I'm putting this here as I can't seem to find an introduce yourself area. If I'm in the wrong place sorry :-)
My wife Carol and I have made the decision to buy a caravan now the kids are off hand. We are 53 and 52 so coming to this late, but we have many static caravan holidays in the past and have always fancied a touring van. Now seems to be a great time to start...
We have (or will have) a budget of about £2k, and want to start small and cheap (2 berth maybe) to see if we like the whole idea. We have always loved exploring the UK and France and our feeling is that we'll probably trade in for a bigger van one we've realised how much fun it is.
We have a 9 month old Springer Spaniel and she will come with us on our adventures.
We've joined a Facebook Caravanning group and we thought we'd join this forum for advice.
We have a 54 reg Ford C Max. It's a 1.6 but at 54k miles is almost brand new still. Some people on the FB page have suggested the car will struggle towing and I'd like advice about that if possible.
As complete newbies we're very happy to receive any advice you think we might need. We don't even have a tow bar yet.
Hi and welcome! As well as the advice you'll be given on here about licence requirements, checking for damp on any caravan you might consider buying, condition and, importantly, age of tyres, correct loading etc etc, you might find the "New to Caravans" advice from the Camping and Caravanning Club useful, along with a copy of the Haynes Caravan Manual.
Only 53? Thats starting young. Most caravanners are pensioners. For your caravan in that price range Ebay will be your best bet. Buy from private seller who has used & serviced the caravan for a few yrs. Pointless using dealer for that price no guarantee will be worth anything. Sept until Xmas is good time to buy as out of season so less buyers means less bidders.
For your money you are looking for a late 90s 2berth less than 1 tonne fully laden. It will probably need servicing & tyres need to be changed whatever the wear if more than about 5yrs old or if cracked/perished. Do you have mechanical/diy skills as a caravan that age is always an ongoing project but if you look carefully you should find a dry one. You need a damp meter & check carefuly for damp soft bits inside. Thats for starters but you should gain a bit more knowledge from other posters on here.
If car is diesel that will tow a tonne easy. If petrol then it will do the job if its what you have.
As mentioned above you will find that a diesel will cope better towing than that of a petrol in terms of engine power and torque. However, whichever version you have, the the towball vertical weight limit will be the same which on the Focus C Max is 75 kgs. so it's wise to check the noseweight of the caravan and aim for that figure. If the noseweight is too light you are likely to encounter instabilty issues and too heavy can make the steering feel light and apply excess pressure to the vehicle's rear suspension. To check the caravan noseweight can be achieved by either using bathroom scales and a length of timber or purchasing a tool designed for the job.
When I started out as a newbie 12 years ago I bought a book called the 'Caravanning Handbook' by John Wickersham which I found extrememy helpful as it covers just about every topic you need to know about touring caravanning including what to watch out for when buying second hand.
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm quite mechanically minded and I've always serviced our cars over the years. We have just sold our previous car, a 2.5 V6 Mondeo which would probably have been a great towing car. Sods law and all that. We had a friend selling his C Max and he offered it to us at a friends rate which was much less than it's value and we couldn't say no.
Until last November I'd been driving London double decker buses for 12 years but I have no experience of towing anything really. I passed my car test way back in 1981 so I don't think I need a license but I will take a towing course. We will need to store the caravan away from the house as we don't have a drive big enough to stand it on. So on the look out for a safe, honest place to store. My guess is that we'll be away in the van most weekends and school holidays as Carol works in a school.
I have my own business now so my time is my own and I'll have time to look around for a decent starter caravan.
Folk have mentioned 'damp', and rightly so, to a degree. You will struggle to find a 90's van without any, but that shouldnt deter you. Just make sure theres no actual soft areas, as this is catastrophic in most cases. If theres bits of damp readings but the area feels solid, and is clean and doesnt smell foisty, it wouldnt put me off at that end of the market if the rest of the van fitted the bill.
If you are used to driving buses, the spacial awareness shouldnt be an issue. Reversing might. But i suspect you will soon overcome this with your experience.
Hi TPCPete and welcome. There are plenty of "cheapies" about for much less than your budget. We paid £500 for our last one, used it for 4 years and then sold it for more than we paid for it. We have just bought another for £1100 and go away with it soon. It's old (1992) but in great condition. Best time to buy is coming up, as nearing the end of the season.
I am also an ex-bus driver and still drive a Routemaster or RT occasionally as a volunteer for the Epping Ongar Railway.
