Caravan

[chrispattinson]

Just been offered this caravan as 2nd chance offer on ebay, for £2400

I plan on doing the nationals etc next year, and thought this would be ideal.

The wife really likes it, and we're about to buy it unless you oopler caravaners highlight anything that'll really put us off. Please take a look to make sure Im not getting my eyes ripped out here, and let me know, thanks.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEDWX:IT

[bodgit]

Assuming you were bidder 16 I would offer her no more than 2000. In fact your bid of £1850 was the highest if bidder 15 pulled out.
Bidder 15 has not bought the caravan for whatever reason.
As he did not do so his bid of £2500 should be discounted, as you would not have had to bid so high to try to beat him. if he had not left such a high bid in place. If you like the van explain this to the seller and make your offer.
You,ve also got to question some times when a buyer pulls out if it was a shill bid trying to up the price.
Try to get a rough idea of its value if you see the same on here

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/CARAVANS/caravans.jsp

There are some newer same make vans cheaper.

[Stu]

The van itself looks OK Chris, Avondale make solid vans.

It's good that it comes with 'all the stuff' - thats worth a great deal.

Just check it over, it says no damp but you need to check yoursef. Have a good 'sniff' inside, you can often smell damp. Sheck all the interior corners for sighns of damp - tap the walls right in the corners with your finger - you will know if it's gone soft with any damp.

Go underneath and have a look at the floor in the corners - this is a vunerable area.

You should be able to do the caravan equiv of a HPI check on that van, but I'm not an expert an that business.

[losixxx]

think £2400 for a 14 year old caravan is a bit pricey....it will have damp in but depends how much,
don't just try the obvious places like corners etc but as a friend recently found out give every wall a good prod..to double check, also check all the electrics and gas work plus check date on tyres and if theres any cracks (wear shouldn't be problem) as caravan tyres should be replaced every 5 years due to them standing in same place for long periods...
if it has spring loaded blinds check all of those as there expensive to replace..

[chrispattinson]

Thanks Bodgit, thanks Stu.

It has the appeal of having everything we need, in the layout we wanted, being light and being local.

I will have a look on autotrader before negotiating with the seller, and as Bidder 16, I will take into consideration your comments regarding the price paid.

Thanks for the pointers in checking it out Stu. We are going to check it out on Saturday, so will bear in mind those points. Its nice to hear that Avondale is a decent manufacturer aswell.

Thanks, much appreciated comments.


Losi - making me nervous on price now!

[Stu]

Originally Posted by losixxx

think £2400 for a 14 year old caravan is a bit pricey......

Yeah, you are right - but Avondale vans in good condition do hold their money well. My idea of Avondale's is like the VW of caravans - just a little better than the rest.

When I bought our little caravan I paid over market price, but I was happy to do so as the condition was very good, it came with all the stuff, and it was exactly what I was looking for size & layout wise.

Caravans do have their 'book' price (like a car), but my feeling with older ones is condition and suitability for what you need is more important than age.

[chrispattinson]

After a long hard think..... we've decided against this caravan.
The bidding structure was a little strange, and with the advice from the thread above, we're going to give it a miss.

We are now on the lookout for a good 4/5 birth caravan, with a layout of double bed at front and beds at rear, with bathroom in the middle

Fully laden weight not to exceed 1200kgs.
Must have hot and cold water, and cassette toilet.
Full awning (or are these available relativel cheaply secondhand)?

In the range £1500 - £2500.

If anyone spots a good deal out there, give me a shout. Thanks.

[General Accident]

Originally Posted by Stu

Avondale make solid vans.

Well they did, sadly they have become a victim of the credit crunch but that wouldn't have been an issue with vans this old as you are generally on your own with sourcing older spares anyway.

You can do a CRIS check on newer caravans, not sure whether there was any centralised database for older ones though.

[chris68nufc]

Travel lodge maybe and a tent to pit in. Much cheaper and you wont kill your Audi!!

[Belsten]

or an awesome little camper like mine, with sculptured velour interior
Pictured in the EPR National report I think

[chris68nufc]

Chris is a bit camp to be honest!!