Which caravans depreciate more?

[annierich]

As someone about to embark on purchasing their first caravan does anyone have any opinions on which caravans hold their value the best and which depreciate the least. Also as so many seem to have fixed beds is it really that much of a chore to make up the beds every night in a non fixed bed 'van?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[Cockovan]

Not knowing quite what angle you are coming from, the vans that depreciate the fastest are the most expensive, the older and cheaper the van the less it will depreciate. If you mean make for make I'm not aware of much if any differneces.

 

[Royston]

Hi Annie, will answer your question regarding , make up or fixed beds.

All our vans 2 berth apart from the present on had make up beds, at the front part of the van.

Making the bed up was no chore but the mornings began to become a problem.

I am a early riser always have been since my days in the RAF, 0600 hrs i get up take the dog out for her morning walk , had a shower in the local washrooms and returned to have a early morning cuppa, nowhere to sit as my wife likes to lay in in the mornings .

Now our present van has a fixed bed at the rear of the van,with a door that seperates the two compartments, which stops the internal lights from waking up the wife,which means i can sit at the front of the van and have as many cups of tea without disturbing Her.

The new van is exactly the same lenght as the old one, as the van is parked along side our drive the external lenght was critical.Weighs the same, so I did not have to change my estate to tow it

 

[giovanni_5060838]

We bought our bustner ventana 500, for

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Annie

Gio hit the nail on the head. We too are lazybones as there are only the two of us and the two dogs a fixed bed layout is super comfort. We can go to bed whenever we want, one can stay up in the lounge etc, just so easy.

Cheers

Alan

 

[colin(bridgend)]

We had a fixed bed for approx. 9 month and sold it - great for two people but when the grandchildren came with us it was totally useless. No room to swing the proverbal cat. We now have a conventional five berths van and should the wife require a lie in at breakfast time I still have the rear dining area to sit and have a cuppa whilst reading the paper without disturbing the wife. More often than not though I like to sit in the proch awning at morning time and have a cuppa - most refreshing and let the wife sleep on without disturbance.

 

[colin(bridgend)]

We had a fixed bed for approx. 9 month and sold it - great for two people but when the grandchildren came with us it was totally useless. No room to swing the proverbal cat. We now have a conventional five berths van and should the wife require a lie in at breakfast time I still have the rear dining area to sit and have a cuppa whilst reading the paper without disturbing the wife. More often than not though I like to sit in the proch awning at morning time and have a cuppa - most refreshing and let the wife sleep on without disturbance.

should be porch awning

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Colin

That's just it. Different layouts for different users. Arguably I should just have a two berth. We prefer extra space so have always had a four berth.

Now whether the dogs should have their own bed, mmmm?

Annie

How many of you will be the regular users?

Cheers

Alan

 

[annierich]

Alan

Just the two of us - me and himself - but we have 2 dogs! The thinking is they will sleep ......(sh! on the bunk / side dinette) if we get a 4 berth.

Thanks for all your replies.

Ann

 

[Chrisbee]

What's the point of taking the wife then getting up first and making tea? Isn't that her job?

Chrisbee

 

[Geist]

German vans are better built than their UK counterparts - not entirely sure if this always translates into a less depreciating buy, but it ought to.

Since they are much less likely to go damp, they usually attract a lot of interest in the S/H market - especially the higher spec ones. Buyer's are becoming increasingly aware that they have a *much* better chance of picking up a damp-free secondhand van.

As far as fixed beds go - we had a fixed bed model and we both swore never to buy another one. There were three main problems -

1] They take up a huge amount of daytime living space - often more than a third of the total length. That's a *real* pain during the day, made even worse if it's a 'famiily' van.

2] Sounds daft - but they are often almost impossible to make neatly and leave during the day. Curved ends and often no access from three sides makes bed making a real chore - and it looks like squalid student bed-sit during the day if it's not all neatly made up.

3] Ours had two individual mattresses on a double frame - and both were coil spring, and as soft as soap. They were very uncomfortable, and caused no end of backache. The solid foam beds made from the high-density seat cushions are much preferable.

Our current van has roller slats running in an aluminium frame - the bed can be made up in next to no time, and converted in the morning equally quickly.

It's also huge - which comes in hand if [a] you're an active couple, engage in intimate social gatherings, [c] simply like a King Size bed to stretch out in

No question in my own mind - fixed beds are one of the daftest fads ever to have occurred in caravanning.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Ann

My in laws have a Pageant Monarch. Used as single beds. Their dog waits until dad in law is asleep then jumps on him. No wonder he gets so hot!

I tried leaving the dogs in the awning once. Somehow the canny devils found an escape route and ended up chasing rabbits at 2 in the morning.

Cheers

Alan

 

[HomerS1]

Hi, poor geist obviously had a bad experience. As a luxury 2 berth a 4 berth,fixed bed van is unbeatable. The bed in our Abbey is extremely comfortable. With a duvet it must take all of 2 seconds to make it look neat and tidy, (how long does it take for a bed which you have to dismantle every morning?). When I get up in the morning I can shut off the bedroom leaving my wife lying in while I have my coffee and listen to the radio. At the end of long, active (or inactive) day, a good barbie and a drop of grape juice I really don't want to have build a bed so I can sleep it off. Fixed bed for us every time.

