The reason I don’t change my caravan a Swift 560 2019 is because the new caravans seem to have nothing but faults which stops me changing as I don’t want a lot of headaches. I won’t be changing until the build quality improves
I bought a brand new Swift last year. Something breaks or falls off nearly every time we use it. Sick and tired of putting in warranty claims - into double figures now on Swift Life. Generally 3 months wait for any parts to be delivered to dealer when they’re readily available on eBay. Poor. The dealer and Swift have been good for the most part, the company that made the seating has poor customer service and just blames the customer. As a customer I feel like a complete mug.
We bought a brand new Swift twin axle last year and it’s now 15 months old and still waiting for warranty work to be completed. The worst van for faults and issues I’ve ever known.
My mate bought a swift brand new back in 2011. He had nothing but problems with it. Warranty claim after warranty claim. Although it was always fixed promptly he got fed up with it. Traded it in and bought a new Bailey. He’s had that for 11 years without any problems.
@@Mike-fw1td i work at a caravan dealer people don't have give us stick but we are in the middle we have waited nearly a year for some parts and a lot of the time we have to replace parts the manufacturer tells us and we tell them they are wrong in the first plane so its constant waiting
Thank you for your tip about blowing into the shower tube. I've just done it on our VIP 565 and was surprised how much water came out. Just remember to close all the taps first. It took a lot of useless blowing to learn this. DOH!
Every caravan has its selling price. Drop every van by £x every two weeks until they sell. Cash is king, stock means little without cash. I genuinely hope you survive the winter months as you’re a good guy.
Prices are pretty much spot on now, customers have just been watching and searching recently, a bit of waiting to see what the government do next, there seems to be a lot of buyers out their, we just need to be patient now. We are very lucky that we have built up slowly over the years so don't have the debts or new finance plans to worry about 👍
We have recently looked at part exchanging our 2019 Lunar Alaria TR against a 2023 Buccaneer and we’ve found that most dealers won’t even touch the Lunar which means we either have to sell private or just not bother changing…the realism is it’s probably not worth changing it.
Yes some dealers are scared of them, but shop around, some dealers now don't have a price guide either so are unsure on how to value, so this can work in your favour 👍
Don’t know if I’m missing something but all caravans share the same basic components made by Dometic Alko Thetford etc etc. therefore I cannot see why anyone should be reluctant to purchase a Lunar caravan just because they are no longer in manufacture. Nearly everything that’s likely to go wrong is readily available.
Our friends changed from a caravan to a new motor home a couple of years ago. They have just sold it, due to the expense of running it. Just bought a new hybrid car, and new two berth Elldis Xplore 422, and had money spare. I think that more people will be doing the same
2 completely different outfits, some people wouldnt want a caravan and the hassle of reversing it etc so motorhomes will always be a better option if you dont want to tow!
Dealers will try and rip you off for your old caravan, just like car dealers. They call it the TRADE PRICE ???. No, its the rip you off price. I asked a dealer how much he would give me for my caravan 2 years ago, its a 2011 Sterling Elite Explorer, motor mover, 2 awnings etc, he said £8000. I said he was advertising one for £14.995. His answer was he had to clean it etc and guarentee it, and make a profit....That profit would be £6000. Rip off merchant eh.
Thanks, it's difficult as dealers costs aren't all the same, but even if they managed to make £6000 potential profit, the vat and tax man take 45% of that (20% vat, 25%tax), then factor in service, warranty, advertising, fixing any faults before sale, staff costs, rent, rates, insurance etc. I can see why a lot of dealers are closing down, with more taxes on the way it's actually very difficult to make a profit any more. It's not Just caravans but any industry in the UK is now starting to suffer. It does very much look like it's the rip off dealer that is making huge profits, but we are taxed to death unfortunately. 👍
@@thecaravanplace ye because 90% of vans have damp thats where the profit goes. we have a van in our shop for three weeks fixing pdi dampand on average 3-5 days
Regarding winter draining of systems do the manufacturers still fit the two red drain plugs on the offside lowest point? I retired in 2015 so haven't kept up with latest regs. If these are still fitted then they were vital to remove before the frosts arrive as all water will find its way out being the lowest point. Also, it was imperative to lift all the taps up (both hot and cold for a few seconds) and then leave up in exact centre position. If these are carried out you will not have problems. The red plugs can be tricky to remove. The action is to lift them slightly with a twist, and then , pull straight down while holding the collar up. Once removed, a light spray with Thetfords maintenance spray will make it easy in the Spring when refitting. At this point put the plugs in the main sink as you will never find them next Season.
