Message Forums

I have a lovely 1997 trailer tent which has served us well for 3 years now, but I am getting longings to upgrade to a caravan.

The thing is I have been looking on ebay and it seems that I can buy a pre 1990 caravan for less then £500 but once its newer than that it jumps to at least £1,000 and again to £1,500 for a mid 90's van.

I can manage the £500 now for this season but if I wait until next season I will have saved somewhere between the £1,000 and £1,500.

I realise that even this amount of my hard earnt and saved cash will not buy me much. I keep looking around and have figured that I am not bothered too much about showers and hot water etc. but would really love a 4 berth and awning with cooker and fridge which is fairly nice and tidy.

I dont know whether to bite the bullet and hope I am lucky with my £500 and make the most of the rest of this season or if I would really get more for my money waiting. I have seen a 80s style Sprite Alpine 4 berth. Its apparently renovated and good condition for £185.00 is it too good to be true? I dont know whether to view?

Am I opening a whole can of worms...? would I be better keeping the TT (old but waterproof!!) and holding on for another couple of years until I have saved a decent amount of money for something much newer??

Decisions, decisions!!

Gee

Don't jump in too quickly and buy one at £500 because its cheap. It may cost a lot more to put right than buying a sound van at £1500. Have a good look and get a caravan engineer to have a good look at it. His fees can be money well spent.

Phil

If you can get someone who knows what they're doing to come with you (unless you know enough yourself) you've nothing to lose in viewing the van.  You never know, it may just be the bargain of the century!

Otherwise it may be worth considering keeping your TT til the end of next season & buying a van with what you've saved by then - gives you more time to save & they're always cheaper at the end of the season.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

I paid £450 for my 1969 Fisher Holivan with awning last year and she is GORGEOUS!!!

The previous owner left loads of brand new stuff in the van too - pots and pans, Thetford Porta Potti, step, hitch lock and carpet.

Yes, there are genuine bargains out there but be prepared to look at (and reject!) a load of sheds before you find your perfect van!!

Our first caravan was a sprite major, we paid £300 for her.  We kitted it out with new carpet and curtains and had several holidays in her and really enjoyed it.  We then sold on for £750 and bought a swift alouette.  We did this a few more times until we bought our dream van Abi northstar for £4,700.  So if the van is dry and you would like a more modern van in the future, perhaps buy now and spend a little then sell on for hopefully a profit and work your way up to the van you want!

Happy caravaning!!

I was GOING to say that I'd wait until next year as there's not much left of the summer now but it'd be a big lie, I am ridiculously impulsive and once I've decided I want something then that's it.

In fact it's how we ended up with our first van 3 years ago, I went to a dealers with my parents who were looking for one, came home, looked on eBay and hey presto the following day I had spent all of my £1k savings and was the proud owner of a 1991 Buccaneer, it was an absolute bargain, the upholstery & interior was like new, the owner had looked after it so well, kept it undercover and threw everything in right down to the teaspoons.

However 2 years on we are on our 3rd van, lol, I only went looking for windbreaks last time.

If you do buy the £500 van and it's sound you'll probably be able to sell it next year without losing any, you should also try and budget a couple of hundred for bits & bobs you'll want for it, it's amazing how much stuff you need for them once you are using them.