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Hi

Due to OH's health we are having to go from our beloved tent to a caravan. We have had them in the past on seasonal pitches, but a long time ago.

I was wondering how to get an idea if a price is fair? If it were a car we'd look in Glass's guides or Parkers - is there such a thing for caravans?

We've been looking at a two berth Elddis Wisp 400/2, 1993 at a dealers which is priced at £2995 - with a 12 month warranty. Is this a decent price?

Thanks in advance.

ive just paid 3500 for the same van been well looked after

brought from a dealer expect to pay a bit over top but was serviced the day i picked it up ( 11/09/09 ) new batt waste water fresh water tanks new hock up lead

so im saying have it checked and if you like it bhy it

a lot of people want this size van thay will get dearer  and thay are very light

regards

mark

Thanks Mark.

This has all the original receipts and manuals, and looks well looked after.
That and a 12 month warranty are kind of swinging it for me.

There is a temendous shortage of 2nd hand vans at the moment. Our local dealer would normally have 30 or 40 2nd hand vans for sale, now they are lucky to have 2. This seems to be pushing prices sky high. Seems to be everyone staying in Britain for their holidays this year, and wanting a caravan holiday.

The same is happening with 2nd hand cars, probably caused by the scrappage scheme taking many off the road and the reduction in new sales reducing the number of trade-ins.

As its the end of the season, I wonder if its a good time to buy. £2995 for a 16 year old 2 berth sounds an awful lot of money compared to what it would have been a couple of years ago, when it would probably have been £1200 or so. 2 berths are normally considerably cheaper than family 4/5 berths.

I wish I knew what will happen in the future.

Martins of Exeter had more empty space than motorhomes/caravans a couple of weekends ago.

Ali

Hi Gail, best thing to do is have a look  on eBay, not necessarily to buy but to form an opinion on the layout you might prefer and the prices of private sales.

If there's any vans advertised in your area go and have a look as the van you are looking at sounds a bit on the expensive side to me. Sometimes its worth investing in a damp meter, forgeting about a dealers warranty and pounding the streets to find a bargain.The best time to purchase is definitely in low season, end of October to February.

 An example of this would be the fact that I bought a 1998 caravan 4 years ago through a private sale for £4,000, there are dealers selling the same model  for the same price at this very moment. Hope this helps.

Ricpop,

Ive just been on the Chchester site.

No wonder their forecourt is full. Trying to get £4500 for a 13yr old Lunar its no surprise they can't sell 'em

We went to trade our Abbey Aventura 330 6 berth 2005 in for a new van, and they only offered us £6000 we have only had it a year from the same dealer we were surprised how low this was, we were expecting at least  £6.500 

going to put it on ebay for sale or swop for 4 or 5 berth, before accepting this !. 

Thanks for all the advice.

I think we've decided that as we're not going to get much use of it this year, we'll get one early next year, rather than now.

Now, another question if I may...when do the new model caravans come out? Is it like cars, where there are a lot of trade ins as soon as the new ones are released?

Cheers