New Caravanner!

[Clydesider]

Hi All,
I joined here last July when I was a camper, and looking at hanging up my tent and upgrading to your caravanning world.....
Since then I've :-
Researched to death then bought a towcar
Ditto Towball and Electrics
Knocked down and widened my driveway gates and posts
Done a CAMC towing intro course
Looked at caravans that were too big
Looked at caravans that were too small
Looked at caravans with the wrong layout ( for us )
Looked at caravans where the dealers name should be 'Turpin'
Had a narrow escape by getting a Mobile Inspector to check a van out first
And now, finally, we bought out first ever van yesterday😀

Now looking forward to asking you all loads of daft questions as we embark on our caravan adventure stage of our life, in our wee 2015 Bailey Pusuit 400-2 ........

 

[Hutch]

Looks like you have done everything correctly, so get out and enjoy yourselves, And remember there are No stupid questions. We all started somewhere.

 

[Jcloughie]

What tow car and caravan combination have you ended up with?

 

[Mel]

Congratulations and enjoy.
Mel

 

[Clydesider]

Re the question of the combination :
I went for a 3 yr old Seat Ateca, with the 1.5 TSI Evo engine. Controversial i know for going with a Petrol ( gasp ! ) engine, but 80% of its use is just nipping down the shops, or the Domestic Manager using it 2 days a week to travel the 1 mile to work. That VW group tsi engine is well proven, has bags of torque, and 150 horses, so it suits our requirements well, and I hope will be ideal for the van - a 2015 Bailey Pursuit 400-2. Knowing the limitations of my experience ( i.e. none ) and the light car and engine, the 1090 Kg MTPLM ( giving an 80% ratio ) I'm sure I'll soon find out if I've got it right !

 

[Jcloughie]

Re the question of the combination :
I went for a 3 yr old Seat Ateca, with the 1.5 TSI Evo engine. Controversial i know for going with a Petrol ( gasp ! ) engine, but 80% of its use is just nipping down the shops, or the Domestic Manager using it 2 days a week to travel the 1 mile to work. That VW group tsi engine is well proven, has bags of torque, and 150 horses, so it suits our requirements well, and I hope will be ideal for the van - a 2015 Bailey Pursuit 400-2. Knowing the limitations of my experience ( i.e. none ) and the light car and engine, the 1090 Kg MTPLM ( giving an 80% ratio ) I'm sure I'll soon find out if I've got it right !

Sounds good.

John

 

[otherclive]

Re the question of the combination :
I went for a 3 yr old Seat Ateca, with the 1.5 TSI Evo engine. Controversial i know for going with a Petrol ( gasp ! ) engine, but 80% of its use is just nipping down the shops, or the Domestic Manager using it 2 days a week to travel the 1 mile to work. That VW group tsi engine is well proven, has bags of torque, and 150 horses, so it suits our requirements well, and I hope will be ideal for the van - a 2015 Bailey Pursuit 400-2. Knowing the limitations of my experience ( i.e. none ) and the light car and engine, the 1090 Kg MTPLM ( giving an 80% ratio ) I'm sure I'll soon find out if I've got it right !

There was a time when most people towed their caravans with petrol non turbo engines and they went all over U.K., and Europe. Diesels were dirty, smelly and rarely available to every day cars.
Modern petrol turbos are chalk and cheese to the older generation petrol non turbo engines. The VAG TSI are amongst the best, so your decision to balance your day to day needs with your caravanning usage makes eminent sense. Keep updating us on your experience please. 👍

 

[Beachball]

Congratulations hope you enjoy your outfit

 

[Steve1962]

Well done........how many times do you read about newbies buying a car only to find it won't tow their caravan......we are newbies and got great advice from forums like this one, and also from a couple of dealers, and when we chose a caravan we wanted we checked with the dealer to make sure the car would do the job, which it does.....so we now have a Bailey Unicorn Valencia 2017 and a Kia Sportage 2017 KX4 which does the job just fine. We've had our hiccups along the way and are still learning.
If you can't find the answer here, someone will point you in the right direction - great forum!!
Steve

 

[Raywood]

Welcome to the forum. The combination looks sound and you should get plenty of enjoyment from it. I have towed with many petrol engines over the years and although diesels do have the edge, the petrol ones are no problem provided they have the power needed.