thanks for all the replies so far. its gave me something to go on, we are in no real rush to get a van so will have a look at some of the models mentioned and see what they are like.
just looking on towcar.com and trying different weight combinations to get an idea of what weight of van i should be looking at, where it says user payload for the van it defaults to 250kg, is that a realistic average?
I put as much the car as possible rather than the van (not sure oif this is the right thing to do) and with space being tight perhaps a roof rack/box might be an investment. 50% off them right now at halfords!
just another quick question where it states a gross weight for the van does this mean the weight of the van plus the maximum payload? there is a esprit flair on ebay with a gross weight of 900kg
You have to count all the peoples weights also. As this very question on weights has come up many times. By many people.inc. As it can be baffling. But told your car has a maximum weight to so with your passengers and all the weight you intend putting inside it. Will it not be an overloaded car weight ratio.Learnt that new on this site also. As we thought as long as it is not in the c.van it is okay. Nope it is not okay was the vitrual answer back. So be cautious there and check you car manual.
I got an Abi Marauder 450s1989 model three years ago off eBay for £330. Absolute brill van. Can weigh 900 kgs max. I tow with a rover 620, with no probs. I bid for her at this time of year when there was.little or no interest in caravans.
we got our caravan from ebay about 10 weeks ago (before I joined this forum). I've now learn't the hard way, as being totally naive to caravanning, we paid out £1800 for a seemingly dry, well looked after caravan!
that was until we had a service engineer out to service our pride and joy!!!... turns out the van itself is as dry as can be and in really good condition for a 1998 van..he said so to us!.....that is except, that a previous owner had resin bonded the WHOLE floor and it is now causing issues with the chassis, and from what the service man said, it will come apart at some point (and he said the previous owners sold us it in that knowledge, as he found wooden chocks underneath to hide the issue! )
So a lesson learnt in buying a second hand caravan....book an engineer to give it the once over BEFORE parting with any cash!!!
Quote: Originally posted by clf86ha on 10/11/2011
we got our caravan from ebay about 10 weeks ago (before I joined this forum). I've now learn't the hard way, as being totally naive to caravanning, we paid out £1800 for a seemingly dry, well looked after caravan!
that was until we had a service engineer out to service our pride and joy!!!... turns out the van itself is as dry as can be and in really good condition for a 1998 van..he said so to us!.....that is except, that a previous owner had resin bonded the WHOLE floor and it is now causing issues with the chassis, and from what the service man said, it will come apart at some point (and he said the previous owners sold us it in that knowledge, as he found wooden chocks underneath to hide the issue! )
So a lesson learnt in buying a second hand caravan....book an engineer to give it the once over BEFORE parting with any cash!!!
I'd hate someone else to go through what we have
Touche I am on page one. So us to were caught before we joined and Oh! what a lot we have learnt. What to look for, and not be caught again. Have you looked at what some of the members have done themselves. If your able to , you may save yourself alot . ask on site here see if there is something you can do.
Look under "all forums" for caravan 'repairs' in the middle of towing repairs etc. Cursor on repairs ,click will bring you onto a page that has "fix it club members" by papa pip. have a look and see if any can help you.
Hi Beanpark, I'll have a nosey, but to be honest, I don't really know what I'm discussing, to be able to ask for a solution , its been a steep 10 week learning curve so far. But the engineer rang the chassis manufacturers when he was here and had a 45 minute discussion with them...the upshot being, it's not fixable
we have a swift classic corvette 4 berth mid bathroom so kids can sleep one end etc circa 1100kgs really good van. Ours is 1998 worth £3500 if I'm lucky but won't sell for another year poss. would def recommend
Quote: Originally posted by clf86ha on 11/11/2011
Hi Beanpark, I'll have a nosey, but to be honest, I don't really know what I'm discussing, to be able to ask for a solution , its been a steep 10 week learning curve so far. But the engineer rang the chassis manufacturers when he was here and had a 45 minute discussion with them...the upshot being, it's not fixable
That is when it hurts.The engineer we had thank goodness told us upfront & truthfully that "he could fix the rear suspension but it would probably cose about £1000+ but then he added as the year of the c.van was 1992 would it be worth it as more things could go wrong." Then he finds all the damp in the back of the cupbord in the end bathroom. The whole lot was coming away from the outer wall. So that could be done by us,and willing to have a go also.Checking on the "Fix it memebers & their photo's etc. But not the suspension, we could not possibly of done that ourselves. Good money after bad we were not willing to do knowingly.
We have pushed onward after that. Amazing out son ,as he was there at the time. But when he did not see an explosion of anger, but parents that went forward as they knew they could do nothing about it, It stuck in his mind, as he would of blown his top and carried on for months going more backward than forward. So 3 days later we went on our 9 week hols in the Pennine fc Fiesta we bought the same day as that had all happened. This time, he was there to get underneath, inside, outside. he most certainly made sure this was sound in all ways before his parents bought it.We are tweaking bits & pieces to suit ourselves. Getting info from this site by members more experienced that we are in particular things.Different opinions from different experiences. Can't be bad can it?
Well we originally bought a caravan to test if we liked it.....mission accomplished!, with the plan of upgrading later, so really, thats still going to plan. We may not be able to fix the van we've got, but it's still usable for the time being...although, we'll have the issue of what to do with it when its lifes over....do caravans go to scrapyards???? .....got my eye on the sterling eccles ruby for when we do change vans
Quote: Originally posted by clf86ha on 11/11/2011
Well we originally bought a caravan to test if we liked it.....mission accomplished!, with the plan of upgrading later, so really, thats still going to plan. We may not be able to fix the van we've got, but it's still usable for the time being...although, we'll have the issue of what to do with it when its lifes over....do caravans go to scrapyards???? .....got my eye on the sterling eccles ruby for when we do change vans
Our son looked into the yellow pages for a scrap merchant that buys things an asked him if he would take a caravan and would he give what its wort or something to that effect. We got £75 for the one we had as there was soem good gear inside he could salvage, Long cushions, windows, etc if I had somewhere to store it at home we would of sold it for salvage on ebay. Buyer collects mentioning all the salvage bits that was good. The windows & surrounds we worth some to a person who has the same model van. there was plenty of salvage in it. But it had to be off of where it was so we had no chance to do that.Could you? so that you maybe could get something rather than nothing at all. it can soften the blow
Quote: Originally posted by belfast77 on 07/11/2011
I have had two Abi Maruaders, brilliant vans, I love them.The plain cream vans are a little more expensive than the two tone ones but the two tone van have a better interior in my opinion. You should be able to pick up a 1992/95 400D or a 500et with full awning and extras for £1000/£2500 depending on condition and time of year.
In reasonable condition and at this time of year I'd be looking to spend £1000.
Agreed !!!We had a 4 berth marauder (2 tone ) for years.Brilliant van.Light,easy tow,warm dry and comfy.
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Topic: Light weight 4 berth van recommendations
(and he said the previous owners sold us it in that knowledge, as he found wooden chocks underneath to hide the issue! 
)
, its been a steep 10 week learning curve so far. But the engineer rang the chassis manufacturers when he was here and had a 45 minute discussion with them...the upshot being, it's not fixable 