I’m a pensioner living alone and I have a nice ,old but in good shape caravan, and I would love to be using it. I find though, that site prices are very high,that’s if you can even find a pitch that’s not just tues wed and Thursday . I’m not one of the many wealthy pensioners in this country now so I reckon my caravan days are over . Added to this of course Starmer is wanting to bend us all over and do a Hugh Edward’s up us . Cheers two tier and all your bellend mates.
Many brought high during covid, now looking to change and are being hit with low trade in values meaning they set to loose potentially tens of thousands on their current caravan, ultimately caravans don't massively change so the only real reason to change is for layout, is it really worth loosing so much in such little time just because they fancy a different layout, most will say no and just stick with what they have for a couple more years
The whole thing for me rotates around the price of campsites, in particular the CAMC. I've a 12 year old twin-axle caravan. A similar new 2024 one is being discounted at the moment, and I've been very tempted. However we are at a standoff with the CAMC. We previously went away about 60 nights a year, but I'm refusing to do that at £35-40 a night, when 4 years ago I could get the same thing at £20-22. That's far ahead of general inflation. We spent much of September in France. I've said to friends, I spent £2500 to save £25 a night on sites. There's a perfect storm for the caravan industry - with all costs; insurance, recovery, servicing, caravans and campsites all increasing dramatically. Most of them are sunk costs, but paying for a patch of grass and some electric somehow feels more real and annoying to me than all the other costs.
i look at the price of a night and then compare to the nearest hotel...that keeps me positive. just struggled to get a nice hotel for 1 night near Ascot and Wndsor.....made my caravan with home conforts feel a bargain.
What is the point in spending thousands on a caravan or a camper van when people only use them once or twice a year?? The owners then dump these vans on a farm and pay hundreds of rental fees until the following summer. When they come to use them again, the brakes are seized and the caravans need a full service! What a waste of money when you can HIRE one for your holidays and SAVE thousands of pounds.
I have thought about changing my current van (Adria Adora) not for any reason other than up grading. However, the part exchange prices are not good at all, and the few dealers I’ve contacted don’t appear to be interested, which, I assume, is due to the fall in prices and high stock levels. Waiting for you guys to take in an Adria 😂
Hi Mark I have a 2023 build 2024 model Bailey Phoenix+ 642 that (as a result of lack of use) I would like to move on. Any ideas as to what I could reasonably expect to get for it? Cheers.
i looked at trade in for my Bailey 644 which is 2023 as i need something bigger now grandchildren enjoy coming with us. i was offerred £18,000 by the Bailey dealer i bought it from ( paid £ 24,500 claimed to be a reduced price)
I think we are currently the cheapest on most caravans at the moment we will always have some a bit more due to spec or extras, but generally we keep a close eye on price. 👍
You purchased the wrong Nissan Elgrand for camper conversion, that's the E52 Elgrand, its far too low to convert into a camper, its basically an estate car. You need to purchase an E51 Elgrand which is more van like. Have a look on TH-cam there are only 2 that I know of on TH-cam that have been converted and you can see from the demo thatbits too low inside to be usable as a camper.
Yes we did a lot of research, and the e51 is far easier, it's actually not the head height that is the problem, (8cm lower than the e51) it's the width at the rear, due to the fuel filler pipe. But actually if we can fix the width issue, it works a lot better than the E51 due to the extra storage in the rear. We don't like to make life easy, but I think we now have a plan. 👍
@@thecaravanplace Its your money and time. Have owned Elgrands for 6 years, converted 3 myself and don't recall ever seeing a E52 camper for sale. I take an active interest in the market for both none camper and camper Elgrands and the only one I've seen converted by a professional converter, which was a customer request, is the one done by GB Campers, have a look at his TH-cam and you will see the issues he had and how he is unable to sit properly upright in the conversation without head coming into contact with roof liner. The floor in the E52 is not level either so you need to take the height measurement from the highest point in floor level, the difference between the E51 & 52 is then actually 11 - 12cm, which is a huge amount when considering the E51 is already board line practical in terms of head height. Sell the E52, don't waste time converting it, do a E51 or Alphard, there is a market for these.
Motorhome/Campervan v Caravan. The first two can be an EV at the death if no other option was/is available, so the hobby can continue in some kind of a fashion. The Touring Caravan will be obsolete when the EV is foisted upon us by the Government. If you only desire to drive a few miles away from home, then you might just get away with a EV towcar. But the Touring Caravan will be over, in this scenario who would risk 20k/30k on something that will be un towable, not me that's for sure.
