CAMHC magazine - caravans?

[GaryB]

Well, the usual CAMHC magazine arrived today, I know some love it and some hate it, for me it's a casual read before it goes in the recycling bin. I enjoy reading the car and caravan reviews (some are clearly biased/flawed) and also the site write-ups. I was a bit shocked with this months effort as while there's a motorhome review and a car review, there's no caravan review!

 

[Mr Plodd]

Some of the the tow car reviews make me smile, or maybe I should say wince? How many of us can even dream of being able to pay £60-70k just for a towcar, then hang a "excellently specced and competitively priced" £45k caravan on the back?
Well certainly not me!

 

[GaryB]

Some of the the tow car reviews make me smile, or maybe I should say wince? How many of us can even dream of being able to pay £60-70k just for a towcar, then hang a "excellently specced and competitively priced" £45k caravan on the back?
Well certainly not me!

I know, I was drawn to the article on the Volvo XC60 until I saw the price! Just under £63K!!!!

 

[RogerL]

Some of the the tow car reviews make me smile, or maybe I should say wince? How many of us can even dream of being able to pay £60-70k just for a towcar, then hang a "excellently specced and competitively priced" £45k caravan on the back?
Well certainly not me!

Plenty of people buy those £70k cars when they come off lease after 3 years for under half that amount - it's the £45k caravans that make me wince, they aren't even well made!

 

[Hutch]

I know when I retired 10 years ago, I bought a new, Hyundai Sante Fe at £33k to tow my one year old Coachman 560 VIP ay maybe 25k
Total £60 k. WOW.
Didn't think it was reality.

 

[Buckman]

A few magazines back wasn't a Porsche rated as the best tow car? I seem to remember that there was a bit of an outcry about that article?

 

[RogerL]

A few magazines back wasn't a Porsche rated as the best tow car? I seem to remember that there was a bit of an outcry about that article?

Probably the Porsche Cayenne - just an expensive, posh VW Touareg - I don't remember any outcry if Range Rovers are featured.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD93slyCykc

 

[GaryB]

One of the magazines used to run buyers guides on used cars/caravans a while ago. We all have different needs and budgets, car-wise I declined a company car and instead buy myself a "nice" car, BUT an ex-demonstrator, usually 5-6 months old with 6,000-odd miles on it and save around £12K on the list price new. Caravan-wise I tend to buy new to get the maximum warranty BUT I buy at the lower spec/budget end of the range as in my experience some of the entry-level caravans aren't far off the mid-range spec-wise. I couldn't justify adding another £10K to the caravan price just to get a fourth burner on the hob, a solar panel and uprated corner steadies*

*Tongue in cheek, I know that some caravans come with a lot more than that

 

[GaryB]

Probably the Porsche Cayenne - just an expensive, posh VW Touareg - I don't remember any outcry if Range Rovers are featured.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD93slyCykc

2 1/2 years ago I actually looked at the Porsche Panamera, I had a job paying excellent money and the Panamera petrol/diesel models had a towing limit of around 2000kgs. Lovely looking cars but I then realised the stress of the job was likely to kill me before I could have used it for towing so left the job and sought solitude in the comfort and steadiness of a Volvo!!

 

[RogerL]

2 1/2 years ago I actually looked at the Porsche Panamera, I had a job paying excellent money and the Panamera petrol/diesel models had a towing limit of around 2000kgs. Lovely looking cars but I then realised the stress of the job was likely to kill me before I could have used it for towing so left the job and sought solitude in the comfort and steadiness of a Volvo!!

Good choice job-wise - I walked out when I was 52 and took early "retirement" - I wouldn't be here now if I hadn't.

 

[GaryB]

Good choice job-wise - I walked out when I was 52 and took early "retirement" - I wouldn't be here now if I hadn't.

Definitely, you wake up one morning and suddenly realise what's important in life and adjust your expectations to suit.

 

[Dustydog]

A few magazines back wasn't a Porsche rated as the best tow car? I seem to remember that there was a bit of an outcry about that article?

Extract from CAMC mag

Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid 8-Speed Tiptronic S​

Class winner:
Caravan Weight Over 1700kg​

Judges' comments:

"The Cayenne's beautiful blend of handling precision and power is still on offer when a caravan is hitched to the back. There's very little movement from the outfit at low and high speeds and the whole car feels very balanced, and never unwieldy."

 

[Buckman]

Extract from CAMC mag

Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid 8-Speed Tiptronic S​

Class winner:​

Caravan Weight Over 1700kg​

Judges' comments:

"The Cayenne's beautiful blend of handling precision and power is still on offer when a caravan is hitched to the back. There's very little movement from the outfit at low and high speeds and the whole car feels very balanced, and never unwieldy."

The only thing unwieldy about it is the price!

 

[Challenger]

The CMC magazine is now an indicator of the market to which it is setting out it's stall.
Not interested in plebs.

 

[Challenger]

Extract from CAMC mag

Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid 8-Speed Tiptronic S​

Class winner:​

Caravan Weight Over 1700kg​

Judges' comments:

"The Cayenne's beautiful blend of handling precision and power is still on offer when a caravan is hitched to the back. There's very little movement from the outfit at low and high speeds and the whole car feels very balanced, and never unwieldy."

The Bentley Bentayga was a class inner too !

 

[GaryB]

I love seeing write ups on out-of-reach tow cars and others that make an unusual choice to be towing with, BUT I like those sort of articles to be an occasional "special". It's a shame as I still like to read a magazine rather than just using online media, but for me the club magazine just seems to be drifting around, trying to find a majority audience, but failing.

 

[Raywood]

I do read the magazine and do like t but having a caravan test missing is wrong even if the ones you get can be written without much genuine criticism.
I do appreciate that some of the cars are outside many readers budget but then again I suppose the cheaper ones are below others budgets. On that basis I would not criticise the various choices and to some extent it has to be based on what they can et with a tow bar fitted. As far as the Porsche goes at least it lets us dream.
In my opinion it is far better than the C&CC one, which simply has too large a range of subjects and misses a lot in trying.