Looking to buy a caravan - advice please!

babyblooz

Hello all, we have decided we would like to buy a caravan, a touring type not a static, and one that will sleep three adults and three kids. We will be using it for the next five years or so I would imagine.

If anyone has any advice or tips about what to buy, when to buy, where to find a bargain and equally what to avoid then please feel free to comment.

We are in Yorkshire and would be looking to maybe keep it close to a nice site, maybe on a farm or somewhere, and then tow it a short distance, or perhaps keep it on a site for a year and then swap to a different site. Maybe just keep it somewhere and pick it up every weekend and sally off somewhere. We don't have room to keep it at home and dont want to really as it sort of advertises the fact that youre not home each time it dissappears.

Don't know much yet really, just overwhelmed by all the different types available, hence me coming on here for help (you lot have never failed me yet:beer:)

I havent been to any campsites either yet so if you have any recommendations that would be welcome as well. Ideally I suppose we'd like somewhere close by a beach or a nice gentle river (for paddling purposes) and with a supermarket close by for the essentials.

I dont want much do I?

emmell

Have you tried the Practical Caravan website, there is a forum on there that you can join, loads of advice on there from avid caravanners. I have a Static so not much help I'm afraid.
ML.

justevi

Probably cheaper to buy privately but first I would go around all the caravan sales places near you just to check out what is available and what suits your needs best.
An awning will double your living space and you can get inner tents for them which makes a small bedroom sectioned off from main bit. Most people have an awning so again a caravan bought privately could easily come with one.

We had a static when our children were small and then had a tourer for quite a few years but a couple of years ago we went back to a static and love it, a real home from home! I did like going different places with the tourer but was a bag of nerves towing it on the motorway LOL

TravellingAbuela

This is our first season with a touring caravan (it's 2 years old and we bought it at Goodalls - they have two branches in Yorkshire - Huddersfield and Bradford). We keep it on a farm site in North Yorkshire, near to the River Nidd and Pateley Bridge. We bought an awning which is now overflowing with stuff - ie sunbeds, recliners, book case, large fridge, small freezer, table, kids bikes and toys, etc etc!) We have no chance now of touring with the van because of everything stored in the awning!

Having said that, we are quite happy to keep it on the site and just go there to stay as and when time permits. As we are now both retired time is no problem and we can spend as much or as little time there as we want. We let our daughter and family have use of it at weekends and we go through the week when it's quiet and peaceful. With school holidays approaching that might be a different story!

We have not regretted the expense of buying the van as we just love the time we spend there. We can do whatever takes our fancy - walk along the river, into the hills and beyond or just lazing with a good book. We just wish we had done it years ago. Plus it's great for the grandchildren to be out in the fresh air all day long (weather permitting!) They love it too.

If you have any questions about the site we use (you say you are looking for one in Yorkshire) then pm me - it falls down on one spec though - it's not near a supermarket and the nearest general store is about a mile away!

babyblooz

Thanks for the advice. We are researching what kind of van we can actually buy first as we have to get the right one for the car weve just bought. I am not sure that I actually understand the towing stuff though. Our car is a toyota and it says that the maximum towing weight is 1300 kgs which means we are very limited as to what we can buy that it big enough for three adults and the three grandchildren. All three could manage in one double bed as the oldest is only 5. We might just visit Goodalls as its not too far for a visit. I expect they would give us more information and we can check that we have made the right calculations re: weight. Is there anything you wish you'd known before you bought it, I suppose I mean is there anything I should look out for?

The site you have chosen sounds idyllic. As long as there is a supermarket within a mile or so that would be fine, just dont want to have to trek ten miles to civilisation.

justevi

We actually hired a tourer from a neighbour before we actually bought our first caravan. This has actually jogged my memory a bit cos our first caravan WAS a tourer, many years ago lol. We found that we were going to the same site every time as it was far enough to travel with kids squabbling in the back of the car! That prompted us to buy a static on that site as we got the extra space. I would say consider all your options, make lists of pros and cons of a static v a tourer.
A static suited us back then and suits us now as you get to know others on site and if we want for example to go off for the day a neighbour will let our dog out for us. We also have a moderately special needs foster daughter who can go out to play on the park as others on site now know her and keep an eye out for her. The tourer suited us a few years ago as we showed dogs and toured the dog shows with it, this was between our kids growing up and them producing grandkids!
I should maybe add that I went into premature labour with my youngest while staying in our first static - but thats another story LOL

TravellingAbuela

Hi again babyblooz. We visited quite a few caravan dealers when we were searching. Every one we visited just left us to it - poking around in all the vans, lying on the beds for size, etc. There was no hard sell at all. If you have any questions they are very helpful - we were first timers like you and didn't know what to look out for at all. I was swayed by the internal furnishings!! In the end what prompted me to chose the van we did (a Bailey Ranger) was the fact it had a big window all across the front (perfect for watching all the wildlife on the site) and a fixed bed at the back so we weren't making and un-making the bed every day! A wise choice. One thing I didn't notice was the limited electric sockets in the van so if you intend to have lots of electrical equipment, maybe that's something you should look for!

A lot of the dealers are happy to take note of your exact specs and then ring you when a van to suit you comes in. Good luck!

Harveycat_2

My wife and I retire in around 4 years and we've come up with the idea of buying a tourer and going off abroad to tour the continent for a few months.

To that end I have been visiting various dealers (couple of good ones around Chorley the other day) to see what's on offer.

Just like a car they appear to lose a lot of value as soon as you 'drive off.' A van 4-5 years old is half the price of a new one. New ones appear to be in the £13k - £16k range for a four berth single axle. There are many used ones around which are spotless and very good value. Main considerations appear to be the bathroom and bedroom. Whether to go for a rear positioned bathroom or a fixed bed. I like the rear bathrooms but can't make my mind up about the fixed bed or not.

The fittings in new vans are lovely (last time I stayed in a caravan I remember having to spend the night with candles because we had no spare gas light mantles!)

New ones have all mod cons, I looked at one the other day which had a bathroom completely moulded all in one piece, the sink folded up into the wall to allow use of the toilet which I thought was a great space saving idea.

I'm 16 stone and find most of the shower cubicles tend to be 'tight' although some have a double sized floor area. Shouldn't be a problem though if you intend using the van mainly on proper sites which have good amenities these days.

I've been looking at new vans reasoning that they will be what I will be buying in four years time. The choice is amazing!

Also buying a second hand van has the advantage that you will likely get some extras thrown in such as the awning, tow bar stabaliser and the electric mover - all things you would pay extra for when buying new.

I can't wait!

mon1o

hi there!

We bought our first caravan in May from a lovely little dealership in Brighouse (near halifax) called Tourer World. I think the chap that owns it is the son of the chap who owns Goodalls. Their service was second to none. With us being new to the world of caravanning, we looked everywhere for advice - the caravan club website and also caravan and camping club website has lots of information. We store ours at a dedicated storage facility not too far from where we live and just take it out when we go away - tonight we are setting off to a site in Lancashire for the weekend, grassington at the end of july and then our big summer holiday in august (8 nights in Scotland and 4 nights in the lakes).

Have a look on ebay and visit a few dealers to see what vans are on offer for what price.

Happy hunting!
Monica

jaymac_2

take a look at the forums on www.touringandtenting.com/forums and http://www.caravantalk.org.uk. You'll get great advice there.

jenhug

also www.ukcampsite.co.uk they won't see you wrong on there!