That won't be the case I don't think. EV's suck, and the stats back that up. 50% of EV owners eventually go back to normal cars. Manufacturers won't be forced as they have to make money too. Volvo pledged to go "all electric" and they've backed down on that, now offering "a mix of hybrid and EV models." so they've already begun their U turns. There are just not enough people buying EV's, not even close.
This is generally about £1000 less than most on the market currently. Please let me know where the auctions are, or if you can get us vans at those prices in retail condition. 👍
@@thecaravanplace. You co true to say you are cheaper than your competitors. This is meaningless when both their prices and yours are still far too high.
Net zero and EVs will kill off this industry and there will be a loss of thousands of jobs ( estimated at 100000 between manufacturers, sales and small suppliers.
![เจ็บที่ยังฮัก - ม่อน วรวิทย์ [ Official Mv ] จอนนี่มิวสิค](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KALIGSRSjFs/mqdefault.jpg)
People scared of what the budget will bring
I agree they should have had it a couple of weeks after the election The speculation especially by the right wing media is terrifying people
The reason I don’t change my caravan a Swift 560 2019 is because the new caravans seem to have nothing but faults which stops me changing as I don’t want a lot of headaches. I won’t be changing until the build quality improves
Hopefully the new will start to get better as more time can be spent on manufacturing hopefully 👍
I bought a brand new Swift last year. Something breaks or falls off nearly every time we use it. Sick and tired of putting in warranty claims - into double figures now on Swift Life.
Generally 3 months wait for any parts to be delivered to dealer when they’re readily available on eBay. Poor.
The dealer and Swift have been good for the most part, the company that made the seating has poor customer service and just blames the customer.
As a customer I feel like a complete mug.
We bought a brand new Swift twin axle last year and it’s now 15 months old and still waiting for warranty work to be completed. The worst van for faults and issues I’ve ever known.
My mate bought a swift brand new back in 2011. He had nothing but problems with it. Warranty claim after warranty claim. Although it was always fixed promptly he got fed up with it.
Traded it in and bought a new Bailey. He’s had that for 11 years without any problems.
@@Mike-fw1td i work at a caravan dealer people don't have give us stick but we are in the middle we have waited nearly a year for some parts and a lot of the time we have to replace parts the manufacturer tells us and we tell them they are wrong in the first plane so its constant waiting
Thank you for your tip about blowing into the shower tube. I've just done it on our VIP 565 and was surprised how much water came out. Just remember to close all the taps first. It took a lot of useless blowing to learn this. DOH!
th-cam.com/video/yfXAZ-4AV7Q/w-d-xo.html this was crazy how much water is left in the system 👍
@@thecaravanplace thank you
The domestic building/kitchens/bathrooms trade isn also quite slow but moving. Good episode, keeping it real!
I think it's tough for everyone at the moment 👍
Every caravan has its selling price. Drop every van by £x every two weeks until they sell. Cash is king, stock means little without cash. I genuinely hope you survive the winter months as you’re a good guy.
Prices are pretty much spot on now, customers have just been watching and searching recently, a bit of waiting to see what the government do next, there seems to be a lot of buyers out their, we just need to be patient now. We are very lucky that we have built up slowly over the years so don't have the debts or new finance plans to worry about 👍
I’ve heard Swift have made redundancies and gone to 4 day week?
Have to agree with u mark
The vip is a lovely caravan
Thanks, it really is 👍
Yes I always blow through my taps. Each one hot n cold with the others closed. Shower as well.
We have recently looked at part exchanging our 2019 Lunar Alaria TR against a 2023 Buccaneer and we’ve found that most dealers won’t even touch the Lunar which means we either have to sell private or just not bother changing…the realism is it’s probably not worth changing it.
Yes some dealers are scared of them, but shop around, some dealers now don't have a price guide either so are unsure on how to value, so this can work in your favour 👍
Don’t know if I’m missing something but all caravans share the same basic components made by Dometic Alko Thetford etc etc. therefore I cannot see why anyone should be reluctant to purchase a Lunar caravan just because they are no longer in manufacture. Nearly everything that’s likely to go wrong is readily available.
@@chrisrichardson5936 I agree & this was what we were told by the dealer that sold us ours funnily enough.
Sell it privately. Just sold our 2018 sprite privately in less than a week and got £5000 more than dealers were offering......
Our friends changed from a caravan to a new motor home a couple of years ago.
They have just sold it, due to the expense of running it.
Just bought a new hybrid car, and new two berth Elldis Xplore 422, and had money spare.
I think that more people will be doing the same
2 completely different outfits, some people wouldnt want a caravan and the hassle of reversing it etc so motorhomes will always be a better option if you dont want to tow!
