Hi everyone. Just joined the website and forum as we're about to join the caravaning community. I've taken the first step of booking my car (2017 VW Passat 2.0 TDI 184ps) in for a detachable towbar fitting. We're now after best recommendations for a 2-berth van please. Planning on spending no more than £13k and would appreciate people's thoughts. It seems that Alde Heating seems to be the thing to get, but beyond that I'm not sure. Also, just to put my mind at rest, do you pick up manoeuvring the van pretty quickly? It's been an awful long time since I reversed small trailers. Thanks everyone.
FIRST VAN RECOMMENDATIONS
- Thread starter SalopGeordie
- Start date
Hello Geordie,
Welcome to the forum,
The Passat is has earned a lot of accolades over the years for good towing. but despite having a good car it still needs a good choice of caravan. I'm not able to recommend any particulay make or model, becasue ultimately only you can decide which model best meets your needs. But it is always best to look for the smallest and lightest caravan that will fit your usage pattern
I suggest ou should take your time and go and look at as many alternatives as you can. When you have found some you like if you have any family or friends that caravan ask them to look at them and discuss pros and cons and ask as many questions as you can. When you have decided on a particular caravan arrange to have the caravan independently inspected by an Approved Workshop Scheme engineer and only if it comes back with a clean bill of health a full service record, and especially a complete damp report, only then consider making an offer to buy.
If your new to caravanning, there are some fairly compelling reasons to use a caravan dealer as you get automatic Consumer Rights Protection, which you will not get in private deal.
It's also worth trying to deal with a local rather than distant dealer should any warranty work be necessary.
If possible use a credit card for at least £100 of the purchase to get additional protection from the Consumer Credit Act.
The adage of Buyer Beware is so important, with S/H caravans.
Good luck
PS. With a two berth caravan blow air heating like Truma can react faster than the Alde and provide a good balance of temperature throughout a smaller caravan. Don't limit yourself to a wet system.
Hi ProfJohnL
Thank you for a really detailed reply.
We're looking at a 2 berth van just to get us started and I am definitely going to a dealer for the reasons you stated. Thanks for the info on the heating system. That's worth knowing. I've seen a few vans on dealer websites but we're in no hurry. I'll do lots of looking around first as you suggested.
Thanks again.
I have no experience of Alde heating but I have a small 2 berth with blown air heating and can vouch for ProfJohnL's comment, it warms the caravan very quickly. Once up to temperature I normally switch to 'economy mode' and can't hear it running. The issues seem to be with bigger caravans where the temperature varies from one end to the other.
Brilliant, thank you. This makes total sense in such a small space. And has made me think again 👍🏻
Facebook
Twitter