A tale of 8 caravans - Part 7 – The Lunar Stellar

After our disastrous last holiday in the Clubman, we set about finding a replacement, and found that a Lunar Stellar ticked all the boxes.  It was compact (so would fit on the drive), light (so we didn’t need a big car) and had loads of internal space, including plenty for cooking.  Even better, our most local dealer, Four Seasons at Rodley near Leeds, could get us one.  Unfortunately, that dealership was a bit of a one-man band, and when the one man died, it folded and we ended up with problems around the warranty (though Lunar did persuade another dealer to sort it out).

One problem we had was with the tip-up washbasin.  The drain was via a flexible pipe connected between the normal sink outlet and a fixed drain point, passing through one of the pivots of the basin.  The basin was double-skinned, so none of this was visible – or, indeed, accessible as we found when the pipe came off the sink outlet and waste water was everywhere while we were holidaying at Plough Lane.  A trip to B&Q provided some silicon sealant and a hole saw ( I always have a rechargeable drill with me) and a hole was cut in the outer skin, enabling me to put the pipe back on.  At the next service, the fitter at Carlisle Caravan Centre (our local dealer at our new address) kindly cut a circle of white plastic to cover the hole.  This remained removable in case the problem happened again.

Unfortunately, during the Stellar’s incumbency, we began to caravan more and more as a way of visiting family rather than strictly holidaying, and this included a difficult period of several months when my father was terminally ill in a hospital 350 miles from where we now live.

After that, the Stellar pottered on, with just a few issues around the wardrobe door not fitting properly and that sort of thing.  We also had some floor delamination, which Carlisle repaired very effectively, though, of course, at a cost!  Thus it remained until the day the dealer reported the dreaded DAMP.  Although they replaced the awning rails and sealant, showing me where there were obvious defects in the original sealant application, I could still detect a little damp in the same area.  The van was 8 years old by then, so we started to research a replacement...