NEWBY IN NEED OF SOME HELP PLEASE!

[Parksy]

Hello to all at practical caravans,
I'm very new to carvaning (in the fact that we still havn't quite purchased our first!) but we have been researching and looking around at what is on offer for our four person family, in terms of caravans and tow cars, as we at the moment have a vauxhaul zafira 2l diesel 2004 model with only 90 bhp and with that can apparently pull absolutely nothing!
Through our search for a caravan my wife has fallen for the 2008-2010 model of the swift challenger 530, and looking at my reasearch have found that there doesn't seem to be many cars that will pull it as it appears to be quite heavy, we really don't want to have to go down the route of getting a great big 4x4 type, so we'd love it if there is anyone that may have one of these caravan models or that could give us any advice on the matter.
many thanks Mr G.N

 

[Wigandiver]

What about the Alhambra/Galaxy/Sharan MPV ?

We have a 2006 Auto Sharan, and it will tow 1,645 Kgs @ 85% of it own weight. This is a Caravan Club recommendations.

Before commiting yourself, have a look at lots of van layouts, as the one you have chosen tends to be used by couples as a roomy two berth. Many manufacturers do this layout.

Try Caravanfinder to get some idea of different layouts.

Jim.

 

[Martin24]

you may find for four, if 2 adults and two children a 6 berth would be more user friendly depending on ages and sizes, especially at bed time.

 

[xtrailman]

Hello to all at practical caravans,
I'm very new to carvaning (in the fact that we still havn't quite purchased our first!) but we have been researching and looking around at what is on offer for our four person family, in terms of caravans and tow cars, as we at the moment have a vauxhaul zafira 2l diesel 2004 model with only 90 bhp and with that can apparently pull absolutely nothing!
Through our search for a caravan my wife has fallen for the 2008-2010 model of the swift challenger 530, and looking at my reasearch have found that there doesn't seem to be many cars that will pull it as it appears to be quite heavy, we really don't want to have to go down the route of getting a great big 4x4 type, so we'd love it if there is anyone that may have one of these caravan models or that could give us any advice on the matter.
many thanks Mr G.N

Have a look at the Lunar range, these caravans tend to be lighter than Swift, also check out Bailey.

 

[forestgump]

look at tha adria range.

 

[craigstaiano]

Hi there.

we bought our first caravan in October 2009 and it was great. Was a 1997 bailey pageant magenta 2 berth and we loved it dearly. But as time went by despite how much we loved the van, it came to be the layout wasnt quite right for us. So we bought a Lunar Lexon 530 with a fixed bed and long settees at the front.

Now we are not a family, there is just the 2 of us, but we must have looked in nearly 1000 different caravans to decide exactly what we want. A fixed bed option is great for you as you dont have to worry about making as many beds up. As for the kids they can have the longer settees at the from. bear in mind some fixed beds only have short settees at the front so as the kids grow this might now be any good. ditto with bunks. great when they are younger but as they grow this layout may become impractical.

You also need to consider if you are going to use the washroom facilities on sites or in the van. this presents the option of full width washrooms or corner or side layouts. It is a mine field and as a previous poster has already suggested consider the layout which works right for you first, draw up a list of must haves and decide that first. Once you have the layout, you can then choose the van.

The Swift you mention are great van's but really heavy. Our Lunar Lexon is 1460kg fully loaded and is the longest length van you can buy on single axle. the equivilent swift is 1615kg (based on 2011 model) My towcar is a Mazda 6 and tows the Lunar with ease but the swift would be too heavy for it.

No idea if this has helped but being quite new to carvanning ourselves, we know what you are going through.

Craig