Help looking for a Caravan

[Scottydog]

Hi All,
(We are looking to upgrade our Large Tent to a Caravan….. So would be new to caravanning…..)
Looking for some help…. (we are a family of five) and we drive a Ford Galaxy 2.0 TDi (Titanium)
Please can we get some advice on what would be the best Caravan to get that the car can tow…
Ideally would be looking for something that has x3 Bunk beds. (our kid are still quite small (age wise 9 -5 & 4))

Any advice and guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Scott.

 

[LizziePope]

Hi Scott! Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting. I hope you don't mind but I've moved your post to a more appropriate section of the forum.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

and we drive a Ford Galaxy 2.0 TDi (Titanium)
Please can we get some advice on what would be the best Caravan to get that the car can tow…

Welcome to the forum.

First of all look at the weight plate on your Galaxy. There are 4 weights listed and the difference between the first 2 is the max trailer weight that the vehicle is permitted to tow. The answer should also tie up with the stated max trailer weight on the vehicle's V5c certificate. Note - this is the max weight for an 'ideal' trailer and a caravan IS NOT an ideal trailer due to it being a very boxy shape. The V5c should also state the car's MIRO which approximates to Kerb Weight.

Recommendation from the 2 main caravanning clubs is that the max weight of the caravan (MTPLM) is no more than 85% of the car's kerb weight. So this information allows you to start looking at caravan layouts and their weights.

 

[Raywood]

The first thing is to establish a weight for the caravan and your budget. You should have a maximum towing weight for the vehicle but if this exceeds the kerb weight do not use that. For newcomers the suggested figure is the MTPLM for the caravan should not exceed more than 85% of the cars kerb weight.t although exceeding this by a small amount should not be a problem although I would certainly not exceed 90% for a first caravan.
Your budget and what you want in the way of the level of the caravan then come into play and you need to look round to see what suits your needs in the way of size and layout. I am afraid there is no best caravan for your needs, there are numerous different models out there and they can be very different.
There are a few five berth models however and I think you will need to look at six as well as the only difference in many cases is a folding bunk over a single bed which you can just leave up. There are a few second hand ones which have three one above the other but I do not think there are any new ones available now. The problem was that the headroom in the bunks was very restrictive,
You probably will want the children at the back at night so that you can enjoy the front so rear beds for them is probably best with the toilet in the middle so you can go after they go to bed without disturbing them. These do tend to have smaller toilet compartments but unless you are all planing to have daily showers in there you can live with that.
I would have a look round a selection of dealers and see what is available and then get an idea of what level and layout you feel suits you. We are all different so there is no real answer to what is the best caravan. If having seen what is there you make a short list you can then post details on here and get more advice.
It would help if you gave the kerb weight and towing limit of your version of the Galaxy though and the model and year of any caravan proposed.

 

[Buffers]

If your budget stretches to a new van you can do a lot worse than by getting a Hobby. German made and if you buy over the water the price is considerably cheaper than purchasing over here. We are awaiting delivery of our new Hobby in the autumn. Go to the the Hobby-caravan.DE website. German and belgium dealers will offer a good discount. Also easy to deal with

 

[Raywood]

Before any advise can be given on a specific caravan then you need to get the kerb weight and towing limit for your car as the others have said.
There is no best caravan, it depends om your own personality. I would look round and run up a short list and then let us know what you have found.

 

[Eatcustard]

How much do you plan to spend?

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Nearly 2 weeks and no response from the OP.