Early Planning Stages

[Red_Mick]

Hello from Doncaster.

My wife is keen to have a caravan! It's August now, so I reckon it would be best to wait until winter
to get the best deal. We're looking at used vans, two berth. We're changing the car soon and with
caravanning in the outlook, probably getting a Megane. Max towing weight of 1300kgs, so presumably
should be OK with vans we've looked at so far. I don't have any caravan mates about, so I'm a little
nervous about buying privately, although I know that's where the best deals are, budgeting maybe up
to £2k or thereabouts. I've just been reading that caravan life is of the order of 10 to 14 years, this would discount many
vans in the market at the moment! Also that tyres should be changed after five years?? How can you
determine if they have and is it so necessary?
The array of accesories is 'doing my head in', Why are there different types of tow ball? Where do you
have to go to get a BSI recommended tow bar on the car? Presumably the modern socket fitted to the car will
be 13(?) pin? What if the van has the older plug? Is there an adaptor needed?

Is there a central resource for us wannabee caravanners to have all these answers? Or do I just keep
badgering forum members with questions?

I seem to think I read somewhere about a DVD to help
new starters? Or was that just about driving skills?

Thank you for your patience

 

[Parksy]

Hi Mick, welcome to the Practical Caravan forum.
As a prospective caravanner you've come to the right place for your questions to be answered so don't worry about 'badgering forum members with questions' because we all had to start somewhere and it's far better (and cheaper!!) to learn from the collective experience of your fellow forum members than from your own mistakes.
If you sort out your most urgent questions and post them one at a time in the General and Towcar sections they will be seen by the majority of forumites who will be happy to offer tips and advice about all aspects of choosing, owning and enjoying your tourer.
In the meantime I have some 'homework' in the form of some reading for you.
Click Here for the Used Caravan Buyers guide, the links on the left of the webpage will guide you through things to watch out for when buying your first tourer, common caravan problems inside and outside and signs of damp or water ingress,tips about leisure batteries, tyres, CRiS numbers (a caravan HPI check) which will verify ownership and a used caravan price guide to ensure that you don't get ripped off.
With the advice from the buyers guide and help from your fellow Practical Caravan forum members you will avoid most of the pitfalls which can trap the unwary and avoid potentially expensive mistakes when buying a caravan and the bits and pieces to go with it.
We hope that you enjoy using the forum and exchanging ideas with the friendly forumites and good luck with your quest to become a caravanner

 

[Dustydog]

Morning Mick
Welcome.
If you and your wife have never towed before it will be worth considering enrolling for one of the Caravan Club's towing courses. Well worth the money. You could go together and then share the towing. My wife did the course and it's great knowing that she knows what she's doing!

See this - Caravan Courses

 

[John_374564913]

Redmick

Try This Site it might help before posting all of your questions

John

 

[Robtel]

Hi Red Mick,
Welcome to the forum. Please don't be shy about posting questions, we all had to start out somewhere.
Might be better asking one or two questions per post rather than all in one post, but you can post as many threads as you want.
Robert