Static caravan purchase ?

[fossyant]

A group legal challenge is about to begin.
It will look at the annual site fees. And the terms of sale / buy back.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gmy7xjewko

Beat me to it. Good luck to them.

Well our site has so far lost £8k from us in ground fees, and I'm about to spend £30k or so on a people carrier 'van' and kit it for occasional overnights/bike carrying and of course, transporting all the camping kit.

 

[Lookrider]

We inherited my in-laws van over 10 years ago - well it was a case of, 'you can pay for it' now. We'd gone occasionally to help them, so as we liked it we took on the cost of the ground rent.

This was a relatively 'cheap site. Ground rent £4,000, Insurance £400, gas electric, say £250. We didn't have to buy the van.

We had the 'your van is too old' message a couple of years back. We had our last season finish at Christmas 2023. There was nothing wrong with the van, was top of the range and still looked like new. Nope, has to go. Looking at used vans, they were coming in at £30k via the site, add say financing this over 10 years, that's £3k per year on top of say £5k rent and running costs. £8k per year for a 8 month season. We decided no when we had the purchase cost to add in.

We loved going, but it's way cheaper to go camping and hotels, which is what we've done. We're not feeling guilty if we go 'elsewhere' - i.e. paying for the van and then paying more to stay elsewhere.

Yes you could buy a second home, but I'm dead against it - tin box in a field or taking a house out of the local community, no doesn't sit well with me.

We've done 14 nights so far this year under canvas, 7 more in August, and done maybe 10 nights in hotels so far this year. Still way cheaper. Wife has had one overseas holiday, a UK holiday and a cruise coming up without me. I'm bike packing for 4 nights in September.

I'm due a car change (it will be 23 years old in January 25), so this money that I had for a static, will be going on a people carrier sized van, that we can remove seats, load with paddle boards, bikes and camping gear, or indeed, just sleep in it.

We've saved us a fortune.

Our van was sold to a dealer, and it's now somebody else's holiday home in Poland. We do miss it, but not the cost. The caravan decking is now at the back of my garage as an extra seating area back home, as the site wouldn't let us leave it for a new owner (another rip off), so I dismantled it, transported home and re-assembled. Cost of new is about £10k.

The British market for statics is run like the mafia. Unfortunately, for the park that we were on, many folk have left, and they have a lot of plots vacant. So much for the 'waiting list' they kept telling us about.

Sorry it's maybe a little late for some "sideways" advice
If your still looking fir a van that has friendly seats I can recommend a Peugeot TRAVELLER
Mine has 2 rows of 3 seats in the back ..they all fold flat ..they can slide frd and back on rails
These railsxare also have sed fir frames I have made to secure bikes in
They are also easy to unclip out as well for even more room
I believe there is other versions of this people carrier/van as nissan proace is one
That was a very well explained post about the perils of caravans ownership
I managed to avoid that ( wife wanted one )

I won her over by complaining about the council tax we pay for our reasonable brick built house we stay in year round
Compare this tax to the park fees on a 10/11 month site in a rattle box

 

[fossyant]

Sorry it's maybe a little late for some "sideways" advice
If your still looking fir a van that has friendly seats I can recommend a Peugeot TRAVELLER
Mine has 2 rows of 3 seats in the back ..they all fold flat ..they can slide frd and back on rails
These railsxare also have sed fir frames I have made to secure bikes in
They are also easy to unclip out as well for even more room
I believe there is other versions of this people carrier/van as nissan proace is one
That was a very well explained post about the perils of caravans ownership
I managed to avoid that ( wife wanted one )

I won her over by complaining about the council tax we pay for our reasonable brick built house we stay in year round
Compare this tax to the park fees on a 10/11 month site in a rattle box

That's the vehicle I'm getting. Most likely the Vauxall version as there are two Elite Long models available within 50 miles, of the spec I want.

 

[Lookrider]

If it helps with your negotiating,,,
There's was only 2 local to me in garages within 1 mile apart
Same age same milage just different colour
I was never swayed by the different colour but managed to play one off against each other to get a fabulous discount
They opening sale was to get a figure I be happy with to pay or work on ... needless to say I never at all revealed that to either one and made them both aware I would be going back n forth to both dealers on window price alone
No matter what you say you be happy with the dealer would come back with " that's unrealistic "

It's a very van utility wise fir my needs

Good luck with the " purchase"

 

[fossyant]

The two local (within 50 miles). One is orange (the colour I want) and has 7 seats (with the two captains seats) and the sliding table. This is the exact spec I want, but, it's manual 2.0. The other is grey, but it only has five seats - the two/three are no longer in it, but it's the auto, which is what I'd possibly prefer. Not much in either, price the same, but the grey one is low miles.

