If I were you I would steer clear of Bailey as we have one with cracked body panels and nearly all of the vans in the dealers are cracked too but the van like ours still sell for £10,000
You can't PM on here - unless something has changed without me noticing! You need to establish the sort of layout you want, how many berths you need and what equipment you want on it or to come with it. Our caravan is great for our family of 4 (children now 4 & 7) and we have never once regretted the layout we have - I don't think its lost much value since we bought it so you should get it at around or just under the 11k mark. Ours had mover, gas bottle, battery and full awning included.
Whatever you get I'd recommend that you go on MCEA website and get a caravan engineer to accompany you to view the caravan and check it all over for you.
We recently bought a 20 month 2010 Bailey Ranger 500/5 for well under your 11k budget. It came with a mover, full and porch awnings, gas, aquaroll, wastemaster etc. We found it on the Caravan Club Classifieds and preloved is also a good place to look. I think the CC classifieds is a great site, I checked it daily til I spotted the Ranger. It hasnt got all the bits we want (door flyscreen, extra spotlights in rear dinette, external power point and some extra internal sockets) but our local Bailey dealer is fitting all these for us and we still feel happy to do this as we got the van for such a great price.
Fiona is right you need to decide what layout you want or you'll end up frustrated and selling it! We bought a fixed bed van earlier this year on ebay and it just didnt work for us as a family of 4 as when the kids went to sleep on the front double we had noware to sit!! Luckily we sold it for what we paid and now have the perfect layout for us.
Personally I would walk away from any van without a service history or the manufacturers warranty becomes invalid and to me the attraction of a nearly new van is the cost saving from new plus the peace of mind the warranty brings. A good seller will have everything to hand (CRIS, service history etc) and like ours was very patient with the numerous questions we asked!
Are you looking to buy from a dealer or private sale?
Post last edited on 14/12/2011 18:52:38
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Quote: Originally posted by christophermartyn on 14/12/2011
Hi there,
I'm new to the Caravaning scene after managing to save up to buy a Caravan after several years.
I'm looking for advice as where to go to buy an honest and nearly new second hand Caravan.
I have a budget of £11,000.
Thanks for your help.
Christopher Martyn Meade
Welcome to UKCS, Christopher. I think you need to decide the sort of layout you want first. How many are there of you? Do you want a fixed bed? What sort of vehicle will you use for towing? You will need to match the weight of the van with the recommended 85% of the kerbside weight of the car, or the maximum allowed towing weight of the car if it is less than the k.w.?
P.S. No problem with Bailey Caravans any more than other makes IMHO.
Hello and welcome to UKCS Christopher.
Its as above, what layout do you want, fixed bed or not and what towcar do you have.
We have had a Bailey van and had no problems with panels cracking.
Quote: Originally posted by manda82 on 14/12/2011If I were you I would steer clear of Bailey as we have one with cracked body panels and nearly all of the vans in the dealers are cracked too but the van like ours still sell for £10,000
"And nearly all of the vans in the dealers are cracked too" Your words
What sort of sweeping statement is that !!!!
Just because you van has suffered crack's is doesn't mean that all Bailey caravans are the same ,
Quote: Originally posted by christophermartyn on 14/12/2011
Hi there,
I'm new to the Caravaning scene after managing to save up to buy a Caravan after several years.
I'm looking for advice as where to go to buy an honest and nearly new second hand Caravan.
I have a budget of £11,000.
Thanks for your help.
Christopher Martyn Meade
As others have said go have a look at various layouts and manufacturers and see what suits your needs , and don't be put off buy narrow minded individuals over a certain make who proclaim that all off there products are bad because this is untrue
If you have never had a caravan before or even towed, you may find it's not for you after all, it would seem a shame to spend so much on a caravan that you then want to sell on or even worse that just sits on your drive looking pretty, have you thought of buying something older to see how you get on with it first. You probably wouldn't loose so much money in depreciation that way either as the older vans hold their money, you can then sell on after a year or so for the newer van.
Even so you still need to establish how big and what layout you want.
Good luck, sure you'll get a bargain as it's a good time to buy now.
------------- "Close your eyes and pretend it's all a dream, that's how I get by"
Quote: Originally posted by neil and lena on 14/12/2011
Quote: Originally posted by manda82 on 14/12/2011If I were you I would steer clear of Bailey as we have one with cracked body panels and nearly all of the vans in the dealers are cracked too but the van like ours still sell for £10,000
"And nearly all of the vans in the dealers are cracked too" Your words
What sort of sweeping statement is that !!!! Just because you van has suffered crack's is doesn't mean that all Bailey caravans are the same , ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totally agree Neil, we have seven caravans over 40 years and had six Baileys and currently have two.
As we are moving house we have just put our 'Pageant Burgundy' up for sale on Caravan Finder and you certainly will not find any cracks, infact in the last six sevices we have never found anything for the dealer to do other than the standard service.
Quote: Originally posted by christophermartyn on 14/12/2011
Hi there,
I'm new to the Caravaning scene after managing to save up to buy a Caravan after several years.
I'm looking for advice as where to go to buy an honest and nearly new second hand Caravan.
I have a budget of £11,000.
Thanks for your help.
Christopher Martyn Meade
Hi Christopher
Look down the bottom of this site page and click on [Caravans & Motorhomes For Sale] then select Caravans, then you have a load to look at! (including mine I hope)
We have had a Bailey since new and it in great condition not one mark on it after three years . It gets service once a year also wax and polish , It away for winter now nice and shiny with its winter cover on Not all vans from Bailey come with cracked panels at least you are getting this job done under warranty for a five year old van . I think you should be thanking them not moaning about them on here............
When we dipped our toes into the the big wiorld of caravanning we were determined to get it right. we spent a good six months looking at caravans. then it got serious! First up - fit towbar. Next up - go on CC towing course, as neither of us had towed. Then - hire caravan for weekend to see if we liked it (did we ever!!)
That little lot cost us about £600 - we reckoned that was a reasonable outlay to discover we hated it (we loved every bit)
It took 3 months to find Bertha, our Abbey Cabaret. She is not "nearly new" - in fact, she features on the Crappy old caravans thread - but we love her.
I guess whatI'm saying is do your homework before laying out £11000. It wwould be a very expensive mistake.
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Topic: Looking for nearly new second hand Carava
