Hi me and my family are looking to upgrade our caravan, we purchased a caravan 3 years ago after camping for many years we have decided to upgrade it but am a little worried about buying a lemon we are looking to spend around 8k on a 4 berth fixed bed something like a abbey vogue 470 but I am wondering if we are doing the right thing, been reading on the net about wall construction and the wood getting damp compared to newer caravans that no longer use it in there construction and am wondering if it would be worth spending more on a newer caravan.
your thoughts please?
Hi
I think you will find that both new and old can and do suffer from damp. A newer van wall don't use wood, but the water seeps down and leaves a puddle on the floor.
The floor is still made of wood, so damp can still be a factor.
We have an 2008 Indiana great van and last year found 30% damp where the front roof strip joined the side. Took off all awning rails and resealed.
Since Jan this year, it is now back down to 13% and wood never went pappy, lucky we caught it, and just goes to show how important a service is.
We just upgraded to a S1 2012 Barcelona 7k px, Front lockers 60% damp, and 23% to 30% under front draws inside, so seeping back.
Also the paint on the roof was peeling, (you dont take ladders with you to check a roof)so it went back.
Also the last owner let the Bailey warranty slip, so no way was i keeping it.
We have now gone to a 2013 S2 Barcelona 7.5k px, and fingers crossed all is well.
Full service on time, so warranty can be transfered to Bailey.
All this within 4 weeks lol!!!!
So take a damp meter, and don't be to worried, about using it. I did not take one , but once home checked it out and found out the hard way.
We were looking to get a brand new caravan about 2 years ago.
We went to some caravan shows and local showrooms to have a look and see what was on offer. Quality was an issue with most across all makes based on what we saw.
We have had several used and 3 brand new caravans over 40+ years and only had problems with one, which was one of the new vans.
To be honest having read several posts on this and other forums about todays new caravans leaking and other faults, we had second thoughts about buying new.
Our present Swift caravan has no issues and dry as a bone and has everything we need, we are the second owner.
We just wanted a different layout to include a fixed bed.
We have put our plans for a new caravan on hold as we are selling and downsizing our house early next year and will make a decision after that.
It will probably be a 1 or 2 year old and will pay a professional to check it out, I have always checked previous vans out myself using damp meter etc but too risky nowadays IMO.
I know there are lots of new vans that do not leak but some do and the owners do not always get the end result they would like, I don't want to be one.
So I am not prepared to spend £20 - £25k of my savings on a potential problem caravan, my money my choice!
edit: all the used vans were bought privately and checked by myself and had no issues with any of them!
I would advise newbies to get potential buys checked professionally.
Post last edited on 25/09/2016 21:00:08
------------- It is a wise man who has something to say.
It is a fool who has to say something.
To repeat my previous posts on buying a van i would always...always ...get a mobile engineer to give it the once over before i part with any cash..decide on the layout/model you like and then get a competent mobile man to have a look
Newness and construction method are not guarantees of freedom from damp. As suggested have any proposed purchase checked out by a mobile engineer, preferably one who is AWS registered. The cost of this is insignificant in relation to the cost of having damp corrected.
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Topic: Time for a upgrade
