Evening all!
Not been around here in a while, been so busy with work and had loads of jobs to do on the house and our VW Lupo!
Anyway, on Thursday we left to go on our annual week away and this year decided to take our newly damp free caravan... As Seen Here!
I have been having some cylinder head issues with our SEAT Altea and I still am... Anyway, after getting stuck in traffic for 2hrs on the M6, my car decides to pack up on the M1. Literally about 3 miles before our exit. Anyway, turns out the car has done its usual and used all its water (filled it to top before we left) so topped it up checked a few other things out.
Clear the error codes and get her running again.. get to the festival we were going to only to be told we have just missed the gates shutting for the night and need to find somewhere else to stay. after a further 1hr 30 of driving around we end up in a supermarket car park for the night.
Following morning the car smoked really heavy all the way to the festival.. but all is well and we had an excellent weekend in Bedford!
This morning the car was a bugger to start and we nearly called the RAC, but she got going and we hitched up to carry onwards with our journey to Devon for the rest of the week. Only to get 2.5hrs into the journey on the M4 i get caught be a huge side wind which ripped the roof clean off my caravan and send it over 6 lanes of traffic, followed by the hard shoulder and over the barrier.
Pulled over, called the police, Highways Agency were with us in minutes, so a mad rush to get everything out of the caravan started as the heavens opened onto a HUGE down pour. (the Altea is an EXCELLENT car for storage in this situation.. an XL would have been nice though.) got everything out of the van (including the seats) into the Altea
Anyway, no one would recover us for less than £750, not even the caravan insurance co. so we were stood talking to the HA at the road side about what to do next when there is a bump opposite us going in the other direction. this started with two cars and quickly turned into a huge 10+ car smash up with cars all over both side of the motorway.
anyway, now the car and van are sat in a near by service station, think my van will be a write off but the highways agency have recovered my roof off so i have to pick it up in the morning.
So will be back off home tomorrow towing a van with no roof! Looks like the long old A-Roads home!
Good point it must have been unstable to blow off! The caaravan insurance cant have been very good not to assist you, who are you with? Sorry for all your bad luck hope things work out for yo and hope you get a new van and car!!
------------- Jan:Braids Gretna, Feb Stanwix Park Silloth & Braids Gretna,
Bloody hell Chris! That caravan has been a nightmare for you hasn't it?Please don't let it put you off, Hope your insurance stump up and you can get yourself another van.
p.s. great to hear from another young caravanner.
------------- Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
thanks for all the replies! we are with Caravan Guard for our insurance... they wanted us to arange for the van to be recovered ourselves and then claim any costs back. Problem is i just did not have the sort of cash any recovery company wanted just lying about!
The caravan is a pop up top one... After some investigation myself last night it would seem that there is a little design floor in the van where part of where the roof join the van there is a small section where "wind" would be able to pass through.. so when i got hit by the side wind, some how this must have caused something to snap and my roof popped up.. coupled with my 50mph forward speed + side wind, this must have just been though to tear it off. As we noticed last night the roof is only secured by 4 thin strips of metal on sliding bars... (will get images later).
So just getting ready now to head down to the HA depot to see what sort of condition this roof is in..
I am just glad we are all ok.. as that RTA could very easily have affected us.. I did kick myself afterwards for going in and out of the van on the hard shoulder to recover our belongings as something could have easily took us out... Dont think at the time though.
Quote: Originally posted by gazmister123 on 02/9/2009
Bloody hell Chris! That caravan has been a nightmare for you hasn't it?Please don't let it put you off, Hope your insurance stump up and you can get yourself another van.
p.s. great to hear from another young caravanner.
Yeh, it has been from start to finish! Just gutted things ended the way they did as I had only just got the van the way i wanted it after weekends of work since the early part of this year.
Initially it did put me off and i was even reluctant to tow the van to the services!
However, we have our health so at the end of the day a caravan can be replaced.. Just dont know what to look for next.. The pop-up was an excellent concept and towed so well (when the roof was attached!) but now i think i might be put off slightly.. Unless its from a brand i know (like hymer etc etc)
My cousin was telling me last night that the van is too bog for me to tow on my license anyway.. I thought it was ok as long as the total weight of my car and caravan did not exceed 3500kg and the caravan did not weigh more than the car?
Good to hear from another young caravaner too, Many others about?
Quote: Originally posted by chrisash32 on 02/9/2009
Quote: Originally posted by gazmister123 on 02/9/2009
Bloody hell Chris! That caravan has been a nightmare for you hasn't it?Please don't let it put you off, Hope your insurance stump up and you can get yourself another van.
p.s. great to hear from another young caravanner.
Yeh, it has been from start to finish! Just gutted things ended the way they did as I had only just got the van the way i wanted it after weekends of work since the early part of this year.
Initially it did put me off and i was even reluctant to tow the van to the services!
However, we have our health so at the end of the day a caravan can be replaced.. Just dont know what to look for next.. The pop-up was an excellent concept and towed so well (when the roof was attached!) but now i think i might be put off slightly.. Unless its from a brand i know (like hymer etc etc)
My cousin was telling me last night that the van is too bog for me to tow on my license anyway.. I thought it was ok as long as the total weight of my car and caravan did not exceed 3500kg and the caravan did not weigh more than the car?
Good to hear from another young caravaner too, Many others about?
Cheers Chris
Hi Chris, there are more of us than you think!
You are fine as long as the gross weight of the car and the maximum weight of the fully laden caravan combined doesn't exceed 3500kgs, Your car and caravan would be well withing this limit.
OH (she does the towing) did her B + E Test when we changed caravans and cars but then we have a huge people carrier now and a 24 foot 1500kg caravan, she was fine when we had a normal estate car and a 1100kgs caravan.
Have a look at the eriba caravans if you like the pop tops, they are made by hymer and reknown to be good solid reliable vans, they are pricey but you get what you pay for,
And I have never heard of roofs flying off.
Good luck mate and keep us updated, I am sure you'll be back on the road in no time.
Just don't get buying a twin wheeler and land cruiser til you've done your B + E test.
------------- Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
I ve had my roof lift whilst towing but noticed it very quickly . I think the problem was probably caused by myself in not checking that the roof was fully down before driving off.
I now always push up hard on the roof when it is in the down position to make sure that the catches are fully locked in. Probably could do with a better system for locking the roof down.
Sorry to hear about your accident and I hope it doesn't put you off caravanning.
Make sure you invest in a decent breakdown policy next time as well! It is a mega expensive business, when I was involved in it back in the mid nineties it was £1 a mile to be recovered plus call out charges etc.
bloody hell chris - glad to hear you're all ok - but a shame about the van. I always liked the look of the pop tops - but the low door (I'm a clumsy bugger and forever clout my head) and this story has kinda put me off.
I'll stick with a full size van for now - though I am kinda lookin for a new un rather than a 12 foot 2 berth. I like the new Sprite Musketeer 20190 layout - very nice - though I won't be able to afford one of them. I tow mine with a Seat Altea too - but the XL and yeah its got loads of space to store stuff in. Not quite as young as you (or Gaz and Nedra) but only mid 30's lol.
Hope you get sorted soon and the insurance pays out!
omg thats awful!! glad your all ok though :( we have a pop top caravan also but ours has 6 internal catches...yours might of but todays wind has been so bad :( hope you can get it sorted soon :)
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: Holiday From Hell.. Didn`t even make it!