Dealers will try and rip you off for your old caravan, just like car dealers. They call it the TRADE PRICE ???. No, its the rip you off price. I asked a dealer how much he would give me for my caravan 2 years ago, its a 2011 Sterling Elite Explorer, motor mover, 2 awnings etc, he said £8000. I said he was advertising one for £14.995. His answer was he had to clean it etc and guarentee it, and make a profit....That profit would be £6000. Rip off merchant eh.
Thanks, it's difficult as dealers costs aren't all the same, but even if they managed to make £6000 potential profit, the vat and tax man take 45% of that (20% vat, 25%tax), then factor in service, warranty, advertising, fixing any faults before sale, staff costs, rent, rates, insurance etc. I can see why a lot of dealers are closing down, with more taxes on the way it's actually very difficult to make a profit any more. It's not Just caravans but any industry in the UK is now starting to suffer. It does very much look like it's the rip off dealer that is making huge profits, but we are taxed to death unfortunately. 👍
@@thecaravanplace😭😭😭
@@thecaravanplace ye because 90% of vans have damp thats where the profit goes. we have a van in our shop for three weeks fixing pdi dampand on average 3-5 days
You should of taken some caravans and motorhomes down to Malvern show , looked like quite a few dealers had a good weekend.
That's positive news 👍 thanks Adrian
Regarding winter draining of systems do the manufacturers still fit the two red drain plugs on the offside lowest point? I retired in 2015 so haven't kept up with latest regs. If these are still fitted then they were vital to remove before the frosts arrive as all water will find its way out being the lowest point. Also, it was imperative to lift all the taps up (both hot and cold for a few seconds) and then leave up in exact centre position. If these are carried out you will not have problems. The red plugs can be tricky to remove. The action is to lift them slightly with a twist, and then , pull straight down while holding the collar up. Once removed, a light spray with Thetfords maintenance spray will make it easy in the Spring when refitting. At this point put the plugs in the main sink as you will never find them next Season.
No most just have a drain valve inside now, I think it was mainly Elddis that used the external drain points previously? 👍
I’m a pensioner living alone and I have a nice ,old but in good shape caravan, and I would love to be using it. I find though, that site prices are very high,that’s if you can even find a pitch that’s not just tues wed and Thursday . I’m not one of the many wealthy pensioners in this country now so I reckon my caravan days are over . Added to this of course Starmer is wanting to bend us all over and do a Hugh Edward’s up us . Cheers two tier and all your bellend mates.
Look forward to your vids
Glad, you enjoy them 👍
Mark your videos really make my week! Are you going to the NEC show next week? If so I’d love to get a selfie!! What day?
Hi Sharran, I don't think we will get chance unfortunately, we were hoping to go on the Friday, but it's not looking possible at the moment sorry. 👍
Many brought high during covid, now looking to change and are being hit with low trade in values meaning they set to loose potentially tens of thousands on their current caravan, ultimately caravans don't massively change so the only real reason to change is for layout, is it really worth loosing so much in such little time just because they fancy a different layout, most will say no and just stick with what they have for a couple more years
Yes with how prices have come down has made it very difficult to warrant the change 👍
Would you recommend putting winter wheels on over winter to save the tyres, if you fit winter wheels can you still go inside
Definitely saves flat spots, with all the legs down it's safe to go inside 👍
@@thecaravanplace Thankyou
The whole thing for me rotates around the price of campsites, in particular the CAMC. I've a 12 year old twin-axle caravan. A similar new 2024 one is being discounted at the moment, and I've been very tempted. However we are at a standoff with the CAMC. We previously went away about 60 nights a year, but I'm refusing to do that at £35-40 a night, when 4 years ago I could get the same thing at £20-22. That's far ahead of general inflation.
We spent much of September in France. I've said to friends, I spent £2500 to save £25 a night on sites.
There's a perfect storm for the caravan industry - with all costs; insurance, recovery, servicing, caravans and campsites all increasing dramatically. Most of them are sunk costs, but paying for a patch of grass and some electric somehow feels more real and annoying to me than all the other costs.
i look at the price of a night and then compare to the nearest hotel...that keeps me positive. just struggled to get a nice hotel for 1 night near Ascot and Wndsor.....made my caravan with home conforts feel a bargain.
What is the point in spending thousands on a caravan or a camper van when people only use them once or twice a year?? The owners then dump these vans on a farm and pay hundreds of rental fees until the following summer. When they come to use them again, the brakes are seized and the caravans need a full service! What a waste of money when you can HIRE one for your holidays and SAVE thousands of pounds.
You have got to use them, anyone who gets the use finds it a very cheap way for many many holidays per year. 👍
late december early january I will be looking for a Bailey Cadiz 23 ish layout van, I'll be visiting.
