Caravan shite advice please

[Spottedlaurel]

Imminent purchase of the Bluebird with a towbar, and the discovery that it can pull what seems to me an impressive 1200kg, is making me ponder the purchase of a caravan for the odd weekend away. With the children and all the clobber which entails, it would be much easier to just whiz off for a weekend in that than with our large but not exactly light frame tent.

 

Needs to be 4-berth but doesn’t have to be massive, in fact with a tricky entrance onto our driveway keeping it on the small and light side would be good. Something like this maybe?

 

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0269658732

 

How much does one need to pay for this kind of thing? I’ve stuck a few in the watch list to see what they go for.

 

Any hints or tips? Do they have to be insured or registered?

 

This might not be so good, amusing as it would be to turn up with it on a site…

 

[Cavcraft]

For something like the top one at the right time of year (like now) probably £200 tops. I got one for a ton that had a microwave, toaster, bog, kettle, pots/pans/cutlery and even a sodding awning!If it doesn't work out having it stored on your drive then it can get costly, some places charge about £90 every 6 months for example.Also, depending on age of kids, a smaller one with roll out beds for the kids should save a bit of room.

[pogweasel]

"URGH"... is all I will say for now.I will post a full rant on british caravanning shortly. After tea perhaps.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Rather like Jeremy Clarkson, I imagined it wouldn't be something you'd be in favour of! Not that I am really. A motorhome yes maybe, but not a caravan, too much hassle & too much ill feeling towards them on the road....

[Spottedlaurel]

Cheers. Plenty of room on the drive, it’s just a bit tight getting in with a sharp bend off the track and a bit of a slope – my boss’s Hilux with a car trailer got in OK, but he didn’t have the traction issues a car on gravel pulling a caravan would have to contend with.

 

£200 sounds good, had imagined going a bit more than that if need be. As I say, I’ll see what a few go for.

 

Any other places worth looking? P/ex’s at dealers?

 

Pog, I must admit that my preference has always been to get a camper van, and ultimately it still is, but that’s something else needing tax, test etc. While a Hiace or whatever could be used sometimes for other stuff, it’d be more money than we have available right now. We went on holiday like this as a kid (that’s me in the back), and I don’t appear to have been too badly scarred by the experience.

 

 

Edit: or perhaps I have, and that's why I want to inflict it on my own family

[Pillock]

Caravanning you say?I have to say, if you're used to camping (and when you say you have a huge frame tent I assume you are) then caravans will be just your bag. It's all the good stuff you're probably into - cheap holidays, fresh air, freedom and all that - without the tedious errecting and, erm, diserrecting of said tent. Plus if it's raining, which if you holiday between January and December is likely, you get that smugness of just hitching up and driving home without the prospect of a wet tent to sort out.The bad side of it is people will call you bad names, Really bad names. And then when you get all smug about the price/ease thing they might actually hurt you.However, having said that, here on AutoShite I guess we're all a bit thicker skinned when it comes to comments about our wheeled delights. So screw 'em :)I used to get dragged to Sutton-on-Sea, near Skeg, every summer holiday for nearly a decade. My grandparents were of the caravanning type and had three in that time, and whilst new they're horribly expensive the prices drop off dramatically. One such as in your top photo, in good nick with all working gizmos and some sort of service to the oily bits, will be no more than £250-£300. Might be worth trying your local new caravan dealer to see what part-ex they have. I know when my grandfolks bought their last one, they hadn't found a buyer for the old one so just towed it to the dealer and towed the new one home.Insurance is recommended (ever seen the mess you get when one wobbles over on the motorway?) but not compulsary and they don't have to be registered or anyfink.

[seth]

Well, as I dare say you'd guess, I'd bestow the virtues of trailer tents but then storage is less of an issue for you than me. I'd have thought a few hundred would get you something caravan shaped that is in reasonable nick and not needing immediate strip and re-build. I find it satisfying to see period style vans like the ebay one behind a suitable shite tow car. That one looks pretty smart inside too! You really just have to be happy pottering about at 55-60 on your way to some fab destination. Much easier than camping in a tent too as so much of the necessary equipment is packed away inside the van so there's less hassle packing to go away too.

