Total clueless rookie here, never owned a caravan but having decided we'd like one, we've been looking at a few, around 7 years old. One we saw today was in very good condition but it had a tiny nick, only a couple on centimetres, on the outside - not a dent but a small piercing of the outer shell.
Is this an issue? Is it likely to attract water ingress? Can & should it be repaired?
We expect the odd knock & dent on a caravan of this age but were a bit concerned at this.
Caravan outer shells are very difficult to repair. If it is punctured then yes - of course water could get in and it needs to be done. Most caravans of this age have probably got the odd scar but probably not punctured.
Apart from this pease make sure there is no damp in the van. If it is a private sale don't just take the sellers word for it - go over it with a damp meter.
Quote: Originally posted by Absurdbird on 22/10/2010
Total clueless rookie here, never owned a caravan but having decided we'd like one, we've been looking at a few, around 7 years old. One we saw today was in very good condition but it had a tiny nick, only a couple on centimetres, on the outside - not a dent but a small piercing of the outer shell.
Is this an issue? Is it likely to attract water ingress? Can & should it be repaired?
We expect the odd knock & dent on a caravan of this age but were a bit concerned at this.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
That small piercing of the outer shell would have been attracting water since the day it arrived, so is a very big issue, so if this has been around for awhile you have a potentially rotten caravan in the making
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I don't know how long the puncture has been there. If we went over the van with a damp meter and it was clear, would it be ok to just repair it or do you think it would be too risky a purchase? Could it have dried out but have already started to rot?
Nobody can really answer that except to speculate that if the previous owner couldn't be bothered to repair the hole they presumabley couldn't be bothered to service & maintain the rest of the caravan either.
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Topic: Buying a used caravan
its on ebay at the moment 