Chris

 

[Guest]

The reason we bought our Challenger was for fixed bed/parallel lounge set up my wife too likes to lie in and for us it is superb compared to our other vans where unmaking the bed daily was a chore. We have no issue with our 1 piece mattress not to soft at all, and shaking the quilt down and leaving it in situ aint a problem for us and I dont think makes it look untidy

 

[Bryn1]

Hi, poor geist obviously had a bad experience. As a luxury 2 berth a 4 berth,fixed bed van is unbeatable. The bed in our Abbey is extremely comfortable. With a duvet it must take all of 2 seconds to make it look neat and tidy, (how long does it take for a bed which you have to dismantle every morning?). When I get up in the morning I can shut off the bedroom leaving my wife lying in while I have my coffee and listen to the radio. At the end of long, active (or inactive) day, a good barbie and a drop of grape juice I really don't want to have build a bed so I can sleep it off. Fixed bed for us every time.

Chris

Quote: Hi, poor geist obviously had a bad experience. Unquote.

Not judging by his (a) and (b) he hasn't....

 

[Icemaker]

We too have no problems with making up the fixed bed in our van, again with a simple duvet its a 2 minuite job and allways looks neat and tidy whereas the other vans we had with beds made up from the lounge area ttok ages to get right, endless nights of fighting round the van with cushions and covers all over the floor whilst i make up the bed and then the repeat i the morning, its too much hasle and one long gone thank god.

Allthough i agree with you geist that some (not all) german vans are well made your statement that they are better than all british vans could not be further from the truth, i havent seen one foreign van that is better built (equal yes) but not better built than coachman vans and ive never seen one that is as well equipped and then we have vanmaster and vanroyce ? again superb build quality and more than equall to german vans.

if your talking about swift group explorer and bailey then i agree they are poor (in my opinion)and it amazes me that people still buy these products concidering the amount of complaints is see not only in other publications but allso on this very site.

the one thing the germans are very good at is blowing thiere own trumpet, remember the 80s and 90s when everyone was saying how good bmw and mercedes where ? what happened ? i even heard top gear the other day stating that the merc was good but would in all probability fall apart in a few years and bmw have completely lost the plot, see driver power survey 2006 2007 etc, i just wonder how long it will be before the german trumpet blowers run out of puff regarding caravans too ?.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Icemaker,

The likes of Hymer, Burstner, Hobby, etc are volume manufacturers of caravans, and do bear direct comparison with the UK volume manufacturers - and as you say, similar prices, different quality

But comparing the UK specialist makers with the volume manufacturers isn't the right comparison, but should be made against a low volume (1000+ per year) specialist maker like Cabby AB

Robert

 

[ValA.]

The reason German (and other continental vans) are 'not so well-equipped' is that our European caravanning counterparts tend not to use their van to 'live in' but just as a mobile bedroom, spending most of the day outside - even in the winter when they spend full days on the ski-slopes or walking. If you look on European campsites most continental vans don't even have a full awning, simply a sun canopy to sit under if it rains. Most Dutch, Germans and French spend little time actually inside the van, even preparing food, cooking and eating outside. So, they don't need an oven, microwave, four burner hob, luxuriously appointed upholstery and fancy curtains, etc., and all the other equipment we Brits consider essential. Manufacturers concentrate the cash on the insulation (against both excessive warmth in the summer and cold in the winter), better heating, internal water and waste systems, and general 'strength' of build.

I wouldn't know which caravans hold their value best - in a changing market it could be anybody's guess, but if you get the right layout of van, and keep it for as long as you can, then you really won't worry too much about depreciation anyway.

We have a fixed bed, and love it. We use normal sheets and duvet, and leave the bed tidily made up. We have to make it up twice at the most in a two week holiday. When we went in for cushion wrestling then this was a twice daily chore - making and unmaking it, and putting bedding away (unless you use sleeping bags, which are not what I'd like). We have a comfortable mattress, and a proper wooden partition which separates it from the rest of the van - and actually if you take Geist's hypothesis, it's actually ready (all day) for being 'active' and engaging in 'intimate social gatherings' or even for general sprawling!

 

[Chaps]

We've only had our caravan since October and we're already dreaming of the day when we can have a fixed rear island bed. We've actually got large fixed bunks for our kids which are great. This van was definately the right choice for our family for now but we can already see the appeal of no bed making.

Sorry, we digress from Annie's original topic. We actually ended up buying a new van after searching in vain for a decent second hand one. Our choice was very limited as we wanted a very specific layout with 5 berths. We felt that we got a bargain as, although our caravan was new, it was the previous year's model and this saved us about

 

[KeithJ]

What a sensible reply from Val A (as usual). I agree 100% with all her points, but couldn't have put them so well.

On the subject of depreciation, I think a large per centage of caravanners (not on this forum of course!) are unadventurous and would not "risk" buying a "foreign" 'van. A similar situation existed with "foreign" cars in the past, but of course there is little or no choice now.....and lack of demand causes greater depreciation on less popular models. I think many British will only buy what they are familiar with, and this includes British style layouts and equipment in 'vans. Nothing wrong with this, but it's just a fact of life.

Regards

Keith