Hi Border Billy, thanks for that and I hear what you are saying. To view the Lunar will be a 5 hour round trip but I am finding It difficult locating small vans in general. It is from an established dealer with warranty and free delivery and I know everyone has said to check them personally but would I be crazy to think of buying based on It being a dealer rather than private sale? Trying to view even the small amount of suitable caravans that come up would be a full time job...
I might consider buying a new caravan sight unseen, but second hand that is a recipe for failure.
Unlike some wines caravan never get better with age! when it comes to damp its more often than not when will a damp problem raise its head rather then if.
As I pointed out previously in this thread, I don't know the detail of your consumer rights where you live, but regardless of what rights you may have its far better to avoid issues if you can. its called Buyer Beware, and the law in most places expects the buyer to do all the necessary checking to ensure the goods will perform the task they want it for. So its up to you to ask all the questions and arrange all the necessary inspections before you agree to purchase.
Especially with second hand caravans its vital you see the condition first hand, and go armed with all the questions written down you can think of to ask the seller.
Under UK law anyone who claims or acts as a dealer is expected to exercise they specialised knowledge to help the customer, but you can't always trust that to be the case,
Consider that of there is a problem with a S/H caravan, you will have to return it to the seller to get it repaired. so I my view its not wise to deal with a distant seller because of the distance time and trouble.