Caravan - yes/no?

[figbat]

This thread popped up linked from another discussion so I thought I'd give some closure. We still have the caravan that we bought last year and have used it several times. After all the soul searching and agonising it has turned out to be a largely positive experience and we now consider ourselves to be reasonably adept at caravanning. The van turned out to be a good example, everything has continued to work, only one small sign of water ingress which I dealt with by resealing an exterior corner moulding that had previously been caught on a wall or something. We are still using the same bottle of gas we found last year - we always get a site with electric hook-up and, where possible, with water and drainage too (although don't mind sending the kids to refill the Aquaroll and empty the Wastemaster ) so the gas only gets used for the occasional use of the oven, a hob and the Cadac external cooker.

It has turned out to be warm, safe and comfortable - exactly what we were looking for. Having said that, foreign travel has now opened up again so we are thinking about if and how we continue to caravan and perhaps restart foreign visits. The value of the van has increased during our ownership too, so it's an asset that can be liquidised fairly easily should the need arise.

 

[Jameshow]

This thread popped up linked from another discussion so I thought I'd give some closure. We still have the caravan that we bought last year and have used it several times. After all the soul searching and agonising it has turned out to be a largely positive experience and we now consider ourselves to be reasonably adept at caravanning. The van turned out to be a good example, everything has continued to work, only one small sign of water ingress which I dealt with by resealing an exterior corner moulding that had previously been caught on a wall or something. We are still using the same bottle of gas we found last year - we always get a site with electric hook-up and, where possible, with water and drainage too (although don't mind sending the kids to refill the Aquaroll and empty the Wastemaster ) so the gas only gets used for the occasional use of the oven, a hob and the Cadac external cooker.

It has turned out to be warm, safe and comfortable - exactly what we were looking for. Having said that, foreign travel has now opened up again so we are thinking about if and how we continue to caravan and perhaps restart foreign visits. The value of the van has increased during our ownership too, so it's an asset that can be liquidised fairly easily should the need arise.

Get one of these and save the gas too.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/18563670...tixoXeJTeO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[Deleted member 26715]

It has turned out to be warm, safe and comfortable - exactly what we were looking for. Having said that, foreign travel has now opened up again so we are thinking about if and how we continue to caravan and perhaps restart foreign visits. The value of the van has increased during our ownership too, so it's an asset that can be liquidised fairly easily should the need arise.

This will be interesting to see if this trend continues, for yourself I hope it does, personally I hope it doesn't, we currently have been priced out of the market, we cannot or more truthfully refuse to pay the current prices that people think their van is worth. Caravans have always had a slow residual price, you could often buy, keep a few years & only lose a small amount which is the cost of going away & using the van.

However with supply & demand, lack of foreign travel the prices rocketed to a point where I personally think they are 50% overpriced, we are currently looking again, but I am having difficulty reconciling the age to price comparison currently. Using the new market price our van which we sold 4 years ago would be worth twice what we sold it for then, maybe I'm getting to old.

 

[MrGrumpy]

I couldn’t afford to buy my van new now , it’s 4yr old and we bought brand new. I believe the price of it now for the model now is from £44k !!!!! Wtf . I can tell you that’s nearly £20k a difference!

 

[Milkfloat]

I put a deposit down on an Adria at the NEC show last weekend. It will be our first Caravan, an upgrade from tents and a downgrade from previous years of flying. Fingers crossed we get it in March and I will be upset if it does not arrive before the summer season. My wife is a teacher and I can work from anywhere with an internet connection so we plan to do lots of short trips around the UK and spend the summer holidays heading south towards Italy. The kids are excited, but we bought it with the view that in 5 years or so there will just be the two of us.

 

[Alex321]

I couldn’t afford to buy my van new now , it’s 4yr old and we bought brand new. I believe the price of it now for the model now is from £44k !!!!! Wtf . I can tell you that’s nearly £20k a difference!

There are new 'vans around at about £20K, basic by modern standards, but still far more bells & whistles than any we have owned.

But we decided last year when our last caravan died that we would go for a camper van. Those are silly prices new, and even 10-15 year old are usually going for £20K+. But we were lucky enough to find one part converted from an old school minibus, for "only" £12K (2010 reg). Bought that in March, have used it a few times this summer, and very glad we bought it. We aren't actually going to "finish" the conversion, as most of the things that hadn't been done are things we don't really want.

 

[Gunk]

I couldn’t afford to buy my van new now , it’s 4yr old and we bought brand new. I believe the price of it now for the model now is from £44k !!!!! Wtf . I can tell you that’s nearly £20k a difference!

You could have a lot of very nice holidays for £40,000

 

[Deleted member 26715]

You could have a lot of very nice holidays for £40,000

But when you've had enough holidays can you then seem those holidays to somebody else?

 

[DRM]

I couldn’t afford to buy my van new now , it’s 4yr old and we bought brand new. I believe the price of it now for the model now is from £44k !!!!! Wtf . I can tell you that’s nearly £20k a difference!

The Coachman we had was £16,000 new in ‘08, the equivalent now is in excess of £30,500, that’s just crazy

 

[Alex321]

The Coachman we had was £16,000 new in ‘08, the equivalent now is in excess of £30,500, that’s just crazy

Inflation would have takin it up to £23,700, so it has gone up by about twice the general rate of inflation.

 

[Jameshow]

Inflation would have takin it up to £23,700, so it has gone up by about twice the general rate of inflation.

Building materials have gone up simalar amounts so not improbable!

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Building materials have gone up simalar amounts so not improbable!

I disagree, it's the Covid Tax which has caused this, supply & demand ramped up hugely whilst foreign travel was banned, now it's currently held there by profiteering & people trying to recover their money, I'm hoping the prices will plummet shortly back to acceptable levels.