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Well, we've sold our spare car and now can start to look for our first van. It's all very exciting! Have had a look at the ads on this site and have noted several obvious scammers, can I report these?

(One chap in "London" selling a 2000 LunarSolar Eclipse for £2600, well under price. Ad only has some spiel from the brochure, nothing about condition. I sent him a lengthy email last night asking for details on condition, location, what was included etc etc. Got a standardised email back this morning saying that he's in Newcastle having just had his leg off, that the caravan is being sold for charity and that no-one who wants to pay with credit or a loan is allowed to buy it. Oh, and that he wants to use some odd company to handle the finance that I've never heard of. *Rolls eyes* And if I send him my credit card details he'll send me $20 million from his Auntie in Nigeria, no doubt)

Do I need to watch out for scammers on here? And elsewhere, obviously? I've read the secondhand buyers guide, so can get looking.

If anyone knows of a decent mid-late nineties 5 berth going for about £3K (our max) in the Midlands/East Anglia/North of the M25-South of Manchester area, do yell. Would like extra bits and bobs like aquaroll/wastemaster and pref an awning if possible, as we're newbie caravanners, but have all camping bits and bobs. Paying cash. Towing with a 2 litre turbo diesel Rover 75 Club Tourer Auto.

Thanks! 

Try http://www.caravanfinder.co.uk/caravan_5berth.html

Loads here

Hi , wev'e just bought a van on Ebay ( we pick up at the weekend ) wev'e seen lots of pics and had a good chat with the seller a few times and asked as many questions as we can via email ( and kept the details ) so if anything he says isn't right we still have comeback from ebay and won't pay , we hope all is good though as it will be a round trip of about 300 miles lol , we are essex based  , we went all the way to wilts a few weeks back to view a van from elswhere and it was def damp ( a damp meter doesn't alway  tell the truth on older vans at this time of year though ) as you will often get a slight reading because of weather /storage etc which will be fine once it's all aired , but spongey or soft walls/floors/stains  isn't good , as can  wrinkled wallcoverings etc which could mean it just hasn't come through yet , especially look under bedboxes etc and backs and ends of cushions , and use your nose , damp will smell exactly that ( so beware a van full of air fresheners ) and always get there accidently on purpose half an hour early for viewings , just incase fires are being put on or windows opened to let out smells ( and have a good gentle prod of any thing you are concerned about ) good luck in your search , will let you know how we get on .

Quote: Originally posted by fredsdogs on 19/1/2011

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Hi , wev'e just bought a van on Ebay ( we pick up at the weekend ) wev'e seen lots of pics and had a good chat with the seller a few times and asked as many questions as we can via email ( and kept the details ) so if anything he says isn't right we still have comeback from ebay and won't pay , we hope all is good though as it will be a round trip of about 300 miles lol , we are essex based  , we went all the way to wilts a few weeks back to view a van from elswhere and it was def damp ( a damp meter doesn't alway  tell the truth on older vans at this time of year though ) as you will often get a slight reading because of weather /storage etc which will be fine once it's all aired , but spongey or soft walls/floors/stains  isn't good , as can  wrinkled wallcoverings etc which could mean it just hasn't come through yet , especially look under bedboxes etc and backs and ends of cushions , and use your nose , damp will smell exactly that ( so beware a van full of air fresheners ) and always get there accidently on purpose half an hour early for viewings , just incase fires are being put on or windows opened to let out smells ( and have a good gentle prod of any thing you are concerned about ) good luck in your search , will let you know how we get on .

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Good luck!

We bought ours on ebay from a couple in yorkshire, I had been reading this and other forums for quite some time trying to get myself up to speed on what is and is'nt a good buy, however looking back I think we were very lucky that we ended up with a very good van albeit without as promised a carpet/groundsheet for the awning, my advice to any would be purchaser is to take somebody with you that knows their way around caravans or get it surveyed,it will cost £150.00 and could save thousands of pounds and a lot of heartache, if its a genuine van people dont mind questions and they dont mind a survey

Stew   Ps should of course have said check the Cris register

look here

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/forsale/ads.asp?c=Caravans

or

www.caravanfinder.co.uk

Thanks. There doesn't really seem to be a lot out there local to me at the moment. My inlaws are going to look at one at the weekend that's near to where they live, but to do a 200 mile round trip to view a van that might be rubbish is costly in fuel and time when we both work shifts and rarely have time off together as it is!

There's no rush, fortunately, as we don't need it until the summer but am excited at the prospect to want to find a van NOW!