[Closed] I've just bought a caravan......

molgrips - Member
MF - go to a dealer, let your kids inside one and watch their reaction.. especially one with fixed kid bunks

Trekster - Fendt.. Euro van.. always found them ugly on the outside but the insides on new ones look lovely.

Oooh.. I liked the Orions - more basic than the others but so much lighter and I bet they are more aero with that curved back... Cheap too and great vfm. What car are you using?

I'm currently trying to decide if we can afford an Elddis Avante 515...

I think we will be using my wifes 140 bhp Tiguan, I'm looking to change my car, but I don't think it will happen in time (that's another story). Is 140 enough power to tow OK?

yes, it's all about torque when you're towing, really.

Pulled at least 1150kg in the van, 200kg in the car, two bikes, four adults (one fat) and a toddler back from Germany without any bother in our 140bhp Passat 🙂 You won't even notice that van on that car unless you try overtaking or something.

Thanks for the info molgrips, that's good to know.

In fact if I were ever to buy a car specifically for towing it might be a Tiggy 🙂 Try on here if you want a second opinion:

http://www.whattowcar.com/

Weren't you asking about towing ages and ages ago? If so glad you followed through 🙂

We have been thinking about a folding camper for ages, but we had a look at a caravan, and they offer a lot more for similar money, so think the caravan looks a better option. Really looking forward to going away in the winter, which ain't always fun in a tent.

The Orion appeared to be a nice van w/10 year warranty, so it's going to be caravanning for the next 10 years at least ;-). The salesman was fantastic, no pressure, good advice. Think the lack of pressure convinced us it was a good idea.

Really excited now...can't wait!

What is the Tiguan rated for towing wise? Been looking at Outlanders and going to have a look at X-Trials in new yr. But we like the fuel consumption of the Touran 😆
Current car is a touran 140 but we are looking to a 5/6berth soon and wife wants fixed bed so it is going to be heavy-ish
We have 5 grandkids to accommodate on occasions hence the Touran fits the bill with it`s 7 seats

wanna buy a daaag ?

We got sick of the rain at 24 hour races so I bought one. A friend of a friend sold me his for 200 quid (it's worth £1500 at least).

It's perfect. We use it for holidays and weekends away as well as taking to races. We'd never go back to a tent now.
(not after CLIC24 2009 anyway)

you get the hang of towing and reversing quite quickly. I was dead nervous at first but now it's cool.

You do get hacked off with other drivers putting themselves in danger as they must overtake at all costs...

I don't think the Tiguan's got massive towing capacity...

http://www.whattowcar.com/gebruikservaring.php?merk=Volkswagen&serie=Tiguan

...but they are really good on fuel, we get mid to high 40's solo.

The Tig is not bad - the old rule of thumb was 85% of the kerb weight of the car, but with modern cars and caravans you can go to 95% or 100% without any bother. The Tig weighs 1541kg in 2WD and a useful 1655kg in 4WD form which puts you into twin axle caravan territory. It also has a 100kg hitch limit which is much better than the equivalent normal style car.

There's no legal limit as such, but there will be a gross train weight limit I think (not sure) and there's also a manufacturer's towing rating which relates to the ability to pull away on a 12% gradient, and it's 2000kg on the Tiguan. Wouldnt' be a good idea to attempt that though.

Cheers.vans we have looked at are around 1450 - 1500 so near enough the 85% guide. Choice of whether to keep Touran and/or get 2nd older car/4x4 eg X-trail+newervan. All depends on what is going to happen at/with work next yr, seems we will/might know come end Nov 🙄 Yesterdays news came as bit of a surprise 😯

You just don't need a 4x4, I tow with a Passat with ease. A Touran will be fine but check the towbar max load. If it's only 75kg as the VW site suggests for new ones then you might have some trouble with a 1500kg van. It's 85kg on my Passat which is more useful.

I'm towing with a 1.8 petrol Volvo v50, and the last car was a 1.6 Octavia pulling the same van. Sure a 4*4 will make it easier, but you don't *need* one.

Edit - I'm pulling a van @ 1000 mptlm. for 14-1500, you will need a bigger car, but still, a 4*4 is not mandatory

Erm.

I've just joined the club now.

>holdshandupslowly<

Yay!

What did you get?

🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

We stupidly went in without really knowing what we were buying; we were drawn in by it being fitted with a gas combi boiler and a 4 hob gas burner...

We paid £1650 for a 1995 Lunar Delta 560/4 4 berth, and it's perfect for us.

Shame it's not [i]so[/i] perfect when it comes to damp - we've just uncovered some horrific damp (see here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/neil_bolton/sets/72157631382509724/ ) which we're already getting on with sorting.

Our BMW 530D Touring (manual) tows it brilliantly, with it keeping to 60 all the way up Telegraph Hill nr Newton Abbot! It's great to be able to get away and take the bike - Haldon was great fun 🙂

Molgrips - you've done some work on caravans haven't you? Fancy offline helping me with a few questions?

Had a caravan for years..

Whenever I go windsurfing all the guys sleeping in the back of their vans or still stuck in some layby somewhere in their broken down Vw camper think I'm so uncool. Or on a weekend away with mates who would rather sleep in a tent than ruin their 'image' by owning a caravan.

Oh how I do love it in the morning waking up in a proper bed, hot running water, a shower and a bacon roll, then throwing the door open to see the look of desperation on the 'cool' guys heheheheheh

Even had one mate recently buy a caravan then immediatelly sell it for a tent because his wife felt uncool in it 🙄

We stupidly went in without really knowing what we were buying; we were drawn in by it being fitted with a gas combi boiler and a 4 hob gas burner...

We paid £1650 for a 1995 Lunar Delta 560/4 4 berth, and it's perfect for us.

Shame it's not so perfect when it comes to damp - we've just uncovered some horrific damp (see here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/neil_bolton/sets/72157631382509724/ ) which we're already getting on with sorting.

Our BMW 530D Touring (manual) tows it brilliantly, with it keeping to 60 all the way up Telegraph Hill nr Newton Abbot! It's great to be able to get away and take the bike - Haldon was great fun

Molgrips - you've done some work on caravans haven't you? Fancy offline helping me with a few questions?

Just done some similar repairs to ours - damp is the curse of older caravans, but need not mean the end of them. Ours has been on a seasonal pitch in the Cairngorms for the summer which has been brilliant!

Is the Bailey Assraper still available 🙂

I've always found towing and reversing a doddle tbh-my dad can't reverse his caravan for toffee though-he's a good driver too (ex instructor!)

Alko stabaliisers are the best invention ever imo. Holds things rock steady.

Molgrips - you've done some work on caravans haven't you? Fancy offline helping me with a few questions?

Absoultely, email in profile. I've learned a bit over the last year or so! Are you near South Wales or Farnborough perhaps?

EDIT: just saw your pictures - ouch! Makes me feel better about mine!

Alko stabaliisers are the best invention ever imo. Holds things rock steady.

I have a stabiliser, still wobbles about somewhat disconcertingly on the motorway if you go fast so I need to load it carefully. I've improved things by measuring nose weight with a Milenco gauge (essential imo). The best trip we had was coming back from Germany with 4 adults and a kid in the heavily stuffed car and the van loaded with about double the capacity! The extra weight added stability.

We bought our 'van from a dealer, the front end was completely rebuilt under guarantee because we noticed some damp rot. The front is now great, but we didn't notice the damp in the back (round the grab handles_ till it cam back from having the work done - by which time it was out of the guarantee period. Grrr. Having said that, I took off the handle and slapped some gaffer tape over the holes and it's got no worse since then!

Details on how you sort the damp would be appreciated - I've had a word with a few local guys who reckon it'll be about £400 to get it done.

Details on how you sort the damp would be appreciated - I've had a word with a few local guys who reckon it'll be about £400 to get it done.

Depends where it is, but I sorted a big wall section on ours, by stripping the seat box out, removing wall paper and window. Drying with a fan for 2 days then removing the truly rotten ply. Apply a timber wet rot treatment to stop any further deterioration and then dry again for a day with the fan.

Make some channels in the polystyrene insulation and then glue battens onto the alumunium skin from the inside and allow them a couple of days to dry properly - use the best adhesive you can get for this.

Cut and trim 6mm ply to size and place over damaged, BUT THOROUGHLY DRY secion. Glue where you can and screw into battens to provide support - don't use too long screws though.

