what fixed bed van on a budget??

[maxtherotti]

hi all im new here and im looking for some guidance!!

in the near future i will be selling up and going off in a caravan around europe (hopefully lol).

will be me the wife and the dog so only needs to be 2 berth but the wife does not want a bed that needs to be made up from the seats.

so what fixed (must be full size double minimum with no corners cut off)bed vans are out there??

also need to consider that it must have a shower and a full cooker (or hob top and oven) and a full size fridge would be nice too.

budget is around £8k may be able to stretch to 9k at a push.

i have no brand preference but was looking at hobby,s untill i found out some uk site,s wont accept them??? is this even true??

i have a 1993 range rover v8 for towing fitted with hd suspension so weights should be ok (yes i know its old but i love it)

thanks in advance

rob

 

[Thorpedo]

How about a Bailey senator Virginia. Single Axle, 7.2m.

See the layout at

http://www.bailey-caravans.co.uk/viewLayout.php?LayoutID=25
http://www.bailey-caravans.co.uk/senator/layout.php
Expensive new but you may be able to find a 2 - 3 year old at a reasonable price.

Relatively light for a larger caravan.

I have the same layout on the larger Louisiana. The bed is the same on mine and is great. The lounge area is a bit smaller on the Virginia.

 

[Murdan]

Have a look at the Adria Altia range of caravans you coud buy a brand new one in your price range.

 

[maxtherotti]

i want as much space as possable too while still keeping the van easy to tow too

is twin axle better for a novice tower?(the car should be able to cope with it ok i think)

my 8k budget is for van only i have a small extra budget for awnings and such like things too

rob

 

[Zafiral]

One other thought is buy a 5 birth double dinette van and leave the rear bed made up. You could perhaps put a memory foam matress over the top if you never intend to put the bed away. As the bed is sideways, they are often upto 7' long and you wmay then end up with a bigger lounge as a sideways bed is about 2' shorter in van length than a lengthways bed.

A Bailey Series 5 Pageant Vendee has a fixed sideways bed at the back from memory.

 

[Damian]

Rob, to catch up from your other posting.

You say you were looking at Hobby caravans, we have a 540UL and whilst it is true that some UK sites will not allow them, it is generally the twin axle versions they decline to have.

Also any Hobby model above the 540 range is 2.5mtrs wide and therefore illegal to tow(in the UK) with anything less than 3501kg GVW, so rules out your vehicle and every other "normal" car , 4x4 etc.

What are the 540's like? brilliant vans and you can have the fixed full size bed if you wish. Ours has twin beds.

Build quality is great, with lots of extra things you just do not find in british vans, such as the excess heat from the combined oven/grill being extracted to the outside when in use, so keeping the interior from heating up to the same temp as the oven.

 

[Dustydog]

Rob

Have a look at a series 5 Bailey Pageant Vendee. I had one for three years and the fixed , full sized bed was great. It sat transversally at the rear with a massive storage area beneath. We also liked everything else it had.

Cheers

Alan

 

[maxtherotti]

yes was looking at the hobbys but did read about the twin axle ones being frowned upon by some sites then also found out that they are in need of a commercial vehicle to pull them so the larger ones are out.

i am still feeling my way around caravans as havent even stepped in one for 10 years so am going to a local used van dealer on sat to have a good look and poke around to help see what options i will or wont need

keep the options coming chaps

all info is gratefully recived

rob

 

[Ian341]

Hi Rob,

We had the same sort of criteria as you, we decided to change our challenger 500 for a year old Ace Award Tristar. Single axle with bed along the back, which is really comfy and bigger than the swifts. Centre washroom with large separate shower. Centre kitchen with plenty of space. L shaped lounge at the front which we find much better with 2 dogs as they have more space for their baskets.

We find the layout to work very well, we looked at a fixed single bed van but found that the washroom shut off the middle and therefore restricted access to parts of the van. Where as with our layout it means one can lie in while the other showers etc. And I can still get up to make a cuppa.

The MTPLM is between 1400kg and 1500kg, sorry can't remember exact but our Land Rover tows it effortlessly. They changed the layout on the new tristar and it has a much smaller lounge and island bed.

Ours was close to

 

[triker1]

Hi,we bought series 6 bailey Louisiana 2007,it ticked all the boxes,fixed bed,shower ect.Bought private via ebay for

 

[maxtherotti]

cool i like the sound of both those 2 above

is there any towing benifit for a twin axle over single?

still trying to get a short list of vans together

rob

 

[Thorpedo]

Rob

If you search the site on the topic of single versus twin you will probably find endless advice.

We have a Louisiana Twin, we used to have a much older single.

The Twin is very stable towing. In my opinion much more stable than a single.

It is just as easy to manoeuvre whilst on the car.

A twin is much more difficult to manoeuvre by hand.

A twin is more 'interesting' to those who should not be mentioned but sell heather and tarmac.

 

[Dustydog]

Triker

That was an excellent deal!

I suspect the price does reflect the current economic climate and the dealers will have to start reducing their margins to survive.

My Wyoming was nearly twice your price in November 2007 but we did get a good trade in value.

Cheers

Alan

 

[Ian341]

Hi Rob, We were very close to getting a twin axle. You have much more space and added stability when towing. BUT, we store the van and even with a motor mover we would never get it into the space. Also, if you intend to visit France a lot of site's we have been to either don't allow twins, charge 50% more or have no space for twins. French sites have smaller site roads, although the pitches can be large, to get into the pitch it can be very tight. We managed to get ours into a pitch but the people next door failed to get a twin axle in and had to find another site. Also we watched people trying to level a twin axle on a site recently and it looked like quite a faff and took ages. There are many pro's and con's. As it is just the 2 of you, you could be better off with a single. Especially if you have limited storage space.

Ian

 

[maxtherotti]

well i have been very busy looking a lots of different vans (esp all the new ones at dealers that were way over my budget lol)

ended up buying my first caravan today!!

its a 2002 Compass rallye 634 twin axle jobbie

also have changed the tow car too

now have a diesel discovery manual

thanks all for the help

rob

just need to learn to tow it now before i pick it up next weekend