Enjoying my new to me Caravan

[surveyor]

We were about £6,500 for ours. Running costs are £20 odd quid a month on insurance and £35 for storage. Rarely spend much on maintenance.

As said buy wisely you don't need to loose money. Our last caravan we had for four years, and made a little money when I sold it.

I may have bought a bit of a pup this time around. Needs some work - but it's usually DIY able.

Keeping one on a driveway has + and -'s.

Ours is a 2006 so getting on, but has a modern spec inc. AC and a larder fridge for Le Mans....

[PurpleTurtle]

Super Slo Mo said:

PurpleTurtle said:

Seeing as we’re all coming out of the closet ... this is our 25yo Eriba Triton pop top. It’s a little tardis inside, double bed fits my 6ft 1in frame, missus steals all the duvet, toddler kips at the front in the dinette which converts to a single bed.

It’s tiny by comparison to modern rigs but we have limited storage space so it suits our needs at the moment, ostensibly as somewhere warm, quiet, dry and comfy to kip at music festivals.

I have to tow it behind our mumtruck as sadly my M3 isn’t homolgated for towing!



Plenty space with an awning attached though

Edited by PurpleTurtle on Friday 28th September 22:53

I like that. I like to see different types of caravan being used. I also like to see older ones ( and motor homes) out and about.

Cheers, it’s great fun. Our 3yo thinks it’s the best thing ever, everything about it just fascinates him - I brought it home from our storage place today, he wanted a go at winding all the legs up, took forever but he now vaguely understands how clockwise or anti-clockwise threads work, and knows that the windy handle at the front raises it up and down off the tow bar.

It’s far from palatial but just allows us a lot of cheap, convenient breaks. Off to the New Forest with it on Friday, if the weather is bad we can do drool over metal at Beaulieu.

[ninepoint2]

Being current tent campers but getting "on a bit" I looked at both Motor Homes and Caravans this year. Hard to justify the cost of a Motor Home TBH, but caravan looked like a decent option..however.. my two cars one is not "type approved" to tow and IMHO the other is too old/not suited/fragile/potential to increase in value etc) to tow with. Obvious answer I thought was to upgrade one of the cars and buy a caravan, man maths proved that cost less than a motor home. Sadly SWMBO does'nt seem to agree so looks like tent for a few more years

[Watchman]

Another Merc & van

[Super Slo Mo]

PurpleTurtle said:

Super Slo Mo said:

PurpleTurtle said:

Seeing as we’re all coming out of the closet ... this is our 25yo Eriba Triton pop top. It’s a little tardis inside, double bed fits my 6ft 1in frame, missus steals all the duvet, toddler kips at the front in the dinette which converts to a single bed.

It’s tiny by comparison to modern rigs but we have limited storage space so it suits our needs at the moment, ostensibly as somewhere warm, quiet, dry and comfy to kip at music festivals.

I have to tow it behind our mumtruck as sadly my M3 isn’t homolgated for towing!



Plenty space with an awning attached though

Edited by PurpleTurtle on Friday 28th September 22:53

I like that. I like to see different types of caravan being used. I also like to see older ones ( and motor homes) out and about.

Cheers, it’s great fun. Our 3yo thinks it’s the best thing ever, everything about it just fascinates him - I brought it home from our storage place today, he wanted a go at winding all the legs up, took forever but he now vaguely understands how clockwise or anti-clockwise threads work, and knows that the windy handle at the front raises it up and down off the tow bar.

It’s far from palatial but just allows us a lot of cheap, convenient breaks. Off to the New Forest with it on Friday, if the weather is bad we can do drool over metal at Beaulieu.

I think that’s the great thing about it, the flexibility and convenience to have loads of breaks when It suits you.
We might be going to the new forest at the weekend too although we haven’t booked anything yet.

