We are thinking about buying a small lightweight caravan for weekends away, or maybe longer; we being hubbie, me and 'she who must be obeyed' namely Gemma the border terrier. Our two teenagers may come along on occasions but we would either house them in the awning or separate tent at night.
The problem is that we would like to store the caravan at home under the car port, for quick getaways, but the height restriction of 230 cm and maximum width of 200 cm greatly restricts our choice of caravan.
We have seen the Freedom Microlite range and went down to Automotive Leisure yesterday to view Eribas which we liked at lot, particularly the Puck L, but not the price! Hubbie doesn't want an old one, 2000+, although I wouldn't mind an older one.
Does anyone know of any other small caravans out there in caravan land? Also any idea where to purchase a Puck L, they seem to be rather rare.
You can often find 80s Pucks in very good nick. check underside for rust free chassis tubes & solid floor. Eribas before yr 2000 are generally better built. Puck L is fairly unusual but they are late 90s onward so prices will be high. If you can find one Dutch built Kip Kompakt will be what you are looking for but don't pay inflated prices for these.
Have a look at the Trigano Silver - pic of ours in my gallery images, or the Fleurette Tamaris which is the older version of the Silvers. We started with a Fleurette & now have a 2007 Silver 310TDL with toilet, hot water & heating, fridge & 4 burner hob.
These are pop-top vans with all the mod cons you need but with the pop-top down the height is around 180cm & the width of the smaller vans (2 berth) is also 180cm. We can shoe-horn ours into our back garden, they are light to move.
We just love ours, don't know where you live, we are in west London & bought ours from here. Even if you are not near enough to visit, their website is a fund of information about these vans.
Happy to answer any othe questions.
------------- Harvey 15.8.1995 - 18.11.2010. Run free, sweet boy x
Fleetwood, the search started with a folding camper but hubbie not keen on trying to dry out the tent material; he finds this a faff when we come back from a wet weekend in the tent. Have looked at Dandy's, etc, but he is not convinced.
Tentz - I hadn't appreciated that Puck L is fairly new concept, hence a lack of them. We liked the Puck but they just felt a little too small whereas the Puck L gave us just the right amount of room (I sound like the camping version of Goldilocks ). Had a quick look at Kip Kompakt and they do look interesting - any idea of what is not an inflated price??
Angela - we have a quick peek into the Silver's when we were at the NEC. Are they fairly sturdy?
Many thanks for your replies everyone. I'm off to do some more surfing/researching.
Angela - we have a quick peek into the Silver's when we were at the NEC. Are they fairly sturdy?
The build quality of the Silvers is very good, they are made in France but they do make models with a UK spec. Our first Fleurette was a continental spec but caused no problems for us with the door on the 'wrong' side!
The pop-top is solid with opening winds along the sides - unlike the Eribas where the pop-tops are canvas sided.
We have endured awful winds with ours without problem.
------------- Harvey 15.8.1995 - 18.11.2010. Run free, sweet boy x
Quote: Originally posted by JulieEllenPB on 17/3/2013
Had a quick look at Kip Kompakt and they do look interesting - any idea of what is not an inflated price??
What I mean't..Kip Kompackt is a conventionally built caravan so there is nothing special about it & you should only pay the price of any other small caravan of similar age. Unlike Eribas which seem to fetch inflated secondhand prices due to their unconventional & good quality build method which does tend to make them last much longer.
Small pop top caravans such as Rapidos & Kip Kompakts are sometimes advertised as comparable to Eribas at similar prices but while these caravans could well suit you better than an Eriba their construction method does not give longevity of an Eriba & are more likely to suffer water ingress & other faults associated with 'conventional build' caravans.
On the other hand, Freedom Microlites are constructed from a monocoque fibreglass body so water ingress is not a problem - but the build quality of the internal fittings is not great and the older ones suffer from the lining drooping.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
Quote: Originally posted by Anglebox 66 on 17/3/2013
Angela - we have a quick peek into the Silver's when we were at the NEC. Are they fairly sturdy?
The build quality of the Silvers is very good, they are made in France but they do make models with a UK spec. Our first Fleurette was a continental spec but caused no problems for us with the door on the 'wrong' side!
The pop-top is solid with opening winds along the sides - unlike the Eribas where the pop-tops are canvas sided.
We have endured awful winds with ours without problem.
Meant to say 'windows'!
------------- Harvey 15.8.1995 - 18.11.2010. Run free, sweet boy x
We have had 2 fleurette/rapido pop tops, neither of them had any sign of damp issues. Very well built and loved them. On french toll roads they are low enough in height to pass as class 1 , the lowest price.
I've hesitated about mentioning Gobur folding caravans up till now as they hold their value like the Eribas and cheaper secondhand ones are hard to find, but they do satisfy your need for narrow and low. They are reputedly very well built.
Oops didn't meant to post two empty responses, how did that happen!!
Thanks everyone for your responses, much appreciated.
Bordercaz, hubbie likes the look of the Freedom's because he would prefer a new interior; I do think they are cute but really liked the interior set up of the Eribas . Got tickets for the Newark show at the weekend, courtesy of UK Campsite, so are taking a trip to look at them again - well hoping they will be there.
Thanks Tentz for explaining about pricing, makes sense once you spelled it out to me.
Will look some more Angela and Anne44 at the silver's; hopefully they will be at Newark too, so we can have an informed explore.
Thanks for the idea about the Gobur folding caravans evenStephen, the thing is if we had the money we would get an Eriba; I really do like them but hubbie says we do not have the budget for a newish one.
Oh well, just need to keep researching the possibilities and awaiting advice from my fellow campers/caravanners on UK Campsite - it is a wonderful website.
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: Small carvan wanted, advice please
Hubbie doesn't want an old one, 2000+, although I wouldn't mind an older one.
). Had a quick look at Kip Kompakt and they do look interesting - any idea of what is not an inflated price??
