I have a English friend who lives in Germany, married to a German girl. They have two children and are desperatley trying to find a British van as they are so fed up with the poor build quality and lack of comfort of German vans. He puts all the German vans into the same bracket including Hobby. Perhaps they produce vans for the English market but the Germans ones I have seen over there are very poor.
Having seen their van , I have to agree with him. Very bland, no full cooker and very small loung area. It is a Fendt.
It is a strange world isn't it? Good job we are not all the same
motley wrote 2 world wars dont mean any thing to you lot , if you read your history books , you will find we have had more wars with the French , yet that never gets mentioned , the anglo saxons came from north Germany , thats where a great deal of our language came from , also when we had the battle for independance with America , we had over 400 german mercenaries in our army , closer to home we have also had wars with Scotland and Wales and Ireland , should we not buy anything from these countries either
We were completely new to caravanning when we bought our Burstner in late 2007. Being newbies we had no inbuilt preconceptions or prejudices and soon realised, after looking at hundreds of 'vans at caravan shows and dealers, that we much preferred the looks and fittings of continental 'vans. We were planning to have a "senior gap year" touring round Europe, including some lesser-frequented countries like Romania and Bulgaria, so it was important to have a solid, reliable outfit. As it would be our home for a year we didn't want the hassle of making a bed up every night, but being used to a superking bed at home we found the fixed doubles too small. The answer was fixed twin beds, which are available in very few British caravans. We liked Hymer but they are quite pricey, so we settled for a nearly-new Burstner Belcanto 525TL and towed it happily through 15 countries without any problems. Obviously, having the door on the continental side is an advantage when towing abroad, but we've never experienced any problems in this country either. We love our Burstner and have never regretted buying it.
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
We have a Hymer Swing 490 brilliant van never had any problems with the door just pop it in back 2 front on site as its got a rear lounge any way the mover helps mind these vans arent lightweight as they have far better build quality of any of the uk vans. Ours is a 2002 and still looks fresh inside and out thanks to the styling and grey factory painted sides looks brand new! its got a microwave instead of a massive oven which is fine we dont go away to cook a sunday roast use microwave all the timemuch easier and it takes up less space i cant understand how some people would find this a disadvantage i am quite the opposite its only uk vans that spec a full size kitchen cooker ha ha, we would always go for a german or foreign vans they are miles ahead it the same as cars which would you chose a Vauxhall or an Audi , Rover or a BMW ?
Don't think so at the moment becasue of the Euro. We were hoping to buy a Geist next year but were told that they would not be manufacturing caravans for the British market - only motorhomes. Adria are still supplying though, as we already have an Adria thats what we will be getting as our next van.
Lowdhams don't appear to have any 2010 Hymers on their website. I emailed Geist for Life at Gateshead last month and they said "Geist are currently not bringing caravans into the u.k. for 2010, we still have a few new caravans for sale".
We have a German van with the door on the UK side - Knaus Starclass 470. Having had ours for 2 years we have started looking around but realise we have been spoiled with the quality/spec & will struggle to find something to replace it.
We love the Hymer Nova and visited Lowdhams but were told they are no longer stock it as the Euro means they would now be starting at £28K! The saleseman said the dealership has to place an minimum order of 250 units so will not be stocking them for now!
We've never had any trouble getting on sites with an Eriba which has the door on the offside. Occasionally we've been asked to site the van a particular way if we want to erect an awning so that fire separation distances can be maintained. The Caravan Club site in York will ask you to park nose first for this reason but the warden will give you a hand with the siting if you need it because you have to push the caravan in rather than using the car. If you have a mover it isn't a problem.
Quote: Originally posted by bnmuk on 21/2/2010
Are there any German vans still imported, i cant find any dealers who stock them
Lowdhams stock Hymer vans.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
We have a Caravelair with the door on the offside. Apart from one occasion when a Caravan Club warden insisted on me siting hitch in I have never had a problem with any site. Incidentally I was at the CC site in question only last week on my 3rd visit and I sited the "right" way round. It all depends on a couple of "jobsworth" wardens. I dont hear of UK vans having to park the "wrong" way round on the continent.
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: German Caravans
