Caravan Inspection - Any Members Live Nr Solihull, Nr Birmingham.

[Auspom]

G,Day Fellow Poms.

Tony here from Brisbane Australia, guys i am asking a big favour of one of you if you can help me out.
I need the help of one of our members who lives in the viscinity of Solihull as i am going to bring out a UK tourer for myself and my wife Patricia.
We have spotted a Fleetwood Colchester on eBay UK that we are interested in and i have called the guy and he has stated that the van although in excellent condition does have a few dings here and there but for the love of me i have been over his photos and can only see a couple of them which seem insignificant.
The seller stated to me that he would feel more comfortable if someone with caravanning experience viewed the van prior to purchase and he has emailed me a good few times trying to be as honest as possible and sounds a decent bloke.
Now i have my daughter who lives in Manchester and whilst she can look at vans locally but because she has a son that is severely disabled there no way they could travel from Manchester to the otherside of Birmingham and thats were one of you guys may be able to help me out.
If anyone lives somewhere around the Solihull area and feel that they could just give this van the once over for me then i would be very grateful to them and i would of course re emburse for time and petrol costs.
If you think that you can do it then let me know by reply or send me a pm and i will give you the sellers Name & Ph No to arrange a time.
G,Day To All
Tony
Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Parksy]

Hi Tony
Because you will have no idea of the competence (or lack of it) of any forum member who gives this caravan the 'once over' it might be a better idea to have a pre purchase inspection done by a qualified mobile service engineer.
I've found one who operates in and around the Solihull area Click Here
At least you could be certain that your prospective purchase had been properly looked at with any faults or pitfalls identified and according to the price list the guy only charges a modest £50 for his pre purchase inspection.
It could cost as much as that to pay for the fuel and the time of a lesser qualified volunteer so it would be £50 well spent

 

[Auspom]

Thanks Parksy, I have had a look at that link for Top 2 Bottom caravan servicing and i will be contacting him to check it out, like you say for 50 pound (sorry dont have a pound button on my pc being in Oz) its well worth having someone with the correct knowledge.
Let you know how i go.

Tony

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi Auspom,

I'm sure you will look into the cost of moving a caravan from UK to Aus. But I have a suspicion that it may cost more that the caravan is worth.

It seems there should be no problem with hitch as the balls are 50mm and there are references to the ALKO 3004 hitch in this web site

http://www.towingguide.com.au/index.html
But other things like the arrangements of the trailers road lighting is not mentioned.

The other thing that particularly concerns me is the use of UK specified gas appliances on Australian gas. from a couple of hours of research, I could only get an unconfirmed indication that bottled LPG is predominantly Propane, and the normal regulators for bottled gas have an outlet pressure of only 2.75 Kpa or 27.5 mBar.

If the Fleetwood is of an older design, where the regulator fits directly to the bottled gas, then you may have both a legal and practical problem. In the UK the regulations would deem a supply of propane supply of only 27mB is non compliant as the specified pressure should be 37mB. I assume that AUS has similar safety led requirements. From a practical point of view you may well experience unstable flames and poor combustion.

If on the other hand the Fleetwood is of a more modern vintage where the regulator is fixed to the body of the caravan, and is connection's to the supply bottle via short pipes, called pigtails, then the problem is not the gas pressure (as that is set by the regulator) but can you get the pigtails to suit the AUS bottles.

Now I don't know if RV's are subject to periodic inspection requirements, but the gas system may fall short of the AUS standards. Certainly I do know that UK gas appliances do not have AUS approvals, and cannot be sold in AUS.

You also need to balance the difficulty of obtaining spare parts for the caravan. Fleetwood closed and spares for many of the items fitted are becoming scarce.

 

[Surfer]

On another caravan forum that has nothing to do with campsites there are two members who have imported caravans from the UK. One into Oz and the other into New Zealand so obviously a worthwhile excercise. I think Parksey is a member of tht forum that is for you! Parksey can I post the link or email me direct and you can pass it onto Auspom?

 

[Parksy]

Please post the link Surfer

 

[Auspom]

Thanks Prof & Surfer

Gee with a handle like surfer you should be over here.
The Fleetwood Colchester that i had my eye on in Solihull has now fallen by the wayside as the owner was perfectly honest with me indicating that the van had quite a lot of dings in its bodywork however i have now purchased an identical model from eBay UK its a 2001 Fleetwood Colchester with the flip up double bed in the rear left of the van, the van is in Grimsby and i have arranged for a caravan inspection co in Grimsby to go out and check it over then my son in law iis collecting it and taking it back to Manchester for me to arrange shipment along with a smaller 2 berth van.
Regarding the gas etc, we have to have a new twin gas regulator fitted at the front attached to a flexy steel pigtail and then ALL gas endings to appliances have to be undone and Flared as i think the UK pipes are straight, then a gas inspector comes out and inspects that all those jobs have been done and he also switches all appliances on and measures the burn rate and flow of gas and when he is happy he issues you with a form stating that the gas now complies to Australian standards, then i have to change all the internal electrical sockets etc, arrange for a Safety Certifate plus a Gas Certificate then re register the van in Qld.
Just to give you an idea regarding costs in Australian dollars:

Van: $7200
Shipping: $10000
Compliance: $1000
Total: $18200

To purchase a similar van that has already been shipped and complied out here and advertised they are wanting and getting in excess of $25000-$30000.
The price above for shipping of $10000 is the container plus all shipping handling, customs, taxes etc at this end but dont forget the container price is the same if you have 1 or 2 vans in it so it makes sense to purchase a smaller 2 berth and slot in with the larger 20ft plus van to make up the total of 42ft which these containers measure.
Surfer can you supply that link to the guys that have done it into Australia & New Zealand as it would be intersting reading.
Thanks
Tony

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi Auspom,
Congratulations on your purchase, Clearly you have done your sums, and I'm really pleased that the gas and electrics will be preoprely checked.

I hope the shipping goes without problems

Enjoy

 

[Auspom]

Thanks Prof for your kind words, i will keep you guys posted how it all eventuates.

Tony

 

[Surfer]

Hi Auspom, coming from the land of the world's best rugby players we always had sunshine and surf. Here is the link. Subscribe and join the forum. The Kiwi's nickname is Rikijohn. I can't remember the non de plume for the Oz people, but if you do a post they will come out fo the woodwork.

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