Yes, as lexie71 says, it's not a good time of year to get a bargain. Sell in spring, buy in December is the way to do it. We bought ours at the end of November.
Our normal expenditure doesn't come to anything like £1500 to £2000 a year, as it depends on circumstances. If you have to pay to store your van, that isn't cheap but fortunately we don't as long as we stick to the size of van we have got. Anything bigger simply won't fit. Fitting a tow bar was about £240 if I remember right. Other bits and pieces we got off ebay mainly.
We brought a cheap van for around your budget - got it from eBay. Just had a full independent service - it's all good. It's a 1993 Sprite and its dry. The only thing that's needs attention is the hot water - we've just had a great few days in it and boiled the kettle for washing up. I do think you can get something decent for a grand but you will need to look carefully and either take a damp reader or you could get a service engineer to check it (mind you we did neither!). The chap who did our service said that we did get a good van and he sees both people like us and people who picked up a rough one. Having had a few days away now I think I'm converted from my beloved tent (which I love).
In terms of other costs we pay £30 a month for storage, we paid £150 for our service (just being careful), and yes the fuel costs are higher. We had to buy a lock and a couple of other boys which cost about £75 when he got it. The other thing is the more you look at the more discerning you become, we learnt loads from really helpful and experienced caravan owners who were selling.
Having been in a tent last year in really bad rain and storms I just didn't want that again - you do have less space in a van (well ours anyway!) but to have running water, electric, a oven, fridge etc ready in 20 minutes is wonderful ! Good luck !
It's crucial to not simply buy the first one you see if you are buying a "budget" van. We looked at several.
It's also important not to be too bothered about styling, as the cheaper vans like ours are often older styling. They are often well built though, as if they weren't they wouldn't have lasted so long.
I can still remember our previous van, a 1966 Sprite Musketeer, bought in the 70s and stolen in the 80s. It had gas lights and no running water at all until I fitted it. Cold only though! It seems to me that caravans came on a long way between the 1960s and the 1980s. I don't think they have come on anywhere near as far since, apart from construction and styling changes, as our 1988 van has virtually everything the most modern vans have.
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Topic: What to expect/advice
