Hi, I also have an Avocet although mine is a 1999 model, we have had ours for 3 years and absolutely love it, given the age of ours you might expect a few problems but I can honestly say it is in brilliant condition with all the original fixtures and fittings still working perfectly, when someone owns a van it seems the norm that there is always the need to go browsing round dealers for bits and pieces to add to the ever increasing load that the wife thinks she can't live without, this always ends up with a look round the vans for sale, we have also been to the caravan show each year and I can honestly say we have seen nothing that we would prefer to our Avocet, if you get half as much enjoyment from yours as we do then you will love it, good luck on the first trip away.