Quote: Originally posted by TPCPete on 01/9/2017
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm quite mechanically minded and I've always serviced our cars over the years. We have just sold our previous car, a 2.5 V6 Mondeo which would probably have been a great towing car. Sods law and all that. We had a friend selling his C Max and he offered it to us at a friends rate which was much less than it's value and we couldn't say no.
Until last November I'd been driving London double decker buses for 12 years but I have no experience of towing anything really. I passed my car test way back in 1981 so I don't think I need a license but I will take a towing course. We will need to store the caravan away from the house as we don't have a drive big enough to stand it on. So on the look out for a safe, honest place to store. My guess is that we'll be away in the van most weekends and school holidays as Carol works in a school.
I have my own business now so my time is my own and I'll have time to look around for a decent starter caravan.
Hi, I'm also from Essex, but not an Essex man. Like you I used to own a 2.5 V6 Mondeo, with a tow bar, and to be honest I'm glad I don't still own it to tow my caravan, although a fantastic car to drive you could see the needle go down on the petrol gauge if you drove it anything but sensibly, so I hate to think how much it would have drunk fuel if I had towed a caravan behind it. I still have a Mondeo, but now a 2.0 Titanium Estate, which is a great tow car. For your size car I think you are going to have to look for a lighter van, as it might struggle on the hills. But welcome to the site, you will always get plenty of informative advice on here, especially from those far more experienced than me.
first think i would do is delve into the tow limits of your car ,then you will need to find a van where the maximum tow weight falls under that ,your aiming for a 85% match ,two reasons for this one your not at experienced towing ,and two your married ,as you take stuff out of the van to lighten it the wifes always put in more junk to replace it .
i would try and stretch your budget another grand and a bit as that will put you into used vans between 2002 -2006 which i think were the premium years in van building after that everything went lightweight but usually with problems .
You will probably be OK. There are lots of 2 berths from that era so should be plenty to choose from. The good news is a small 2 berth will have been better looked after than a family sized 4 or 5 berth.
If you can find one from an elderly couple giving up caravanning you will probably get a lot of kit in with it. Awning, fresh and waste water containers, step, hookup lead, wheel and hitch locks etc. This kit can be expensive to buy.
2 berths will generally be end kitchen and corner washroom in the smallest or end washroom in the slightly larger.
Above that were fixed beds which I always feel are nice but they tend to make the living space a bit cramped. Also night trips to the loo mean climbing over each other.
We have just joined the tin tent brigade too, both in our late (very late) 50's. So you're not at all out of step in that regard.
We settled on a 2014 Swift 2 berth, with an end bathroom. But we also bought an awning to provide a bit more space as we also have furry friends (2 of them) Ditto also ref the lack of towing experience, so seems we have a fair amount in common when it comes to this caravan malarky.
Anyway, welcome to the forum and good luck with your search.
Today we're looking into somewhere to store the van as we don't have a big enough drive. An awning is in the plan and hopefully we'll find a van with one already. I'm trolling Ebay for any possibilities and there seem to be quite a few well within our budget.
Before arriving to view, tell the vendors you expect to see everything working: hot/cold water....heaters...gas fire/blowers...fridge...toilet flush etc. None of this is hard to bring about, so dont be fobbed off with they needed a load of notice. All but the fridge can be 'proved' in half an hour. And with a few hours notice the fridge will start to cool as well. Finally, check the driving lights, and tyre age. If theres any mouldy smells, walk away.
Hi and welcome!
i personally think if your used to going in statics, and drive buses, you may as well go for a 4 berth. I can't really see that you both wont enjoy having a tourer so rather than lose money, go for a bigger caravan so you have plenty of room and won't have the hassle of changing. We have a 4 berth, for the 2 of us and enjoy the comfort of a roomier van.
Therecare a lot of lighter weight caravans out there. Just make sure you check for damp and that it has been serviced! Good luck!
------------- Enjoy life while you can, none of us know what's round the corner!
Welcome to the forum Pete and Carol. You'll find a wealth of information here and everyone is more than happy to share their knowledge. We started off camping with the now grown up children and have just put a deposit down on a Swift Basecamp. We've only got a Nissan Qashquai to tow with so needed a light caravan and the Basecamp ticked all our boxes. It isn't however, in your £2k budget unfortunately! There seems to be an endless list of things to buy but with forums such as this and YouTube at least our questions should be answered!
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Topic: Complete Newbie at 53...
