how long to keep a van...

[nickmac73]

hi,
just wondered how long people keep there vans for. do people swap year on year or every couple of years?
just wondering thats all......

 

[Delt1c]

Had the current van for 6 years, reason is that despite looking the alternative vans on the market are a lower spec

 

[Delt1c]

Had the current van for 6 years, reason is that despite looking the alternative vans on the market are a lower spec

 

[Trevormc]

First van 1 year second van from 1979 to 2000, the van we have at the moment is a 1994 that we purchased in 2000. We are not thinking about changing it still in very good condition. Also not keen on the layout of most new vans. With regular servicing it will see we until our caravaning days are over.

Trevor

 

[Gagakev]

Had my last van a 1995 model just over 3 years, and the only reason we changed was every morning I woke up the bed gifted me a bad/ aching back other wise we would still have her now, current van fixed double bed and intend to keep him for many many years to come.
As you are just starting in the caravan world( reading your other posts) think you are doing the right thing buy what you can afford and build up to something newer if you want/need to.
Plus at the lower end of the market you dont lose so much money

We sold ours for what we paid for it and kept all the equipment that came with it even down to the bottle opener. Would be good if you could find some one that is giving up then you will get all the gubbings that they no longer have a use for. Good luck in your search.

 

[ValA.]

We've had ours from new, and it is now twelve years old. We'll keep it as long as we still love it, and when we fall out of love with it for whatever reason, we may change it, or may not. It likely to be finances which are the ultimate decider!!!. But there's no way we could possibly afford to upgrade every couple of years, or that we'd even want to even if we could afford to!

 

[DavidKlyne]

After having two secondhand vans between 1982 and 1988 we purchased our first new van in 1989 which we kept for about 9 years. Our next two vans we kept for about 6 year each and our current van is almost 3 years old with no immediate plans to change. I suspect the majority of people keep their vans longer than those that chop and change all the time.
David

 

[Jennifer2]

Way too much hassle to change often, it takes at least a couple of years to get the van to how you want it.......extra sockets, various modifications etc.

We had our previous van almost 10 years, only changed as we wanted a fixed bed. Present one is now 4 years old, we have no plans to change it.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Nick,

Each owner will decide when to buy change or sell their caravan based on a wide range of possible reasons and decisions, There is no right or wrong, its a mater of personal choice and may be very dependant on your personal circumstances.

 

[Lutz]

We kept our first caravan for 16 years and it was still in good nick when we sold it. The main reason why we parted with it was it still had bunk beds that the children used when they were young. They've long since moved away so there was no longer any need for such a layout.

 

[otherclive]

Had this van for 7 years since new and whilst we have looked at changing it nothing has really grabbed us. It has a good sized interior and a useful payload upgrade to 250kg all within a reasonable max weight of 1400kg. I have also fitted a number of additions to make the hardships of caravanning more bearable!

 

[JTQ]

The last three vans changed at 7, 11 & 6 years. None changed due to problems, one change was to better suit retired life with extended period trips, the others just thought a new one would be nice. Think on reflection all decisions were correct for us.

 

[Martin24]

Normally change every three years if we like the look of something but we were discussing this subject last evening. At the moment our current van meets our requirements quite well but we were sorely tempted by the new laser this year. Sat with the brochures last night and compared what we got for the extra 6K+ between the amara and laser of the same layout, our conclusions were not a great deal that we need that couldn't be changed and added to the amara (as we did with this one to include extra LED lighting etc..) except of course the body. The question is how long until the amara has the same body as the rest of the range?? I reckon not 2013 but quite possibly by 2014/5 so we may well not change next year but wait and see what happens. We will however change by the time the water ingress warranty runs out. Before if we were to be offered a stonkingly good deal!! At the moment we are still totally commited to another Coachman as we just can't find any other mainstream van that has the same feel or solidity to it. As an aside we also talked about what we would do when we no longer have the peeps about and don't need the 6 berth. We're keen on downsizing at that point in principle before we get lumbered with grandchildren but hey who know what'll be out there in twenty years time, who will be making what and if any of us will be able to afford more than a bus pass.

 

[woodsieboy]

We changed to our current van last October, we were happy with previous Senator which we had had for 5.5.years from new. Reason for change.. not convinced by Alu Tech and the only other make we considered was Coachman due to island bed layout we vwere looking for.
If Coachman hadn't changed to their new look we would probably have kept the Senator for longer, as it was we bought a 2011 Coachman at a reduced price because the new model was coming out. This will be our seventh van in 22 years and we like to buy a model that is new but is being discontinued, the thinking being that you get a good deal and usually any teething problems with the model have been sorted. So far we have been happy with all our vans except one which was our fault as we thought we could live with the layout but it proved impossible. Footnote to the Senator, the dealer had sold it before we left in our new van. We also looked at the Laser but couldn't justify the extra cost over what we have in a single axle.

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

We bought our current 'van new, now in it's sixth year. We may change it next year, but at the moment, can't see anything that we would want to change it for!!

 

[Tony_5041742]

We've tended to change our vans every 5 or 6 years or so since we started caravanning back in the 80s. We've always bought new or ex demo, and the reasons for keeping vans this long was just a balance between wanting to keep the van relatively "current" on one hand and on the other keeping it long enough so that the depreciation curve was a bit sensible. However, I think we'll break this model moving ahead, as we're now into the time where we'd usually be ordering a new van but for whatever reason the cost to change seems nearly double what we paid last time. Our 07 van is still very comfortable and serves us well, so we'll keep it for a good few more years yet as we can't justify spending so much money on a new one. But there's no right or wrong answer to this question, I've got friends who change outfit almost year and other friends who seem to get just as much enjoyment out of their 1989 Marauder !

 

[RayS]

When I had Uk built vans I changed about every 4 years as things were starting to get loose - particularly furniture made of veneered chipboard. Nothing much you could do about it, as nothing sufficiently solid to lever against to re-position. Current Brustner has had the odd problem with the usual things - tap microswitches, fridge heating elements etc. but the body seems as sound as it did when bought 2006. Keep looking round, but nothing I can see is sufficiently better to justify the cost of changing.

Also there is the 'devil you know' factor, particularly if you have fitted the mover and other bits yourself - you know exactly where any shortcuts have been taken !
You can always play the game ' If this was stolen or written off, what would I get to replace it ?' and if the answer is not glaringly obvious, stick with the one you know. This advice applies too none- caravanning matters too !