Buying first caravan...new v's secondhand.

hello selina v
i think you will ( i know you will) loose more money buying new and then selling in future. take our situation, bought second hand road star 19foot voyager 2000 1994 model in 2001, cost $21900 then traded 5 years later after going around oz twice for $22900 (up $1000 on deal )on a brand new 2006 jay co sterling 22 foot cost $49,000 now trading on a 2004 off-road royal flair.
royal flair is $29950, trade for jay-co is $42000. i lost $7000 dollars in 4 years i don't mind because the royal flair we traded on is worth more in the future than what i paid for it.
you very rarely make money on anything new(not including houses). i am only talking about caravans and cars.

G'day Selina V, If I were faced with your quandry I would ask myself, am I buying the van as a investment or as a means to improve my quality of life? I would have a preference to paying cash for an older well kept van and avoiding the soul destroying burden of interest on borrowed money which is going to consume any resale value you may be anticipating. Buy within your means for the long term and enjoy a van that you own and not looking after for a finance company. Happy Days.

I've been looking for a second hand off road van in about the $30 K range and have realized that all that gets you is a very tired, well travelled and smelly Kedron or Supreme Getaway from what we've seen.
The long haired mate and myself have decided to bite the bullet and raise the stakes to $40 Ks maybe even a bit more and look at new, vans like the Trakmaster Sturt ( $41K base price).

Rob.

Hi Selena

I thoroughly endorse buying second hand. As aforesaid, you don't lose so much if you decide to sell. Let's face it, most people don't get the right rig for them first up. Get something older but sound and sturdy with the idea it is just trying it out. Look at everyone else's rig and ask questions. If you don't love your choice and want to stay with it, after a year or two you will know exactly what you want and why. There are hundreds of choices out there - we all buy what we have for different reasons, be it budget constraints, time on the road, the roads we travel or what ever.

Suggest to your husband he speculates on the depreciation after five years of a van purchased new at say $50,000. if it is with a loan, consider the interest paid, and if drawing on savings, consider the interest lost. How much money has he lost? Now consider buying for $15,000. Even of you gave it away at the end, you won't be any worse off.

A major consideration must be the laden weight of the fully packed van against what your vehicle can safely and legally tow, and against the full weight, caravan, vehicle, load and yourselves your vehicle can legally carry.

Most of all, as has already been said, buy want you want to suit YOUR needs, without consideration of resale value. If you love it, someone else will too.

Motherhen

just out of curiosity where are you situated ( which state)
cheers

Hi Selina,
As others have already said, it is imperative that your tow vehicle is legally able to tow your chosen caravan. It is surprising how inaccurate the weights painted on the van can be. The only way to be sure is to weigh the van yourself.

Most vans with shower and toilet are up around 2000-2500kg empty.
It is very surprising how your personal gear and food can add to that weight.

A caravan weighing around 2800kg all up will need something like a Landcruiser, Patrol or Landrover Discovery to tow it with any margin for safety.

I would keep looking for a good secondhand van that ticks most of your boxes rather than a new one. You will not have the largish depreciation to worry about.

FWIW I bought a one owner 16 ft caravan that ticked all my boxes.
The fact that it was 25 years old was of no consequence for me, it was in very good order, neat and tidy interior (but was very 80's in decor).
I've had it for 6 years now and have no regrets about my purchase.

Hope this helps.

Disco.

If it is your first van think carefully about size and weight - real weight not tare weight! Also think about the problems involved in towing and parking a van over 20ft.
We settled as a starter for the setup Motherhen suggests -17.5 ft with a porta potti and shower tent. This works very well for us. We still have it and are having great difficulty thinking about moving up to an ensuite van. We love the storage and bench space we now have and would lose unless we bought 22ft or more. That size is too restrictive if you want to get off the beaten track a bit or bush camp.
So a smaller van will cost less and give you more flexibility as you try out the caravanning life.

