If youve got an old van like me dont visit the caravan retailers been down to glossop caravans and im feeling slightly fed up to say the least i went with my 5 yr old who was marching me through every van he could get in doing a really good little brittain impression "want that one" .
I get envy every so often an would love a new van, i then think of our very good friends who got a new van which has spent more time back at the dealers then they have used it. 1st service has now discovered bad damp!!! After all this they also have the £15k of finance to pay! All of a sudden my 1999 abbey vogue looks great an more to the point its dry an paid for!!
I love my old caravan even though other caravans worth 15k are so much nicer I still like mine as I have nothing to pay off, its all mine and paid for ( same as everthing else I own )
If mine leaks I just DIY it, Job done, if the kids scratch it or brake a handle, DIY it, its not the end of the world.
15k van I wouldn't let any one in it.
But that's just me.
Just remember when you sit in your van you are looking at newish vans. but when the people in those vans look out they are the ones seeing your older van so who has the best view!
On top of that I bet yours is paid for!
I've never worried about what other have got & that goes for everything, they've got to pay for it not me. I well remember being on a site in Cornwall when I'd just bought my first van. It was a Sprite 400 & I paid £300 for it. This was about 1978 & the van was old then. We only used it the once & found it was rotten with damp. I got a coach builder I knew to do a proper job & rebuild the back end of it, then sold it for the same as we paid for it.
That little van caused a good laugh the first and only time we used it. I was standing at the tap with my plastic gallon container, I got talking to this chap by me with his nice Aquarol. He made sure I knew the Wedge shape Princess with the matching new caravan was his & pointed out to me he wasn't going to pitch because they were waiting for their friends to arrive, they'd had a puncture and didn't have a spare wheel. This little merchant told me he had a spare & when I asked him why he hadn't let his friend borrow it, he said he wouldn't do that because he may need it himself. Then, he turned round and said "My word, I suppose that thing over there is habitable inside" cheeky devil was pointing at my caravan. I said, "hang on a minute mate, I'll tell you a few things about that van. It's mine, it's paid for, it is habitable & it has a spare wheel which my friend would have on his van now had he had a puncture"
Sorry to waffle on but we often talk about it & we've always called him Gunner Sugden because he looked just like the little man off It aint half hot mum when we were stood at the tap that day.
I love it, people who work hard and buy a new van fair play you desearve it, people who have a new van on finance that's up to them but ones with a new van on finance because they can't afford to buy a new one and look down at others , well , it gets up my nose.
Mine was given to me by the inlaws ive had great times in it and im going to tow it up the atlantic coast of france to spain and back. Its been stood 3yrs so ive changed the tyres and had brakes checked out strugling with the heater but found the leak is a thing called a fusible plug whi h im strugling to source locally. Im not sure if its got damp but i cant see anything. In short its a good allrounder a bit tired and faded but nearly everything works
I hate caravan snobbery. When we had our first van, a 1980s elddiss cyclone, we got looked down on and sneered at at some sites by people who had new shiny vans. The thing was we only bought a cheap starter van to see if caravanning was for us,which it was.
But I'll tell you something, as much as we love our 2004 abbey,the elddiss and other older vans have something in abundance a lot of newer vans don't. Character.
------------- Who needs travel agents,we have our static
Like BB we got our first van in 78, it was a 1962 Sprite Alpine, gas lights and a foot pump for the water. What fun we had, oh & me with two youngsters in the van and two older boys in a pup tent. Then we paid a visit to the caravan show at Earls Court. Was gobsmacked to say the least, life was never quite the same, couldn't beleive the luxury of the then modern vans. Bit different now with all the mod cons. However, had just as much pleasure out of that old Sprite as we've had out any of the vans we've had since. Doesn't matter what the age or model of van, it's the way of life that matters...........Mick
I have a brand new van because that is what we wanted, but I think an older van has a lot more personality. Our first van was 15 years old when we bought it and we kept it for 15 years. It had no mod cons, no hot water, no electricity until DH fitted it, tiny beds....but it had character. So many happy memories.
Now we are older we like our creature comforts. I've done what I can to personalise the van with accessories but actually felt more proud of the old Thomson T-Line that we nurtured and upgraded as we could afford. We did without things so that we could have new cushions and upholstery, We used an off cut of carpet and left over material for the curtains. It was our palace.
------------- Started with a motorbike and tent.......my gallery, my life.
lunarvenus its a carver cascade 2/2 ge plus gas and 240 electric. ive no idea how to put a photo on im typing like im wearing boxing gloves so don't stretch me to much
have just ordered a new van but would never look down at anyone who doesn't, we have been on the receiving end of these snobby so and so`s previously and it makes me sick, you say good morning to them and they just ignore you, they don't get a second chance with me.
So its the electric heater that don't work then, the only thing I can think of is the 240v fusible switch which has a fuse init. A normal plug type fuse. It looks like a light switch with a fuse init.
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Topic: Caravan envy
