Thread: help needed in my purchase of a caravan

Originally Posted by amshaw

In our club we have a thing where we all keep an eye on all the kids, even if one of them plays up ie boys and sticks or throwing stones etc whoever see's them 1st becomes the bad guy for the day.....seems to work fine as we all get on well.....and we know they are safe

in our group of campers our rules are the best for bad kids

if your bad you spend 10 min at the designated sin bin tree

and you then earn the rights to be the drinks monitor for most of the day after wards

its works a treat

Originally Posted by hiline

and you then earn the rights to be the drinks monitor for most of the day after wards

its works a treat

They would be run off there feet !!

I have just read this thread from the start and wondered why it is that everyone knocks Jayco? Sounds just like other sites knocking Landies and Landy owners. Jayco do build to a price, but so does anyone else who wants to stay in business for any length of time. Every manufacturer has to pitch his product at a particular market, and it is often safer to go for high volume rather than niche markets if you want to maximise your chance of staying in business. At the end of the day, every buyer has to decide what quality he is prepared to pay for.

Apart from the Disco (my 4th Landy), I have a Ford. I am totally happy with it. It is not as well engineered as a Merc or a Lexus, but it does the job I want it to and it didn't cost as much. I also have a Jayco Penguin Outback camper trailer (a pop top for those who don't know it). We chose the Penguin because there are only two of us since the kids have gone, and we did not want slide out beds to worry about. After reading on this thread about the amorous couple it seems that that might have been a better decision than we realised at the time! My wife and I are totally happy with it as an excellent compromise between cost and quality. Sure it isn't a true off-road camper, but we don't intend to spend our time towing it on true off road conditions, and it will go virtually any place I want it to go. Jayco are frequently knocked for pretending it is an off road trailer, when the truth is they promote it as an outback touring van, hence the name. Who wants to tow a big trailer seriously off road anyway? You are much better off with a tent.

Someone made a comment about corrugations which was very valid. Extended time on very bad corrugations will pound anything to pieces given long enough, and I don't think there is any doubt that there are other makes that would last longer than, (some even less than), Jaycos under such conditions. So far we have been lucky and the dirt we have travelled on has not been all that bad. Where Jayco is not as good as it could be is in its use of tiny woodscrews to hinge(relatively) heavy craftwood doors, which do indeed suffer on sustained corrugations. But it is not an expensive fix.

Someone commented on the differences between tent type camper trailers and the pop top type camper trailers. It seems to me that it is all personal choice. I like the greater convenience, comfort, and quicker set up and pack up time of the pop top, but to be truthful there is not a huge amount of difference between the well designed flip tops and the pop tops, and no difference for the annexes if you decide to use them.

When we were buying our camper we looked at dozens of tent-type campers from Cavaliers through to Gulflanders ($9,000 to $70,000). Our pick was the Aussie Swag Ultra for $35,000. It had the best combination of features for my wife and I. But I could not justify the price. Sure the Jayco is not as rugged, but it is adequate for what we want and it gives superior comfort, convenience and ease of use at less than two thirds the price of the Ultra. In the end we made our decision based on the compromise between what we needed and wanted, and what we could afford and justify.

For anyone put off Jaycos by the comments in this thread, ask yourself why the company has been in business for so long and why it sells so many vans, and then have a look at one for yourself. If we believed all the comments about Landies from those who don't own one, none of us would ever have bought our Landies and so wouldn't be on this forum. But if you think you could be happy with a "Holden" camper instead of a "Merc" camper, do yourself a favour and have a look at the various brands recommended in this thread and see for yourself the differences in quality and price, work out what you need and what you can afford or justify, and then make the decision. It is your choice after all.

Just my two bob's worth as a happy Jayco owner, but I hope it is useful.

Originally Posted by matbor

They would be run off there feet !!

Crulety towards minors even

Originally Posted by matbor

They would be run off there feet !!

Originally Posted by Redback

Crulety towards minors even

slave labour i say

I must admit my mind boggles at the thought of the prices these things are.

I can't see me ever, ever buying one. For a start, my wife wouldn't go camping with me. We've never been camping in 37 years of marriage - I used to go by myself in a Ford Transit camper that I built back in the 70s.

Ok, not strictly true, we hired a 7 metre long Mercedes Sprinter camper last August in the NT. That convinced us that those things are not designed by the people who use them. It had a woeful layout. Fancy buying one and then finding out how bad they are. I will say that the Sprinter was exceptionally easy to drive and gave very good fuel economy.

I'd consider buying an old caravan just for me - say, less than $2000, no more. I don't care what it looks like, I just want the kitchen and lounge readily available and with the bed already made up, not using the lounge.

Ron

Ron,

Your last sentence sums up the real advantage of the pop top over the tent type van. Wind the top up, do a few minor chores to pretty it up, and the lounge, bed, kitchen and tinnies are ready to go.

Terry

heres one for you last night we went to BBQ across the road at my **** pot neighbers place who I share beers with most afternoons (mostly his beers) and I told my neibhber that I was intrested in buying a mobile home caravan pop top camper trailer roof top tent

He said "What"

I replied while kicking the dirt "yeah"

And the very tackfully I pionted to the wife

he confirmed "OK"


Any way it happens that his father biulds them for a hobby and has built them for years and his up to his 9th one apperently he is a body builder by trade (I thought that trade died years ago and ive drank with my neighbor for years and didnt know)

out come the photos

he built his last one 2 years ago a 20ft x 8ft twin axel Hilton on wheels 7 birth trailer it has a fold down queen size bed and when folded up its a launge room, dinning table which is cafe style and becomes a double bed, and three bunks at the front 4 burner stainless steel stove grill and oven and rangehood stainless steel fridge micro wave LCD TV monitor DVD player reversing cameras generator compressor solor pannels the works

It happens that his dad wants to sell it to start his final one 30fter, so my neighbor jumps on the phone and we speak to his Dad here the deal if my wife likes it she can have it for $9500 excluding the kitchen appliances as he wants to use them for the next one (Im not sure why) LCD TV and DVD solor pannels if I want them I buy new ones and he will fit it at no cost to fit I think its because he got those appliances at trade or discounted amount and wouldnt pick them at that price again

he will also convert the tripple bunks up front to a shower and toilet for free at my cost for parts

now the things this thing it wieghs 1400kg and my neighbors comments was the price on fuel would let you sleep at the hilton rather then the hilton on wheels which is probibly right seeing that the Disco is a V8


how would the disco go towing such weight I beleave it has electric brakes what would be the cost to install a unit on the disco

Any feed back would be good again I dont know what im for however I still get my roof top tent