Newbie looking for advice as to what caravan to match to Ford Kuga/Mondeo diesel

[Snowydog]

Hi everyone, Im new to the whole caravanning experience and am in the forunate/unfortunate position of starting from scratch with both car and caravan - hence my choices sometimes seem endless!

Essentially I am looking for recommendations for a caravan I can match up with an economical diesel car (such as Kuga or Mondeo).
Other than the car our priorities are a fixed bed (I really cant face the idea of having to make up the bed each night!), a good sized kitchen and equipemnt and separate shower/toilet areas. There are only two of us so lots of living space and extra beds arent an issue. The intention is that the caravan would be used for weekends away and longer periods in UK and abroad.

So far Ive been looking at models like Bailey Unicorn Valencia/Coachman Amara/Lunar Clubman/Stealth X58 but am getting very confused as to what is important and benefits of different layouts.

Any help or guidance anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated and apologies now in advance for any stupid questions I might ask!
thanks

 

[dougie201]

Hi Snowydog.
Wecome to the forum and caravaning .
First of all you will need to find out the kerbweight of your towcar, then divide it by 100 then multiply that by 85 this will give you a safe MPTLM weight of a caravan to tow. This is the loaded weight of the van. Also check the manufacturers maximum braked towing weight of the tow car. As you dont want the van to be heavier than the car.
You could find the valencia and the stealth a bit heavy.

Dougie....

 

[forestgump]

have a look at the adria range the adiva is a good one and newer ones are 1500kgs and you can grab a bargin at venture caravans not a sales pitch but a sshort time price drop.Great biuld and poleyester body dont dent ive just got a new adora 612 dp and very happy large van on single axle and still light to tow .

 

[Snowydog]

Thanks for the info so far - have done some research and come up with something along the lines of below. Please can someone advise what the difference is between an 85% / 95% / braked tow weight?Kerbweight 1613 kgsBraked Tow Weight 2100 kgs 85% of kerbweight: 1371.05 kgs95% of Kerbweight: 1532.35 kgs

We really wanted a fixed bed arrangement, but the only ones I can find close to above limits are Lunar Clubmans coming in around 1495Kg. Looking at the above clearly this falls somewhere between 90/95% - is this a problem?
Wouldnt it also make a difference if the car was fully loaded up and the caravan wasnt?
Would someone also be able to advise whether it is worth going for an Alde wet system rather than a blown air Truma?
thanks

 

[forestgump]

the vans you mention in fist post may be heavy not sure on the kuga if you need a light van a altea or a sprite may be the one a alpine 4 gives you a fixed bed .A second hand nearly new van like a bailey can give you the lay out and light kgs you may need stealth are not so light budget and tow car may be a factor to your van.

 

[dougie201]

Hi
The 85% of your cars kerbweight is the recommended weight of the van for your car to tow safely, but this is not a legal requirement just a guide. You can tow a van at say 90-95% but you would feel the van wanting to control the towcar. And also remember your car has a payload weight as well , in other words do not overload the car.
The braked towing weight is the weight the manufacturer states it can tow that means the trailer must have brakes , but i would not tow a van that was heavier than the car that is just asking for trouble.

Have you had a look at the bailey Ranger series, you could be lucky to get a fixed bed and still have a fairly light van . And as they are being replaced with a new model you may get a good deal on a new one.
As in the towcar i would go for the Mondeo.
Hope this has been of some help.

Dougie....

 

[Snowydog]

Thanks Dougie - been looking at the Bailey Ranger series today and together with Lunar Quasar and Swift charisma, I think we might actually still have quite a good choice even if I do end up being very particular on the car. Do you know when the rangers are being replaced and if so by what?
Do peeps have any views on the above three, strengths & weaknesses that sort of thing?

 

[Dougie2011]

Hi
Not sure when the new model is coming out , i thought it was at the end of this year but no sign off it yet. Bailey have stopped making the Ranger tho. It will be an Alu-tech body. We have the Olympus534 and is very good real pleased with it. It has fixed bed with rear washroom and weighs in at 1458kg loaded. So this could be a bit heavy, But take a look at the 464 it has the fixed bed also and is around the 1350kg. This is our second bailey and have had no problems with any.

Dougie...........

 

[dougie201]

Hi
Just so you dont get confused Dougie 45, and Dougie 201 are the same person. lol

Dougie..............

 

[traficman]

Hi Snowydog
We have had a Kuga AWD for 2yrs now and towing an Abbey 418 now towing a Pegasus 534. We changed from a Shogun 3.2 and the kuga is just as good at towing and a lot better on fuel. We have towed all over Europe the last 2yrs and we were impressed with its capability.