New caravan purchase advice?

[Thor189]

Hi all,

We’re not completely new to caravans having bought one back in 2020, but then sold to buy a campervan. Didn’t have it too long and didn’t really look into it as much as we should have done. We’ve really missed the caravan so we’re buying another… but this time we’ve gone for a seasonal pitch. (Loved the space, didn’t like towing it everywhere… so keeping the camper for “travels” and the caravan for frequent trips to a specific place)

We’re pretty much set on an Adria caravan. I love the internal design. We’re looking at used, a few years old vs buying brand new (looks like we can get a 2-3 year old Alpina model for around what we’ve set out budget as)

- Our first caravan had some damp problems and I want to make sure that doesn’t happen again. How do you check for this, is there a visual way other than just looking at service history? Our old caravan visually looked great but came back as 60% damp in the bathroom on the service report!

- What are the key things you’d look at when viewing to avoid any obvious problems?

- I’ve read a lot about Adria and they seem to review well, does anyone have any horror stories I should know about?!

Hopefully viewing (and maybe buying!) next week so any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[ProfJohnL]

When most caravans suffer damp issues, it can take some time before its becomes obvious from simple visual inspections, by which time the internal structure of the walls and floor can have significant deterioration, and consequently more difficult and expensive to fix.

Professional caravan engineers will use a quite expensive moisture content meter This uses some sharp pins which are pushed into the surface, and the meter measures the resistance between the pins. The meter usually has a scale that gives the user a reading which can be translated into a moisture level reading. These readings need to be interpreted to account for material and methods of construction.

You can get DIY moisture meters , but they are generally not as accurate as the professional units, but they will give an indication, which may be all you need.

If you carefully select locations where the depressions the pins will leave are not visible such as under the window frame rubbers, in the bedding lockers and behind draws etc, their use doesn't have to be over obvious.

There is no such thing as zero moisture in wood, and levels of up to 15% are accepted as within normal.

The Service history should contain the all previous moisture inspection charts. Make sure the charts actually apply to the caravan serial number!

I suggest that if you find a caravan that you are particularly interested in, you should ask the seller (dealer of private) if you can have an independent pre purchase inspection carried out. If an owner refuses you permission to do a test, that would raise alarm bells - What are they trying to hide?

The Approved Workshop Scheme has a number of mobile caravan engineers who can do a pre purchase inspections. Make sure it includes a damp survey. Generally it's money well spent

Do not agree to purchase a caravan until you are sure about its condition. or make your purchase is made dependent on the satisfactory outcome of the AWS inspection report.

 

[RogerL]

Professional caravan engineers will use a quite expensive moisture content meter This uses some sharp pins which are pushed into the surface, and the meter measures the resistance between the pins. The meter usually has a scale that gives the user a reading which can be translated into a moisture level reading. These readings need to be interpreted to account for material and methods of construction.

Modern damp meters used by technicians are non-invasive to cope with the modern caravan construction, eg grp internal walls as some modern caravans have no wood in their construction.

 

[Thor189]

When most caravans suffer damp issues, it can take some time before its becomes obvious from simple visual inspections, by which time the internal structure of the walls and floor can have significant deterioration, and consequently more difficult and expensive to fix.

Professional caravan engineers will use a quite expensive moisture content meter This uses some sharp pins which are pushed into the surface, and the meter measures the resistance between the pins. The meter usually has a scale that gives the user a reading which can be translated into a moisture level reading. These readings need to be interpreted to account for material and methods of construction.

You can get DIY moisture meters , but they are generally not as accurate as the professional units, but they will give an indication, which may be all you need.

If you carefully select locations where the depressions the pins will leave are not visible such as under the window frame rubbers, in the bedding lockers and behind draws etc, their use doesn't have to be over obvious.

There is no such thing as zero moisture in wood, and levels of up to 15% are accepted as within normal.

The Service history should contain the all previous moisture inspection charts. Make sure the charts actually apply to the caravan serial number!

I suggest that if you find a caravan that you are particularly interested in, you should ask the seller (dealer of private) if you can have an independent pre purchase inspection carried out. If an owner refuses you permission to do a test, that would raise alarm bells - What are they trying to hide?

The Approved Workshop Scheme has a number of mobile caravan engineers who can do a pre purchase inspections. Make sure it includes a damp survey. Generally it's money well spent

Do not agree to purchase a caravan until you are sure about its condition. or make your purchase is made dependent on the satisfactory outcome of the AWS inspection report.

Thank you for all of this - all taken onboard and will look into pre purchase inspections!

 

[Thor189]

Modern damp meters used by technicians are non-invasive to cope with the modern caravan construction, eg grp internal walls as some modern caravans have no wood in their construction.

Can reliable non invasive readers be bought for a reasonable price? (And used to some level of accuracy by the untrained?)

 

[Niall_McIntosh]

Can reliable non invasive readers be bought for a reasonable price? (And used to some level of accuracy by the untrained?)

There's a guy from Atlantic Caravans (a dealer in Cornwall) who has posted a number of videos on YouTube. He recently posted a video comparing his professional grade damp meter (c£400) with a cheaper one (c£30) which you can buy on Amazon. The video can be found here:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiDuKfB_8WQ&ab_channel=AtlanticCaravans
and the cheaper damp meter can be found here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09GLQ9RRB/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . Amazon are currently showing the price as £31.99 but it might be worth keeping an eye on it for one of their flash offers, I got mine in July for £24.63.

 

[Thor189]

There's a guy from Atlantic Caravans (a dealer in Cornwall) who has posted a number of videos on YouTube. He recently posted a video comparing his professional grade damp meter (c£400) with a cheaper one (c£30) which you can buy on Amazon. The video can be found here:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiDuKfB_8WQ&ab_channel=AtlanticCaravans
and the cheaper damp meter can be found here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09GLQ9RRB/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . Amazon are currently showing the price as £31.99 but it might be worth keeping an eye on it for one of their flash offers, I got mine in July for £24.63.

Ahhh exactly what I need!! Thank you!

 

[Buckman]

Can reliable non invasive readers be bought for a reasonable price? (And used to some level of accuracy by the untrained?)

Non invasive are quite expensive at plus £300! Ask for a copy of the last service and damp report. If no recent service in the past year walk away.