Advice on Old Tourer in France.....

[Charlotte_374575497]

Hi, We have a Eldis Vogue 20 yr old tourer in good condition. Has only have 3 owners including ourselves and you can tell its been well looked after. We are taking it to France in August but have had some comments off people that we might not be allowed to take a 20 yr old tourer into France. I can't find any information to back up this claim but obviously dont want to be in a position when we're over there that its going to ruin our holiday if this is the case. Does anyone know anything about this ? She is old but doing well for her age and more than capable of making the journey down to the Vendee where we have booked a site. I'm now worrying. Any advice appreciated.

 

[NickinFrance]

Rubbish, there are plenty of old caravans on the roads & in camp sites in France, you will have no problems.

However, if you like it here & decide to move, you will find it almost impossible to register a caravan older than 2000.

 

[Charlotte_374575497]

Rubbish, there are plenty of old caravans on the roads & in camp sites in France, you will have no problems.

However, if you like it here & decide to move, you will find it almost impossible to register a caravan older than 2000.

Thank you so much for post. Have been worrying myself so much about this. Have been sensible as its our first caravan and wanted to buy within our budget without taking loans up etc, and have been made to feel second class citizens for doing so by some people with really jokey negative comments. Becomes a little galling over time, so to be told we would nt be able to take it to France just took the biscuit ! Thank you for confirming. Can now look forward to a lovely break in a beautiful country in 7 wks.

 

[RayS]

Only snag I can see is that some insurers may not be too keen, particularly if recovery is to be insured. Suggest a check round before you make any firm bookings.

Would also suggest making sure you have a good spare wheel on the van as the older tyre size may be a problem to replace - here now, as well as 'there'

 

[DavidKlyne]

Charlotte

I don't see how you will encounter problems with taking an older caravan abroad. The Caravan Club Red Pennant insurance don't seem to have any age restrictions on caravans. The only require seems to be that it is that it " Must be serviced in accordance with the manufacturers specification both before , and if necessary, during the tour and must be in a roadworthy condition, not overloaded and mechanically sound"

My only other suggestion would be tat if the tyres have not been changed in the last 5 years to do that before you go.

David

 

[Charlotte_374575497]

Thank you all. Am planning on changing both tyres before travelling, even though they look in good condition and take note of the comment re the spare. Re servicing, we havent done this. Where could we take this to for this - we live near Gloucester. Also, what does this take into account for a caravan and roughly how much does it cost?

 

[JoannaLesley]

Don't worry about it! We had a very old, much loved, caravan which was 25 years old when we finally sold it and we took it to France every year for 10 years. We always take out Red Pennant and one year had to use it, with no problems at all. For a couple of years we even towed with an old, less than perfect Fiat Tipo (brakes went coming through the Mont Blanc tunnel, but that's a different story). We never received any comments or criticism and, in fact, found many Europeans particularly firendly to us. The Brits tended to keep well away, but that's their loss.

In fact, the only time we were challenged was on a CC site, returning to our van (in the Tipo) after a day out, when the Warden came chasing after us to ask who we were and what we wanted!

Camping on the continent is so much more relaxed and less snobbish than here. Everyone spends most of their time outdoors anyway and simply uses their van as a bedroom.

Go for it and have a wonderful time.

Jo

 

[JoannaLesley]

Charlotte,

I forgot to say that we never bothered with servicing our old van, other than by himself on the driveway. We never had any problems. It was the newest car we ever owned that gave us the nightmares!

Jo

 

[TD42]

charlott can I suggest you find a local mobile caravan service mechanic & have at least a running gear/chassis service.

& if the tyres are over 5 yrs old have them replaced

If stuff go wrong abroad it can be very difficult to get it sorted

C&CC or CC for your breakdown cover

TD

 

[ValA.]

I suspect that if you're staying on a site with a lot of French people your van may be amongst one of the newest there! Lots of French caravans are very old indeed, and still keep going. You'll definitely not have problems booking into a site!

 

[DeliDave_]

Have seen very old vans in France,as most of the time they are outside and only sleep in there.I wouldnt worry,no one will care.We are off on Friday to same place as last year and they had five or six campers under a sail thing tied from trees(Les Brunelles) and none of the site admin moaned,they are very relaxed as long as you pay for your pitch.