Why pay their markup? There are always Freedom caravans on ebay being sold by their owners. If you have a caravan to sell you would be better off selling it yourself on ebay.
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Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 05/9/2012
Why pay their markup? There are always Freedom caravans on ebay being sold by their owners. If you have a caravan to sell you would be better off selling it yourself on ebay.
Hi Tentz, I am thinking of buying one but a bit wary of ebay. I would rather pay a bit extra for peace of mind and no hassle, though I'm not ruling out ebay.
Their advert shows the caravan next to a folding caravan outside a private house. Plenty of people seem to be turning a part time coin by buying & selling caravans like Eribas & Freedoms which generally fetch good prices even when fairly old. Its only half a days work to polish up a small caravan inside & out. Buying from one of these people is no different from buying privately except that they want more money.
if you buy from the dealer you have some protection under the law.a private deal you have none.damp is a major problem with any secondhand caravan you may buy.the extra money money you pay a dealer will cover this.do not think there is a lot of freedom caravan sales outlets.is this company a true dealer for freedom caravans???
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
Unless anybody knows different, it just appears to be a private individual flogging caravans from his front garden, so not a company or a dealer. Freedom caravans are made from glassfibre & don't normally leak, they are small & basic with little to go wrong with them. Good for him because he is unlikely to sell a bad one & get any comeback. But for this reason there is little point of buying from a 'dealer'. You will save money by buying privately direct from owners as does this person.
The only proper Freedom dealers that I am aware of are Freedom Caravans at Stafford. Buying from them would give peace of mind but they do have a good mark up so wouldn't come cheap.
As Michael says, the Freedoms don't suffer from the damp problems that other marques do due to the way they are constructed.
I have a 1993 Sunseeker for sale if you are interested! It does need a few jobs doing.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
I'm sure I read somewhere that there are some pretend (inferior) Freedoms on the go, so do want to be sure what we're getting. We did visit the Stafford showroom and was very impressed with the vans, though they dont come cheap. OH loved them.
The next van we get is to be a long term van so we are looking for something a bit newer Caz and one with a toilet, but thanks anyway.
They are not pretend Freedoms, they are all made in Poland in the same factory. The are sold as Predom in Holland for example, probably lower spec than UK supplied 'vans. I'm sure plenty get imported secondhand into UK as do other makes of foreign built caravans.
Some UK supplied Freedoms have the body reversed to put the door on the UK side which makes them look rather odd imho. The 'inferior' 'rumour' comes about due to the UK fire resistant upholstery regulations. All modern European built caravans will have this to their own countries' standards but to be sold new in the UK the upholstery has to be tested in the UK, I think. It is however quite legal to use 'grey import' 'vans in the UK & ok to buy & sell them at least privately.
If this 'rumour' is being put about by the UK importers then it is much the same as the now defunct UK Eriba importers who refused to service any 'grey import' Eribas & went apoplectic at the mere mention of one.
I'm sure a new Freedom(Predom)could be sourced far cheaper outside UK but of course the warranty would only apply in the supplying country.
Tentz, that is very, very interesting info. I will look further into it. Many thanks. I was a bit wary in case there was more to it (i.e dangerous or inferior).
Hi, I bought a freedom microlite of ebay no problem.I then sold that one and bought one through caravanselecta from a private seller 170 miles away. It was a great price and UK spec (door on nearside). Just ask lots of questions i.e is the roof lining falling down,any damp etc.
Although fibre glass, these can still get damp around the window seals.
I've seen the caravans at Freedom Staffs and you are paying a lot to buy from a dealer and you can pay a LOT less buying privately.