european style caravans

Black-Pete · Member

european style caravans

Rodsvan · Veteran Member

We briefly had a second hand Bailey caravan. Towed well and light but a disaster in every other way. We had to be very careful on driveways etc as it would scrape - made worse by zero protection underneath at the rear. Other problems were numerous and constant: *every electrical item failed (or had been replaced by previous owner, *leaked rainwater like a sieve which lead to rotting walls everywhere (eventually the van sold at massive loss as a wreck), *seemed as though every moving part broke, *it filled up with dust if driving over unsealed roads, *after every trip there was a new collection of screws or broken items strewn all over the floor, *the design of some items was annoying - eg if you leant back and bumped a window blind or flyscreen it would be pushed of of its track, leading to a frustrating few minutes to rectify the problem, and the entrance door used to move where it was adjustable so sometimes it needed prying with a large screwdriver to open the door. I would never ever consider buying anything made in the UK again.

Magnarc · Guru

They were imported here without any consideration of Australian conditions, as such they were totally unsuitable for our demographic. I take your point Rodsvan, but to can all UK products on one failure is a little bit too far??.

TheHeaths · Guru

The earlier examples did appear to be unsuitable for Australia, both with restricted height, many had no on board water tanks, and lighter construction.

That said, I do know that some of the manufacturers did start to build their vans more in line with Australian expectations in the early 2000s.

I think the later models are worthy of consideration if your touring pattern is bitumen road/highway in populated areas.

PS. I think the problematic earlier models were second hand imports, that were done as cheap units to the market, and as they had little or no parts backup, created the issues rodsvan mentions.

dorian · Guru

If you buy a European motorhome or caravan that was designed to traverse alpine regions, how would that stack up against local conditions? Moreover, fuel costs a lot more in Europe, so weight would be a much bigger concern over there.

To me, the term "Australian conditions" means potholes on sealed roads.

-- Edited by dorian on Thursday 30th of May 2024 10:11:09 AM

Whenarewethere · Guru

Australia has a low capita per km of road. There just isn't enough money to have the percentage of roads to the quality of European roads.

Have been over the Alps between Switzerland & Italy a few times, the roads are really good.

Autobahns are just so extensive, you can do a very high percentage of your trip on AAA+ quality roads. Then their secondary roads are just so much better than ours, & so on.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

G'day Black-Pete,

Many moons and suns back when I was researching for my Aluminium Tent I decided to fly from Melbourne to Adelaide for one day to check out Gold Star caravans. They were Chinese built and transported to OZ as a flat pack, assembled here and appliances sourced here. It might be different now if they are still around. I had been speaking with the manager there a few times at length by phone and all sounded what I wanted. I made appointment to visit.

On arrival, a mate met me there as he too was interested. Even though I had arranged the visit with the manager over the phone he wasn't there. He didn't even arrange for us to see someone else, they had never heard of me. GREAT! We were left to walk around and look at the new vans but no one could speak with us as all busy. Mmm, two blokes ready to buy but ignored.

The first new van we looked at was pretty poor quality, as I opened a cupboard door it fell off. I then opened the sliding door to ensuite and it got stuck half way. The quality in and out was terrible. We had a look at another one and no different so left, disappointed. I flew back to Melbourne to continue my research.

Sad really because looking on-line they looked really good and sounded good when on phone.

Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

montie · Guru

Chinese manufactured vans have improved substantially in recent times (last couple of years) to a point where they are now starting to make an impact on our market, as indeed are their motor vehicles. Some local van builders are finding it difficult to compete.

Peter_n_Margaret · Senior Member

I suggest that just like in Australia, "European" products vary too.
The English do not tend to tour in their vans like in Australia. They travel (relatively short distances) to a caravan park and there they stay for the duration of their holiday. Or they may even leave the van on site. There is very little free camping available.
Continental Europeans on the other hand tour much more but 95% would do it is a motorhome instead of a caravan. Those that do use caravans typically buy German products which are of very high quality. There is free camping almost everywhere in Continental Europe and self-containment is expected for everyone.

We have Dutch friends who have a 10M German caravan that they tow with a Porsche Cayenne. He claims to have towed it from Holland to southern France at an AVERAGE of 100kph.
Detleffs 760DR.jpg

We bought a motorhome in Germany in 2013 and toured Europe for 3 years and 60,000km. We can assure you that there are PLENTY of really bad roads in Europe. If you are exploring a country the last thing you want to do is travel by autobahn. Besides, try a few km of cobblestones. :)

Cheers,

Peter

Rodsvan · Veteran Member

Perhaps I have been a bit harsh in lumping British products into the same category re quality. Bitter experience with everything from Bedford trucks in the 80s to seeing friends & acquaintances suffer the ownership of various British vehicles. I recall hopping into colleagues new Jaguar and seeing a note on the dash asking passengers not to adjust seat/window/temp - he had aready had so many breakages/faults/breakdowns that he was reluctant to adjust anything. I must have been in the grips of temporary insanity when I bought the doomed Bailey.

AndyCap100 · Senior Member

Hi,we (mum dad and our family )grew up ,in the mid 50`s to 80`s in the UK,with caravans .They were and are fit for the purpose they are built for and that was and is 95% for use on smooth roads .Built light,was all timber frame,alluminium skin.Good heating and insulation,though,and capable of being pulled by the family size car ,max size for touring was about 16ft in total.
Now moving onto the present day,that still holds good for the UK most of Europe,however the size that most want now is at least 7m+internal.Construction has changed to a sandwich of insulation,ply and fibreglass or plastic composite ,with a very lightweight chassis,and internal fittings too.Still low to the ground .most owners stick to campgrounds which are aplenty in UK and Europe. so no need for large water tank capacity thus keeping them light .,but which also makes them subject to high wind forces,particularly cross wind .
A lot of owners here in NZ are finding that the UK caravan they bought are also only allowed an extra 100-150kg of weight that can legally be put into the caravan ,so a few clothes, tins of beans etc is there limit.
So in summing up,as an owner the past 6 yrs+ of 2 Aussie Jayco`s,nice and heavy ,built strong but tows like a dream,i would never ,ever buy or put a UK caravan on our NZ roads ,and i don`t think a lot of your roads are probably much better either.
Rock on,enjoy ur day ,whatever that may be.
Andy.
.

-- Edited by AndyCap100 on Friday 31st of May 2024 09:45:45 AM

Black-Pete · Member

After reading some of the comments here and other comments elsewhere I'm now having second thoughts about buying one of these type of vans. I think I'll stick to the more conventional type of caravan with proven history of being used in Australian conditions.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

G'day again Pete,

Just a late thought I had yesterday. Maybe have a look around for a van built with Aluminium frame. More than likely cut a bit of weight down.

Keep Safe out there in the playground.

Peter_n_Margaret · Senior Member

www.vanglassrv.com.au/
This is the way to get light weight, superior strength and insulation.
No frame.
This is the material I have used in our 20 year old OKA body and which I am using in our new build light weight OKA.
But be careful. Not all sandwich panels are equal. You get what you pay for.
Cheers,
Peter