On owning a Caravan, CC'ers experience?

[Dirk]

We are off out on Saturday to look at some more now we have more information from people that actually use them.

I suspect we will end up with the one we initially saw but I like to shop around and ask questions before I get @Fab Foodie wallet out

It's worth paying an independent caravan engineer to check out any potential purchase before parting with any hard cash.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Trailers especially short ones are not easy to reverse, it is often better to unhitch & manually reverse unless of course they are heavy, the rule normally is the longer they are the easier they are, but i'm sure it gets to a point where that is not the case, double axles are easier to reverse than single axles as they do take more effort & less likely to go off in the wrong direction.

Very true
I used to have a 5" x 4" trailer (one of those 'Caddy', from Towsure), it was awful behind the Discovery, as it couldn't be seen................. until it appeared in the mirror on the wrong side

It was replaced with an Ifor-Williams P6, that was much better, but still nowhere near as good as the 14" twin-axle I sometimes borrowed

 

[Salty seadog]

Just do it!! Break out of the great metropolis that is Deal!! Go west!! You could reach, oh, I don't know, Dover!!

Oi......

 

[keithmac]

Damp is a very valid point, as said above paying a mobile engineer tondona damp test on any van you're looking at is an excellent idea and money well spent

Ours had full service history and yearly damp reports.

 

[HertzvanRental]

At last all can be revealed.... @Hill Wimp and @Fab Foodie have been spotted out with their new transport!! Looking good

View attachment 348430

He certainly looks younger!

 

[Oldfentiger]

Only caravanners talk like this: I've been asked to move pitches, had someone else move pitches, had my children told off by a stranger, all because I had the temerity to have young children. This is why I think all caravans should be burnt. my approach on arriving at a site was to get the footy out and start booting it around. It instantly enabled me to see which vans I should tell the kids to avoid. Some caravanners are OK but most need to be tried for being grumpy farks and their caravan burnt in front of them. /rant: not particularly aimed at you fentiger but it is the reason I avoid caravan club and CC&C sites.

It's my choice. I have no problem with well behaved kids. Buying a caravan has nothing to do with it.

 

[Crackle]

It's my choice. I have no problem with well behaved kids. Buying a caravan has nothing to do with it.

I differ but as ever, we probably have more views in common than not.

Mine are no longer kids. In fact I've just taken one of them out for a driving lesson and have now finished a stiff scotch!

 

[tribanjules]

For a Motorhome you should be able to pick up something privately for about 10k, probably an older Hymer LHD, like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HYMER-B53...443223?hash=item3adee1cd17:g:HwAAAOSwpP9Y5msn

But you'll struggle for anything newer and better, they hold their price well, which might actually be a consideration. I've owned two in the past both LHD, both imported by me from Germany but in times when the pound was worth 1.40 Euros! Heady days.

Wow lovely for 10k !

 

[tribanjules]

Caravan club do coaching sessions if you are nervous about towing or reversing

 

[screenman]

Wow lovely for 10k !

Drives horrid.

 

[Dirk]

Wow lovely for 10k !

We looked at motorhomes earlier on this year at the Exeter motorhome and caravan show.
We couldn't find anything we liked for less than £25000.
Reckoned we would have to spend around £30k to get something like this which we both liked.
https://www.spinney.co.uk/motorhomes/used/autocruise/-/1453
I will only go down the motorhome route if we intend to do a 'grand tour' sometime. In the meantime, the caravan does the job for us.

 

[MarkF]

My pal and his wife left rented bricks and mortar to live in one in the summer of 2015. They paid £4500 for a caravan and the idea was to use it for a couple of years and save some cash up, the the cost of the site was a lot less than £10 a night, inc electric hook up.

The nearby river burst on boxing day and swept their (uninsured & top left in the pic) caravan, car and all they owned away.

 

[Dirk]

Uninsured?!

 

[KnackeredBike]

Uninsured?!

I think insurance is tricky enough for mobile homes which at least have some degree of foundations. I expect it would be ruinously expensive if you are trying to live as cheaply as possible.

 

[screenman]

I think insurance is tricky enough for mobile homes which at least have some degree of foundations. I expect it would be ruinously expensive if you are trying to live as cheaply as possible.

My van insurance is £60 a year.