A new caravan???.... Which one?

Interestingly I have done a similar exercise, however, we have a much older caravan, 2008 Coachman 505/5 berth, no fixed bed, but the front lounge makes up into a kingsize bed which we leave made up, and we still have a large rear lounge available should we wish to sit in, more than big enough for the 2 of us.

The Coachman is in relatively good condition with no serious damp it has a few dinks on the outside, inside we recently laid new carpets and refurbished the seating, so my overall conclusion was, why spend £20k or so on a new caravan, or even £10-15k for second hand when what we have is in good repair and is ideal for our usage, so i sent it away to be serviced and a make-over, which includes re-spraying front and rear and ironing out the dinks, cost £2.5k should be back next week  

I am in my mid seventies and have to say sometimes find it hard when setting up awning etc and with the rising cost of ferries, diesel, pitches etc have considered other alternatives, but decided to splash out £2.5k and keep the Coachman, to spend £10 - £20k on something we may only use for a few more years seemed to be a waste of money, but good luck with your new adventure, all i can say is, that only once did i assist with moving a twin axle without a mover and it nearly took a rugby team to move it, movers do fail.

Thanks Rufs...  one little problem we have....  I've booked to go to the show at the NEC on Saturday.... 🤣🤣🤣   We did go in October and managed to keep our hands in our pockets!!

...not quite mid-70's here, but not far behind.  My other thoughts are, should we need to give up touring we could eventually keep the van on a seasonal pitch somewhere.  

David

David - we bought our Knaus for the same reasons as you.  Ros, having had a knee replacement some years ago was finding it increasingly difficult to get into the Barcelona bed - one of the reasons being that it was just so high - something to bear in mind when choosing your next van.  We went for two singles - which in our case, with the 8' wide van, means that each bed is almost 3' wide.

I recently had a Thule Omnistor fitted - as I think you are aware - and it is actually bonded to the roof with Sikaflex - so no warranty issues.  Although it was done this way by our dealer, I note that Rose Awnings in Poole - who are the major distributor of Thule awnings always fit them this way. So - you are not necessarily tied to Bailey.

As far as TA vans are concerned - I was a bit apprehensive when we bought our Barcelona - wondering if I could cope - but it was a doddle and I would now hesitate about going back to a single axle.  You do have to get used to towing the extra length but they are much more stable and less susceptible to cross winds and passing vehicles than a single axle - especially if they are 8' wide (although that does require extra care in some circumstances!) Plus, of course, the extra safety of having 4 wheels instead of two. More expensive to maintain, though.

Although delighted with our Knaus because of the build quality and massive payload (365kg), they no longer make a UK spec van as with ours.  Not sure about the payload but since continental vans seem to have a larger payload than UK ones - have you thought about Adria?  I was surprised / shocked to find that our previous Barcelona (with MM fitted) with just the basics on board (no clothes/ food etc) was 20kg overweight when I took it to the weighbridge.

Just a few thoughts - good luck!

We are a little like Ruffs, coming the last years or so of our caravanning days with an elderly caravan which is in fairly good nick.  I am currently getting some minor cosmetic work sorted and will keep my existing caravan.  However, back to David's question.  In the Feb magazine there was an article on the Bailey Alicanto Grand Evora which looks a splendid caravan which would seem to fit his requirements until you look at the payload.  At only 161Ks a mover and Thule would bring the payload down to approx 100kgs which is not much for such a large caravan but maybe ok for David despite him wanting 'as large a payload as possible'.

I had a good look at various pull out beds at the Scottish Caravan Show earlier this month.  In the out" position there is a huge problem getting past to the other side.  So if there is an end washroom everyone strugles in daytime if it is left out, and whoever is on "wrong" side struggles at night.  

Closing it up gives problems with sheets and blankets, but if not closed there could be problems if people sit on the unsupported outstretched part while dressing.

It is getting on for half a century since I had a single axle caravan and having a motor mover is a distinct advantage, as long as one does not have the mindset that it should turn in its own length.  Should the mover fail then one manoevers with the towing vehicle as we all did in the dark ages!

"My other thoughts are, should we need to give up touring we could eventually keep the van on a seasonal pitch somewhere."

my seasonal pitch is the hard standing fully svcd pitch i made at the side of the bungalow and we use the caravan a lot as a guest bedroom,

David, there was a thread a while back started by someone who discovered it was impossible to get around the foot of the pull out bed once it was extended. I think it was a Bailey. Unfortunately, he’d not checked that aspect before purchase.

We’ve had TA and SA vans. The TAs were far harder to manoeuvre so the mover was a must. That’s the only big drawback as far as I recall.

Our last caravan was a long single axle with a double bed at the back, the washroom and kitchen were opposite each other over the axles. We could separate off the bedroom bit and the shorter front seats also formed a good bed. No problems getting round the bed, we both really liked the van, it was our favourite. I think you need to try all possibilities at the show David as reality makes a difference. The single bed idea is a good alternative with easy access to washrooms.

David, does it have to be a Bailey? A European van would likely have a higher payload, better build and the fitting of wind out Thule [type] canopy is fairly normal on one.

Colin

Our twin axle is hard to move around by hand, but that's because it's bl**dy heavy, so I don't 😉  I find it's much easier to reverse though than the single axles we've had before. Towing though is no more difficult than a single axle.