I'm thinking of ditching a few tents and buy a family van for the family, maybe a 2001 ish Avondale Dart, but I'm just trying to get a grasp of the true cost of owning a caravan.
Local firm quoted around £250 for a towbar with twin electrics, £450 ish for Gold CASSOA storage, £85 insurance and then the site fees?
I look ed the caravan club website but it seems they only give prices for club sites so what do you pay on average for a caravan site?
We don't need all the bells and whistles, just space, toilet block, and showers.
The reason for giving caravanning some consideration is that I think it'd be great for the kids to get out there and enjoy mixing with other kids, not that they don't do it already, and get active. Not just sitting by a pool getting frazzled :-)
Is it an expensive hobby or should I stop overthinking and just buy one :-)
We moved from tents to caravanning a couple of years ago. yes there are cost to consider, like insurance, servicing, luckily we keep our van at home, as we have a big garden so had some of it paved over and an electric hook up put in. We did lots of research, had to buy me a new car (Ford KA wasn`t a good tow car lol). Worth every penny and lots of looking and checking at every dealers within a 50 mile range.
The biggest bonus is we get away all year long, no worries about being cold at night. and set up time is much much quicker, and we don`t have that how the heck did we pack all that into the car? when it is time to go home.
As for site fees, most are the same price for a caravan as they were for our tent, with electric hook up.
If you are already a tent camper then you know the cost of site fees. On top of the costs you have already indicated then there are maintenance costs. If you are ok with a bit of diy then just a chassis service wheels/brakes from a caravan service place every 2yrs about £80+parts & interior you can do yourself on an ongoing basis. Tyre change about every 5yrs.
If you want to keep costs down on an older caravan then just see it as an ongoing project, always something to mess about with & fix/improve. Higher fuel consumption when towing obviously, average diesel car around 30 odd mpg.
I was a tenter 4yrs ago, changed over. And wished I'd done it sooner. Taken it to Switzerland and Germany, easy setup after a long drive.
I only miss the tent on long hot summer days and they are very infrequent. You can camp all year round and if you want cheaper camps, you can always try the club rallies as you have your own water supply.
Good luck
No need to worry about the weather (usually RAIN!), or arriving on site IN the rain and having to set up in it.
(Don't need to put awning up in the rain, just do it when it stops).
With a tent, you may have to pack away wet to then unpack somewhere at home to dry out to prevent mould etc.
OK, with your awning, at least you can pack it away BEFORE any rain arrives.
We've just done exactly that - brought a cheap caravan to try out as an alternative to tenting. I love my tent and have a near perfect set up. But the packing up and down has become a pain now we have dog and we want a bit more flexibility and a longer season.
my one piece of advice would be to get a local mobile engineer to check over any van you are thinking of buying to avoid a costly mistake.before you part with your money.i speak from experience unfortunately and i have been a caravanner for over 40 years
Fees for caravans CAN be more expensive, but that's only because you can get upgraded facilities like hard standing (instead of parking the van on grass your pitch is gravel or sometimes tarmac)you can also have your own water tap, waste water drain etc.
I just use the same pitches as "tenters", the only difference is that I always go for electric hook-up (which you don't have to, but it makes things easier)
When you get your van,look on the campsite search on this site it's great,a lot of the caravan sites show their prices,so you know what to expect,as an example,we go to Northam farm in Brean,pitches are as low as £12 plus per night,although you do pay extra for childen,a few times in the year,this includes EHU,hardstanding/grass,free fishing on their lake,various childrens play areas(fenced)dogs are free some months or £1 per dog,tremendous value,so bargain holidays are there if you take time to look.
We are tent/trailer tenters to caravan this Easter.
We are just about to head off for our 4th weekend in a row. NEVER in a tent would we have thought to do same.
You have most of the costs covered, here in NI its maybe £5 more for a caravan per night but as tents are getting bigger so are the pitch prices.
Take care when buying and have a ball. We have a 4K van for a family of 5. just bout a TV DVD combo of Gumtree for £20 to help settle kids before bed. cant do that in a tent!
Oh and hot water, bliss.
On longer runs you can pull in somewhere safe and stop and have lunch at front of van from a stocked fridge. BRILL
The big plus of course is when it rains...heating, warm beds, electric lights and no real worries out collapse in high winds.
Buy well and you can always revert and sell van. BET YOU DON'T THOUGH!
------------- if your not living life on the edge your taking up tooo much room
If you don't need sites with club houses or swimming pools you could use CS sites some are as cheap as 13 quid a night with electric or a bit of research on here will get you cheap sites with good reviews
Caravan pitches are the same prices as tent pitches with EHU. You'll pay more if you want to hook your caravan up to water and drains (called a serviced pitch).
Sometimes tents are more expensive than caravans, probably because it's more work to maintain grass than rake over hard-standing.
How much more will it be over a tent?
Insurance: whatever your quote is, though insurance companies don't increase premiums generally.
Servicing: you 'van has appliances that could kill you if neglected, and they have running gear. An annual service from £100.
Fuel: add 50 - 60% to your fuel bill while towing.
Pitch fees: no change - EXCEPT you may go more often and into colder months.
Gas: unless off-grid (no EHU) this will be the same as you spend now, but bigger bottles.
Gin & Tonic: You'll have a fridge that makes ice, so budget for gin ;-)
I camped with tents until 2 years ago. Wouldn't go back
------------- Camping Gear expands so as to fill the space available for its transportation.
We started with tents ... one man to three man to six man to tunnel plus gazebo ... to Folding Camper ... just bought a caravan (in Germany: a lot cheaper) .... doing a test run at present: it's going to be a brilliant change of style ... we store it in France for 185 euros a year (secure under cover) ... don't do weekends at home .... just longs hols on the continent ... mainly in the summer.
Don't forget couple hundred for servicing each year. site fees as everyone says, private owned ones can vary from £20 to nearly £40 if you go hard standing with awning electric and mains water/drains per night. but if you go for normal grass pitch site fees similar to tents with electric, couple of quid more if didn't have tents on electric pitch.
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Topic: Thinking about caravan ownership
