More Newbies!

[Barneythebeardie]

Hi all. Just popped by to say hello. The wife and I are in the realms of choosing our first 'new' second hand caravan.
Looking at getting a 4 berth and fixed bed style. Cost wise, we have up to £10,000.
Have looked at a couple of dealers and we are now trying to figure out which one to buy.
As we are not that well versed in the art of caravan manufacturers, I assume its a case of cost, lay out style and gut feeling re make and model!
I wil also be changing my car to be able to accomadate the towing weights up to about 1500 MTPLM, and yes I am of the age that my licence allows me to tow!
Help and advise wellcome.

 

[GD485]

Hi,

Good luck with the search.

A caravan with a fixed bed is going to be around 7 metres overall. Make sure you have enough room to store it.

We have a Coachman Vision 575/4 which has a transverse island bed.
It’s 7.4 metres long and weighs in around 1540kg fully loaded.

There’s four basic types of fixed bed vans, the transverse island, the rear island, french bed and the twin bed. All have good and bad points.
Watch out for short bed lengths particularly if you or the other half is over 6’ tall.
Normally there’s a trade off with fixed beds and that is either the saloon or washroom space.
All the mainstream manufacturers produce vans in the layout your looking for.
Look for a good service record as the water ingress guarantee will not be valid if the previous owner hasn’t bother to get it serviced at the proper time.
I’d suggest using a dealer for a van costing 10k so at least you have some means of getting things fixed if your unlucky to have a few problems.
This time of year there’s plenty of vans in stock.

 

[Barneythebeardie]

(*Normally there’s a trade off with fixed beds and that is either the saloon or washroom space.
Look for a good service record as the water ingress guarantee will not be valid if the previous owner hasn’t bother to get it serviced at the proper time.*)

Hi and thanks for the reply. We had seen the difference in the bathroom style's!
'Service records'? I assume you ask the sale's person for these? Are these a yearly type of thing like car servicing?
Storage wise, there are a couple of place's nearby that does this, also one of the dealers we saw has his own storage site.
Thanks again.

 

[Hutch]

Welcome to The Forum Barney, There are a lot of different caravan styles out there with the fixed beds, we started with a Sterling Eccles Jewel, then a Coachman 545 the a Coachman 560 with a side bed, and love this last style. If you buy the Practical Caravan Magazine, near the back they have a list of different types of layouts for the more modern caravans, . Go to plenty of different places until you find the style that suits you both. Then get out there and enjoy.

 

[Raywood]

Welcome to the forum. It is very difficult to advise what someone should look for in a caravan as all our tastes differ.
I would suggest visiting dealers and looking at various makes and layouts to see what suits your lifestyle best. You need to look at the level of caravan you will feel comfortable with as well. It is a bit like buying a car, once you have decided what you want to spend you do have to decide if you want an older well specified model or a newer lower one. This is purely a matter of personal choice.
If buying a model with some guarantee you should make sure it has been serviced to the manufacturers specification and check if a form needs to be completed to transfer it.
It is probably safer buying your first caravan from a dealer but there is a saving buying privately but you lose any guarantee.
Make sure everything fitted works and get it demonstrated and video this if you can. Make sure that there is a recent damp test from a qualified person and check the front and rear panels for cracks usually at the top or bottom of the panel. You should not find a problem with these but it can happen.
If you know someone with caravan experience it might help if they go with you.
Hope you find what you want.

 

[Lynnybobs]

Hello and welcome, very exciting time choosing your new van ! It can be very confusing with all the different makes and models so my best advice is as others have said to go and look at as many as you can and at different dealers if possible to get a feel for what you like and also who you might get the best service from.
We also found that talking to as many other caravan owners as possible was a great source of help.
If you buy from a dealer, sometimes they might have a camping field (or discounts at a local site) where you can stay over and check everything works before you tow it home.

 

[LizziePope]

Hello Barney and welcome to the Practical Caravan forum. Thanks for saying hi!

As others have said, it can be hard to advise as a good chunk of what you like from a van is subjective.

Someone's advice to buy from a dealer with on-site/nearby pitches is a good one. It is also a smart idea to buy from a dealer near where you live, as that's where you'll need to go if there are any follow-up matters.

Definitely have a look in as many as possible, making notes as you go along so it doesn't all blur into one. Make a list of the 'must-have' and 'would-like-to-have' features (spec or layout), to help you decide.

When it comes to dealers, take a look at the results of the Practical Caravan Owner Satisfaction Survey 2018 which are in our March 2018 issue.

We've also got a lot of used caravan and used tow car buying advice online. For new tow cars see here and our Tow Car Awards website, which has over 10 years of data. There is also lots of tow car advice including outfit matching help.

Sorry, that's a lot to take in, but I hope it helps!

 

[Parksy]

Hi Barney, welcome to the forum and good luck with your search for your first caravan.
My advice would be never to agree to buy a caravan that you haven't inspected for yourself, it's surprising how many come unstuck buying via online auctions.
There are some things that you need to look out for, have a browse through the Caravan Buyers Guide to avoid the more common pitfalls.

 

[Barneythebeardie]

Thanks for all the advise. Greatly appreciated. The wife and I have already looked at some and have one in mind!
We are also going to look at some more this weekend. By doing this, I believe we will have a much more rounded view.
We have decided tho, that a fixed bed style is what we are after
We will make sure we look at service records, damp meter readings, signs of mould, broken fixings and general wear and tear!!!. I was thinking of buying a damp meter but not to sure how the dealers will react if I start making pin pricks in their vans!!
The dealers we are looking at are local, so if by any chance we have any problems hopefully they can be sorted out ok!
One of the dealers actually pays for a weekend at a local site, so you can get used to everything and also realise what you have forgotton to bring or buy!!
Again many thanks for your helpfull replies.
Oh, and on a final note, Barney is the name of our dog, not mine!!!

 

[Anseo]

Barney is the name of our dog, not mine!!!

I wondered how long it would be before anyone noticed

 

[Hutch]

Ask the dealers, where they check for damp its normally under the seats and around the shower areas, any decent dealer, will not be bothered and should bring out their own meter to help you. And compare your meter to theirs.

 

[Beachball]

Welcome to the forum Barney

 

[Craigyoung]

Hello welcome to the forum and enjoy