With the wealth if knowledge on here I hope you can help. For a first timer who wants his first sub 4 berth (taking wife & 2 lads 2&4 years old) that my xsara Picasso 1.6hdi 110 bhp can pull.
I'm torn between a private 2nd hand under £2k caravan or getting a dealership one 4-6k with the service and guarantee etc.
Sorry just to add, which do you think is worth it for starting out? My main concern is reliability & being new to this I'm leaning towards a few more thousand from a dealer but my wife favours taking a gamble on a private cheaper one. If my experience with 2nd hand cars is anything to go by I prefer to have somewhere I can take it back to albeit a bit more expensive purchase
Can't advise you but I was in a similar situation to you last year, young family , love camping, couldn't afford a motor home didn't want to do tenting with small children so decided to but a caravan. I already had a jeep so bought a bigger caravan. I bought a newer caravan from a dealer as I thought it would be a better van. Come the end of last season and it had major damp problems. Dealer kind of repaired it, changed the soggy wall boards gobbed up the awning rails with silicone sealant. Seems to be dry so far but in think it takes months for the damp to percolate through. I plan to seal them up properly before the end of the season.u am sure towing it will open the leaks up again.
I am looking forward to using it this year but have a sour taste left behind so to speak. It's obvious now it had a problem so will have difficulty selling it.
I saw older German caravans when I was looking which looked as modern and would probably be more resilient.
I would recommend you buy a damp tester of eBay for £5 and check your prospective buy thoroughly and don't take the word of the dealer.
Both are a gamble - one's just a dearer one! unlike cars buying from a dealer isn't a guarantee that all will be well even with a brand new van.
my advise is to take your time read through some of the threads on here to see which dealers to avoid and which models might be a better buy - do your research as to what to look for when buying a van and go armed with a damp meter and a list of what to look for.
good luck.
Just a further thought. Young boys, like mine, care not for your investment. As you will find out light weight caravans are made from thin plywood and egg boxes. Children don't appreciate the fact that a light touch and care must be taken. They also can't help fiddling with the blinds folding tables, draws etc... It would probably be less stressful for you to buy a cheaper older caravan to dip your toe into the water. Then it doesn't matter so much when your boys ( same ages as mine were when I bought my van) do some damage to it. In hindsight I think I would have bought something older and my van is 8 now years old.
Not sure what a Picasso can tow but I had a 1.6 scenic and it could only tow 1200 kg max. I towed an empty car transporter with it once and it used 1/4 tank of fuel to travel 35 miles! It didn't struggle though. But that was an empty trailer.
Hi, we started out with a cheaper van brought privately, just take someone to look at it with you damp is the only real killer. Also buying private you will very often get a lot of extras thrown in that a dealer will charge you for, and with a cheaper van you can see if you take to it without a lot of expense. Check kerbweight of car and go for a caravan with a max laden weight of 85% of car weight
We got a cheapie four years ago. Just arrived on the forecourt, took a chance because of all the pricier ones, this was the only one that didn't smell of damp.
A bit of remedial action, there was some damp in the front storage and above the front window. But she's good for a time yet.
Wish you best o luck!
------------- Peripheral people don`t have as much excitement but they sure live longer
We looked long and hard for the right private sale as we had heard so many horror stories about buying from uncaring dealerships. Eventually bought our dream van from a couple retiring due to ill health. A caravan beautifully cared for with a regular service history including damp reports and all the equipment we needed. Worth more than any 3 month warranty from a dodgy dealership and worth the wait and long search. They are out there and worth hunting down
Hi we bought private a few years ago it was a 1991 avondale mayfly got everything with it even down to fan heaters as the old couple we got it from we're giving up caravaning we didn't want to spend a lot just incase we didn't like it. Everyone loved it and we kept it 3 years never had any major problems with it at all and sold it for nearly as much as we paid for it and had some good holidays in between
£6000 is only one step above a dealers bargain basement. You will not know why the van was traded in and will not get any extras such as aquaroll, awning etc. if it goes wrong, they are unlikely to spend much putting it right.
Buying privately, you will probably get the same for a little over £400o and most likely get the extras thrown in. You also get to meet the previous owner so can gauge why they were selling it much more easily. If it goes wrong, you will have saved probably £1800 so will have that to spend on it if necessary.
Brilliant, we'll have a good look through the private sales & buy the damp detector.
Baileyjake we also have a dog too, the cheaper older option makes much more sense haha.
Thanks again, you've all swayed me to private sales :)
before you buy anything please check what you can legally tow with the car you have as well as the license you have, don't want to buy one and realise you can't pull it
------------- -x- Diane -x-
May 13 - Cala Gogo, St Cyprien (didn't go, hubby too ill to travel)
May 14 Ranc Davaine
August 14 Les Sablons
August 13 - Camping Playa Brava, Pals
From what I have read on here of people having major problems with nearly-new vans costing thousands, I am more convinced than ever that we made the right move and bought a cheapie privately. We looked at quite a few before buying. Some were rubbish, and others went out of our budget at auction. I would never under any circumstances buy a van on auction without taking a close look at it, and we didn't. The one we bought cost us £500, we have now had it a year and have had some lovely times away in it. If we had to scrap it tomorrow, we will have had our money's worth, so every year now will be a bonus.
I must be the exception to the rule. I bought mine off a small family dealership in Cambridge, and the only problem was the front locker lock, but I have overcome that with a minor adjustment. There have been no other issues with it, but it did come with all it's previous owners paperwork and it had been regularly serviced and looked after. Because I bought it in October but had no intention of suing it until the following spring, didn't bother with a 3 mth warranty but opted for something knocked off the price instead. If I was thinking of changing it I would certainly give them a look again.
I have just bought an ABI Monza 1200CT for £300 which only has a small amount of damp to one side of the door which i have now fixed the cause of. I had a look at some newer vans before buying this one and they nearly all had reasonably bad damp issues of some sort. Personally I wouldn't touch anything that was made after the very early 90's and even some of those are no go's. The main problem I find with the newer vans,other than damp, is that they are very flimsy inside and out and are not very durable so break easily. I had a 1989 ABI Marauder years ago which was a nice van but the fittings inside were so weak that I had to keep wood glue and hammer and pins in the van to do running repairs.
The older vans may not have all the mod cons but they can be made nice and things like mains electric etc can be added cheaply.
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: Old cheap private or newer guaranteed dea
