Well. I think we’ve found our caravan and it is the weight above. It’s a coachman laser xcel 875.
Yes I know it can’t get much bigger - but that’s who we are I’m afraid! We don’t like having to do things by half and then wanting to upgrade later.
Husband has been looking for an excuse to change his car (although he does love the A7) so if it’s a problem, I guess he’ll tackle that later.
It is twin axle with ATC so hopefully that helps.
My Sorento Gen 1 and Disco 2 were both rated to tow at 3500 kg but their kerbweight were well below that figure.That was taken in 2016 so around 30 years to take account of the years we didn't have a 'van.
But my main point was to show as a general comment that it's perfectly possible to tow at over 85% which lets be honest is a bit arbitrary anyway. Obviously the 85% figure is much vaunted (mainly by the clubs) as a limit for those new to towing but nobody can ever say what it's based on, other than it's lighter than the tow car.
I honestly couldn't discern much if any difference between towing that and what our setup is now and previously. The current 'van is a single axle with no ATC. With it's weight upgrade it comes in at 87%.
All that said I personally wouldn't go much closer to 100% than 96% and deffo. not over even though I know some do. Logic to me says having a trailer heavier than the car is a recipe for trouble, even though it might be legal in some cases eg towing with some JLR products.
You should be okay as the MTPM seems to be about 1725kgWell. I think we’ve found our caravan and it is the weight above. It’s a coachman laser xcel 875.
Yes I know it can’t get much bigger - but that’s who we are I’m afraid! We don’t like having to do things by half and then wanting to upgrade later.
Husband has been looking for an excuse to change his car (although he does love the A7) so if it’s a problem, I guess he’ll tackle that later.
It is twin axle with ATC so hopefully that helps.
I didn’t say how much the car weighs cos I didn’t know. I did the calculation on the website with the van we’re looking at and it comes out fine.At 1896kg it will weigh just more than your car which you said earlier was 1895kg. And that's without a plate upgrade to 2000kg.
Personally I wouldn't go there unless I changed the car., but of course it's your choice.
Ps, nice 'van though.
You should be okay as the MTPM seems to be about 1725kg
I didn’t say how much the car weighs cos I didn’t know. I did the calculation on the website with the van we’re looking at and it comes out fine.
I think the kerb weight of the car is 1945kg
Yeah that’s too difficult to find - somewhere in husband’s office 😂Comes out at 97% then which is better.
Your figure for the car is under Mass in Service on the V5c.
Yeah that’s too difficult to find - somewhere in husband’s office 😂
It’s a 2016 A7 3.0 TDI BiTurbo
I know. I’m not shirking - but the info is online surely?As hard as it's to find as you need to be sure for the specific make, model and version you have.
I know. I’m not shirking - but the info is online surely?
Isn’t the website I put the info into (as per previous comments) good enough? That was our exact car and the exact model we’re looking at…
I got that from a Coachman website?That figure is closer to the MIRO not the MTPLM.
Without an upgrade the Personal Payload on that Coachman isn’t particularly good. My 2012 1300 MTPLM Sprite had 196kg.
I guess it depends on the model year?
I guess it depends on the model year?
Potential towing weight issues aside, can I ask what your preference would be on the following choice and why pls.
We have 2 options for buying this van now:
2022 model Coachman Laser Xcel 875 - £34000
2024 model same - £43000
We can afford either but don't want to waste money - instinct suggests that the 2022 model is the obvious choice to save £7k
However - the purchase would be NOT from a Coachman dealer (is this a problem?) and I gather that when buying 2nd hand, you don't get the balance of the 10 year water ingress warranty - only the balance up to 6 year... so we'd get 4 years. Is this a problem? We would also only get 1 year warranty on the rest I believe - although need to check that as the conversation we had yesterday was for a 2021 model which he said was out of warranty and therefore would come with 1 year insurance backed warranty - this was also from a Coachman dealer)
Is there anything else we need to know about buying a used van?
Thanks
If there is a warranty claim, you may end up being bounced around if the dealer is not an approved Coachman dealer especially when to comes to damp issues in the caravan.Potential towing weight issues aside, can I ask what your preference would be on the following choice and why pls.
We have 2 options for buying this van now:
2022 model Coachman Laser Xcel 875 - £34000
2024 model same - £43000
We can afford either but don't want to waste money - instinct suggests that the 2022 model is the obvious choice to save £9k
However - the purchase would be NOT from a Coachman dealer (is this a problem?) and I gather that when buying 2nd hand, you don't get the balance of the 10 year water ingress warranty - only the balance up to 6 year... so we'd get 4 years. Is this a problem? We would also only get 1 year warranty on the rest I believe - although need to check that as the conversation we had yesterday was for a 2021 model which he said was out of warranty and therefore would come with 1 year insurance backed warranty - this was also from a Coachman dealer)
Is there anything else we need to know about buying a used van?
Thanks
£9k is a lot of depreciation in 2 years .... and a lot of repair money if anything did go wrong out of warranty, right? When I originally posted I'd done my maths wrong and thought it was £7k which for some reason didn't feel like a lot - but £9k feels like a big saving!You look like you are getting a discount of about 3k on the new one.
Personally my preference if could afford it would be new, especially if you plan to keep it for a while. In general a manufacturers warranty will be better than an insurance backed one.
Is that up to 6 years from new or from purchase? (dealer responsibility to repair I mean)If there is a warranty claim, you may end up being bounced around if the dealer is not an approved Coachman dealer especially when to comes to damp issues in the caravan.
Regarding a damp issue the warranty is normally only for sealed joints and not cracked panels, damp around windows, lockers and door. Check the warranty conditions carefully as many are very misleading. However if buying from a dealer that is not a Coachman dealer, they still have a responsibility to do the repair for up to 6 years. If you get a damp problem in year 5 after purchase second hand, it is up to the consumer to prove that the issue existed at time of purchase. Generally this is not too difficult to prove if you go about it the correct way.
Another big issue is that after purchasing the caravan, you then decide that the layout doesn't suit you or you don't like caravans. You take a big hit, lose a lot of money trading it in.
It's good to haggle- but many don't - there is though no standard figure you should get knocked off.Is that up to 6 years from new or from purchase? (dealer responsibility to repair I mean)
There is an alternative option which would be:
2021 model for £33.5k at a Coachman dealership
Is it normal to haggle when buying a used van? Or is the price the price?