[Welshbeef]

From a tow car perspective I’m assuming all wheel drive is really the way to go

[Super Slo Mo]

Welshbeef said:

From a tow car perspective I’m assuming all wheel drive is really the way to go

Only if you venture onto muddy fields and then you are at risk of getting even more stuck than if you had two wheel drive.
I’ve towed with all forms of drive, rear is a bit better than front when pulling off in wet conditions but otherwise there’s no real difference. Same with awd.
To be honest you should be able to avoid most situations that require awd with a bit of planning.
Motor movers on the caravan are probably more effective anyway on wet grass.

[Watchman]

The best tow car is a heavy and powerful one. That will stand you in good stead in 99% or circumstances.

4WD is only really of use in slippery conditions if you have decent tyres and lots of power. The ML (above) was on General Grabber ATs and could tow that van up the side of a mountain... on wet grass.

My current GL would be better as it has air suspension (so it stays level), notably more power, a bit more weight BUT road tyres. I'm looking for some smaller wheels so I can mount some Cooper AT on that one.

Oh, and it has low range and diff lockers. With the right tyres on it, it'd pull most things.

Edited by Watchman on Monday 1st October 08:50

[chrisga]

chasingracecars said:

Welshbeef said:

Would you mind sharing some details on the spec of the van?

Its a Swift Challenger 570 2010 with fixed bed and rear washroom with walk in shower. Its long at 7.5m and quite heavy at 1575kg. Do make sure you have a suitable tow car before you embark on the idea.

That's the one we wanted. Really nice simple caravans (before they got too complicated with phone apps to control everything). We ended up with our Freestyle 550 (dealer special Charisma effectively) which is advertised as 20cm shorter (the length being taken out in the bathroom where you store your table next to the shower (ours goes under the bed). The only other differences we can see are the bathroom window is on the side rather than rear panel, the locker door locks are slightly different and the window blinds are different. Our max weight is 1500kg so a fair saving. Oh and it was about £3k cheaper than the challengers of the same year. We're happy with the compromises.

[Super Slo Mo]

Ours is a charisma 560 with the walk in shower. We thought the shower would work better for washing the baby, which turned out to be correct. It doesn’t have the sliding door, which was broken on most of the caravans we looked at.
We didn’t go for the fixed bed, instead I’ve turned the middle lower single bed into a cot type of arrangement. Hopefully the little monster won’t destroy it.



Gross weight is about 1500kg I think, which is enough but not too heavy compared to my car (1900kg unladen).

[C0ffin D0dger]

Welshbeef said:

chasingracecars said:

£9500 purchase for mine, spent about £1k on fitting it out, mover 2nd hand, cheap porch awning bedding etc.

Needed a new leisure battery this month. £89 service myself. But worth getting done if you haven’t had a van before.

Buy right and you might not loose money!

Would you mind sharing some details on the spec of the van?

Fairly similar, spent £8000 on our Coachman (Pastiche 2008 520/4) from a dealer, with a secondhand PowerTouch motor mover fitted by them. They chucked a starter pack in (water & waste containers, leisure battery, 1 x Calor gas cylinder, Al-Ko wheel lock, mains cable, step). Since then we've bought stuff like a Kampa Air Beam porch awning (£800), and stuff like outdoor furniture (chairs, table), and various other bits and pieces. Probably spent around £1500 but all this could transfer to another van if we upgraded in future.

The van itself sleeps 4 with a generous sized rear washroom with separate shower cubicle, two bunks on the side which convert from a side dining area (two seats and a table), the front living space converts to a decent sized double bed (I'm 6ft3 and can sleep stretched out).

There's no requirements for any sort of MoT but it is a good idea to have it serviced annually, ~£150 for a single axle. We pay £480 a year to store it on a Gold standard site, no room for it on the drive at home. Insurance is about £150 a year.

[nick997]

C0ffin D0dger said:

Bracelands in Forest of Dean?

[PurpleTurtle]

nick997 said:

C0ffin D0dger said:

Bracelands in Forest of Dean?

I was about to say the same, my pics earlier in the thread were taken there too!

Fantastic site that we discovered it for the first time this summer.