Of course the first step is to find where the water is getting in and dealing with that with copious amounts of sealant and / or waterproof tape.

Cheers Geoff - in my case, water was getting in through the grab handle. I think I might either live without a grab handle or get a pro to do the job, looking at that!

nbt - I was poised to hand over the cash for a 'van. Just positioning it onto the back of the truck and the grab handle came off in my hand - needless to say I didn't go through with the sale. I avoid pulling on ours now 😆

A Fendt.
You do know the type of people who love Fendts.

Diddicoy,traveller,pikey,gypo,they may take a liking to yours.

I hope you've got plenty of security on it and it'll be stored in a bank vault.
Fendts can be pretty heavy so a stabiliser and big car are essential.

My sister just got a Fendt. It's a decent size, and I'm a bit worried about them towing it with a Golf estate. They've gone by the towing limit in the handbook, rather than using the 85% idea.

European vans though have a really long A frame so are generally really stable to tow. That's how they get away with bike racks on the back - you can also get two bikes on the A frame itself.

I had an Adria with a long exposed A frame.Probably the most unstable caravan i've had but the A frame is good for a bike rack although it can really tip the noseweight.

This is such a nerdy conversation. It's awesome 😀

Our van is a two berth 16 footer. The back is a 'dressing room' with a wardrobe and the toilet/shower. It's a bit silly really since the toilet can be heavy, and if you fill the wardrobe it puts a lot of weight in the very back.

I think that might be why the chassis has sagged. I'm quite tempted to try and remove it all, put the shower in the middle near the useless little cabinet and put a second dinette in, since we now have two kids 😯

Currently we all sleep in the one bed since it's so huge.

I don't tow, but for many years when younger went vanning with the family, and I would second things mentioned above; stabiliser and very close attention to weight distribution when loading. We used to take the van, a Cavalier, towed by a Corsair, down to a village in South Devon called Beesands. Having been back down there the last couple of years, I'm astounded we ever managed it! 1:6 and 1:4 hills, [i]very[/i] narrow, with blind corners and hardly any passing places, it was a bit... interesting in the Octy, without a 16' van on the back!
A scary example of how not to load nearly involved me some years back, driving out of Salisbury towards Devizes, along a tree-lined stretch with lots of dips, a car and van coming towards me suddenly started to weave. It was snaking from side to side and I hit the brakes hard and only just avoided being side-swiped by the van! Scared the absolute bejayzus out of me, and I hate to think what the atmosphere in the towing car was like. 😯
On the other hand I've found myself between two big cars towing very big vans on the Fossway, and had to keep to 70 to keep ahead of the second car, both were as solid as a single vehicle, very, very impressive bit of towing.

I find myself eyeing up other people's 'rigs' on the motorway. Some are wandering about, some are rock steady, but it doesn't seem related to the size of car or age of van. My van is brilliant up to 50, you can corner quite hard. Up to 60 you need a little care, up to 65 any draught or buffeting will set you wobbling. Any faster and it's brown trousers time!

My van is brilliant up to 50, you can corner quite hard. Up to 60 you need a little care, up to 65 any draught or buffeting will set you wobbling

I've found the age old technique of not looking in the mirrors removes any worry.

🙂

Edit:
I never get bored of posting pics of my 'rig'

[img] [/img]

I don't have to look in the mirrors to feel the wobbling!

If we are show and telling

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8297/7923239210_d798129672.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8297/7923239210_d798129672.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

I would second the advice of going camping near your house first to get the hang of it and find out what you need/forgot or things you didn't realize you need. Also if you have an awning it would be a good place to get the hang of putting it up. The first time we used ours we had a big bag full of funny size poles and not a clue of how to put it all together. Luckily for us some friendly camping neighbours put the whole thing up for us. I had to stand there looking gormless. 😳

I must admit, we had a pretty horrible start to caravaning. After 2 trips out I'd have been quite happy to never see it again.

A year on and things are looking a lot better, just come back from our first main holiday in the van...I love it! Some of the best caravaning was late autumn / early spring when it's hard to camp, but ace in the caravan as there is not many people about.

I'd third the idea of going locally for your first outing, there is a fair learing curve to get up when you start.

