Caravan question

deadl0ck

Hi all,
We're considering selling the motorhome as we bought it halves with the in-laws and they are not really using it as much as they though they would (we have it 4 years now).

As a result I doubt I'll be able to afford much of a motorhome if we sell (as we'll split the proceeds), but I am considering a caravan as an alternative.
I had been half thinking of this also because when we go away in the MH my wife hates packing up once we are parked, and last year we brought the car along with the MH (so kinda defeats the purpose).

Anyhow - there's no caravan forum on boards, but does anybody know
(a) Who are the reputable dealers
(b) Is there a good Irish caravan forum where I could start to educate myself

I'm assuming that buying a caravan is similar to buying a MH in that you need to look for Damp etc... but if anybody has any other tips or good sites to check out I would appreciate it.

I'll miss my MH if we do sell
C'est la vie I guess.....

deadl0ck

Anybody ?

alanclarke1975

Practical Caravan has a good forum - but its very much a UK based thing.

Charles Camping in Blessington are a good retailer - having been in business for many years - maybe a bit expensive.

Their 2nd hand vans are always well prepped and clean - and in most cases they know them (as in seen them over the years thanks to servicing etc)

What type of caravan are you looking to buy?

deadl0ck

We're going to be looking at 4 berth around the 4K mark (might be able to stretch to 5K for the right one).
We haven't made a final decision around the motorhome yet, but it's looking like we'll sell. So we'll have to sell it first and have the money before we actually buy, but I wanted to start looking in advance to get a good feel for what we might be able to get.

zorol

I sold my MH and got a caravan,after checking dealers around and after getting numerous recommendations, i went to newry caravans and got mine there , every thing was spotless there and they could not be more helpfull , which is pretty much the opposite of what i experienced in the dealer that was previously mentioned. they do have a good website .

alanclarke1975

And do we have enough interest to warrant a caravan section on boards?

deadl0ck

Is there any import tax on caravans ?

zorol

no import tax ...

alanclarke1975

sussh - they might hear you!

deadl0ck

alanclarke1975 wrote: »

And do we have enough interest to warrant a caravan section on boards?

Hard to say - I did a search and there are some caravan related posts, but I'm not sure if there are enough to warrant a separate section - that being said there might be more posts if there was a specific section.

deadl0ck

zorol wrote: »

I sold my MH and got a caravan

What did you go for in the caravan and had you much of a budget ?

zorol

I got a bailey senator 6 berth , that was £ 10000 sterling.
So much more space than the mh.

JohnTheBobs

We went down this road 2 years ago.Just found I could no longer run 2 cars, 1 classic car & a motorhome on one wage so I sold the camper & bought a 6berth Adria Caravan. While I loved the camper & it was great for days out, weekends away throughout the year as well as the summer holidays, we are now really happy with the caravan & find it very handy to have a car available when we're on a campsite & want to go into town etc. Kids don't always have to go & one of us can stay with them in the caravan. We had a 6 berth camper but we have so much more space in the caravan & also a huge awning. Awning takes a while to put up so I wouldn't be inclined. I bought from Tim Buckley in Charleville.

JB

paddyp

JohnTheBobs wrote: »

Awning takes a while to put up so I wouldn't be inclined.

Your not the only one just about every used awning ad in the world says 'never used, hardly used, used once etc.'

Top Dog

Do you have a car up to the job of towing a caravan? Sometimes overlooked, but its always a good idea to find out the towing rating of whatever car you have before setting out to get a caravan

Rocheydub

Recently became the proud possessor of a 4 berth Adria van, and while I am yet to use it, I have towed it to it's storage place, and am waiting with baited breath for it's maiden voyage. I am quite mechanically minded, and my dad had a small caravan for us wen we were growing up (3 decades ago), so while well used to caravaning, but I was amazed at the various what-not's I had no idea about. IE: The cartridge toilet, the water roller, the waste water treatment etc.

FWIW, I think a caravaning thread, or subthread would be very welcome, and useful. For the likes of me in particular (he said selfishly!)

Doom

how do you get the towing rating of the caravan against the car? I drive an opel insignia, 2litre 130 bhp

Rocheydub

Doom wrote: »

how do you get the towing rating of the caravan against the car? I drive an opel insignia, 2litre 130 bhp

Unless you are towing something huge, that car should be well sufficient. I'm sure there's a reference table somewhere, but I towed an 18footer, semi laden for 100k with a 1.6D Volvo, and it was no bother at all... Stopping or starting!

