caravan question

If this is your first van I would suggest you try something not so expensive as your first van to see what you do and dont like. Something like a Jayco Swan or Corimal camper van, Goldstorm etc. You can even hire these to see what you can put up with and want to eliminate. They are commonly used as a first step to a Rapid or Expanda.

Otherwise why not try

expanda owners web

or

windsor web

cheers mick

We have just gone through the same decision making, coming from an eagle outback jayco camper we have had enough of the winding up and limited access when down so we as a family needed the same bed option and have ended up with ordering a expanda 16.49.3 outback yes the quality may not be as good as the windsor but for nearly 10k saving as with the eagle it was just a matter of go from front to back and I took all the screws out and glued them and fixing anything that was a miss. But we found the jayco to look so much more modern and the resale is second to none and there layouts are so user freindly

Or here is an alternative to the two you mention but with fibreglass front and back. It is a Paramount Duet. Maybe someone on here can give some feedback on one of these.

The fibreglass would not be as noisy in the rain as the Rapids metal ends, or as vulnerable as the Expandas vinyl ends.

paramount duet

Cheers Mick

Jim/Tab,

Jayco is about 10 large cheaper than the others mentioned.

Does the jio welll IMHO.

The cook and I went from a Goldstream wind-up for just those reasons of access when on the road and because it felt so unstable in a high wind on the coast.
We looked at the 14' Rapid and because it offered so much room for when the grandkids were along we went for that.
The Jayco Expanda wasn't out at that time so there was nothing else to compare it with.
We made a couple of alterations like having shelves in the wardrobe 'cos who carries a suit when camping?
As a further improvement I fitted slide out drawers underneath the cooktop which made much better use of the space there.
It proved to be a good choice and we sold it last year for just about what we paid for it as they're well sought after.
I will say for those comparing Jayco and Windsor that when we looked at wind-ups, we found the Goldstream much better fitted out than the Jayco equivalent and that may be the same between the Rapid and Expanda.
Good luck whatever you choose.
Alan.
PS. We went from the Rapid to a camper to get into those difficult areas and we both enjoy it but the cook can't get all her necessary junk in!

Sorry I dont own either and I am just relaying 2nd hand info here but thought it was worth mentioning anyway. Some friends of ours bought an expanda in June to do a trip for a few months. They are back now and said they wished they had bought the Rapid. I believe their reasoning was only that the hard roof on the Rapid would have been better as they wouldnt have the extra hassle of putting up flys. They seem to be pretty happy with everything else though. As someone else said I think there is a hard roof version coming out next year.