Hello from a new joiner

[saint-spoon]

Hello everyone,

It is a long, long time since I last slept in a tourer, we are going back to the early eighties if my memory serves me correctly. I spent my youth touring with my parents and younger sister, they had an old Cavalier 6 berth (did I see one of them in the latest issue of PC in the letters section?) which had glass windows, no running hot water (we had a very noisy pump for cold water), no toilet although there was a compartment to put one if need be but it had to be a self-contained unit. According to my Dad they tried to take us out every other weekend when the weather permitted with two weeks away for our summer holiday and a week at Easter if they could afford it. Living on the south coast we were quite lucky having the new forest on our doorstep and have some very fond memories of places like Sandy Balls when it was not much more than a field in which to park up.
Anyway I have travelled the world both with work and for fun but never given up my passion for the great British outdoors and camping. After a short break from camping from the mid eighties until the early nineties (I joined the Royal navy and spent a lot of time away) I have had a succession of tents and continued to enjoy the camping experience… but I am now 46 (having retired from the RN after 28 years last year) and not getting any younger; I think that this season will be my last on airbeds under canvass.
So at some point after the summer I am looking at purchasing a caravan of my own. My plan is for a used 6 berth, something like a Baily Pageant Bretagne would suit me down to the ground I think. I also need to decide on which car I need to tow it so please bear with me when I start asking questions. I forgot to mention that I have two young kids, both girls aged 4 and 6 and they keep me young in mind if not in body, hence the need for something a bit bigger.

 

[Parksy]

Hello and welcome aboard
There are plenty of good used caravans available to buy, Click Here to do some forward planning which should indicate some of the more obvious points to look for when buying whether privately or from a dealership.
Enjoy looking around various models to find out which suits you and your family best and if you have any questions just ask, we like to help. :cheer:

 

[LizziePope]

Hi and a warm welcome to the Practical Caravan forum – and back to caravanning!

 

[mealsonwheels]

Welcome to the forum, where you will find answers to all your caravanning questions.
Many of us started our love of carvanning from our childhood experiences of it and glad to see that you too are now thinking of getting a caravan of your own, which your family will love doing too.

Use the 85% guidance as a safe guide to what your tow vehicle will pull safely. Then you'll know which caravans you can eliminate from your search by looking at the MTPLM on the plate (usually found on the side at the bottom of the door). Once you know that, you can set out on your quest and you'll probably look at dozens and will soon become caravanned out!

Take a notebook with you and write down details and all the pro's & con's of models that you think would suit you, as you look inside them. It will prove helpful when you get back home and try to think back as to which had what. When you're inside caravans, really try to imagine your family living in them.

Happy hunting!

 

[saint-spoon]

Thank you for your advice, I will be out and about looking in the not too distant future. My budget isn’t massive but I think that I can stretch to something half decent and a car more than capable of towing it. I will of course pick all of your brains once I have viewed a few likely suspects.

 

[Mel]

Hi, welcome to the forum.
Mel

 

[Dustydog]

Welcome to the forum Saint Spoon.
A series 6 or 7 Bailey Pageant is a Clubman class and well specd.
Why would you want a 6 berth with only 4 of you?

May I suggest an afternoon trip to a big dealer and try out all their 2nd hand variants.
My own experience says what I think I want isn't what suits me best.
Good luck.

 

[saint-spoon]

It is my intention to take a peak around a couple of main dealers the weekend after next to see what is about (going to a Madness concert this weekend); over the past few years we have been to a couple of the caravan shows held on the NEW Forest show ground and have seen a lot of styles that we like (but can’t afford). The 6 berth Bretagne seems to be ideal, yes I know that they are only four of us but My Mum is keen to come along at some point. However I am very much open minded on the subject and if we find that 6 is too much of a stretch then we will reconsider. Bearing In mind I have to also procure something to drag the caravan along the roads as my trusty Focus hasn’t really got the oomph; I may have to scale down on my wishes. Will keep you posted. Lots of great stuff on the forum BTW.

 

[Beachball]

Hi Saint-Spoon
This is a belated welcome to the forum

 

[saint-spoon]

Well I have been around the local dealerships, obviously we are now just coming to the time when folks are thinking about trading in their caravans for newer versions so there are a few about to be looking at. I quite liked the 5 berth set ups with the double beds fwd and aft and the bunk over the after bed as well as the fixed bunk set ups. There is a lot to be thinking about and I found that there was a lot more to this buying a used caravan lark than I had anticipated. Anyway we, the family as a unit, decided to go for a new Adria altea 7 berth. Loads of space and the kids really liked the bunks. Plus it comes with a 10 year warranty which really sold it to Mrs Spoon along with the fact that some of the used units that we had checked out, even some of the newer ones, were really quite grubby (yes I know that they can be valeted but Mrs Spoon wasn’t convinced. To compensate for the new caravan I had to settle for an older tow car and have picked up an 53 Nissan Terrano. I reasoned that as it is a much heavier machine it will be better for me as a novice tower, the intention is to swap it in for a newer, lighter and importantly more economical tug in a year or so once I have a bit more experience of towing the caravan. The threads on this site have been invaluable in guiding me through the whole process.