We currently have our caravan for sale, I got a email this morning asking would I consider swapping my van for theirs, ours is a 2006 swift challenger 2 berth, theirs is a 2006 compass 4 berth, they want to downsize we want to upsize.
They have given me their phone number to call ( home and mobile) to have a look at ours and we look at theirs, I think the couple are legit, but I don't know anything about compass caravans , Its a compass magnum 524, I've had a look at pictures of them they seem nice.But I also think it might be to heavy.
So any advice info appreciated, I don't want to phone them yet, until I know if this van is suitable ect ect.It's easier just to talk first via email.
Thanks in advance
Donna
------------- "I'm a fool for my dogs"
Adopt a rescue, rescue dogs make great pets, don't support puppy farms.
The road can be tough and rough,but what you put in you get back 10 x more.
2006 Magnum Classic 524, This top of the range end bathroom model comes complete with a full size shower unit, Thetford swivel toilet. The spacious lounge area is warm and inviting with Truma blow air heating and Heiki Sky lights, fly screens and Blinds, There is a full equipped galley kitchen with 4 ring hob and full sized oven and fridge.
Berth: 4
Condition: New Axles: 1
Unladen Weight: 1255 kgs
Found the description above on the web from someone selling theirs. 1255kg unladen about 1450kg mtplm (you'd have to check though!).
I would think it would be worth an inspection if nothing else unless it's too heavy. We have a 1999 Compass Kensington and it's well made.
Quote: Originally posted by ela1 on 22/7/2011No harm in having a look, however I would be a tiny bit suspicious.
Good luck
Elaine
Me too, it's horrible to be suspicious of folk , but you have to now dont you , the email seemed ok.I think it might be to heavy though anyway.
------------- "I'm a fool for my dogs"
Adopt a rescue, rescue dogs make great pets, don't support puppy farms.
The road can be tough and rough,but what you put in you get back 10 x more.
Tunsrallwood , they are not far from us about an hours drive, I'm not sure if my TD4 freelander could tow it though .
Thanks for the info on it :)
------------- "I'm a fool for my dogs"
Adopt a rescue, rescue dogs make great pets, don't support puppy farms.
The road can be tough and rough,but what you put in you get back 10 x more.
We've got a 2007 Compass Magnum and love it, it's a dealer special so you've got extras added on, ours is identical inside to the Buccaneer of the same year, we regularly go nosing around dealers and in 2 years have never seen one that we'd consider swapping it for, I'm actually dreading the time we NEED to swap it because we'll never find one as nice.
Do they have your address and phone number and is your caravan stored at home? If so I would be a bit careful as they could be luring you away to take yours, though it may be perfectly legitimate.
If you know some one who is near them and can look for you that might be better first to safe you the journey if it’s not what you want.
We had a bad experience with some one wanting to do a house swap with us – it didn’t work out but then we should have realised before surveys etc that it wouldn’t work when they came to look at our and started working out how they would mange in a smaller house!
Thanks all for you advice, no I havnt given them any of my details ect, I've emailed them back with a few questions, about CRIS, weights and pictures ect.
They gave me their phone numbers said to ring them if we wanted to have a look.
I went back to bed after I got up this morning and read my emails ( school holidays woohoo) so when they get back to me I will do the weights ect.
------------- "I'm a fool for my dogs"
Adopt a rescue, rescue dogs make great pets, don't support puppy farms.
The road can be tough and rough,but what you put in you get back 10 x more.
A lot of people do that maybe they havent got the cash to buy another one.Id go check it out incase i miss a bargain.Mind check out everything incase its been stolen or their still paying for it.
I suppose it works out better in some respects, don't have to sell yours ect, just a straight swap, I'm just going to check if my car can tow it, they have given me their address and I've got the cris number to check it out, if it comes back ok, and the weights ect might be worth checking it out.It's not far away , they are going to sell it but saw my ad and thought they would see, as I stated I wanted a four berth.
------------- "I'm a fool for my dogs"
Adopt a rescue, rescue dogs make great pets, don't support puppy farms.
The road can be tough and rough,but what you put in you get back 10 x more.
Another thing in favour of theirs is like you said its a 4 berth,far easy to sell on as families would buy it quicker.I found it hard to sell one of my 2 berths as a lot of granpaws and grannies want to take the grandchildren with them.
The van we sold recently was a Mendip Magnum. It was a lovely van - good spec, comfortable etc... We only changed because we made a mistake with the layout & the 6 berth just wasn't right for us.
So long as you do a CRIS check on it it'd be worth having a look. Could save both you & the other family the hassle of selling & then buying again if you do a swap. But don't jump in because it's the easier option if the van isn't exactly what you want - you'd only regret it.
If you do the swap make sure you swap hitch locks too as the Compass has a Winterhoff stabiliser. If you have a Alko Jack you also wouldn't be able to use that on the Compass as it's a BPW chassis so you'd need to swap jacks too.
hi there,we made that mistake,make sure you have a good inspection,we swapped our tt for a bailey pagaent 89 modle,which was a great idear for us as we wanted to upgrade to a van,as newbies wasnt to sure about things at the time.the time came to go away we went to set up double bed for our daughter and me wife put her hand through the wall ???.just be sure and if in any doubt go back again and have a good check (we learned,but the hard way) kind regards.
Got all the weights ect seen pics it's fab, but it's to heavy :( such a nice couple though, I'm sure when they come to sell it it will fly .
Thanks for all your advice :)
------------- "I'm a fool for my dogs"
Adopt a rescue, rescue dogs make great pets, don't support puppy farms.
The road can be tough and rough,but what you put in you get back 10 x more.
We have a Mendip Compass Magnum 482. It's a lovely van, good spec and have had no problems with it at all. We have just completed a 3000 mile trip of Europe, the van was brilliant. Very good quality vans as far as I am concerned. I. The e d it's up to you, do you trust the guy or not??
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Topic: Swapping the van ?
