Please be kind this is my first post!
We are hoping to get a caravan, we love camping but due to my husbands shifts he can go weeks in the summer without weekends off so we are hoping to get a van so we can go most of the year.
We have a golf estate so know we have to get a light van.
We have been looking at a few places and I love the new Sprite Musketeer TD so we went and had a chat with the dealer about what we would need cost of things ect and I asked if they could offer discounts on awnings ect all he offered 10% off things from the shop, less battery, the wheel lock things (sorry not very tech) and TVs, so the cheeper stuff and I know I can get a lot of it from Go Outdoors.
Is this normal or can I expect to get a good deal this time of year?
Also can you recommend light vans for me please. We need a at least a 4 birth.
I think we will end up getting a used van due to cost and wanting to make sure we are happy caravanning, but I have a few reservations as I wouldn't buy a used mattress or sofa so any advice to over come this would help my pocket.
Thank you.
What Golf Estate? Model...engine size..deisel or petrol...kerbweight?
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
The thing is that the ability of the towing vehicle is the most important aspect in giving you the correct advice. Without knowing all that we cannot give you our opinion.
Without knowing how heavy your car is or what the engine is capable of we could finish up advising you to buy a certain model of caravan that would be too heavy. This would result in you having a poor towing experience which in circumstances would be dangerous both to you and your fellow road users.the egiv
------------- How come when some people visit the fountain of knowledge, they only gargle!!!
The dealer with the Sprite Musketeer TD was doing you no favours, considering you have no Part exchange.New or second hand you want to Negotiate a BIG discount off the caravan you find, AND most dealers especialy for a new caravan will throw all the 'start up pack' in with the price,If he does not find another dealer!
Yes the Sprite might be a good choice especialy for weight but there are other light weight caravans,Bailey have a good range of 4 berths as a starter.
As I have said in other posts,as a first time buyer Negotiate, Negotiate, on the price of the caravan you find, Its your Money!
Given your car, you do need to be looking for lightweight. Vans from the early 90's fit this criteria better than the newer ones. Yes, they are old, but there are still some good ones around and they are a lot cheaper than a newer one. Also, if you get a used one, you have a decent chance of getting one with all the "extras" incluyded in the asking price if you get one privately rather than through a dealer.
We have a Golf estate 08 1.9 TDI with CC 1893 (I think thats what my husband said)
Well since putting this post this afternoon we have brought a Bailey Ranger 500/5 08 so this is within our weight.
It was up for sale for £9750 and for 10k we will be getting the van a sun camp awning with all the fixing things, with a starter kit with all the bits we need less the wheel lock and Gas bottle - we already have one from camping.
Im so excited we will be having our first outing in Oct half term so this will give us plenty of time to practice loading ect.
Now I need to find insurance and what other safety things can you recommend?
We keep one of our caravans South for when we tour Wales and visit our son & family AND saves hotel bills! but we also have another caravan here up north as we tour Scotland,Cumbria and Northumberland a lot.
When we insured our second caravan in June we got a few surprises, we have our Bailey Ranger GT60 520-4 caravan which we keep up North and is insured with the Caravan Club Insurance, BUT, as all other things we shopped around, On our South caravan a Bailey Pageant Burgundy valued at £10.000 we saved £128.00 against a quote from the CC Insurance on not only a 'like for like' basis but in parts a better Insurance from where we purchased the caravan from at Discovery Leisures own Insurance companyhttp://www.caravaninsurance.co.uk/
So shop around and negotiate hard for everything (its your money), by the way we have nothing whatsoever to do with Discovery Leisure we just happen to have purchased two caravans from them this year and so far we are happy with the service.
Some people swear by weighing everything before putting it in the van. We shoved everything in and then tootled off to the weighbridge to check we were under MTPLM (we were, by a long chalk). The advantage of weighing everything as you put it in and logging it on the spreadsheet is you then have a complete inventory, so if your van is nicked you just print it off and say "That's what was inside, officer". (I have yet to convince OH of the value of this, can you tell?)
We have the Milenco noseweight gauge, it's great. Some people swear by the bathroom scales and broomstick thing, but I've never been able to get the hang of it!
I dont think my bathroom scales are that good as they seem to weight me about 2 stone more than I am.
I hadnt thought about using the spreadsheet for that reason. Thank you yet another tip.
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: Newbie questions, sorry.