[Cavcraft]

eBay a very good bet but make sure you view before you commit.We tried a motorhome (CF pop top) and whilst we had a fantastic holiday it really was a pain in the arse. By the time you've got everything set up for bed it seems the morning is upon you and you're taking it all down again, re-arranging stuff then pissing about when you want to go for a drive out. Plus you're carting all your stuff round everywhere you go. Get a caravan with an awning, set up and you've cracked it apparantly. I say apparantly because I never used our caravan and sold it!

[keef]

If you are prepared to do a bit of work (or not if you are lucky), what about Freecycle?Got my last one (sans interior) off there as the bloke couldn't find anyone prepared to take it away.

[Richard]

Caravan is definitely a better bet than a motorhome. If your car's engine dies on the day you're due to leave it's easy to make alternative arrangements, either borrow a towing vehicle or get a friend to tow it to your destination. If a motorhome breaks the holiday is cancelled. All that's in addition to the problems that Cavette mentioned.The No 1 enemy of a caravan is damp. Feel the walls around the windows, they should not be squashy. The same goes for the floor, you don't want soft or bouncy bits. A musty smell is a giveaway, though there's always a hint of mustiness in a caravan that's not been used for a while.As a seasoned autoshiter you'll be perfectly capable of checking underneath and that all the fixtures and fittings work.No paperwork or insurance is required for a caravan BUT people who passed their driving test after 1997 are not automatically entitled to tow one.Caravan brakes apply automatically as the caravan catches up with the car. This works well but it's an arseache if you want to reverse. My caravan has a lever to disable the brakes but it's a real fiddle to use and it cancels itself as soon as you stop reversing. I'd strongly advise you to get a caravan with automatic brakes, this became mandatory on new trailers in 1989.IMO serviceable caravans start at around £200 and another £100 for an awning.

[pogweasel]

It's not caravans that I despise, per se. It's the way they have evolved. That one ^ up there at the top, big white box of damp, mildew, funny smells and nasty materials. And that's how they all are. Go and look at a brand new 'caravan club' caravan and things have not evolved a jot. No 'style', that's the issue. Look at small caravans. Look at big caravans, either end of the spectrum there is Really Cool Stuff. Just in between is a load of BILGE. It's not even particularly anti-style cool.Small caravans can be gr8, look at the evolution of the Eriba line, streamlined, light, well put together, lovely. Big stuff is, well, spectacular. Maybe not 'tasteful', but the modern Roma type wagons are more luxurious than your house. Then there's the glitzy ones from the 70's, all ally crazy bands, cut-glass & mirrors, awesome (though probably a bit OTT to actually want to stay in. My faves are the old Vickers & Westmorland type gypsy/showman vans from the 60's, all swoopy bits and just enough glitz, but not too extreme. Plus wood-burning heating FTW. See, it's just the middle ground, boxes on wheels that folk leave in a farmers field 50 weeks of the year, then move them to another field 200 miles away to sit in and watch the rain that I don't like / understand. I say do it. But do it in style.

[Volksy]

My mates Hiace coachbuilt may be availiable pretty soon, cheap too, even has a bit of MOT, infact, its not actually turned a wheel AT ALL since the last MOT, Will ask when I see him.. PM me if interested.

[seth]

Have to say, I kinda agree with Pog. There really is very little flair in the design of most caravans (though I suspect this has always been the case but old ones now look ironically cool). I think its the market that is to blame though and general blandness is what most of the caravan purchasing population want. They are able to one up each other by buying ridiculously expensive folding chairs with more cup holders than their campsite neighbours might have.

[Rocket88]

Even if you're only going to spend a couple of hundred quid, there's plenty out there. 4 berth Monza is probably your best bet, well built, and sturdy with it. [it was our first 'van] If you haven't towed before, get a stabiliser, tank slappers at 60 mph ain't fun........

[Ratdat]

I'm imagine that green thing you posted the link to up top would be a pretty weighty piece of kit. I'd imagine really old ones won't be aerodynamic in the slightest making towing a pretty thirsty business. The luxury of a caravan over a tent is fantastic but I find towing the damned thing very tiresome. I don't think I'd fancy going a long way with one unless it was really small.

