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Just wondering what type of caravan buyer you are.  Do you buy your dream caravan with the intention of keeping it for years and years or do you trade up like a car every 2 or 3 etc years??  I know that we will only be keeping ours upto a maximum of 3 years, mainly due to the children growing and a different layout will then suit better, but does there become a point with a new van where it makes better economic sense to trade it in whilst fairly new rather than keep it.  What do you do?

globetrotter lasted 6 years  still fine when sold      echo lasted 13 years   probably outgrew it      crest lasted 7  no problems at all with it just fancied a change  still know who has it and it is proving to be a very sound van   current one 4 years and no intention of selling

but a friend used to buy for the summer hol and sell in september    

chacun a son gout

Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 02/4/2011

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Bit like asking people how much they earn, I'm guessing answer is down to folks income & their financial priorities. You cannot really compare caravan with car tho, car is essential for most folks & if you want to drive long distances reliably you need to chop it in every few yrs if you can.

Er I take offence at that Tentz - what I was asking had nothing to do with income.  It was merely a lighthearted post about people's habits.  Trust you to come along and turn it into a debate!!!

 

I can't refer to actual figures but I guess the depreciation is the highest in the early years and the longer you keep the van the lower the average annual "cost of ownership", unless of course you are unlucky and have large bills for water ingress or the like after warranty expires.

I am only on my 2nd van, first one was a 1998 Abbey that we bought to confirm turing was for us. Lovely van and only sold it as we wanted to tour all year around and so wanted better heater, internal water tanks, better insulation etc.

Intention is to keep current van for a long time. Chose a Vanmaster as have lifetime water ingress warranty as long as we keep up annual servicing and can pay for a complete "refresh" if we want to.

So far we don't have a great track record for keeping them any length of time

Had our 1st van (1999) for a year to check we liked it.  2nd Van (brand new 2009) also lasted a year altho changed for different reasons.  We intend to kep our current one for 2-3 years or when DS (15) is old enough to decide whether he wants to come with us or stay home with his big bro.  At that time we'll buy our dream van - fixed bed.

Having lost piles of money on our 2009 van I don't think we'll buy brand new again.  We'll look for one a few months old & let someone else take the hit on the VAT & initial depreciation.  Sounds quite nasty but we've had our turn...

Quote: Originally posted by FionaW1971 on 02/4/2011

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Er I take offence at that Tentz - what I was asking had nothing to do with income.  It was merely a lighthearted post about people's habits.  Trust you to come along and turn it into a debate!!!

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Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 02/4/2011

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I would say in most, but not all cases folks' caravan buying habits are directly linked to their income. I'm guessing the only ones to disagree with that statement will be the tiny % to which it does not apply.

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I'm one of those who made my purchase based on what I could afford and what met our needs.

We purchased an old caravan that was tired and damp. We have enjoyed working on the makeover, and we have experienced lots of enjoyable trips away - and there will hopefully be many more to come.

To me, long term value is more to do with the enjoyment we will get out of it, rather than any financial benefits.