Hi all,
We have today been looking at lightweight two berth vans and narrowed down two vans of a similar age.
Our budget is £3000 and the first is a Swift Fairway 1999 which seems in very good condition and damp free, however it is 'sold as seen' although the salesman said if we highlighted any problems once bought, then they would endeavour to fix them.
The second van is a 1998 Swift Coronette which again seemed in a good condition and the dealer is willing to give a warranty of a month.
Would love advice from you more knowledgeable folks out there as this will be our first van and whilst we are realistic about what our money will buy, we don't want to get sold a 'pup'
My advice would be dont take any ones word that a vans damp free check it yourself with a damp meter.Once bought promises can fall through,its your money.
Get things in writting not word of mouth.Take some one who knows about caravans with you also,a salesman can smell a rookie from miles away..
Very difficult to give advice without seeing the vans. The Fairway is a dealer special from Broadlane Caravans so will have extras.
Do you know anyone who is an experienced vanner as they will know what to look for. Failing that you could find a mobile engineer to give them a once over.. At that price you cannot guarantee that there is no damp. Sit in the vans for as long as you can. Is there a damp smell or does it smell musty. Have there been any smokers or animals? If there is a smell then walk away as it is near immpossible to get rid of it.
One thing to find out is if the dealer has a good reputation locally.
Thanks for the replies guys!
We also went to Glossop Caravans and their vans in our price range all had damp!
Some were really bad around the front windows in particular and one had a really spongy wall in the bathroom! You could smell the damp as soon as you opened the van doors to be honest.
The dealer with the fairway van had another nice looking swift van for sale, but you could smell the damp in the bathroom and it was a little off-putting to view because he was in the van with us and seemed a little intimidating to be honest!
The other dealer was quite happy for us to have a good look around on our own and we did so and could find no obvious visible signs of damp anywhere and only one small repair to a crack in the shower tray.
I know a one month warranty doesnt seem great, but do you think it's worth it over the Fairway?
I would suggest that you get a damp meter. They aren't expensive and poke around the front and back edges near the walls. Anything over 20-25% should put you off.
As you have found, the smell is often the give away. The Fairway does sound reasonable but don't get carried away.
What layout are you looking for?
I know it is a long way but these people have an excellent reputation.
For peace of mind, and wallet. A caravan engineer may charge you fifty quid to do a basic check on the fairway. Or pay a bit more for better check over. Any faults found can be negotiated off price. If non found then great. I would get a check because one months warranty is fine but problems may not appear till you are using the van properly, which may be after warranty has run out. So while van may be fine, if it needed tyres these can be around sixty pounds each. So an engineer really can pay for themselves and if dealer has faith in his stock he wont mind.
Dont rush! Unless you need one desperately, Look around there are some better bargains if you buy private,Read these forums for tips and advice on buying your first caravan,dont make your decision without thinking about it and with the salesman standing there, Good Luck.
Regards John.
------------- Life is our Holiday enjoy it before its time to go back!
Quote: Originally posted by brian.t on 31/1/2013
The dealers were 'Caravans Direct' and 'Tameside Caravans' Does anyone have any views on them or has bought from them?
You would be better off buying off ebay for that price, you will probably save £100s over dealer prices. You will need to check Cris reg is up to date & obviously check for damp. If you buy from a dealer in that price range its doubtful aftersales would be up to much & if you think dealers selling older 'vans check them with a fine comb & correct all faults before sale, dream on. No dealer selling a £3k caravan is going to spend another £1000 odd on warranty work, all they will do is fiddle with any fault & fob you off.
If you buy private & save a £1000, then you have that to spend on any repairs.
ask dealer for a full damp report on anything you buy about £40 or pay for one.most other things can be repaired without a fuss.as said still do one yourself.if he says no dont buy it.
Post last edited on 01/02/2013 10:43:10
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
As has been said, invest in a proper independent check by a caravan engineer....it could save you a lot of heartache in the long run and many hundreds of pounds in repairs.
On older vans the dealers never offer any warranty that's worth having IMHO and once they have your money in their hands, you will be hard pushed to get them to honour their verbal promises.
Also check for any delamination in the floor, which would make it feel rather 'spongy' to walk on. Personally i would not touch a caravan with a cracked shower tray, especially if you are planning to use it as a full shower. even if it looks like it has been repaired, there is a chance that water may have become trapped between the tray and the caravan's floor, giving rise to rotting problems.
I totally agree regards the approved engineer check before buying, he should carry out a thorough damp check using a good quality damp test meter, dont be tempted to go and buy a cheap meter from e-bay ect, they dont always work and are often a waste of money, as we found when we tried to test our own caravan after a very bad winter a couple of years ago, and it showed a false positive, then confirmed as dry when our service centre used a proffessional Protimeter (SP?) which is far more acurate a couple of days later.
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
Just an update. Took a friend who's owned vans for over 20 years with me today to have another good look.
Went to a few dealers and finally settled on the Swift Coronette. He could find nothing wrong with it for the age of the van. Clean, no damp, good tyres etc.
The only issue was the dealer informed us that the van had had a Cat D repair and showed us the area that had been repaired. It was only noticeable when pointed out to us and there is an engineers report confirming repair for Cris registration.
So, I have decided to purchase and put down a deposit!
Have I done the right thing? Bearing in mind our intention is to keep the van for hopefully a few years before upgrading!
Its your money and if your happy then yes. If you are storing at home then hook it up and get everything working for a few days. Just in case of any problems before warranty runs out. You can even kip in it, for research purposes! !!!!!!! I am sure it will last a good few years, mines going to and it was in a lot worse condition than your new van. . Good luck.
We are going to take it to a local site next weekend and give everything a good once over!
Looking forward to it but a little apprehensive at the thought of towing and getting used to the onboard equipment!
Thank goodness for this forum!
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Topic: Advice needed! Buying used van