[C0ffin D0dger]

nick997 said:

Bracelands in Forest of Dean?

Yep, been there a number of times over the years but this was the first time in a caravan. Kids loved it as they could hurtle around on their bikes in the evenings.

[PH5121]

We have a 2006 Swift Challenger and it has been a great 'van in the three years we've had it. It is dry everywhere and in very good condition. I've looked at getting something 5 or 6 years newer but haven't found anything in good enough condition to justify the change as it would annoy me to spend another 6 or 8 thousand pounds to get a scruffy one.

We may soon need to swap to a different layout as the kids are getting bigger, but it has provided us with some memorable family holidays.

I pull it with my wifes Freelander 2 and it tows very easily. I have use of a Mercedes Vito and Audi A4 avant from work but don't think either would be as good as the Freelander is for towing.

Edited by PH5121 on Monday 1st October 14:40

[Blakeatron]

My wife really wasnt sure on caravaning so I set a very tight budget and we said we would give it a year and possibly upgrade if we were using it.

So £1500 later we had the van, all accessories, 2 awnings and even all the pots and pans and a new TV!

We have spent around £500 on new crockery, bedding to live in the van, extra gas bottle, full service, new tyres, LED lights amd some usb sockets.

We love it, we have looked at loads of others but honestly dont see the point in changing at the moment. The kids love it, the layout works for us - what would spending an extra £10k get us over what we have?

[surveyor]

The answer is to buy privately, and ideally from someone giving up caravaning. Our first van came with everything down to the cutlery and bedding. And buy a damp meter of course... although I suspect that many people don't know how to use them properly.

As for what is best towing I have in my time towed with a Passatt, several E320 Mercs, a Volvo V70, a Range Rover and a Transit Custom. All have felt absolutely fine. It's all about making sure it's within weight limit and loaded correctly.

Grip is a different thing. But I've only needed 4wd once, at Le Mans, and to be honest I could easily have avoided getting my drive wheels off road, had I been in a 2wd car.

[dterry]

C0ffin D0dger said:

Yep, been there a number of times over the years but this was the first time in a caravan. Kids loved it as they could hurtle around on their bikes in the evenings.

We went for the first time last October - walking the dog after dark was pretty scary, I shone my torch across towards the forest in the background of your photo and was met with hundreds of twinkles back - turns out there was a massive herd of deer inside the campsite. I just managed to get the dog on her lead before she realised and went for an adventure of her own. Walking in the forest in the evening was also pretty scary, could hear the wild boar snorting and scraping in the undergrowth but luckily our paths never crossed directly

Must go back there some time

[Dog Star]

C0ffin D0dger said:

There's no requirements for any sort of MoT but it is a good idea to have it serviced annually, ~£150 for a single axle.

My mum and dad use the caravan needing a service as an excuse to go to Germany every year - they've a Fendt and they got it from a dealer in Rüdesheim am Rhein, (They saved something like £7k off the UK price back when the £ was really strong) so they take it back every year.

Sadly they won't lend me said caravan (or their Hobby motorhome) because evidently I'll have all my mates round and we will "get drunk and vomit in it" and with the motorhome evidently I have "a racing drivers mentality and will 'rev the engine'" (in quotes are my dad's exact words!). I'm 50 years old FFS!

[idiotgap]

We bought our 2010 caravan last year as advertised on ebay for about £9k. Similar on a forecourt would have been £13. It had been used by a local family who lived in it in their paddock for 12 weeks while their house was being done up. We got everything with it as they weren't going to be caravaning again, so plates, aquaroll, waste water container, new awning, motor-mover, loo fluid, corner-steady wrenches etc. and we were able to take it away to France a week later without buying anything I don't think other than a ballcock for the aquaroll so we could hook up on a serviced pitch. We've since got an inflatable porch awning for free on freecycle.
Service this year came in at about £350 I think, this was at an approved workshop at the local dealer, I guess it costs a bit to do gas, electrics, habitation, running gear etc.