Hi,
First post for me but no doubt I will become a regular once I have bought a van.
We are a family of 5, 2 adults, 3 children, 12,6 & 6 who have decided to buy a touring caravan.
Today I went to view an Avondale 550/6 2004 priced at £5200. All seemed good until I noticed that the strip above the front window, I assume covering the joint between the roof and front panel was lose at the very end, the screw had pulled out and the gap between the rail and van was about 10mm tapering to nothing over a length of maybe 30mm. The owner mentioned that he had cleaned the front of the van with a pressure washer last year and as a result had to have the front resealed. This rang alarm bells on what otherwise seemed an honest van, with service history, new tyres, motor mover etc.
Guess my questions are:
what would you have done?
Are the avondales any good, meant to be viewing another one tomorrow.
Any suggestions for a 6 berth single axle under £6k.
any other advice welcomed.
Thanks in anticipation.
Chris
Hi, and welcome to the forum.
Firstly, you should never was a caravan down with a pressure washer because it will likely blow out the sealant which sounds like what has happened. If the caravan has been cleaned the same way on a regular basis then it could well have a damp problem in the future.
'Avondale' caravans were once built in Atherstone, Warwickshire but went into liquidation about 5 years ago but how that affects getting spares I'm not quite sure but it's something to take into consideration. Most spares are available from camping outlets but how you would get new body panels in the event of collision maybe more difficult.
We have an avondale and we love it. Everything is available still from wheelspats, a frame farings to front and rear panels.
Check any van your looking at thoroughly regardless of make, or get a local mobile engineer to carry out a pre purchase inspection for you.
------------- LB Caravan Services
Mobile service and repairs
07902012609 / 01948662374
Thanks for the responses, we have decided against the above van and are continuing to look.
What we have found surprising and a little demoralising is the condition that dealers are prepared to display caravans for sale. Despite reassurance that the van would be cleaned and any repairs undertaken prior to collection it really puts us off. Not sure if this is common across the country but we have travelled all of south wales looking at various dealers over the past 2 days any not seen anything that I would describe as ready for sale condition. Certainly a different experience to buying a car.
The reason why the dealers don't clean the caravans prior to a sale is because of people constantly viewing the caravan otherwise it would have to be cleaned on a daily basis. They may even remove fittings such as gas cooker knobs, door and drawer handles and light fitments due to people looking for spare parts that fit their own caravan but once a sale is agreed they will normally lock up the caravan and display a 'sold' sign in the front window. They will clean the caravan externally and internally before you collect but you still have to be vigilant that all parts have been replaced even those out of sight. When we collected our caravan it was spotlessly clean but when I got back home and looked in the front gas locker I found that the gas regulator was missing. The service engineer had replaced the LPG hose (as the date on it was up to date) but the engineer obviously didn't complete the task. Also the cassette toilet tank leaked when out in it the first time and found that the vent valve had ceased up. They provided me with a new regulator and vent valve but I had to travel 16 miles to collect at my expense. So although the caravan might look in excellent condition you still have to beware of the pitfalls that you can't see, that's why it's important to ask how long the warranty is for as it can take time to detect certain faults. At the end of the day you can't really trust any salesman as they all have the same aim in business and that's to sell and make a profit. Some are more ruthless than others but that all depends on how much they value their reputation. However, just keep looking and if you do see anything particular that you like then ask on this forum first if anybody has dealt with the company in question and then judge by the feedback you receive.
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Topic: Buying advice Avondale 550/6
