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Hi all, looking for some advice from the experts! I'm planning an imminent move from camping with our tent to a caravan, and some friends are selling a caravan I'm pretty interested in, at a great price... the plus points are that I know they've loved and looked after it well, it has most of the things we'd need, awning, etc... but... the layout is really not ideal for us at all, even they've said so... I'm a single mum with three kids 16, 14 & 9, no-one wants to share a double bed and their's has one double, and one single/poss. double with a small bunk above... question really is whether it's better to sacrifice layout for the security of buying from trusted friends, or whether we should look around? Our budget is between £1,500 and £2,000, not a lot but I can't spend a lot more, plus it's our first van and we may be able to upgrade in a couple of years once we're hooked  Any advice?

Thanks guys,

Heather

If the van is right for you Heather, give it some thought to put either an inner tent in the awning or buy an annex for the awning so you'll all be able to sleep without anyone sharing a nest. Our kids all argue over who is going to get the annex & who is in the van with us. The major descision is to ensure the caravan is RIGHT, once you've spent your money it'll be gone so I'd advise you make certain the van is OK & worry about the sleeping layout after. As you said yourself, you can upgrade to the one you want at a later date.

BB  

HI there, what van is it?  We compromised on our van because it was a good buy and the trade off is that neither double bed is very big so we each have to have a separate bed as I am not the smallest of peeps and OH is a sprawler.  As your kids are quite old now you could put the eldest two in the awning in an annexe or else use a pup tent so the beds needn't be too big a problem.

Personally, if I knew that the van being offered was dry without delamination etc I would carefully consider how I could make it work for me if it wasn't quite right.  Then in a year or two's time you can know what you did and didn't like and spend money on a van that is newer and the right layout.

Ali

thanks guys, good points... it's a Corniche, I think a Swift, 14/5... it comes with an awning so I could get an awning bedroom, plus my son (9) likes to sleep in his small pop-up tent anyway, which would fit in the awning... I guess I was hoping we'd be able to go away in the colder months as well, which would be trickier if we couldn't fit in the van. However I am seriously tempted to the point that we may well have to compromise on a less-than-ideal layout for the fact that it's known to be dry and cared for...

I must admit my head is spinning a little from all the time I've spent looking at caravan information online and browsing our local caravan dealers!

Heather

ps snowy I notice that you have a monty 6 too!

Hi Jo, thanks for another positive vote for the caravan; I think the annex may be the way to go... my friends actually bought one for our last trip out (a whole bunch of us camping together, tenters envying the caravanners in the wet and windy conditions!) for their daughter and a friend to sleep in, but as they are upgrading I guess they will be keeping the annex for their new caravan/awning combo... I might invest in one myself! As you say, as long as there is somewhere to sit inside when the weather is really bad, it should be ok... I don't think they'll complain about sharing the double bed if the alternative is to have the kind of nights we had last weekend in Lincolnshire!

Heather

ps Jo can I ask what kind of Abi you have? We saw an Abi Marauder today which was really appealing.

Heather

HI Tentmum, yes we have a Monty 6 and a VV 500 too.  We only bought the van recently, it is my third but OH's first foray into caravans.  It is sited so we will still use the tents elsewhere.  I love going over to France with the Monty as it is usually so warm over there it is really just to sleep in and I dn't really have any desire to drag the caravan around.

I am buying a bigger car next week and we have a Thule backbox so getting all the gear in won't be a problem in future either.  You could get a small fan heater for £9 from Argos to warm the awning up, we used one in the vango last May and it was brill, warm as anything in minutes.

Ali

Hi Snowy, yes the Monty is a great tent, and funnily enough we were looking at the VV500 at our local camping place last month, for those quick weekend getaways! I'm very tempted to keep the tent anyway, or get a smaller, easier one like the VV500 for quick trips, but am determined we'll get a caravan so we can go away in colder weather, especially on sites with no EHU, which often happens... we were all camping on the Lincolnshire showground over the bank holiday and I was so envious of my friends' caravans, they didn't have to queue for the (very basic!) lukewarm showers like us poor tenters!

Heather

Hi Jo, lucky you with the Abi Marauder, we loved that one... we went back out looking again this afternoon (following your advice floyd!) and I think we're getting a better idea all the time - Norwich Caravans (2 Sites) have been extremely helpful with no heavy sales pressure... saw another elddis cyclone xl (we like those) plus a swift anniversary with a decent layout for us. Not many came with awnings though and they seem really expensive to buy...

All a bit above our budget though and I still feel we may be better off with our friend's caravan to start with.