Yes I’m a proud owner of a crappy old caravan 3 berth folding of undetermined age and make (pos Sterkeman?) it’s sound, solid and dry but could do with a repaint and the interior could do with a good revamp. However everything works it’s very easy to tow to the extent I get better fuel consumption from my 1.6 Zafira than I do when I don’t have it hitched up Umm mainly due to driving much slower lol.
Anyway where ever I go and whatever the site we always seem to be surrounded by huge shine new caravans pulled by equally shine new Chelsea tractors. Now I know other people have crappy old caravans but where are they??? Where do they go??? Is there special crappy old caravan sites??? Is there a crappy old caravan club???
Tend to agree here. mine is almost 30yr old and still Dry, Light both in aspect and weight 1200kg loaded. how many of the 20k jobs will be around to make the Hobby cheaper than a hotel ?? very few.
but many desire the image and comforts of Home. I myself enjoy getting away to escape the trimmings and trappings of Home without having to sleep and stay in a Pop up tent.
all personal choice but for me its expenditure vs chance to have many breaks. rather than two or three and then off back to work to pay for them and it.
Don,t worry about it, Ive known people with six month old vans who call them crappy!
Just think of the money that the "keep up with the jones" brigade spend on their "chelsea tractors" etc etc. You can bet that at least 80% of them are company owned cars and at least you own your outfit outright!
Although I own a 2010 van I love to see older vans on sites, after all were surely all Caravanners together enjoying our pastime.
hi paul, my van is 10 years old and i was given it foc in february this year, inside is loveley and clean has everything i need for my trips away. In the 3 months I have had i have been away 6 times, The first time I pull in to the site I saw the curtains twitch of the campers already pitched, looking to see who I was invading there world, the guys in the brand new, diamond white vans, with the satalite dishes sat proudly next to the sleek freshly pressed awnings, I can tell you, the first time i really did not want to get out of my car, and as i booked in for a late arrival and the snow had been falling i had to negotiate an uphill right hand bend. I was praying come on baby keep rolling dont get stuck in the snow keep rolling all to no avail, i was stuck!!!!!!!!! oh hell, all the caravan doors swung open and they emerged from the dark corners of the site, steadily walking towards me there footprints echoing crisply in the 6 inches of snow. I studied each one as they encircled my car and van, oh god which one was the axe murdered. how dare i disturd there peace and tranquill life. then there he was at the front of my windscreen a one eyed monster with shovel hands screaming in the dark of the night, the windscreen wiper cleared the dusts of snow of the screen to reveal not a one eyed monster but a guy with a torch on a head band with a shovel. he shouted just give me a moment son to clear this track and all the guys will get behind and push you in. soon have you set up, morale of the story we are all caravaners together just some have more money than others but freindship is not judged by the bulk of your wallet
------------- life is to short so make the most of your weekends, just hitch up and gooooooooooo
We started with a 20 year old Dandy FC, then a 30 year old folding Esterel caravan, then a 20 year old ABI and now a 12 year old Compass with a layout that suits us much better and we hope to keep it for a few years, so all ours have been 'crappy old 'vans' but we loved them all and have been sad to see each one of them leave even though they really didn't do what we needed them to.
Casper is the latest and to be honest I love personalising each one, making new covers, curtains, changing the flooring (yet to do this on this one but it will be done!) something I would be worried about doing with a new one and with 2 kids I prefer the older ones where I don't have to worry about damage too much if accidents do happen.
Be proud of your 'van, it's your very own holiday home from home.
I agree - we have an old Eldiss and with its cream and beige exterior it sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the gleaming white Pegasus's and other modern caravans. Then we come out with our non-matching camping chairs (have camped for 10 years and have allsorts of stuff accumalated) - we didn't have an awning (until yesterday - more of that to follow) and used our caravan table outside (seems to be another no-no on sites)
But hey, last year we had 8 wee trips and longer holidays away, all saved up for and paid cash, the caravan and car were saved up for and paid by cash - we have no debt which to me (after being severely bad with debt in the past) means much more to me than a gleaming white van with matching outdoor furniture.
