New to Caravanning
Having just joined the Caravan Club my next step is purchasing a Caravan. I thought buying a car was difficult!
Looking for something up to three years old and around 18k, with island bed. Any advice greatly appreciated. Not sure whether twin or single axle, what type of central heating, etc etc. Plan is to spend early next year in southern Spain or Portugal for a couple of months
Thank you
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There is plenty of advice available from the club under the Advice and Training heading at the top of the page.
Heating will be either Truma which is blown air or Alde which is a wet system with radiators. Which you get depends more on the level of caravan you buy as the Truma is normally found in cheaper models. Frankly the Truma works well for us and we have never seen the need to upgrade.
With island beds some are a bit on the short side so make sure they are long enough for you. Which one you go for though is a matter of personal taste on furnishings and what you want in the way o9f fittings. It would be better to visit as many local dealers and see what you feel suits you.
Do make sure though that the car is heavy enough to tow the caravan safely and powerful enough to perform adequately. Read the towing guide for more information.
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Audi SQ5 with kerb weight of 1870 kg and 2 people. Have been looking at around 1500 to 1600 kg
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Visit as many dealers as you can and look at what is available and decide what features you can live with and those you cannot. In fact I would make a list as you go, it will probably become a long one.
Island beds are fine but check both their dimensions, preferably by laying on them, most are cosily narrow and short!
When you have narrowed you choice down to one then that is the time to get it inspected by an independent engineer.
One other point, pay at least the deposit by credit card.
I'm sure others here will add to my list.
Enjoy the journey.
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Hi Martin & Pat, Great choice of tow car, we have just got our second Q5 but couldn't stretch to the S.
Re vans there are lots out there with a suitable layout and at your budget you may find that a new van is not far off. Our first new van came about when I gave up assuming I could not afford one and, for the first time, ignored the price tag and asked for the dealers 'best price' which resulted in a large drop in price and a new van.
We have had both German and British vans and whilst the Hobby we had was fantastic the layout of that became unsuitable.
We have had both island and, now, transverse and changed to that to make it easier for us as one or the other was having to access the inside of the bed.
The vans we have had were a Bailey Unicorn Series1 and now a Lunar Clubman SI. Both have the end washroom and, as AD says, really mean that you don't need to go to a twin axle to get this layout. You could take a look at the Club ads, which then link to the Caravans4Sale website and another good place to look is;http://www.caravanfinder.co.uk/
Enjoy the search and good luck!
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I think most twin axles would be a bit on the heavy side anyway
One thing you need to look very closely at is user payload. With most vans getting heavier, payloads are becoming pathetic to keep the MTPLM down.
If you find a van where the MTPLM can be uprated, that will help.
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Hi Martin & Pat, Just so you are aware my van, Lunar Clubman SI, is now on the club classifieds and caravans for sale.
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That is a good increase, we got an extra 85kg on our twin axle Sterling, which just about covers the extras we added.....air con, mover, Fiamma etc.
Even then we are at our max (1900kg) when loaded for a 3 month trip. I reckon the van was rather overweight to start with, but did not think to get it weighed initially.
Will know better if we ever buy a new van!
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Yes. I think probably a benefit of overall materials getting lighter but still on a fairly robust axle which gives the potential to significantly increase the plated weight.
I have really noticed the difference since I last bought a van new 6 years ago, the layout we wanted (Island Bed and en-suite) we simply could not get as was only really available to the size we needed in TA which was too heavy. Today, we could have bought both the TA or single as the weights have dropped within towing limits for our car and in fact we opted for the single axle as it was virtually the same layout but just 40 cm shorter. Didn't seem worth the extra money for the van and additional motor mover!
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We have the Truma mover(newish version) which is only on the front wheels, saves weight, money, and works for us as we store at home.
Had a look on the Swift website, the new version of our van (ours is 2008) can now be replated to 2000kg, so gives a good payload if done.
The standard payload is very poor compared to what ours was originally, even allowing for the different things included these days. The only significant item now included, as far as I can see, is an allowance of 10kg for gas bottles. And they include no water at all now, not even in the toilet.
I wonder if you can have the max payload without fitting different tyres?
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Thank you for all the advice. After lots of visits to dealers finally bought a van today. Lunar Delta TS and should be ready early July
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