Hi. We were given an old CI Europa 480 a few weeks ago. It was full of damp when we got it, but like the old saying goes, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
After completely refitting 1/4 of the van, we were ready for the OH's birthday weekend away.
Apart from a few minor problems everything went fine. 240 and 12v worked well. Thanks to my rewiring. Seating was comfy, and apart from a few window draughts no other problems evolved.
My dilemma is..... Do I bother working through the winter to rip out 3/4 of the van to reframe and insulate. Or just sell for spares and upgrade next yr. we still have an old Conway TT to sell as we'll.
any ideas, comments, and " you must be mad to consider even trying" will be great fully received.
------------- September 27th. I'm going away. Don't care where. Just going!!!!
The actual materials won't cost that much. I work for a builders merchants. Time won't cost that much as I've got the whole winter to do it.
The only thing that worries me is that people want something for nothing. If I'm making the van safe for a family to use for a few seasons will it be worth it for me.
I hope you understand. I live in the highlands, so we basically pay double what you'd expect to pay in England for a van of its age. It's a late 80's CI Europa 480.
------------- September 27th. I'm going away. Don't care where. Just going!!!!
The actual materials won't cost that much. I work for a builders merchants. Time won't cost that much as I've got the whole winter to do it.
The only thing that worries me is that people want something for nothing. If I'm making the van safe for a family to use for a few seasons will it be worth it for me.
I hope you understand. I live in the highlands, so we basically pay double what you'd expect to pay in England for a van of its age. It's a late 80's CI Europa 480.
------------- September 27th. I'm going away. Don't care where. Just going!!!!
If you are doing it in the hope of selling it on and getting your money back or making a profit then forget it.
If you like the caravan and can anticipate getting a few years use out of it then go for it.
If you sell it for spares and buy another one then you could end up buying a lot of nasty surprises. At least you know what the problems are with the one you have and if you repair them over the winter it should be capable of lasting you a good few years.
If I repair and keep it. I have a very heavy van to tow. 930 kgs. My idea was to spend the winter repairing and making sure everything was ok for a family to use for a few seasons. I'm not looking to make a fortune from it. Really enough to make my outlay is enough. I just wondered if this part of the country if it was worth it ?
------------- September 27th. I'm going away. Don't care where. Just going!!!!
With something of that age, no matter what the condition is, the value is going to be minimal.
There is certainly no guarantee you would recoup your outlay. You may even struggle to find anyone interested in buying it at any price.
As you say, it's a very heavy van. Given the age, it's not going to be particularly well equipped by modern standards.
Just because you pay a lot more to buy something there than you would in England doesn't mean that you would be able to sell it for twice as much. You pay more because there are fewer of them around, but the flip side of that is that there are fewer potential buyers too.
There used to be a good trade in buying and selling used small automatic transmissioned cars. This is because they were not terribly popular and you could buy them up cheaply because very few people wanted them. If you were one of the few that did want one though, because they were as scarce as hens teeth you had to be prepared to pay over the odds for one.
You say you had it for free, why not try and sell it on as an unfinished project rather than break it up for spares and be left with unsellable bits that you need to dispose of. I think you stand a better chance of someone getting some use out of it that way than trying to sell it "ready to go" and recouping your investment.
The reality is that any caravan of that age, no matter how good it is is only worth a few hundred pounds at most and even then only if someone is prepared to buy it.
I guess the idea would be to scrap it then. After 40 yrs of camping and finally moving upto a caravan I guessed I would have got some advice on repair and service. It seems not so far. In my opinion ill repair over the winter and hope that I can help another family to get a few seasons holiday with minimum outlay. Think ill be staying with canvas for advice in future.
------------- September 27th. I'm going away. Don't care where. Just going!!!!
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Topic: Newbie`s first weekend.
