A quick hello from me

[lewiswilliams1]

Hi all

Just a quick hello from a new member. I'm currently looking for my first caravan. I have camped (tent) for years and I now want to move up to a caravan. I have just returned from a weekend of camping and with the recent bad wind it has made my mind up that I now want a caravan.

I am looking for a 2 berth caravan and I have roughly £1k to spend. I know this isn’t much but I've had a little look around and seen a few decent watertight vans for around that figure.

Now I passed my driving test after 1997 so I can only drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 3.5 tonnes MAM. I currently have a 2008 Astra but soon to be replaced with a 2011 Astra Sports Tourer. The gross vehicle weight is 2090kg and the maximum towing weight for this vehicle is 1200kg so that is well within the MAM allowed for the vehicle and my licence. Please correct me if I am wrong but I have done my research so I think I have understood it correctly.

I am after some advice on what to look out for and what make and models you would recommend for my budget. I have a few friends that have caravans so I will be dragging them along to have a look so hopefully they will have a better idea than me.

Thanks in advanced and I look forward to your replies.

Lewis

 

[forestgump]

look at some old adrias light cheap and good.

 

[ValA.]

Rather than looking for particular makes or models, just look in your local supermarket free ads - and see what is on offer at your budget. We bought our first caravan that way, and all the ones we looked at were being sold be genuine ex-caravanners. Ours came with a lot of extra equipment, and the owner knew everything about how things worked, and gave us some valuable lessons.

 

[NigelDonnelly]

Welcome to the Forum. I picked up a 'playworn' Sprite last year for under £400 but if it had been on eBay or on a dealer forecourt it would have been a £1000.
I'd recommend being prepared to travel, prepared to walk away and scouring the classifieds. I found mine on the Gumtree website but there was a lot of rubbish on there too. Preloved is pretty good as well as the Auto Trader and our own practicalcaravan.com/forsale often has a few cheapies.
My other advice is to beware caravans that have nothing with them and are listed as being sold on behalf of someone else. If a van comes with some touring kit, it is more likely to be the owner selling it. If being sold out of a yard with no kit and no idea by someone, make sure it is very cheap before handing over any cash!
Don't know where you are in the country but this one in Cheshire looks a good place to start!
Good luck and enjoy the Forum

 

[caravanchris11]

hi we fell i love with new 570 sr and swapped two weeks ago had our first holiday up to robin hood bay yorkshire fab, when we all bye new things we look at the big picture and go with that all excited its only when you get up close then you see the little things that have been over looked,eg catch missing off fridge door,ex 230 socket split, door handles touchup with paint,cooker wont stay alight, light over head dont come on !! nxt time il take more time to check the small things, lookly our dealer is going to sort for us and was very helpfull. as one would expect when shelling k18. so tell all to look at the little things in life and it will made the big things seem fab!! chris an sal bromsgrove.

 

[Beachball]

Hi Lewis Welcome to the practical Caravan Forum have a look at E-bay , supermarket ads , adtrader , and even a dealer and you never know, but check everything works and no Damp

 

[lewiswilliams1]

Thank you for the good advice so far. I have had a good look on ebay to get a feel for the market. I am away this weekend but after that I think I will start to go and look at a few. I’m not too far from Glossop Caravans and they have a few part-x stock that is within my budget so again I will take a look to see what they are like.

Cheers

 

[Parksy]

Hi Lewis
Apologies for the late reply because I've been enjoying a lovely break at the Practical Caravan Readers Rally down in North Devon at Stowford Farm Meadows but a belated welcome to the forum and if you have any questions no matter how trivial they might seem please don't be afraid to ask in the various sections of the forum.
Apart from the good advice already given I'd suggest that overall condition of a caravan is more important then it's age or manufacturer.
A well looked after older caravan is always a better bet than a flashier newer but knocked about model.

 

[lewiswilliams1]

Right, I’ve had a good look around at caravans. I'd be happy if I didn’t have to look at another caravan eBay listing again.

I think I have found the van for me. It’s a 1993/4 Compass Ralley GTE 460/2 2 Berth. Very tidy, clean, dry and damp free!!! Galv chassis and good solid floor. All accessories included ready to hitch up and holiday. The current owner paid £1400 2 years ago and he is now looking for £1000. I am going to offer him £900 to be cheeky and see what I get.....

Next step is caravan storage. I can park the van on my drive for now but I will want some storage. Again I have had a good look around online and seen a few CaSSOA gold/silver sites but all I want is some simple farm type storage. The van isn’t pristine and nor is it worth a lot so I’m taking the view that no one would want to steal the old van in the corner

, Anyone got any suggestions on storage in the Bolton, Atherton, Leigh, Warrington area??

Cheers

 

[Parksy]

Hi Lewis
You will receive more replies if you ask about storage in the 'Insurance Security & Storage' section of the forum.
Not all members look in the introductions section unfortunately.
F.w.i.w. we store our caravan inside a farmers barn in the Midlands. We happened to look on a rural post office window at the postcard adverts and a farmer was advertising storage space.
Why not print off some postcard ads and place them in shop windows near to the areas that you are looking for?

 

[erica11]

hi Lewis, I live in Leigh. There,s a caravan storage at west bridgewater street, just past aldi over leigh bridge. abt 35 a month when i enquired. Also town centre again near squash court bk of doctors surgery at bedford area. both well secured the other quoted us 150.00 a 5 month period. Hope this helps.

 

[lewiswilliams1]

Hi

Thanks for that Erica1. I will take a look this week. I spotted a new one that’s opened up near Sainsbury’s but its a bit too expensive for what I’m looking for.