Buying second hand can save you a lot of money and/or interest but there are the usual pitfalls. We suggest you take your time and pay a reputable caravan repairer or a trusted mechanic to carefully check out anything you like the look of. You can check the interior yourself and scrub it up if necessary but problems with suspension and chassis etc, to say nothing of dodgy electrical or other modifications could be very expensive.
Of course, in the excitement of finding a good bargain, do not forget to check that the person selling the van actually owns it! If it is stolen or actually owned by a finance company you will lose your money!
It is great fun buying a van. Enjoy the process and go carefully. You will eventually find a van you are happy with and can afford. Lynne and John

hi selina v
read thread 76311 for some helpfull advice on choosing a s/hand van
good luck you have been given some very good advice here as well
cheers

hi selina
forgot to mention a helpfull site with a lot of down to earth basics imfo on caravans and all things appropiate to them
www.caravanhelp.com
cheers

Bought our 2004 17.5 ft Coromal tandem Excel poptop with shower and toilet , tare1440kg, privately thru Trading post for $26000 in 2006. It has been really good and something similar would tick most of your boxes. They are out there. With your vehicle I don't think you would want to be looking for anything much bigger.
Good luck
kenD
bris

personally, id search the internet. got ours out of the trading post and very happy - an older van 80's good condition, with a stand alone anex. no leaks etc. we paid $9,500, after a bit of negotiation, and have never had a problem with it. have seen many similar, and not as good vans in van yards for up to 15,000. so my advice would be, dont rush out and buy it this weekend, take a few weeks and have a real good look around. good luck. hope you get as good as we did.

Selina, be prepared to go interstate for the van you want. It may cost you a few thousand dollars in fuel, but it gives you more options so you don't have to settle for 'second best'.

We purchased ours our from the opposite side of the country, and drove across in four days to meet deadlines to get it.

When we got the F250 (the previous vehicle would not have been legal once we'd loaded the van), we were prepared to get it from any state, and would have bonused on stamp duty from most other states. As it was the one that was right for us was in WA, although my husband had to fly to get it which added to to the costs, and we paid the exorbitant WA stamp duty.

Mh

Wow thanks for all your replies... now I don't know whether I should answer now!! I'm afraid we pretty much went against most of that advice but quite a few of the answers came on after we'd already left.

Firstly I'd have to say that vans definitely dont look the same in real life as to their photos. Or smell great according to my husband who hated one the minute he 'smelled' inside.

We actually did get the 22' one but for what we thought (hopefully) were good reasons. Our daughter was balking at sleeping outside in an annex...she's scared of practically anything that crawls and also she would probably have a friend with her most of the time. So the extra room in it was a bonus. Extra seating also.

It did come with an annex also which the others didn't. The bed is a queen size with a proper mattress. The oven is there but was never used. Overall it was in the best condition inside and out of all the ones we'd looked at for the age. No smells, not the wear and tear the others had. Cushions and curtains had been replaced and the roof had been painted previously with a paint to reduce the heat? I didn't hear the details about that.

Comes with the HR bars for towing. The wheels are set at the back, not the centre. The owners have been towing it with a car. Hubby had checked our weight limit and seems to be ok, although Im a bit worried now after reading the posts. The tare weight is 1800.

Also had a couple of other extras which I guess aren't much but appealed to me, such as a washing machine, and clothes line. This also has the tv, dvd etc which isn't a huge deal but still something that would have been extra money for us to spend if we'd decided on another one. We could do without, but definitely not the kids.

The price ended up right for us, coming under 30k and hubby really liked it and so did our daughter. When we weighed up the price and compared with the others and what else had to be done to them, or bought etc, this one came out way in front. To be honest there isnt much at all to do with the van that would cost us any great deal. As I said, hubby really liked it the best from all we've looked at. I agreed but left it up to him to choose because of the size. I guess the bonus is that he's a semi-trailer driver so parking etc hopefully wont be an issue. At the worst I guess we could resell it on and downsize if it really becomes an issue.

I really did appreciate the advice, even though I read some too late. We havent got the van yet as we have to get brakes sorted etc for the 4wd and it was a 6 hour drive home so we've left it till next week to pick up.

Now any extra comments would still be appreciated. :) I guess this will also be an experience for us which we can pass onto someone else.

It seems really well looked after and a few things were only 12 mths old after being replaced by the owners, such as the awning. So I'm really hoping we got a good deal. And yes, shower and toilet enclosed. Basin is outside of the ensuite.

Sounds great, should work out well. If you haven't yet done so, you should probably run it over a weighbridge to make sure it is within the ATM. Some of the things you have mentioned would probably not have been there when the tare was established and may restrict what you can load it up with. may need to load some of your belongings in/on the car rather than the van when travelling.

kenD
bris

We are sure you will enjoy your beaut van. We wish you many kilometres of happy travelling. Lynne and John