 

[BrumJim]

The two local (within 50 miles). One is orange (the colour I want) and has 7 seats (with the two captains seats) and the sliding table. This is the exact spec I want, but, it's manual 2.0. The other is grey, but it only has five seats - the two/three are no longer in it, but it's the auto, which is what I'd possibly prefer. Not much in either, price the same, but the grey one is low miles.

Outsider's view points:
Colour - Probably not critical, and a poor criteria for choice, unless you are fashion conscious.
Seats - Orange wins. You can't make 7 seats out of 5.
Gearbox - What are the reasons behind auto rather than manual? In my case, auto might be essential. If the auto box is significantly more reliable, then this might be the best criteria for your decision.
Low miles - would ignore completely, unless you know you are going to stick a load more on. Cars can put a load of miles on the clock without any trouble, van based vehicles even more so. Even petrol cars seem to be able to slide through 100,000 miles without blinking these days.

 

[fossyant]

Outsider's view points:
Colour - Probably not critical, and a poor criteria for choice, unless you are fashion conscious.
Seats - Orange wins. You can't make 7 seats out of 5.
Gearbox - What are the reasons behind auto rather than manual? In my case, auto might be essential. If the auto box is significantly more reliable, then this might be the best criteria for your decision.
Low miles - would ignore completely, unless you know you are going to stick a load more on. Cars can put a load of miles on the clock without any trouble, van based vehicles even more so. Even petrol cars seem to be able to slide through 100,000 miles without blinking these days.

The interior layout is the winner for me currently - ease of removing the two captains seats, or flipping them to face backwards. No reason for the auto other than it has a little more power and may make the move from car to van a little easier. It's a Japanese auto box, but not a deal breaker as the manual has auto handbrake etc etc. Colour not a big deal breaker either - most are a shade of grey though ! Miles not a big deal TBH as I won't be doing massive miles, and I'll be changing the oil every 12 months. Choices choices. There aren't many in the North West.

 

[BrumJim]

The interior layout is the winner for me currently - ease of removing the two captains seats, or flipping them to face backwards. No reason for the auto other than it has a little more power and may make the move from car to van a little easier. It's a Japanese auto box, but not a deal breaker as the manual has auto handbrake etc etc. Colour not a big deal breaker either - most are a shade of grey though ! Miles not a big deal TBH as I won't be doing massive miles, and I'll be changing the oil every 12 months. Choices choices. There aren't many in the North West.

Go for the orange one, then. If you get the grey one, you will be forever pining over the loss of two seats.

A little more power and easier to move from one to the other are minimal differences, and at best, minor annoyances. Miles, would be daft to go for low when you aren't going to be doing massive miles yourself.

As long as you aren't a shrinking violet, orange would be a great colour. But there again, as a red head, standing out has been unavoidable for me for most of my life.

 

[fossyant]

Go for the orange one, then. If you get the grey one, you will be forever pining over the loss of two seats.

A little more power and easier to move from one to the other are minimal differences, and at best, minor annoyances. Miles, would be daft to go for low when you aren't going to be doing massive miles yourself.

As long as you aren't a shrinking violet, orange would be a great colour. But there again, as a red head, standing out has been unavoidable for me for most of my life.

Added bonus, the higher mileage (50k vs 20k) has new pads and discs all round. It's been on sale for a few months, since September. They are a bit of a 'niche' vehicle, so don't tend to sell many. I'll be in a position to go and buy one in a couple of weeks - holiday in-between. Be more fun than a static - lots of UK adventures await.

 

[Scaleyback]

Over 1,000 new members to the HPAG ( Holiday Park Action Group) since mainstream coverage on the BBC and in the Daily Mail.
Ripped off caravan owners start compensation bid

 

[neilrichardson55]

There are money pits and money caves. Bit out of touch with these prices. Ones locally going for £800K for a 125-year lease and 11.5 month year. Look like one of those American/Scandinavian timber homes. It's only a 3 bed.

they look lovely. but 800k and only 11.5 months ouch buy a house. im sure one can be found with the views

 

[Fastpedaller]

they look lovely. but 800k and only 11.5 months ouch buy a house. im sure one can be found with the views

That must be a typo? - surely 80K

 

[fossyant]

My sister is realising she's fast approaching the 10 year point - that's when you get mithered to upgrade. We miss it, but not the £4k ground rent and all the extra DIY/gardening !

 

[neilrichardson55]

That must be a typo? - surely 80K

Lodges on site where i am about 100k to about 250K depending on age and spec... why i said 800k even 250 i would buy a house lol, i hope its a typo