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Hi all,

we have been camping for all our lives, but decided we want to upgrade from tents to a caravan..
With all you caravaners out there I hope you can help..

Should we buy a second hand caravan to see if we like it, or should we go ahead and buy a brand new one?
Which is beter, gypsey or jurgens, etc...

Please help

I'd definitely get a second hand one. New caravans cost the price of a small house, and the resale value is rubbish. So if you go the new route, don't like it, you'll take a hammering.

Something important to look for is any sign of water damage. Any such signs, walk away. You can end up spending R20k on repairs to a van not worth much more. Also, once you've found a nice one, and bought it, it will pay you to take it to a specialist caravan service agents (not sure where you are, so can't recommend one) and have a full service done. This will cost you a bit over R1000, but rather that than get halfway somewhere and discover that your entire braking system doesn't work.

What kind of price range were you thinking of buying in (if I may ask)?

As for which make, there isn't a whole lot of difference. So whatever's available is good.

I agree with Orange. I bought a second hand one (only cost me just over R20,000) and am very happy with it - in fact lived in almost 3 years now! I did take it for service after buying it, and had the wheel bearings replaced, but have not needed anything more done to it.

A good idea would be to go to caravan dealerships and look at the caravans they have - both new and old. That will help you to see what sort of layout you feel comfortable with eg side bed or island bed, inside or outside cooking facilities. Also check whether you get a rally tent (just an outside covering) or full tent (with sides and front to zip on if you want it) - the full tent is much more versatile as you can use it as rally or tent.

And of course check that your car is suitable to tow the caravan you want to buy!

Enjoy it!!!!

Hi - we've been caravanning/camping since early 1970 and love it

Agree with the advice that you should go for previously used - if you buy from a reputable dealer you should get one that's in good condition. As to which is best - it depends on what layout you prefer - fixed double bed or dinette that can be made up into a bed - do you small kiddies that would need to sleep near or older ones that can sleep in seperate tents next to the van? As you have been camping you would probably want to continue your "outside" cooking so it doesn't make sense to pay for a van that's got a stove and sink inside - there are models which cater for outside cooking. Do you want to just travel tar roads or the rougher roads?

A very important thing to take into consideration when buying a 'van is what vehicle are you going to tow it with - that will determine what size van you should consider.


A reputable dealer should be able to help you and you should get one that's in good condition from them.
Also helps to read the Caravan and Outdoor life mag - the "Wegsleep" is great if you can read Afrikaans - these have websites wehre you can ask all kinds of questions about caravans


Hope you find what suits you and that you will have many happy caravanning trips

On the topic of tow vehicles, don't just look at the power output of the towcar. That's important, but weight is even more so. There's a bunch of legalities that you need to be aware of (Caravan and Outdoor life give them), but I've also found that although my rig is legal (wrt weights), and the car is powerful enough, it would be ideal if my car was 100kg heavier. Simply because the heavier the car in relation to the van the more stable the rig will be.

Also, get a stabiliser. I use a Tando, but the yellow-blades are also reputed to be pretty good. I've towed with and without using it (over short distances) and there is no comparison. Especially if the wind is blowing. Wind plus unstabilised van equals very slow progress and white knuckles (or smelly knickers...).

As others have said, there's no-one better able to comment on what you want to do than your local reputable caravan and camping shop (generally, if it's got a Campworld attached, it's pretty decent - but the best reputations in the Country belong to Kennis Caravans in Roodepoort/Krugersdorp, Loftus Caravans in Pretoria and Tygerberg Caravans in Cape Town).

In terms of the law, the gross (fully laden) mass of the caravan (with its own braking system) may not exceed the net (unladen) weight of the tow car, (whether the van is loaded to the max or not). Aditionally, the gross mass of a trailer (up to 750kg and without its own braking system) may not be more than half of the unladen mass of the tow vehicle, even if the trailer is empty. The gross mass of the van or trailer will be that as stipulated on the chassis plate.

As Orange has said, it is better that the tow car's unladen mass is fairly heavier that the van's gross mass as this will benefit you in terms of towing stability especially in cross winds, over taking trucks etc.

As also said above the best bet is to buy from a reputable dealer. They will make sure that everything is in good working order, esp brakes/electrics/gas lines etc.
Good luck in your search.

Thank you all for very interessting replies!!
To answer your question about how much we wanted to pay... well we dont know!
I really dont know what a good price is for a second hand caravan... i have been checking out a few websites of dealers but they still seem a bit expesive.. does any one of you know what a decent price will be for a second hand caravan?
We dont have any kiddies yet, but we are planning on having kiddies in the near future... so probably dont need a big van now...

We have a Sprite Swift (1991 model), and if you can find one of those in good nick it'll be dead up your alley. You can generally pick up a later model van (of different makes) for around R35000, and it'll be dead right for what you need. We've got two small kids (18 months and 3 and a bit) and the Swift is dead right. The kids at that age can share the one "double" bed, and once they get much bigger (kind near to 10) they can sleep in a tent outside (the kids love this it seems).

So all round I'd say have a look for a good mid to late 90's model 4 berth van. You're likely to be looking in around the R50k mark, although you can find some for less. Again, Caravan and Outdoor life have a classifieds section, and that's not a bad place to start.

Just one piece of advice. Find yourself a nice foam mattress for the bed if you do get one that folds up into chairs (like in the Swift). Do NOT be tempted to go with a spring mattress. It makes accessing the cupboards underneath near impossible, and they don't come in the right sizes anyway. I traditionally sleep in a hole down the side of the mattress, and swear profusely at the thing when trying to get anything out of the cupboards (modification pending)!

Hi Ils, I sent you a PM!
Mods, I hope you don't mind, but we (Arthur and I) have just this morning talked about selling our caravan and I PM'd Ils about it..? Is it okay with you?
Thanks.

When so close to the park,who need's a caravan.

Picnic!

Well, if you want to spend a couple of days in the north of the park, it's a bit far to go on a daily basis, unless you do some low flying (not acceptable behaviour )

Got the Oz tent, Orange! Up in 30 seconds!