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Hi, We have been to look at caravans this weekend as we have decided after 5 yrs we like camping and caravaniing.  We have loved our folding camper and have put a scrap book together of all the places we have been to and wouldn't have even thought of going to if we didn't have it - but now it is time to sell her (we called her Dora the explorer) so we can go away in the winter months.

Anyway we have seen a Defleffs with the caravan door is on the other side and knowing that campsites like to regiment the vans with the door and awning on the right (as you look at it) does anyone know if this is a problem or found it to be a problem if you have one.  Also, the van is a bit wider, apart from the very narrow roads is there any obvious issues we are not thinking of.  It also looks good for transporting the bikes on the frame. Any pro's or cons We will be putting van in storage.  

Would like to hear your comments please being new to vans 

There are a few sites which can be a bit pedantic about the side the door is on but I am pretty sure it would not bother the majority of campsites. Most UK caravans these days are in the region of 2.3mts wide and generally that does not cause a problem. Its possible the the one you looked at is about the same as its generally only the longer Continental vans that go up to the full width mentioned by Tentz. A model number/name would be useful as it should be quite easy to establish the width short of taking a tape measure to the dealers! If it is a wider van it will also be heavier, are happy that your current car will be OK for it?

David

It is 2.5m wide. Model no: Nomad 560SB. We have a VW Tiguan Escape which can tow up to 2 .5 ton but kerbweight is only 1650 unladen but OH reckons by the time is is laden (with us in it etc) it will be 90% match.

We have a bike rack for the car so think we will probably continue to use that until we change the car for larger 4x4 in October.

Do you think the difference is too large?

I have a Burstner with the door on the "wrong side"and have never had any problems at all.

Saxo1

We had a Hymer with the door on the "wrongside" and loved it no problems at all on comercial and CC sites.  We rally a lot and 90% of the time parked out A frame in line with everyone else occasionally asked to have door on "correct" side so hd to point the A frame the other way.  Great for socialising as a previous poster said.  Our latest Hymer has the door on the "right" side - we'd change it if we could!!!

Go for it (but check your towing weights Deffletts can be heavy)

Good points raised there. A motor mover sounds a good idea - just in case, but clearly sounds that there are advantages to wrong side door - OH was put off initially by this but now it seems he only has to worry about the MTPLM.

He is thinking about the VW Amarak later in the year - but only got that far - thinking !

Guess what we will be doing mothers day!!! 

Many thanks for your replies

Quote: Originally posted by rd57chad on 11/3/2012I used to own a sprite major continental with door on the opposite side . It caused us no end of grief , the main problem was caravan club site's who would insist we unhook the caravan & push it onto the pitch nose first so the door was then on the correct side . We were told it was due to fire regulations & a set gap (27foot i think?) had to be kept between units . Also if you stopped for a break enroute to the campsite it meant you were exiting the caravan & stepping out into traffic if the layby was narrow . If you holiday abroad a lot it's not a problem but in this country it will cause problems . I wouldn't have another one , it's a shame as the foreign caravans appear to be better built than UK models !

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