What caravan to buy........

Submitted: Friday, Feb 19, 2010 at 15:01

ThreadID: 76152 Views:3437 Replies:5 FollowUps:3

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This non-biased article provides a practical outline of the major features to consider when contemplating buying a caravan (new or used) and should help you settle upon your main requirements before

TedExpress

Hello,

My boyfriend and I are currently in the final stages of planning our big trip around Oz. We are taking 12 - 18 months off to do this so we are not limited by time. We hope to head off in Dec 10. Our biggest debate at the moment is what sort of caravan to buy. At this stage we think we have come to a decision on the Jayco Flamingo ST. The biggest selling point with this is the shower and toilet and it is quite roomy for our needs. As the Flamingo ST is still fairly new out on the market, I am very curious to hear other peoples thoughts on this particular van. Pro's and Con's anyone????

Many Thanks!

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Reply By: Member - RobG J (WA) - Friday, Feb 19, 2010 at 15:26

Friday, Feb 19, 2010 at 15:26

Great to hear you are going on the big one.
My wife and I started in Busselton early May 05 and were back late Jan 06. Had to finalise our tax, another 6 mths would have been ideal. We have an 18ft Jayco Heritage, shower, toilet etc and would not be without the wet area. We belong to a caravan club that camps in places that have toilets but very seldom have showers. We haven't had any problems with our Jayco that we didn't have with our Coromal or our Roma; they have all leaked at some stage.
we are off again after Easter and expect to be away for 9 mths or so this time as well.
Happy travelling
if you want to, you can contact me at joyandrob@westnet.com.au

AnswerID: 404930

Reply By: Motherhen - Friday, Feb 19, 2010 at 16:44

Friday, Feb 19, 2010 at 16:44

Hi Ted Express

It is horses for courses with different rigs. There are dozens and dozens of different ones out there, and we all choose something different to suit our needs. We would only consider one that met our needs - that is that we could go into the outback with confidence that we wouldn't need a massive recovery bill if something went wrong. Sure if you want to see the outback you can take a tent (there are times you will need to do this anyway), but it may mean back tracking 3,000 kms to go back to the caravan. However if you want to see only the coastal fringes and tourist resorts what you are considering may do you fine. Most modern caravans, except the very small ones, include a bathroom. There are a lot more things to consider.

Motherhen

Motherhen

Red desert dreaming

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AnswerID: 404939

Reply By: landed eagle - Friday, Feb 19, 2010 at 23:11

Friday, Feb 19, 2010 at 23:11

Hi TedExpress,
Have alook at the Jayco expandas with a shower/toilet . 16foot van becomes nearly 23' set up. No winding up the roof every time you want to get inside.Still has the nice 'undercanvas camping' feel.
Mine's a 2009 16-49-3 Outback. Tows great and is a 5 min job to set up.

AnswerID: 404975

Reply By: Member - Mark E (VIC) - Saturday, Feb 20, 2010 at 09:32

Saturday, Feb 20, 2010 at 09:32

Ted,

It is really impossible to give advice to you unless we know where you want to take it and roughly what your budget is.

As mentioned above there are literally hundreds of options on vans, some will be just fine on the bitumen road, other OK for a few k's on good gravel roads, whilst some will not handle long stretches of the inland corrugations.

Also you could literally spend anything from about $6000 up to over $130,000 on a van.

Your question is a little like getting advice on buying a house. Pretty wide subject.....

Cheers,

Mark

AnswerID: 404997

Follow Up By: Alloy c/t - Saturday, Feb 20, 2010 at 10:00

Saturday, Feb 20, 2010 at 10:00

Er , the original post was for pros + cons for a particular brand and model c/van , so the subject is pretty slim actually. LOL

FollowupID: 674710

Follow Up By: Member - Mark E (VIC) - Saturday, Feb 20, 2010 at 10:21

Saturday, Feb 20, 2010 at 10:21

No prob. Good luck.

Mark

FollowupID: 674714

Follow Up By: Motherhen - Saturday, Feb 20, 2010 at 15:51

Saturday, Feb 20, 2010 at 15:51

Hi Alloy

Not so; Ted's question contained:

"Our biggest debate at the moment is what sort of caravan to buy."

"At this stage we think we have come to a decision on the Jayco Flamingo ST."

"The biggest selling point with this is the shower and toilet and it is quite roomy for our needs."

So we know Ted wants a roomy caravan with toilet and shower, and has seen a Jayco Flamingo. We do not know his intended type of travel on a long trip touring Oz.

From a personal perspective, touring Australia has been about seeing inland and outback included many icons such as Uluru and Kakadu, and has involved many thousands of kilometres of corrugated roads. Some places could have been seen by keeping on mainly bitumen with a lot of back tracking, many other places could not be reached at all.

As aforesaid, there are hundreds of options out there, and people choose their particular rig for their reasons and needs.

Mh

Motherhen

Red desert dreaming

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FollowupID: 674761