Most modern vans are well balanced and lightweight.

Macy0161

Doom wrote: »

how do you get the towing rating of the caravan against the car? I drive an opel insignia, 2litre 130 bhp

The car manual should give you the maximum it'll tow. also some of the caravan magazines give categories for cars, which you can they then use in their caravan model listings

db

Doom wrote: »

how do you get the towing rating of the caravan against the car? I drive an opel insignia, 2litre 130 bhp

Check on http://www.whattowcar.com. Basically the weight of the caravan has to be less than weight of the car, ideally below 80% but this is just a guideline. Some cars also have a towing limit specified that is less than this but that is rare.

I did a quick sample check of you car against a single axel 6-berth and it was around your limit so as long as you aren't looking for a big twin axel caravan you should be OK.

If you are looking to buy privately be very careful and check out the CRiS number of the caravan. Otherwise, any of the main dealers I have dealt with either for caravan or accessories have been very helpful and after-sales service is always very good. We are a small community and any poor service would spread around very quickly.

barryfitz

+1 for a Caravan section on boards. I do find the Motorhome section useful as alot of the equipment etc in a MH is the same as a caravan. I know there usually arent too many caravan related threads on here but as someone previously stated that might change with a caravan section, or even a rename of the MH & Campervans forum

We bought ours privately so we have no experience with dealers, sorry OP

deadl0ck

No worries - I ended up buying privately last week.
A nice starter caravan - a Caravelair 425 Antares - 4 berth 2002 model.
Came with Full awning, ground sheet, cover, water roll, waster container, hitch lock
It's immaculate !

Top Dog

Sounds like an almost complete package - ready to hitch up and go. Congrats, and have fun. Oh and have extra fun the first time you put up the awning

moodrater

deadl0ck wrote: »

No worries - I ended up buying privately last week.
A nice starter caravan - a Caravelair 425 Antares - 4 berth 2002 model.
Came with Full awning, ground sheet, cover, water roll, waster container, hitch lock
It's immaculate !

Looks immaculate I like that layout theres a good parents kids divide :-p

deadl0ck

I also gave it a very through going over with my damp meter - no problems that I could find - it even has all the original booklets for the caravan and all the appliances.

deadl0ck

moodrater wrote: »

Looks immaculate I like that layout theres a good parents kids divide :-p

I presume you are looking on donedeal ?

moodrater

deadl0ck wrote: »

I presume you are looking on donedeal ?

Yeah well I assume this is the one:
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/caravans/3446497

deadl0ck

moodrater wrote: »

Yeah well I assume this is the one:
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/caravans/3446497

Yep - that's the one.
It looks a lot better since I gave it a once over with Fenwicks caravan cleaner and Bobby Dazzler (which are only €5.49 in Halfords in Ireland, despite being £11.99 in Halfords in the UK)
We need to do a test weekend in it next, before the big hol which will probably be 2 weeks in Flesk in Killarney.

moodrater

deadl0ck wrote: »

Yep - that's the one.
It looks a lot better since I gave it a once over with Fenwicks caravan cleaner and Bobby Dazzler (which are only €5.49 in Halfords in Ireland, despite being £11.99 in Halfords in the UK)
We need to do a test weekend in it next, before the big hol which will probably be 2 weeks in Flesk in Killarney.

Good luck you'll have a ball. Might be worth getting a cheapie mattress topper if you'll be sleeping on the cushions for 2 weeks.

Betsy Og

Flesk is nice, you'll have a ball.

Some very good advice on The Caravan Club website about getting started in caravanning. If you're interested in a club see iccc.ie, can highly recommend them, very cost effective entertainment.

One tip about the awning - before you park see which side people have the awnings up (you can change side depending on which direction you face the caravan). Often you'll see them predominantly on one side - i.e. out of the prevailing wind. Also, there are a few sloped pitches in Flesk so bring a ramp to level the caravan, and ideally have the awning on the downhill side (if there's heavy rain theres a better chance of it rolling off rather than collecting in a big pool on the roof of your awning). Another tip while I'm at it - try to figure it out before you go and have at least a 2nd person putting it up with you (ideally someone experienced with that type awning). Awning are grand if you're there for about 4 days or so, I usually wouldnt bother on a shorter weekend and theres nothing surer than if you dont put it up the first night/early next morning you wont bother at all.

DVD2009

Another tip for your awning.....You can never have enough roof bars...
It stops the roof from bellying in after rain not to mention hailstones..