I have been tenting, trailer tenting and caravanning for many decades now.
My current caravan is a Elddis Affinity. The type which has 2 single beds towards the back. I have enjoyed the layout but my OH is thinking transverse bed. Who's make is the best, I dont mean top of the range but mid or budget. Look forward to hearing from you.
------------- if your car could travel at the speed of light and you turned on your lights what would happen?
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
Well my Elddis Wisp is now 30 years old and still going strong so by my thinking maybe Elddis is the best there is.
Of course I am joking as I don't think there is a "best" make. I think you can only go by the individual caravan rather than any particular make. Some caravans of any make seem to go on indefinitely, whereas others of the same make seem to start falling to bits at 5 years old or sooner, if comments on here are anything to go by.
Oh dear, not just the Russians starting wars! Contentious question or what!
For my contribution to the war effort, IMHO, there is no such thing as a BEST van/brand/model! Firstly EVERY manufacturer has a spell of poor production quality at some point, every manufacturer makes design errors, and all are at the mercy of sub standard materials used in good faith in construction. Some faults can be/are rectified in warranty claims/service, others stay with the van for life. Secondly, how good a pre-used van is is heavily down to how previous owners have cared for, maintained and used the van, there are plenty of 1 or 2 year old 'wrecks' out there (I know, I looked at plenty when I was trying to buy a van!), yet near pristine 10-15-20 year old ones to be found!
My view now and through experience is that you treat every van on it's own merits, only paying slight heed to brand/model traits as a heads up to things to be more cautious about when checking all is in good order. People will rave over or slate a brand/model because of usually their single experience of a van they owned, whilst others will equally hold the opposite opinion, only when you take a very broad sample do you get something approaching a true view, and to TBOMK the closest you get to that is the annual surveys conducted in the specialist caravan press, but even then not always regarded as unbiased. Interesting discussion on the availability/impartiality/'worth' of such surveys here https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-together/discussions/information-technical-tips........
If you are really asking 'what is the best van for me/my needs' that's an entirely different question, but just as contentious, and just as unanswerable! It's a very personal thing, and in all likelihood no two people are going to hold identical views. Guidance towards makes/models with the features you desire is going to be as good as it gets, the rest will be down to you.
I think Monty15 has summed it up nicely. What is best for you may not be best for me, and vice versa. We all have our own personal preferences and likes & dislikes. Layout for instance is a very contentious issue. We for instance would prefer what you have now with two single beds, and indeed that is what we have, although ours are actually made up from the two front seats with a sleeping bag on. I wouldn't want a transverse fixed double bed unless I had a much bigger van than the one we have now, but that would mean we couldn't keep it at home and we would have to get another car with a higher towing limit. Horses for courses and all that.
We are our fifth Bailey, no major issues with any, minor ones put right by the excellent team at Cosford Caravans. Thanks to them.
We chose the vans on on layout finish and price. Having a good dealership close by is obviously a bonus.
People who have faults may tend to be more vociferous than those who don't.
It appears that inconsistent quality control is an issue with some makes.
Many years ago we had an Abbey GTS 415 for 9 years which was a lovely van. It did suffer a little damp which we had repaired before any rot set in.
Sadly they are no longer made.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
We started our caravan journey only a year ago and bought an Elddis affinity 540 (french bed). The layout just didn't work for us so we went in search of a newer van to suit our needs as we enjoyed the lifestyle so much.
After viewing many vans within our towing limit, none of them (in our opinion) came up to the comfort and space of our affinity. We decided to stick with the affinity but found a 550 (like hens teeth!) which we are over the moon with. Transverse rear bedroom which we wanted so we could both get out of bed without climbing over each other and kids could use the loo in the night without having to squeeze past us. I know mid bathroom won't suit everyone and the compromise is the bathroom space but some segregation with teenagers is more important to us.
Good luck with your research!
Buying any van is always going to be a leap of faith and involve a bit of luck as in all things
Just remember to check absolutely everything and then when you think that you have,
check some more.
Now you have opened a can of worms!
I had an old Abbey GTS that i purchased from the original owner, it was well maintained and in excellent condition.and i wish i had not sold it !
My mum had a swift that was much newer that died from damp.
I always fancied an eriba but the prices are still crazy.
I would firstly choose your prefered layout and have a good look at what is availlable on your budget and have a look around a few, get a damp meter and hopefully you will find a good one.
I like the build quality of coachman vans, they seem to be well made and thats probably what we will get next.
I may have been joking earlier when I said that Elddis are the best as I have a 30 year old one, but there may be something in it to some small extent.
When looking at various makes and models, take a look at how many old ones of them there are about. If there are none or very few, it could be because they are not very well made and not built to last.
Over the years, talking to a multitude of 'van owners it would seem
the Dutch like the spec and build of British vans
the French prefer French or German 'vans
the Danish like German and Swedish
the British like British but admire continental 'vans
the Germans like only German 'vans, especially Burstner or Knaus
Billy likes Fendt
It would seem that UK 'vans have a better spec but poorer quality control. Good availability of spares
Continental 'vans better build quality, lower spec, difficulty in getting parts and spares.
Good luck at the show, you will probably end up with the one that your wife thinks has the prettiest cushions.
From my experience and from what I read from others, new caravans from the main manufacturers are all as bad as each other. There appears to be absolutely no quality control in the factory and the purchaser is left to find all the problems and then get them repaired under warranty.
In my opinion, the best question to ask is not which manufacturer is best but which dealer looks after you well. With any new caravan there are going to be lots of small and sometimes not so small problems and having a good dealer who will get them all sorted out for you under warranty is invaluable.
We went to the NEC before buying our most recent caravan and bought from a dealer who was quite a long way from us because we were assured that we could get the warranty work done at any dealer. This is only partly true. You can ask any dealer to do the warranty work for you and the manufacturers allow any of their dealers to do warranty work but that doesn’t mean that the dealer has to accept the warranty work for any caravan they didn’t sell. In my case, I tried about a dozen dealers within a decent travelling radius of where we live and none would agree to take on warranty work for a caravan they didn’t sell so we ended up spending a fortune in time and fuel taking the caravan back and forward many many times to the far away dealer we bought from to get all the initial warranty work done.
So by all means use the NEC show to find the caravan you like best but I would always advise buying from a local dealer with a good reputation for aftersales service.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: What is the best makes of Caravan
via mobile 24/2/2022 at 2:15pm
