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Over the years we've had numerous different makes and so have the outlaws and we've never been brand loyal - just whatever seemed best when we were buying.

Bailey seem to to be the MFI end of the market, good price and plenty of kit - though at the mo they seem to be trying to go a bit higher upmarket. My view is avoid till the Alu-Tec system has bedded down.

Swift seem to divide opinion, they are the biggest producers and the new vans this year look very stylish. Outlaws have had one or two and they always seemed good value to me.

Lunar we seriously looked at when we bought new this year, very nice vans and light weight too, recommended in my opinion.

If you really want big and luxurious there is always Vanmaster, very traditional, very heavy and all the van you would probably want.

Airstream are the niche American lot! Fine if you like going around in somert that looks like it belongs in the air rather than on the ground!

We settled on a Coachman, never had one before and I've no complaints at all, solidly built, quality fittings and imo good value as it should last. The only van we've had that compares in terms of build and quality was a Castleton, but that was hand built and no longer in production. As I say Lunar to us came close, but one of the things that clinched this was it is a dealer special edition and one tip I have its look out for them, unlike cars they are a lot more than go faster stripes and certainly with ours the extras really were worth thousands so well worth it.

I'd suggest going to a show and having a good look at what suits you in terms of layout as that is even more important than make, as if it does not work for your needs it's pretty pointless. There are shows in Catterick and Brum coming up fairly soon.

My money if we could afford it would be a hymer, lovely vans and solid reliability, We have the next best thing that we could afford a german built geist, we had a swift van before and had an ace before that , an elddis before that and a freedom sunseeker. We have loved them all but the build quality in our 2007 swift after numerous problems have put us off ever buying brittish again, The ace and elddis both had individual problems main being patches of damp and the freedom was so basic there wasn't much to go wrong

Mum and dad are on their second coachman and their first one was problematic, they only bought another one as they are the best of a bad bunch in our opinion and they wasn't impressed with anything else. 

I think bailey have the edge with their alutech now but still wouldn't buy one as don't like being the same as everyone else on site!

Just our opinion, I try not to buy anything brittish if i can help it, never had a brittish built car either,

I think you'll get the most honest answer to your question from a dealer who doesn't stock new vans of any particular make, everyone loves their van no matter what the make and sees the good points, every manufacturer can produce a turkey or two but from reading this forum for a couple of years now it seems some produce more than others.

You'll always get someone who's had damp or inferior quality finishes or various other problems in even the "best" makes.

We've had a Buccanneer, an Elddis and our current Compass (Elddis group) and fingers crossed they've all been dry, solid, vans with no bits breaking off or laminate flaking etc

If I were you I'd spend ages going around all the dealers and looking at what suits you, the caravan show is on at the NEC in October and that's a good day out, they're all new there but you'll get to see every possible layout, we went through 3 in a year to find out the layout that suited us and my one thing I couldn't do without is a decent amount of worktop space, you dont realise how valuable it is until you come to cook your first meal!

A Land Rover and a Hymer just can't be beaten. Coming back from France two years ago, we stayed on a site the night before getting the ferry, and there were no less than 8 LR/Hymer rigs!

We have just sold our TD5, and it would pull a house down.

It towed our Hymer throughout the continent, France, Germany, Holland etc, and to be honest you never ever knew there was a van on the back.

As for the Hymer van. Well, ours is a 2003, and during that time we have never had any problames with it at all, other than a couple of our own making - dropped a can on a work surface and dented it, and dinged the side with an awning pole (who hasn't)!

Like most folks, we do go and have a wander around and look at other vans, but nothing in any way can come close to the build quality and good design (IMHO) of Hymer, Yes, they are expensive, but, as with most things in life you get what you pay for. Hymer use a PUAL system in their construction, which put simply means the walls and roof are super strong (you CAN stand on a Hymer roof) and have the insulation equivalent to a 15" brick wall - cool in summer, and very warm in winter. You can live in a Hymer when the temp is minus 20 outside.

It has an on-board water tank, something UK vans are just now introducing, and a wealth of other features too, The bed is incredibly comfortable as well.

You can often see them for sale on e-bay, or in the caravan club magazine.

As for the landrover, we are getting another one!

Good luck, and if you want any other info on Hymer, then please PM me.

Quote: Originally posted by gazmister123 on 29/8/2010

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we would love a hymer susa, as much as we love the geist i still long for one, although finding a 6 berth one is difficult

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Your best bet if you did decide to search for one, would be to look on the German caravan dealers sites. Quite a number speak English, and there would be more choice there, particularly those dealers near NATO bases. If we do ever decide to change, then thats where we will be headed.

Have you looked on the Hymer website (and drooled) go for the German language one, they have a bigger range than is offered here in the UK

http://www.hymer.com/

In the new ones, the Hymer Sporting 505 is 5 berth, and the Hymer Sporting 560 is 6 berth

Thanks for that susa, if we ever change our geist it will only be either another geist or a hymer. We had thought we would buy one from germany next time as like you say the range is better, has to be a six berth. Wait till we win the lottery, I often look at caravanfdinder and ebay for hymers as I would be tempted if we found a 6 berther at the right price, not that we can afford that at the moment as we are expecting another baby in a few weeks

As many others have said German all the way!  We had an Ace until this year and we went to the NEC and fell in love with a Hobby, it is stunning, beautifully finished and everyone who steps into her is in awe.  The quality is second to none.  We had a look at geist at a dealer in Lincoln and although we liked them the dealer didn't impress us.  Hymer are lovely as are Eriba.  All German vans!

Bailey are in my mind the Ford Focus or peugeot 307 of caravanning (every other bugger has one), they do exactly what you need them to, they're fairly reliable and built for a mass market but possibly a good entry level 'van.   But personaly I prefer something a bit different and with a better finish.

Happy hunting!