Sorry Steve, you are being a little naive.
A lot can go wrong buying a secondhand caravan.
The OP is being rightly cautious.
I think you were just lucky.
You certainly do need to be very careful when buying a second hand caravan, however age and price don't really come into it. I have heard of caravans only a couple of years old that have had serious problems costing hundreds or even thousands to put right but I have also known cheap old caravans that have been fine. I've had two myself. My last one, a 1988 Elddis Tornado XL we bought for £500 and sold for a small profit after 4 years use. Our current one, a 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT is a lovely van. Hardly been used by the look of it. We paid £1,100 for this one and are looking forward to getting a lot more use out of it. We've had some good holidays with it since we bought it a couple of years back.
There is a certain amount of luck involved when buying any caravan it seems. Enough people on this forum have had major problems with brand new caravans to tell me that. Some of the older caravans seem to have been better made than some of the newer ones apparently. I would do a very thorough check of any caravan I bought, whether 6 months old or 25 years old. Even new ones aren't necessarily fault free. At least with an "oldie" you haven't lost umpteen thousands if it does all go pear-shaped after a few years. If it's a good one you may even get back what you paid for it.
I think you are spot on Colin, we were close to viewing one with a dealer - at the very top of our budget and when I phoned and told him how unimpressed I would be after a 3 hour drive to find it not what it seemed, he told me it had damp around the door that wasn't cost effective to repair. Sadly, I had also made arrangements to go and view a more affordable one on Ebay which sounded lovely and then I got contacted and told that someone had just used 'buy it now' to buy it without even seeing it, so caution cost me a purchase - but I'll get there eventually and I fully intend to pay for a thorough damp check on anything. I'm also, as per an earlier post, tempted to leave it until Xmas time.
Quote: Originally posted by Dave n Stell on 11/5/2019
I think you are spot on Colin, we were close to viewing one with a dealer - at the very top of our budget and when I phoned and told him how unimpressed I would be after a 3 hour drive to find it not what it seemed, he told me it had damp around the door that wasn't cost effective to repair. Sadly, I had also made arrangements to go and view a more affordable one on Ebay which sounded lovely and then I got contacted and told that someone had just used 'buy it now' to buy it without even seeing it, so caution cost me a purchase - but I'll get there eventually and I fully intend to pay for a thorough damp check on anything. I'm also, as per an earlier post, tempted to leave it until Xmas time.
Wow! someone was a lot braver than me! Buying a caravan without even seeing it is madness in my opinion. If all sellers were scrupulously honest it would be no problem, but in the real world that is far from the case. I viewed some that were described as "in excellent condition", but they were anything but! Lots of stuff broken and riddled with damp many of them.
Good luck with your search, I hope you find what you are looking for. There are some good ones out there. Just before Christmas is a good time to buy. Prices are always much higher in spring.
Quote: Originally posted by Dave n Stell on 11/5/2019
I think you are spot on Colin, we were close to viewing one with a dealer - at the very top of our budget and when I phoned and told him how unimpressed I would be after a 3 hour drive to find it not what it seemed, he told me it had damp around the door that wasn't cost effective to repair. Sadly, I had also made arrangements to go and view a more affordable one on Ebay which sounded lovely and then I got contacted and told that someone had just used 'buy it now' to buy it without even seeing it, so caution cost me a purchase - but I'll get there eventually and I fully intend to pay for a thorough damp check on anything. I'm also, as per an earlier post, tempted to leave it until Xmas time.
My wife and I looked at tens of caravans over a number of weeks. Lots were snapped up before we'd even get a chance to visit the seller.
I spent an age trawling through Facebook Marketplace, along with eBay and caravan finder. After visiting a number of dealers we were beginning to get despondent when we came across our 2003 Swift Charisma 560. The caravan was spot on and is backed by a dealer warranty against damp amongst other things.
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: Used caravan opinions please
via mobile 12/5/2019 at 9:21am
