Buying secondhand caravan.

[Surfer]

We have friends who have a choice of buying either a 1998 Bailey 470/4 for about £3500 or a slightly later year 510/4 caravan for about £4600. As they are very concerned about damp they have purchased a reasonably good damp meter. Is there any sort of guidance on the Internet where they shoudl be checking for damp in a caravan? Obviously they will be doing their CRIS check before handing over any money.

 

[ValA.]

http://www.nottsda.co.uk/Buying Used.htm
http://www.caravanbuyersguide.co.uk/interior.html
http://www.a-tconsulting.co.uk/caravan_tech/dealing_with_damp.html
and pictures of damp repairs here (enough to put anyone off!)

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=31&TopicID=113042&PagePosition=1

 

[slimseydy]

when I was looking for second hand van last year ,spent weeks looking everywere & the vans were rotten for the money,all decent vans were up there in the 9-10 grand mark,just holding loads of value at present due to popularity,worse for me was I was warned that all the showrooms were starting to be populated by all the vans bought in the north east a couple of years ago following the floods in the Hull area & these were getting sent all over the country & were hammered due to families living in them.in the end I extended the HPO agreement and got a new van on entry level just to get something that gacve me confidence,I couldnt gamble 7-8 grand on something without a warranty.good luck in your hunt,

 

[Surfer]

If one is buying a 10 to 12 year old caravan, which is the most likley to be a good sold well built caravan and also possibly damp free if it has been serviced regualrly? some suggest coachman followed by Baily and Swift.

They saw a caravan that they liked but since it was bought, it had never been serviced and the caravan was several years old. They walked away although the caravan appeared to be damp free and the interior in good condition. My friend was not prepared to crawl under the caravan and he isn't mechnaically minded.