Hi I'm looking for my first time purchase of a caravan. There is so much to choose from and finding it hard as I am limited to 21 feet at a push. If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated 🙂. Thank you.
A lot depends whether you are buying new or SH. Most you will see at dealers yards will have the same fixtures and fittings (all made by companies independent of the caravan maker - so common and easily obtainable.)
21 foot says you will very likely be making the bed(s) up every night.(no room for a fixed bed). So you just need to decide how you prefer it fitted out inside; where you prefer the cooker/fridge/loo etc.
I would go for an end washroom layout, as opposed to a 'telephone box' shower/loo, where everything gets wet, and theres no room for clothes etc.
As you step inside, take a deep breath through your nose. If it smells - of damp or pee (there are a good few that do), step back out again. Don't let anybody tell you 'it just wants airing', etc. Keep looking. And good luck.
firstly you need to find out the weight that your car can tow, not the length of caravan!
next you need to buy a damp meter
and then decide on your budget
you then need to go and veiw as many layouts within the weight and price range.
oh and dont forget to get your tow bar fitted on your car before you go looking!
Are you searching for a 2 or 4 berth caravan?
If you need a caravan less than 21 feet long then your best option is to look for a 2 berth as most 4 berths have the extra table which adds to the total length of the caravan. Ours is a 2 berth and the shipping length is 18 feet.
Depends what you are looking for. We have a very old caravan, 1992, and the overall (shipping) length is 19'4", body length 14'7". It is a 4 berth Elddis Wisp. Load of room as there are only the two of us. However, I think newer caravans tend to be bigger, they are certainly heavier. We could not have a larger one and keep it at home, as ours only just fits on the drive without overhanging the pavement.
This is useful web site for getting a feel of what's on the market. Set any of the filter criteria that you are fixed on, leave others blank, then see what caravans come up and judge what appeals or doesn't. https://www.caravanfinder.co.uk/caravan_search_results.html
After filtering down the options, go visit dealers and caravan shows to see the van types/layouts in the flesh, in all likelihood you'll change your mind about either what you wanted or what you didn't want after having a more hands on experience!
If buying privately pretty much accept that anything you buy is what you are stuck with no matter how rubbish it turns out to be, no legal redress on a private sale, best option is to pay £100 or so for a professional caravan engineer to do an inspection/report BEFORE purchase, and if it's bad, walk away! Dealers in the worst cases will still lie and sell rubbish, but you do have a legal comeback, and you should either get it fixed or your money back if you act quickly. But obviously best to avoid a bad van under all circumstances!
I spent a year or so pondering what I wanted for my first van (after decades of tent camping), coming to the conclusion that compact side bathrooms with shower over toilet type arrangements were really not for me as I just didn't fit in them (I'm a big bloke!) and hated idea of cleaning up water everywhere, so end bathroom with large separate shower cubical was the way to go, two berth was my original objective but I ended up with a 4 berth as the layout and space suited better.
A fair number of people buy their first van without enough thought, then regret and/or learn from their error and quickly sell it to buy another van more suited, my van was carefully chosen and 4 years on I'm still very happy with it and would happily buy it again as well suited to my needs.
Unfortunately you are buying at the near peak of the market, as in start of the new season following a dramatic rise in demand due to Covid pushing demand and prices to unprecedented levels over past couple of years, so prices are high (my van is now worth 8% MORE than I paid for it back in 2018! - and that is typical across the market). Many forecast a crash in prices once international holidays resume on their previous scale when the market will then be flooded with unwanted vans, time will tell, but a caravan is probably not a good cash investment at the present time! - that said, it will bring much joy if you take to the lifestyle and don't sell it anytime too soon, and it is a very good lifestyle IMHO.
Quote: Originally posted by Trace 66 on 19/1/2022
Thank you all for ur messages will help a lot. I was looking for a 4 birth.
You are going to struggle at 4 berth/21 foot. Is the limiter your car/weight or storage? There are very few, if any sub-21 foot caravans. As there isnt the room for the berths.
Somebody said fit a towbar before looking - absolutely no reason for this. As you will likely be looking for a while. And you wont be coming away with any purchase on the day.
If it's storage space that's the problem and youre after more comfort than a tent, have a look at some of the trailer tents such as a Camplet. Folds up small but when pitched has lots of room for a family with 2 king sized beds, a 3 burner hob, washing up bowl and cupboards. Or a folding camper like the Pennine range.