I have thought about changing my current van (Adria Adora) not for any reason other than up grading. However, the part exchange prices are not good at all, and the few dealers I’ve contacted don’t appear to be interested, which, I assume, is due to the fall in prices and high stock levels. Waiting for you guys to take in an Adria 😂
Everything is grinding to a stop as predicted and it ain't going to get better so ya'll better start hankering down...
No customers for family caravans in October, can’t be a surprise? If prices are dropping makes sense to wait
Very true 👍
Hi Mark
I have a 2023 build 2024 model Bailey Phoenix+ 642 that (as a result of lack of use) I would like to move on.
Any ideas as to what I could reasonably expect to get for it?
Cheers.
i looked at trade in for my Bailey 644 which is 2023 as i need something bigger now grandchildren enjoy coming with us. i was offerred £18,000 by the Bailey dealer i bought it from ( paid £ 24,500 claimed to be a reduced price)
#ThecaravanPlace that union jack flag you have in the window is the wrong way round
Yes sorry 👍
are the base camp 2 holding its price
Pretty much same as everything else no worse or better. They are great 👍
The prices you charge and you wonder why there’s no customers?
I think we are currently the cheapest on most caravans at the moment we will always have some a bit more due to spec or extras, but generally we keep a close eye on price. 👍
. Still too expensive. The market needs to adjust its prices downwards massively.
You purchased the wrong Nissan Elgrand for camper conversion, that's the E52 Elgrand, its far too low to convert into a camper, its basically an estate car. You need to purchase an E51 Elgrand which is more van like.
Have a look on TH-cam there are only 2 that I know of on TH-cam that have been converted and you can see from the demo thatbits too low inside to be usable as a camper.
Yes we did a lot of research, and the e51 is far easier, it's actually not the head height that is the problem, (8cm lower than the e51) it's the width at the rear, due to the fuel filler pipe. But actually if we can fix the width issue, it works a lot better than the E51 due to the extra storage in the rear. We don't like to make life easy, but I think we now have a plan. 👍
@@thecaravanplace Its your money and time.
Have owned Elgrands for 6 years, converted 3 myself and don't recall ever seeing a E52 camper for sale.
I take an active interest in the market for both none camper and camper Elgrands and the only one I've seen converted by a professional converter, which was a customer request, is the one done by GB Campers, have a look at his TH-cam and you will see the issues he had and how he is unable to sit properly upright in the conversation without head coming into contact with roof liner.
The floor in the E52 is not level either so you need to take the height measurement from the highest point in floor level, the difference between the E51 & 52 is then actually 11 - 12cm, which is a huge amount when considering the E51 is already board line practical in terms of head height.
Sell the E52, don't waste time converting it, do a E51 or Alphard, there is a market for these.
like motorhomes even caravans are still well over priced
They are about right now, and a normal drop in prices will now return I feel. 👍
swift have got a lot they have over produced they didn't stop making when the market was slowing
How much for the Toyota.
£22995. Www.thecaravanplace.com
We bought a Freedom , warranty claim after warranty claim into double figures! It really ruined thee experience.
Pre nec lull same every year eh
I think so 👍
Motorhome/Campervan v Caravan. The first two can be an EV at the death if no other option was/is available, so the hobby can continue in some kind of a fashion. The Touring Caravan will be obsolete when the EV is foisted upon us by the Government. If you only desire to drive a few miles away from home, then you might just get away with a EV towcar. But the Touring Caravan will be over, in this scenario who would risk 20k/30k on something that will be un towable, not me that's for sure.
That won't be the case I don't think. EV's suck, and the stats back that up. 50% of EV owners eventually go back to normal cars. Manufacturers won't be forced as they have to make money too. Volvo pledged to go "all electric" and they've backed down on that, now offering "a mix of hybrid and EV models." so they've already begun their U turns. There are just not enough people buying EV's, not even close.
2015 - £14995. you're insane. It's 10years old. in auctions these are going for 8-9K.
This is generally about £1000 less than most on the market currently. Please let me know where the auctions are, or if you can get us vans at those prices in retail condition. 👍
@@thecaravanplace. You co true to say you are cheaper than your competitors. This is meaningless when both their prices and yours are still far too high.
The coachman hasnt gone cause everyone knows the dometic toilet is crap
I like the toilet and have looked to possibly use one in our own truck build 👍
Net zero and EVs will kill off this industry and there will be a loss of thousands of jobs ( estimated at 100000 between manufacturers, sales and small suppliers.
Hi Mark, what's the best way to contact you ? I've sent you a message on messenger but no reply mate.Thanks .
Thecaravanplace@aol.com 👍