The first time we used ours we had a big bag full of funny size poles and not a clue of how to put it all together

Our van came with two awnings. One we were told was small and one large. When we went to Germany to work we only wanted one, so I got out one set of poles - yep, all there, and one awning - yep, also all there. No worries, I know how to put up an awning having done it a hundred times as a kid. You can probably see where this is going however.

Just before we left Germany my in laws came to visit, the plan being that we'd all drive back and stay in the caravan on the way, with the in laws in the awning in an inner tent. We spent so long packing we only made it about 60 miles or so that first day so we found a campsite, no problems.

Got the awning out, got the poles out - hang on a minute, wtf is going on here? There's some bits missing. Some of the main struts seem to be in two pieces, that's weird. In one of my most resourceful moments, I found a local DIY place that was sitll open, bought some different lengths of aluminium tube and jubilee clips and botched it together, whilst being watched in silence by my grumpy tetchy father in law, my 8.5 month pregnant wife and her walking-on-eggshells mother.

I got the thing up, and it stayed up all night too, but the in laws weren't impressed and I had to take them to a hotel.

Turns out I'd brought the poles for the small awning which looked the same as the small set but the left and right arms were shorter, but they fit together in an alternative way which made it look like there was a bit missing.

Anyway going through the bits last night when tidying the garage turns out there are actually THREE sets of poles, the third is not an awning set but for something else I cannot identify. Best guess is a toilet tent, but there is no tent and the van has a toilet. Must've got lumped in there somehow.

Could I ask you caravanning types about a very small van I saw recently at Kenmore. There was no manufacturer's name but it had been titled the Tupperware Tardis by the owner who was nowhere to be seen. It didn't look long enough to stretch out in but I was intrigued - it seemed to be made of material like the back of a small campervan.

Umm.. this?

elzorillo - Member
Had a caravan for years..

Whenever I go windsurfing all the guys sleeping in the back of their vans or still stuck in some layby somewhere in their broken down Vw camper think I'm so uncool. Or on a weekend away with mates who would rather sleep in a tent than ruin their 'image' by owning a caravan.

Oh how I do love it in the morning waking up in a proper bed, hot running water, a shower and a bacon roll, then throwing the door open to see the look of desperation on the 'cool' guys heheheheheh

Even had one mate recently buy a caravan then immediatelly sell it for a tent because his wife felt uncool in it

Caravans are cool, for all the reasons you've stated - what else can you take pretty much anywhere (within reason), that can sleep 4+ people, has a toilet, kitchen, shower, central heating - and leave in situ, whilst you drive your normal car around?

They are just used by some uncool people, but then so are most things.

I'm currently sat in mine near Bristol, with 6 Music playing on my freeview TV, saving around £700 a month not being in a dismal Travelodge - tomorrow, I'll drive my truck to work, Friday I'll drive home and next Monday I'll come back to it where I left it. So far this year, I've used it for a week on the best campsite in Britain (3 Cliffs) and a long weekend in the Lakes with the family.

[img] [/img]

Ours:-

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5230/5656634895_431c9267c5_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5230/5656634895_431c9267c5_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/takisawa2/5656634895/ ]Car & Caravan-1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/takisawa2/ ]pten2106[/url], on Flickr

We love it, but especially the kids. It has twin dinettes, so the one end is basically left set up as my two lads bedroom. Spent weekend just gone near Windsor & drove home this morning.
I put all the bikes inside while travelling. Took a while to find this layout as wanted one with a full separate shower cubicle.

1500kg MTPLM, is exactly 85% of the car. Very stable to tow.
Except for two weeks ago coming back from Devon late on a Sat night, when a tyre blew out. The Tyron bands did their job & kept the tyre on till it slowed to a stop.
Bit of a brown trouser moment. 🙂

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7784089974_4474b4c7ab_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7784089974_4474b4c7ab_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/takisawa2/7784089974/ ]IMAG0828[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/takisawa2/ ]pten2106[/url], on Flickr

Check the tyres & don't risk them if over 5 yrs old, regardless of mileage.
You can see on the video, the outsides looked fine, but the insides...

[url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88AXGFrZr5E&feature=youtube_gdata_player ]Click.[/url]

If your fixing damp there's plenty of info on ukcampsite, & some good stuff here:-

[url= http://www.1carpc.co.uk/wcdr/index.htm ]Click[/url]