Dont get me wrong - in an ideal world I would love a Pegasus with a Range rover to pull it but until I win the lottery it aint going to happen! I do have moments of caravan envy (and dh has severe car envy) but I always come back to the layout of our van (front singles/double with double dinette at the back) fits us perfectly.
We tend to treat it like a tin tent - don't use the water system as despite me cleaning the pipes I simply dont trust them and we just use a small jerry can for water - the shower in the loo has never been used as its an all-in-one and as I am more traditionally built (tee hee) I prefer to use the site facilities and when there arent any theres nothing you cant do with a flannel and bowl of soapy water!!!!! I boil a kettle when we do the dishes or again, use the sites sinks.
We have put sticky back plastic laminate look floor tiles down and dyed the curtains and to me it looks fab.
------------- Hols 11
Easter - East Calder
Wee break in tent - Aberfoyle
Summer - Whitby/Barnard Castle
Aug - Craigielands
my caravans old shes 31 years old and lovely. shes owers paid for clean dry comfy and we love her. we have the option later ths eyars to buy a shinny new van or keep our old girl and get her complety overhalled and we have decide to get her redone. there arnt many new 12ft vans that are as sold yet light as her. so ok she doenst have a satalit dish we dont car as we dont watch TV away and she doenst have a shower or hot runing watre. there showers on site and i have a kettle that can boil for watre. she has one of the comfyest bed I have ever sleeped on snd shes decorated just who we want her. dont ahve to wory about resale value all the time. so you may call them crappy I call ours well loved lol. let have some pic of the old girls there allway my favourit full of caricter
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------------- Dyslexic not stuped
It's nice to be important but its more important to be nice
hey fallenangel i love you old girl she looks brilliant, full of character, sounds a great idea to have a crappy caravans rogue gallery will try and get a photo of my old girl up
------------- life is to short so make the most of your weekends, just hitch up and gooooooooooo
Thanks for all the replies. I’m not overly bothered about what people think of my van but I am confused as to why I never seem to see (no matter where I stay) another crappy van like mine. Maybe I’m stopping at the wrong places or go at the wrong time it’s a puzzle. Maybe I should stay at old farm sites and pitch up next to the chicken shed where my van would blend in nicely.
Like the pictures fallenangel I have thought about painting mine somthing other than white but my painting skills are rubbish whatever colour I did it would look like a half blind monkey with his tail on fire had been let loose on it.
Good Idea hammyhar I will go and do some pics of mine
there no skill needed in painting the van just a good qulity gloss extirior paint the small sponge rollers and masking tape aslong as you mask everything of you cant go wrong
------------- Dyslexic not stuped
It's nice to be important but its more important to be nice
Can I join the crappy caravan club too? I own a 27 year old 2 berth Abbey and she is my pride and joy. Light enough to tow with a small family car but inside has ample enough space.
To be honest even if I had the money to replace her I would not. Love the fact she is green, beige and brown which stands out from the identikit new caravans. Even better is the retro pink bathroom.
I listen to people complain about faults with their brand new caravans and smile to myself that my 27 year old babe is perfect.
I was telling the Mehim Sahib about this thread [given we've had older [ or crappy ] vans most of our life. Like a poster above we tend to agree that the curtain twitchers are the ones who care about the Caravan rather than the experience. However she also said that with an older van she tends to ' explain herself ' to those she converses with. ie why we have an older van. That should be unnecessary.
We have a 1982 sprite muskateer. Just recently purchased for this season. So far we have had 3 short trips out with another one this weekend and plenty more for the rest of the season. She is our first van and is bone dry and very cosy. We have nicknamed her daisy cos she has a picture of 2 daisy's on the back. (see profile for a couple of pics) Although we will probably upgrade at the start of next season. I am so glad we bought her and will hate to see her go after this year as we have all grown fond of the old van already.
Yeah she stands out like a sore thumb against all the shiny new units but so what. We get extra stared at because its my wife who does all the towing. People just dont expect to see a female towing a van for some reason.
Some people may stand and stare but we are proud of our little van and she still has many camping days left in her yet
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Crappy Old Caravans
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