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Looking for some welcom tips on researching a touring caravan. For starters it will have to be a 6 berth, looking to get a top spec one to convince the wife!

What's the best make? Bailey's look good? Should we look at getting a 12 mnth old one to get extra's included? do they depreciate like cars within first year? Got a BMW x5 to tow it. Price upto £15k, really like the pegasus 646 2010 model, shall we stick with the tent this year an look to get one of those early next year with a deal??

Appreciate views and comments...... thanks alot

It depends how committed you are to the idea of caravanning as buying a new one and then not liking it would lead to quite a loss. Whilst they might not depreciate as quickly as cars you have to think how you would sell it. A dealer is unlikely to give a good price as they will want to make a margin and a private buyer will expect a good deal. Might it be an idea to buy decent secondhand one and then trade it up next year if you really take to it?

David

We've just made the change to a caravan from a tent but it took us 18mths from us first discussing the idea to actual purchase.  I would hangfire and get yourselves to the NEC in October - make yourself a shortlist of the vans you like the look of and then spend the day in and out of them comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each one & gleaning as much advice & info from the various sales people there.  Once you are sure, start buying the one of the monthly caravan mags & perhaps the Haynes Caravan manual - these will keep you abreast with the fun & more practical aspects of caravanning.

We thought we had decided on a brand new Coachman 6 berth (which we still love) but then a 12mth old Lunar with lots of great kit came available privately - we were a bit scared but got a CRIS check, viewed it and then got an MCEA approved engineer to come with us to view and give it a full pre purchase inspection.  We saved thousands on new and are soooo happy with our purchase.

Just take your time and make sure you make the right decision for you and your family - good luck with whatever you decide

I'd have a good look around to see the various layouts (there are a few for 6 berths) & interior finishes/specs before you decide on a make.  Also consider whether it needs to be single or twin axle.

Have a look at www.caravanfinder.co.uk for layouts to see what works best for you.  Also check the technical specs as on some of them the bunks aren't full length beds (around 5' 10") & won't take an adults weight so you'll need to think about who'll be sleeping on them & how much they might grow in the time you intend to keep the van (our 14yr old is 5' 10" already!).

If you're looking for a good deal on a new van the end of the season is the best time to buy & you can usually squeeze extras out of the dealer - we got full awning with carpet thrown in with ours as well as a gold spec.  I believe there are also good deals to be had on next years models at the NEC show in October.

Oh, & bear in mind the VAT increase in January will impact on what you pay if you take delivery next year.

Good luck & have fun looking!

Have you seen the Bailey Ranger GT60 'vans?  They are a lot cheaper than the pegasus and imo are a nicer 'van.  Though i would say that as i own the GT60 lol.  Everyone is different but i just like the look of the GT60 over the Olympus and Pegasus and even if i was buying now i'd still go for the GT60.  We were on a site a week ago and another GT60 pulled up and dh asked him about it and he had seen the others but still chose the GT60 :)

hth

Make sure  youve got your car weights handy when you're caravan hunting so you know what you can and cant tow.

And I fifth the second hand idea, a brand new one could be a very expensive mistake. Not  all of us get the layout right first time for a start (myself included!), new vans are also prone to niggles (and sometimes worse) dont assume they are the trouble free option.

Wow, thanks alot.... as luck would have it, a work colleague is looking at selling his Elddis Crusader Sirocco 5/6 Birth 2004, so this may be the answer to your suggestions re 2nd hand first.

When buying from a friend / colleague do you recommend MCEA?

Im going to go and have a viewing with the family and see if it feels right. He was looking at £9000 with awning and extra's. Not done research on others yet to see if this is a good deal. He does watch the pennies so h won't be giving it away, ha... thanks for assistace. Any other comments are welcome..

That's a big heavy vanso you need to check the weight & that you car can manage it.  Then I'd def get an Engineer to look at it - it'd give you peace of mind & if there are any minor niggles you'd have some bargaining power! 

But £9k is still a lot of money so look at the van as a famiy before getting it inspected to make sure it's what you want.  Don't buy it just because he's a colleague - there are plenty of others out there if this one doesn't 'do it' for you or if it's overpriced.

The caravan place that we got ours from has a bailey ranger gt60 in at the min and its only priced at 10300 and just a couple of years old.(really nice and i wish my husband would buy it for me,,,lol)

we only bought ours recently a bailey 470/4(this one came in after we bought ours)

we were told that caravans loose the bulk of there money in the first 2 years (dont quote me on that as we are newbies) so if i was you id buy second hand to check you like it first

this gt60 is the cheapest ive ever seen it been sold,,ive done a google search and ebay search...really tried to twist the husbands arm..but lol...next year ill get one!!once you get the caravan bug.it gets you!!

this van is really nice...ive been hanging my nose over it all week..here are the details for it if you want a look i think it may also be listed on there  website (google this adress on the site comes up)

Leisure Caravans Ltd
Woodstone Village
Fence Houses
Chester-Le-Street
Durham
 

good luck!! your wife will love camping!!

Quote: Originally posted by 1063roberts on 02/8/2010

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When buying from a friend / colleague do you recommend MCEA?

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Definitely - as uncomfortable as it might feel at the time sending an engineer around a friends caravan I'd have to do it - Ive read about so many caravans which have serious problems that their owners haven't known about.

There was a poor guy selling a caravan on Ebay recently who didn't do a CRIS check when he bought his van - when a prospective buyer had one done on the van it turned out that the van had been a pretty much total write off because of water ingress and although the work had been carried out to repair the problem before he bought it he had to dramatically reduce the price.

Personally, I think the biggest thing to get straight is the whole concept of camping - sitting in a field, outdoors, bugs, weather, public shower blocks etc, etc. The OPs been camping so knows all about that and obviously enjoys it so no problem...I reckon the people who buy all the kit and sell it a week later are those that never even tried camping and it was that lifestyle that put them off, not the caravan.

I don't necessarily subscribe to the 'buy 2nd-hand first' idea because that means, very shortly, you're going to have to go through the whole painful process of selling your 2nd hand van privately or losing a fortune in a trade-in on the new one.

We bought our first van new after spending a couple of months on here, reading the mags and visiting numerous different dealers - had it a year now and it all works exactly as we imagined it and we can't think of any other van/layout that would be an improvement for us.

agree with above - if you love camping in a tent, then I expect you'll love caravanning.

The only thing that seems to cause debate, apart from the make and model is really the layout.

The best bet is to view caravans at a dealer and see what layout you think is most suitable to your needs.  Everyone has their own preference - so you need to decide what will be your best option.

My van has a separate showr - but I don't use it.  My lounge is L shaped and we love that (whilst others don't), we don't have a fixed bed (we don't find making the beds each day a problem), we don't have an end bathroom (we mainly use the site facilities and like our double dinette).

So I guess you know that like camping, and that you expect to do it for some time to come, and investing a few quid is not really an issue.  But you just need to make sure - the van is one you can keep for a few years and you get a good one.  To buy from Dealer or Private ? - thats another debate