Quote: Originally posted by Trace 66 on 19/1/2022
Thank you all for ur messages will help a lot. I was looking for a 4 birth.
You are going to struggle at 4 berth/21 foot. Is the limiter your car/weight or storage? There are very few, if any sub-21 foot caravans. As there isnt the room for the berths.
Somebody said fit a towbar before looking - absolutely no reason for this. As you will likely be looking for a while. And you wont be coming away with any purchase on the day.
we have had 3 caravans all under 21 foot and all 4 berth and i see plenty more on the roads/campsites too. As for the fitting the towbar, yes that was me and our last 2 caravans where bought very quickly and unexpectedly. first one was paid for via bank transfer and collected the following morning, the second one, our current caravan, the cash was taken, along with the essentials in the car, was paid for in cash and then we took it away and used it that weekend going directly to a caravan site! yes ok its a rare thing to do tht but it does happen
Quote: Originally posted by Trace 66 on 19/1/2022
Thank you all for ur messages will help a lot. I was looking for a 4 birth.
You are going to struggle at 4 berth/21 foot. Is the limiter your car/weight or storage? There are very few, if any sub-21 foot caravans. As there isnt the room for the berths.
Somebody said fit a towbar before looking - absolutely no reason for this. As you will likely be looking for a while. And you wont be coming away with any purchase on the day.
And most 4 berth caravans are really only 2 plus 2 berths, that's 2 adult size beds and 2 undersize (and weight limited!) beds suited to no more than very young teenagers! 4 adult size/weight beds are perhaps not the norm, you need to consider how quickly any kids will outgrow undersize/weight restricted beds!
Quote: Originally posted by Trace 66 on 19/1/2022
Thank you all for ur messages will help a lot. I was looking for a 4 birth.
You are going to struggle at 4 berth/21 foot. Is the limiter your car/weight or storage? There are very few, if any sub-21 foot caravans. As there isnt the room for the berths.
That would seem to confirm what I suspected, that caravans have got bigger. As I said in my earlier post, my caravan is a 4 berth and it's under 20ft, and there were many more in that era that were.
Unless money is no object, if this is a first caravan I would recommend that you go for an older one anyway, just to try it out and see if you like caravnning. It doesn't suit all, and you will lose a lot of money if you buy a new one then find it isn't for you or that you have bought one with a layout that doesn't suit. Depreciation isn't relevant with an old caravan, and you can often sell for as much as you paid for them. With my last one I actually sold it after 4 years for more than I bought it for.
What sort of age and size are the children. There are 4 berths and 4 berths and yet more 4 berths and some will be best suited to a particular family group. More detail will help.
Quote: Originally posted by Trace 66 on 22/1/2022
Hi was looking for about 2017 nothing to old.
Children are 5 and 15. I have saw a few I like on site but have not actually viewed yet.
In that case I'm inclined to agree with others in that you may struggle. The trend has been for caravans to get bigger in this century. My caravan could easily cope with a 5 year old in the top bunk and a 15 year old in the bottom bunk, across the rear of the van. There are only two of us so there's loads of room for us and we don't use the bunks at all, just as two seats and a table.
Quote: Originally posted by Trace 66 on 19/1/2022
Thank you all for ur messages will help a lot. I was looking for a 4 birth.
You are going to struggle at 4 berth/21 foot. Is the limiter your car/weight or storage? There are very few, if any sub-21 foot caravans. As there isnt the room for the berths.
Somebody said fit a towbar before looking - absolutely no reason for this. As you will likely be looking for a while. And you wont be coming away with any purchase on the day.
we have had 3 caravans all under 21 foot and all 4 berth and i see plenty more on the roads/campsites too. As for the fitting the towbar, yes that was me and our last 2 caravans where bought very quickly and unexpectedly. first one was paid for via bank transfer and collected the following morning, the second one, our current caravan, the cash was taken, along with the essentials in the car, was paid for in cash and then we took it away and used it that weekend going directly to a caravan site! yes ok its a rare thing to do tht but it does happen
Points taken on the towbar and berths. But im guessing these caravans weren't exactly this years models. I cant see the OP toting a handbag full of £50's around on the off-chance they find one they like, if im honest.
They need to really shop around, and not buy the first thing they think will do. Though i would consider Colins thought of buying an older one, which still arent cheap just now, just to see whether caravan life is for them. I'm not sure teenagers and caravans mix, for numerous reasons.
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Topic: First time purchaser
via mobile 19/1/2022 at 2:06pm
