, irrelevant now as it says it's no longer in production.

Nice caravan though. I guess similar in size to the Eriba, and for their size they don't come cheap either with less gear thrown in.

 

Mick 



24/11/2009 at 8:14pm
 Location: Argyll Scotland
 Outfit: 1997 Bailey Ranger 470 4
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Quote: Originally posted by Mick + Linda on 24/11/2009

At £14,500 I would expect everything to be included, irrelevant now as it says it's no longer in production.

Nice caravan though. I guess similar in size to the Eriba, and for their size they don't come cheap either with less gear thrown in.

Mick 


There you go now. I did not know that.

That means we have "A Limited Edition" 171717



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Lobey.


24/11/2009 at 8:25pm
 Location: Shropshire
 Outfit: Sterling Eccles SR 636 Nissan Navara
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as with Lobey we had everything on the list bar fire blanket  first aid kit  oh and we didnt get a mover but not everyone needs one

we bartered and thats what we got think it was to the value of £750 if i remember rightly



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hello


24/11/2009 at 9:39pm
 Location: hants wilts dorset
 Outfit: GT60 540 6 + Terrano
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We approached it the other way, decided that we'd barter the dealer down to the lowest we could get just for the van then pick and choose the other stuff we wanted or needed item by item, and by shopping around.
From the other posts I've read about what people have paid for the van we're getting and what they got "thrown in", the end result is pretty similar.

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Email


24/11/2009 at 9:53pm
 Location: Argyll Scotland
 Outfit: 1997 Bailey Ranger 470 4
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We never really gave "the extras" a thought. We had plenty of these having written off our last caravan.

We went for that particular van because it gave us a layout that, at that time anyway, was unique for a British Built 2 berth caravan. When it then came with all the extras thrown in, we gave/sold off those bits that we no longer needed. It was good to see the stuff going to other caravanners that could make good use of them.

On the up side, we now have matching waste and fresh water barrels. 17

Going back to the original question, the only yearly charges we have is the Service, £120 (mobile engineer) and the Insurance £380 (Caravan Guard). It is stored in my workshop so I have no storage fees to pay.



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Lobey.



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