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We have been camping for quite a few years but not the OH wants to try a TT.

Problem is, we have absolutely zero knowledge of TTs and wouldnt know where to start !

Can anyone give us any advice of what makes are good, what to look for when buying a second hand one etc?

Any little thing would be helpfull

Or I could just put the hubby on ebay? lol

Angie

I was in  the same boat. My experience of TT comes from Family holidays as a child (now 35, so legally no longer a child).

The brands to look out for are Raclet, Conway and Cabanon. After looking at ebay for a while you realise that Conway go for the most money, which is strange as Cabaonon used to supply the canvas, and conway supply to trailers to cabanon, so therefore they should be near identical in terms of quality. I think that because Conway are the market leaders in the UK, they have much greater brand awareness.

Raclet apparently make an excellent TT, and have a heavier grade of canvas.

I bought a 2003 Cabanon Galaxy from ebay for £650, at this price I could only find early to mid 1990's Conways. So far we have also bought an Electrical Hookup, Bike rack, Safe (now bolted to the floor of the TT), Fridge, 2 tables, folding work top, wardrobe, chairs and other bits and pieces. All included, I have spent just under £900

I have put the tent up in the garden and done a weekend trip this summer (wet), First major trip is to France, leaving tomorrow - Hope it all goes well

Matt

I would suggest reading your way through the TT section of the forum, as far back as you can stand to, plus read as many ebayauctions both past and present as possible. Then make a short list of what you may need for your family ie

Berth size

Ease of use (some are easier to put up than others, especially if there's only going to be one person doing it.

Where you're going to store it. (Width to get it through a gate might be crucial?)

Integral kitchen?

Going to use it just for long holidays (so happy with a one-piece integral awning) or are you going to use it for short stops as well, when it would be handy to be able to use the awning or not?

Also where are you going to dry it out? If you can't erect the whole awning plus cabin to do so, it helps to be able to take the awning off.

Extras? Bike rack, drawbar storage box and sun canopy are all possibly desirable extras, and it's more economical to buy them as part of the unit than seperately after. Ditto undertents....a good quality undertent costs £50 new, so if you know you're going to need two then look for a TT that has them.  A braked TT is a real plus, btw...not essential, but very useful.

Budget?

And how important is the appearance? Older TT's may still be very sound but they all pick up a variety of grubby marks and get sun faded, which may or may not be important to you.

Things to look out for? Rips, broken zips and mould on a TT means time and money to repair, and there are so many nice ones around it's pointless to go for a manky one. Undertents and bedroom liners cost a lot to replace so factor this into your budget if they're missing. Perished rubbers, cover shockcord and broken guylines are cheap and easy to replace on the other hand. Check the tyres and the (necessary) spare. If the electrics are broken you can use a lighting board, so don't turn down an otherwise great bargain TT just because of this. A jockey wheel assembly is desirable for manuvering it on site. A good waterproof cover is nice too, though a sheet of builders plastic will do the job too.  Do not get hung up on whether it's recently been waterproofed btw, though you do need to know if it has been and when. If it's never been proofed and does not leak then you may never need to start, wheras if it has been proofed it will need redone every five years or so.

It's a good time of year to be buying a TT btw, as prices are dropping like a stone and folk are getting rid of them rather than store them for the winter. If you're not 100% sure about whether you'll like TTing then my advice is to go for an older model in reasonable condition, try it a couple of times then decide if you want to buy a newer one with all the bells and whistles, or sell it. Older TTs do hold their value pretty well, especially if you sell it next June!

Brands to go for? Conway, Cabanon, Raclet, Trigano, CombiCamp. There are a fair few second hand SunnCamps coming on the market now but bear in mind that these were made to a budget specification and no-one is entirely sure whether they're going to stand up to long term use, whereas a well looked after Conway or Cabanon is good for 25 years plus if well looked after.

Any questions? Just ask.

..another make is the Camplet... which is stocked by Camperlands in Manchester. Details are on their website. They are excellent build quality and arguably the easiest/quickest to erect, with all the poles/canvas/kitchen etc being built-in. These TT's are certainly not the cheapest when new, but then I'm a firm believer that you get what you pay for.

 I have to admit a certain amount of bias, as I'm currently selling my 2006 Camplet Concorde on the free adverts section of this site, and on ebay. :p... so apologies for the shameless plug....

However,  there are of course many other makes as listed by Val above, but the various Camplet models are certainly worthy of consideration.

Thanks for the all the information.

Val, your knowledge never fails to impress :)

Ok where are we.... well at the weekend we are on a one way ticket to Holland so we have been looking on Marktplaats.

Brands that crop up often seem to be ...

Conway,

Jamet,

Alpenkreuzer,

Roadmaster,

Walker

Holtkamper.

Prices look very cheap and ages seem to range from early 80s.

I am not a tent snob and a little mark or fading wouldnt bother me.

Have seen a few nice ones (conway and holtkamper). Saw a Holtkamper at Beekse Bergen last week... was gorgeous !

I have never towed and swore I never would but thanks to hubby I may be doing so soon lol

Thanks again for all the input... would be lost without this forum :)

Angie