Full Time Caravan Living

When you consider the use wardens vans get ,i would think any modern van is capable of what you req,our friends never "lost" any more than anyone else would on a van ,their last was a Swift Conquerer TA and they still got £7000 for it after 9yrs use

Ps they paid £12500 "new" as previose  years model

Don`t over think it, go for it .What have you got to lose,it will be cheaper than renting a flat . Lots of great advice on here but don`t forget that in a years time you will know as much as the rest of us put together.

My Abbey (now Swift) has had some pretty hard use over the few years I have had it - and a lot of it is still looking very good.  To avoid depreciation I would definitely go for storing the carpets and using runners - and for washable covers for the upholstery.  Good point about the Wardens and their vans - although I am not sure how many hours a day they get to use their vans! 

Thanks for the input everyone. It has given me a lot to think about! Essentially it seems that the vast majority of manufacturers vans will suit my needs it is just a matter of weighing up the pros and cons with each. 

I think I am all out of questions for the moment! You have all be so helpful. If anyone else has any useful information to add please do so as it all helps a lot! 

I defintiely agree about the insulation point and that was one of the main reasons I really like Hymer. However it is very important for us to have a seperate shower, which rules most of their vans out. I should be able to get a reasonably new British van within my budget that has good insulation, whereas if I was to get a hymer I would have reduced options and maybe not be able to get the layout that I like. 

Depreciation is an important point for me as well. I assume that caravans are like cars in that they loose a large amount of money as soon as you drive it out of the showroom and then the rate of depreciation slows down? That is why I thought a 2-3 year old caravan would be best.

Relatedly do you think that after 2 years of full time living, even with careful treatment, that a British caravan would be hard to resell because it would appear so worn out?

Thanks again for your help everyone it is really helping answer some doubts in my mind! I really want this to work as I think it would be a great experience and hopefully save some money! 

We've not had any problem with exchanging our van, all be it for a new one, after 4 or 5 yrs having used it for over 250 nights each year. It all depends on how well you look after it and how careful or clumsy you are. And we've always had a British built van and wintered in it every year.

The only wear I have noticed is that the seat cushions get softer/sag a bit with use however you could, if necessary get them refilled.

Nobody has mentioned Coachman caravans.  When we were between houses we spent 2 years in our Coachman, towed with a Mercedes Vito van (with a rail in for bulky clothes and boxes from Ikea with openable fronts).  The Coachman stood up very well with carpets stored and all seats well covered. We used a CL local to our house site as our base, but travelled around as well.  Solar power in summer and hookup in winter.  Laundrettes were expensive, but handwashing and a rotary drier were ok for all but bigger items.

We have a Hymer 570 from 2007 and it was made for the UK market so the door is on the correct side, it has a great shower cubicle, fully lined. A real good sized bathroom, a proper oven and 4 burner hob and grill, Thetford Fridge and all you would expect in a UK van, the only thing missing is a microwave, something we are not too bothered about. They were imported by Lowdhams and you can often see them on the CC classifieds at a reasonable price, I've seen this model for sale on EBay too, we have had ours just over a year and like it very much, we are away in it for the new year, no matter how cold it gets.