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Much prefer our 1981 Thomson Glennevis to anything else on the market after that. The fact that it is 31 years old and is only now needing some major repair work done says it all! Completly replacing all the timber structure and Plywood at the front and doing a whole van reseal, cost of repair so far is under £200 and if you add that to the total spent on the van including purchase several years ago it is under £1400, Now had it for 5 years so just under £300 a year, a huge saving on newer models and it is built to a much higher standard, real wood used throughout and much thicker tin with a solid wooden floor! Yo can't beat the classics in my book!

Over the last year there have been 220+ Thomson Caravans sold on Ebay at an average cost of £350, Well worth the investment and I know of at least 5 people who own more than 2 Thomson's!

If you want to know about these fine Scottish made caravans visit www.thomson-caravans.co.uk!

Our Conway Countryman Folding Camper is a 1996 vintage, we bought in 1997 when the first owner thought it would be a nice retirement 'surprise' for his wife - mistake number 1, mistake number 2 was taking wife on first trip in the rain ...... she instructed him to sell it ...... he did, to us!

I have serviced it myself each year, it's got everything you would need ... except going away in the rain isn't as good as the Caravan (Sprite Major) - as you need to dry everything out at home.

We are now looking for a caravan, and have been for 5 months! We go to see old vans (which their owners love - so much so that they cannot see how bad things have really got) ...... when, sadly, really sadly, they are only any good as chicken coops.

We have looked at 2 year old vans at Dealers .... hardly any cheaper than taking the new route!

We have looked at all inbetween ...... the best option, in hindsight, was a 2002 van at a dealers ... dry, tidy and with a 12 month warranty, at £3995 (£3250 after haggling). That got sold eventually, but would have been a good starter option for us, not knowing if we wanted a fixed bed (with the awful wetroom idea) or a 2 Berth with a luxurious washroom (but the chore of making the bed up).

As I have always said ... you can have a 20 year old van which has been used 20 times ... and you could get a 2 year old van which has been used 20 times! One should cost 10 times the other ..... and the older van would make remarkable good sense.

If I've learned anything, it's that you can have great fun in anything you camp with - if the dynamics of the family group work well ......... but, a great family, in a great unit, has to be the better option of that same family group struggling in a leaking old tent?

We all love our hobby, we ignore the costs as long as they are serviceable costs, I just wish this rain would stop so that MORE people can enjoy the UK Countryside under canvas or under grp!

I bought my little Holivan nearly 2 years ago - she is now 43 years old.

OH asked the other month if I wanted to change our Toyota to a bigger tow car (maybe a 4x4) and upgrade to a bigger, posher van.

My reply - NO WAY!
I love my little caravan - she is perfect for my caravanning needs and I see no reason to change her.

Hi Denna if its 1987 its 1,400 kg MTPLM

If it's 1994 it's  1100Kg

1990 it's 950 kg  MTPLM.

Hope this helps

 xx Gill

We bought our 1991 Abi Globestar 4 years ago with a view to trying caravaning and if we liked it buying something more expensive.

 Well we loved caravaning but when we went to the dealers we found nothing in the newer caravans that could improve on our Abi. Even at that age she has a shower, cassette toilet, 4 ring oven and grill plus a super fridge and a water heater. Infact some newer vans vans had less little luxuries such as the lovely drinks cabinet with decorated perspex doors and matching engraved glasses.

So here we are 4 years later with our lovely Abi how much has she cost in maintainance over the last 4 years about £20 for new light bulbs and reflectors. Mind we have spent a forune in polish keeping her looking beautiful. We do love wandering around the dealers looking then coming home and acting smug because nothing is as lovely as what we have.

I second wish the weather would hurry up and improve.