[Mr Lobster]

I'd quite like one myself, the Eriba models Pog mentions appeal to me being small and lightweight although I don't have kids to worry about so smallness isn't an issue.If you get one, just make sure its a decent one. You should be able to find something post 1990 for not a lot of money which should have a reasonable amount of life left in it and be moderately comfortable!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I'm not sure i'd risk my family with a 2.0 bluey on carbs towing an old school caravan round Norfolk + Suffolk, i'd be too worried about the family getting hiabbed in the night. ARF ARF

[Cavcraft]

Potential for you and possibly somewhere nearby too?http://retrorides.proboards86.com/index ... read=46455*Not mine and don't know the seller by the way.

[Father Ted]

I had many happy holidays in the 'van. First one was free, second one was bought for £1200 and did 8 years before being sold on the 'bay for £800 - considering we used it every weekend we could and for several week long family holidays a year every year I thought it was money well spent.Sold it when the water leak became terminal and got into the structural uprights and when sprog number 3 arrived and it just want quite big enough.Towed it most places at 70 on the m/way - had a nast shock one year when i arrived at my destination to discover both wheels sprouting little bits of steel banding through the sidewalls Back slumming it in a tent now.

[Pillock]

I think the problem is there's not much you can do stylewise.... it HAS to be roughly box shaped, with vertical walls and no sloping bits that may lose headroom. If anything I think we've gone backwards, the only nods to 'styling' in the 70s were lurid colours inside and out.... now we're all so conservative caravans are almost always off-white, with muted pastel interiors.I remember my grandfolks CI caravan with a lovely blend of apricot and brown stripes on the outside, and orange tartan on the bed/seats. Chuck that on the back of the gold Cortina '80 and it's colour co-ordinated heaven.

[Spottedlaurel]

Thanks for the advice everyone, plenty to think about from that. Circumstances dictate I shan’t be rushing out to buy one in the next week or two, but it certainly looks a viable proposition for us without spending too much money.

[Father Ted]

If money is no object you could get an Airstream... ( I think our resident celeb has one of those). But those little Eriba things are quite groovy - they do a teardrop shaped one.

 

 

 

Or how about:

 

Still a box, but a box with class

 

Watch out for rot / damp in older vans though or this may happen...

[andrew e]

Everybody has forgotten the autoshite option - the TRAILER TENT

[Father Ted]

Ahh, trailer tents - all the discomfort of tenting with the convenience of a caravan, sort of.

Pros -

Everything can be towed behind the car

Beds have decent mattreses and are off the ground

Decent kitchen thing

Bags of space with an awning.

 

Cons -

Drafty

Beds shake like mad when you turn over

Leaky

Arse end heavy because of kitchen

 

Of course, small vans can be towed by small cars.... Or things.

[seth]

Ahh, trailer tents - all the discomfort of tenting with the convenience of a caravan, sort of.

Pros -

Everything can be towed behind the car

Beds have decent mattreses and are off the ground

Decent kitchen thing

Bags of space with an awning.

 

Cons -

Drafty

Beds shake like mad when you turn over

Leaky

Arse end heavy because of kitchen

I mentioned trailer tents. And they're not all created equal.

 

 

[Spottedlaurel]

Top AS colour theme there Seth! Never seen the inside of it before, looks good.

 

These look an interesting alternative, think we saw one at the Bubblecar do and it did seem a sensible idea:

 

 

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0285317947

[Father Ted]

Some stuff based on a crappy old Conway we had once

I mentioned trailer tents.

 

WOW

 

What make / model is that - its Uber Kewl

[seth]

Yeah, um, didn't meant to hijack SL. That photo was taken shortly after erection before we'd unpacked/filled it with carp.FatherT, its a "Campavan" from circa 1973. Unique in that it has a double floor and the box slides forward to result in a big off-the-ground area. There's a couple of other photos of it here.http://s198.photobucket.com/albums/aa65/sethke/Trailers/

[pompei]

You want small? We got small,

 

[MrRegieRitmo]

That photo was taken shortly after erection

I don't blame you