I have a lovely 1997 trailer tent which has served us well for 3 years now, but I am getting longings to upgrade to a caravan.
The thing is I have been looking on ebay and it seems that I can buy a pre 1990 caravan for less then £500 but once its newer than that it jumps to at least £1,000 and again to £1,500 for a mid 90's van.
I can manage the £500 now for this season but if I wait until next season I will have saved somewhere between the £1,000 and £1,500.
I realise that even this amount of my hard earnt and saved cash will not buy me much. I keep looking around and have figured that I am not bothered too much about showers and hot water etc. but would really love a 4 berth and awning with cooker and fridge which is fairly nice and tidy.
I dont know whether to bite the bullet and hope I am lucky with my £500 and make the most of the rest of this season or if I would really get more for my money waiting. I have seen a 80s style Sprite Alpine 4 berth. Its apparently renovated and good condition for £185.00 is it too good to be true? I dont know whether to view?
Am I opening a whole can of worms...? would I be better keeping the TT (old but waterproof!!) and holding on for another couple of years until I have saved a decent amount of money for something much newer??
Have a look at the sprite - talk to the owner, he should be very talkative about the renovation - poke and prod if you haven't got a damp meter. Just remember that a van costing £1500 is just as likely to suffer from damp as one costing £185 so it's always a case of what you can do to rectify or repair it yourself
------------- Caravanning is a way of getting a cheap holiday out of an expensive hobby
A few years ago we bought a 1984 Sprite Musketeer with awning for £550. It was very basic but sound and we put a new carpet in and I made new curtains and put some throws over the seats. My husband resealed the outside and undersealed it and off we went. The amount of people who saw it couldnt believe we had only paid that much for it. Sprites can be picked up cheaply, are a good basic van and importantly light to tow. We sold it this year to a family who had seen some awful vans. They were really pleased with it and couldnt wait to go on hols. I think they will enjoy it as much as we did. Also the insurance was cheap too, only £46 p.a
Don't jump in too quickly and buy one at £500 because its cheap. It may cost a lot more to put right than buying a sound van at £1500. Have a good look and get a caravan engineer to have a good look at it. His fees can be money well spent.
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
If it was me I would be inclined to buy the caravan at £185 as long as it seems in reasonable condition and hang on to the tt. That way you can try it out for the rest of the season but still keep your options open - if you do decide you like it, you can keep the one you've got or sell it and the tt next year to go towards the cost of a newer one.
If you can get someone who knows what they're doing to come with you (unless you know enough yourself) you've nothing to lose in viewing the van. You never know, it may just be the bargain of the century!
Otherwise it may be worth considering keeping your TT til the end of next season & buying a van with what you've saved by then - gives you more time to save & they're always cheaper at the end of the season.
My sister just bought a pagent magenta 2 berth for £495 it's as dry as a bone, they had looked at many vans up to £1,250 ( their budget) they looked at one for £1,100 and it was rotten, so the amount of £'s you have dosnt mean anything, if you look around you can find a good one that's been well cared for just cos a van is expensive dosnt mean it's better , when we were looking to upgrade we found many vans that were only 5 to 7 years old that had damp, and some were really bad.
The first van I ever brought cost me around £1400 the previous owner did a good job in hiding the fact it was a dog. Soon as I got it home leaks & damp appeared just about everywhere. The one I have now cost me £300 & it's bone dry. Ok it's a lot older than my first van & more basic. But to be honest I don't really miss all of its mod cons. It could be worth a look at the Sprite as said have a good prod about inside check that everything works etc. You never know it could be a bargain.
Er, Yes. I broke all the rules. A couple of months ago we decided to sell our 1998 Trigano Chantilly TT and get a caravan. So we started to watch a few on ebay whilst watching our TT getting bid on. Got a decent price, saw a bloomin' great early nineties Bailey Senator 7000 that was only eight miles away, went to see it, liked it, bid and bought it for £1600. No damp meter, no engineer check, nowt. It was the first van we'd looked at. Fortunately everything is fine - it's as dry as a bone, clean as a whistle and sound as a bell and includes just about everything - aquaroll etc, and even has two virtually brand new awnings - one full length and one porch size. Sometimes it pays to live dangerously!
------------- Rise Above The Lemming-Hearted Hordes
Our first caravan was a sprite major, we paid £300 for her. We kitted it out with new carpet and curtains and had several holidays in her and really enjoyed it. We then sold on for £750 and bought a swift alouette. We did this a few more times until we bought our dream van Abi northstar for £4,700. So if the van is dry and you would like a more modern van in the future, perhaps buy now and spend a little then sell on for hopefully a profit and work your way up to the van you want!
My caravan is a 1989 Mardon Meridian and we paid £700, it came complete with everything we needed. There was a minor bit of damp in the bathroom, which we were aware of when we bought it, but it was soon put right. Other than that it just looked a bit dated so I re-covered the pelmets and backrests, made curtains, cushion covers, blind for the bathroom, door window curtain, four pairs of awning curtains and double duvet cover all out of the same sunny yellow material, fitted a new carpet all through and put down contrasting rugs. We also smartened up the outside with a coat of paint and it made such a difference. Ok, it's not as up-to-date as most 'vans but it's my little 'home' and I love it!
------------- Tigermouse
I have a very temperamental personality - 50% temper and 50% mental
I was GOING to say that I'd wait until next year as there's not much left of the summer now but it'd be a big lie, I am ridiculously impulsive and once I've decided I want something then that's it.
In fact it's how we ended up with our first van 3 years ago, I went to a dealers with my parents who were looking for one, came home, looked on eBay and hey presto the following day I had spent all of my £1k savings and was the proud owner of a 1991 Buccaneer, it was an absolute bargain, the upholstery & interior was like new, the owner had looked after it so well, kept it undercover and threw everything in right down to the teaspoons.
However 2 years on we are on our 3rd van, lol, I only went looking for windbreaks last time.
If you do buy the £500 van and it's sound you'll probably be able to sell it next year without losing any, you should also try and budget a couple of hundred for bits & bobs you'll want for it, it's amazing how much stuff you need for them once you are using them.
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: trading from tt to cheap old caravan
