Any Caravanners out there?

S

Slim

Guest
Hi All,

My self and present wife are considering buying either a caravan or motorhome, probably caravan. Can anyone recommend a caravan dealer in Ireland?

Also interested in tips on buying or in general any good recommendations on caravanning generally - dos/don'ts, good sites, ferry costs, trips abroad etc.

Thanks

Slim 8)
 
carpet

i've got a good un, and i'll throw in two iron gates and a rug. Would you like some tarmacadum for your front lawn as well.

puncture in the left wheel but the wife blows it up so she keeps it up. cement block on t'other side.
 
present wife

was it a Valentine's or Christmas present wife. BT or Argos catalogue?
 
Re: present wife

It doesn't do to let them become complacent.

Slim 8)
 
Can anyone recommend adealer or dealers in either ROI or NI?

Slim 8)
 
If you're inflicting a lifetime of caravan holidays on the present wife, you needn't worry...she won't be around for much longer! :rollin
 
dealing blue

i know a dealer who can score you some killer blue!
 
If you're inflicting a lifetime of caravan holidays on the present wife, you needn't worry...she won't be around for much longer!
Click to expand...

Actually she is much keener than I!
 
Having just returned from buyig a campervan in Germany I have to say that the 'value' on offer here isn't up to much.

I would recommend getting a hold of some of the camping and caravanning magazines in Easons and having a scan through the letters pages for ideas about what people consider to be issues with their existing vehicles.

One thing we found with the campervan research is that there are simply so many variations of vehicles and layouts out there that it is actually pretty hard to identify one particular model that you want. We found that some layouts just weren't suitable for our uses and this left all the others which weren't necessarily perfect, but which suited to a greater or lesser degree.

Note that the Irish importers and dealers will only have a small part of the entire range available due to the limited market in this country, so check out the manufacturers sites as well as sites like www.dhd24.de or which are German equivalents of Buy & Sell to see what types of vehicles are out there. The german for caravan is wohnwagen and for campervan is wohnmobile (or reisemobile).

Cheers and good luck,

z
 
Re: carpet

Zag

Very interesting sites but I could not undersatnd much as I have no German.

Did you find it better value to buy in Germany? What about VRT and VAT?

The UK magazines sneer slightly at buying in Europe as the specifications do not meet UK standards. Did you get a van with a spec to suit driving in Ireland, doors opening on left etc?

Am interested in your experience in buying in Germany.

Slim 8)
 
Re: carpet

Slim,

Expect a web page about the experience some time.

The UK magazines are a queer bunch. Some of them are aimed specifically at smug-retirees (to paraphrase Bridget Jones) who are off to buy *the* campervan and drive around Europe for the winter in it. Unless you have a lot of money the reviews in these particular magazines aren't going to be much use. We just bought a few of them over a few months and gathered information that way.

In terms of the websites - they are in German but you actually don't need to understand it to work your way around one you have the basics - the drop downs are usually self explanatory (like KM'age, price range, age, engine size, etc . . .). DHD24 is a little harder to get your head around, but is more use once you have managed that. Just use the sites to locate dealers selling particular vehicles and then look at the dealers sites as they usually have an English language version.

Cheers,

z
 
Re: carpet

I find this [broken link removed] useful for translating foreign language sites although the translations can be a bit garbled.
 
Re: carpet

I also used [broken link removed] which produced somewhat worse translations than altavista, but the URL was easier to remember.

z
 
Re: Camper Vans

Zag

Thanks for that. What about the specs? Left hand opening etc?

Slim 8)
 
Re: Camper Vans

The campervans sold in Europe (except IE and UK) are all designed for their road setup, so yes, most of the will have the cabin door opening onto the road here and the roadside there.

I think you will find that most second hand ones on sale here are LHD as there are so few RHD ones manufactured and they sell for a premium.

If you are into buying a new one (think over 50K) then getting a new RHD one shouldn't be a problem.

Best bet is to go visit one of the Irish dealers and just have a nosey around the vehicles they have available to see what the Irish market has to offer.

I'm only aware of one dealer as such here and that is Carroll & McAuley in Rathmines. Have a look at their website at www.carrollandmcauley.ie for details of their stock.

Cheers,

z
 
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