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 👍🏻
As a first time buyer it is recommended that you purchased from a dealership as you then get a warranty and protection by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It is no good saving £3-4k buying privately and then find out that you have a host of problems that need rectifying. Although most private sellers are probably honest, you always get a bad apple to two.
It's probably worth factoring how DIY competent and physically capable you are aswell. Would you be happy removing and resealing a window or roof vent. They are the sort of jobs a competent DIYer can do for £20 but would cost several hundred if you had to pay someone else to do them.
I'll be honest and say that I very rarely reverse my caravan, probably twice in the last year. I would recommend you look for one with a motor mover or factor in the price of having one fitted. Hitching up is so easy with one, and more often than not I want to pitch 'nose first' to get the best view (staying on CL's and small private sites where the rules aren't as strict as the big commercial sites).
I would recommend that you sign up for one of the club courses (CMHC, C&CC) as nit only do they provide manoeuvring practice but lots of invaluable advice on many other aspects of caravanning too. Well worth the costs.
And when you have ingested all the above it might be a good idea to get a small A5 exercise book and partition it off and mark the partitions with the things you require to take, His, Hers, Dogs, Last minute things, while away you will need to remedy things when home so I have one marked, To Do, To Buy, and one marked caravan key no. Hitch key no. Tyre size and pressure, caravan length, height, width.
Just an idea.
Just an idea.
Blown air systems work fine in small vans. Alde piped HW is needed in large vans as distances are to far for ducted air to work effectively.
I would suggest hiring for few nights first as 2 berths bedding needs setting up ever night and clearing in morning before breakfast. 4berths means double bed can be left as is.
If 2berth double bed is madeup then far person has to climb over near person.
4berth with French bed eg Swift Alpine 4 allows far person to get out via end of bed.
Island beds are ideal but then you are into very large vans.
Other area that is compromise is bathroom. Either wet room ie toilet shower in one or separate shower. If you need to use van shower everyday (eg offgrid camping ) then separate shower is ideal. Wet rooms are ok if most stays will have shower facilities.
I would suggest hiring for few nights first as 2 berths bedding needs setting up ever night and clearing in morning before breakfast. 4berths means double bed can be left as is.
If 2berth double bed is madeup then far person has to climb over near person.
4berth with French bed eg Swift Alpine 4 allows far person to get out via end of bed.
Island beds are ideal but then you are into very large vans.
Other area that is compromise is bathroom. Either wet room ie toilet shower in one or separate shower. If you need to use van shower everyday (eg offgrid camping ) then separate shower is ideal. Wet rooms are ok if most stays will have shower facilities.
I would look at some caravan dealers and if you looking for a 2 berth i would go for a end washroom with you been a first time buyer you should get a good deal including a warranty and some extras thrown in ,make sure its looks like its in great condition inside and out , it got service history and damp check, i would take someone with you who knows what to look for . Good Luck
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Having had both types of heating, I would prefer the Alde. However. I would not make it a high priority. Speed of heating is neither here nor there. Comfort and consistency is though, particularly if intending to use in very cold weather. Vans with Alde are generally higher specked if that is important to you. But you may very well get a two year newer van with blown air.
Everything is a considered compromise.
John
Everything is a considered compromise.
John
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Sage advice - this is exactly what I did and found it very useful indeed, especially as the first time I actually towed the caravan (Bailey Unicorn Valencia 2017), was the journey home from the dealers......83 miles!!
This place is full of great folk with lots of knowledge, so stick around.
I used spreadsheets that had the weight of every item in the caravan and car. They covered short summer weekends through long overseas holidays and cold weather trips too. After picking the relevant one I would print it and it became a check off list not just for items and their weight, but where it was stowed. Might sound complicated but once I’d been through a few iterations it took no time at all.
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