Buying a caravan for 1st time and not buying damp

See Member Offers. Sorry I can't do a link at the moment.

OK - so everyone seems to be saying Dealer, over Private.  Thanks for all the good ideas and insight. 

So here's my next question - has anyone come across a really good Caravan Dealership that they would recommend?  We've been to 6 different ones and have yet to find anyone working at any of them who is even interested in talking to you, let alone selling to you!

Looked it up, found it.  Thank you.

And as I said earlier; if you buy from a dealer ensure you get the MANUFACTURES DAMP INGRESS guarantee transferred to you.  A lot of dealers will include a start up kit with your caravan and often the caravan  will include an awning .  I would also recommend you buy from a local dealer - just in case; you would hate to have to take your caravan any distance for a guarantee repair.  Finally, unless you need to purchase a caravan for this season, it might be prudent to wait until the winter when there is a chance that some unwanted Covid purchases may be on the market.  By the way I store mine outside with no problems.

Just chipping in some thoughts. I would look at private sellers very seriously, but only if they can show you full service records for the caravan. We get our 2009 Lunar serviced every year, there is always some damp, but the guys do all sorts of things to make sure it never exceeds acceptable levels. Your nose will tell you if damp levels are too high!

As we have a limited budget, we are having to look at only used caravans, not new.  Would you be offered a Manufactures Damp Ingress by the dealer for a used caravan - or only for a new one?

I think your advice about waiting to buy is good.  I have a feeling that we're going to see the caravan equivalent of the lockdown dog swamping the market, once people who bought in haste are bored with having them.  That may even bring the prices down a bit.

If I were to sell my caravan, which I'm not, I could and would quite happily provide a prospective purchaser with complete service records, from new, and including an annual damp test. They could also see any invoices for any other jobs done outside of the service such as new tyres and when I had the water heater and Omnivent repaired. I could also show them the fairly exact number of trips out and total mileage covered from new.  I bet most dealers wouldn't or couldn't provide that information. The prospective buyer could, I believe, base his purchasing decision with a bit more certainty.

Reedit.  The Ingress guarantee is given by the manufacturer not the dealer and is often for 10 yrs.  Strict conditions have to be met such as an annual service by an authorised engineer including a damp test and with and no break in the service record.  A dealer should offer a guarantee for the other things for 6 months, or more if you are lucky.  If you buy privately you may be able to transfer the manufacturers ingress guarantee provided the conditions are met; you will of course have no other guarantee.  If you look at any of the major manufacturers web pages you should be able to find details.  Go and have a chat to a dealer; explain your budget and what you are looking for, they will explain the ingress guarantee to you.  My old(ish) van is out of all guarantees; I bought it from a dealer and have had no major problems with it (had to replace the battery charger this spring and a seal around one of the exterior locker doors - a diy job - but that is it).  I got mine second hand in 2012 when it was 3 years old and we have had used it for multiple trips all over Europe and UK.  My suggestion is to decide on the layout you want, narrow it down to certain caravans and then hit the dealers.  When it comes to buying make sure your car is ok to tow the caravan, use the caravan/car matching service in the Advice and Training section above.

Thank you - some really solid advice in there.  Much appreciated.  After lots of great advice we've already decided to go dealer (unless our perfect van comes up privately!) and we know that we want a 2 berth with a back bathroom.  We've ruled out Bailey cause of so many manufacturing problems, and also ruled out Lunar and Swift as just too many cases of water ingress.  We're thinking Coachman or one of the German vans - so heavier.  We've recently bought a car which we know will tow these.  My partner is the heart and I'm the head, so between us, plus armed with all the great advice I've had from Club Together, I hope we'll make a good choice.

I've even found a firm close to us which specialises in servicing and repairs and has a great rep - never would have thought about that without the help of everyone who has answered my post on this thread!

 One of our problems was that we were booked to go away with family (who have their own Go-Pro) in September and looking forward to it, so thought we needed to buy a caravan urgently.

I've now decided to HIRE a caravan for this short break in September and I've got one booked from nearby.  That will give us the opportunity to try out our first caravan trip/holiday and then, as we have no more bookings after that at all, we'll have the whole winter to look around and hopefully find our dream caravan with no rush and no pressure.

Of course, we've never done this before but we're viewing it as not dissimilar to the many years we've had of owing and running a motorhome.  I will let you know!..........