Buying a caravan tips & checklist
Buying your new home on wheels
Purchasing a caravan is supposed to be an exciting time. The excitement of the future holidays to come, the time away, visiting so many new places, and setting up your new rig. But as you begin your hunt, it’s not long until you wish you would just find the right one quickly.
After spending so many hours at caravan dealerships, poking our heads in a van to see what greeted us inside, we quickly worked out what was going to be ideal for our Big Lap. The first 8 vans looked great and had many items we needed, but after that, they all looked the same and rolled into one. It was hard to remember which one had what, without confusing it with a different one.
It came to a point where we had a quick look, and if it seemed to be what we were ideally looking for then we spent some more time in it. Looking at so many different things, then came with trying to remember which van had what. So, I had to get smart, and quick. We worked out that if the van looked like it was something we would consider, we would video it on our phone, including the day and location we looked at it, and things became a little easier from there.
So you get the idea I’m putting out there to you. It can be a long and tedious chore, but once you have found it, you’re doing great!
Finding what is right for you
You need to consider what your personal and families needs are when it comes to living in a tin can for months at a time. If you have kids, how many bunks will you need? If you don’t have kids, which way do you want the bed set up? Do you want an ensuite? Do you want a separate toilet and shower? You get what I mean. The problem is there are so many different caravans on the market nowadays that you just have so many options. If only there was a van for singles, one for couples and one for families. This would make your job so much easier. Choice is not always a good thing!
We’ve broken it all down for you and created an itemised list on what you should look for and what you should know.
Let’s start with the basics.
Your budget
In a perfect world, we could all afford a brand new flash caravan that we could live comfortably in for an eternity. Sadly, this isn’t that perfect world we all dream of. We need to be realistic when choosing the caravan.
Saving - Some people save for years to buy their caravan. Kudos to you guys, you’re absolute legends saving for that long and never losing sight of the dream. It can take years and years, depending on your circumstances, to save up as much as some of these caravans can cost nowadays. You can read our article here for money saving tips and hits.
Working entitlements - some people have annual leave accrued at work, and others who have been with their same employer for over 10 years may have long service leave entitlements. This money can also be cashed out with a lot of employers. Depending on your earnings, and how many hours you have accrued, this could be worth thousands to you!
Loan – personal or secured.
There are 2 types of loans that you can apply for when buying a caravan. A personal loan which is unsecured, meaning the caravan will not be encumbered at all. People who apply for personal loans usual apply when they are renovating, or going on a holiday, or sometimes even consolidating existing loans. But beware with the personal loan, the interest rate is generally higher than a secured loan and sometimes the term is shorter, meaning the monthly repayments are higher.
Secured loan is more for those purchasing a car, caravan, boat etc., some type of vehicle. These more likely have a smaller interest rate but can have a term for up to 7 years in most circumstances. But the vehicle will be encumbered, which means if you wanted to sell it privately you may have a hard time as there is a security interest on the vehicle. Not a lot of the general population would be interested in purchasing a van with finance on it. If you were to sell to a person who is taking out a loan, then the finance company deals with the payout etc.
Using the equity in your home – if you own or have a mortgage on your home, you probably have some equity sitting right there. You can take the equity from your property at any time providing you meet the criteria.
Selling your home – If you are going to sell your home before your Big Lap anyway, then this is a no brainer. You will obviously need to wait until the settlement has gone through and you’re all cashed up.
Regardless on where the money is coming from, you still need to stick to a budget. It’s here that you don’t want the budget blowing out of the water, leaving you with less funds to prepare other aspects of your planning. So work out what the budget will be, and begin the hunt on vans just slightly over this amount, as there is always the expectation of haggling when someone is selling their van.
Read our article on money saving tips here
Pairing up with your tow vehicle
If you already have your tow vehicle, then great. You’ve got one of the biggest jobs ticked off already. If not, you are in for some mind boggling information and lots of time needs to be put aside for this.
When purchasing a caravan, one of the big things you need to consider is the size and the weights. Obviously the bigger the van, the more it is going to weigh. There are many different weights to learn about here, if you don’t already know about them. But the most important is to make sure your tow vehicle has the correct towing capacity to pull your rig.
Here is where you will find lots of caravanners have tow vehicles such as LandCruisers, Patrols and Rangers etc, as they have the capacity to pull a good sized van plus the extras that we load into it. You couldn’t tow a 23 foot Jayco with a 2300 tare caravan with a standard Ford Focus for example.
Style of caravan / camper
There are many types of caravans, camper vans, camper trailers, motorhomes etc. These all have their unique features, not all will suit everyone’s needs. You’ll need to work out what is going to suit you best.
Caravan – The most popular choice by far. The majority of these are a simple 10 minute set up and you’re ready to go. They are private by way of enclosed walls and windows, have internal set up similar to a small home and can carry most of our daily belongings.
Campervan – This is a single unit (no tow vehicle required) which consists of a van-like body converted into a small home. Some have similar luxuries we have at home, but they don’t need a car to tow them. They come complete with the engine and ready to drive away. The only downside is that if you want to go off touring for the day, you have to take your whole set up with you, which means packing up each time.
Camper trailer – Some of these require far more time in setting up. There are quite a few on the market these days however, that require a simple folding down of the hard floor, elevating a couple of poles and you’re done. The others need patience and a lot of practice. They aren’t for everyone though. We started our RV life with one of these and it saw 2 weekends away and that was it for us. We sold it and haven’t looked back since.
Motorhome – This is similar in nature to the campervan. It is much bigger in scale and is a little more comfy, housing more bedding, bigger kitchen etc etc. As with the campervan, you will need to pack up each time you want to go out on a day trip. Unless you have a small car towing behind the motorhome, like a few users do so.
Read our article on how to earn money while travelling here
Options
By now you would have some idea of what your caravan must have in order to suit your lifestyle and travel comfortably. Do you need an ensuite? And what style? What type of dining area? L-shaped or café style? What type of kitchen? The list is just about endless, but when you have an idea of the basics, you pretty much know what to look for in a van.
You want to keep these things in mind when you are on the hunt for the van. Especially if you are going to a dealership or caravan and camping show where there are so many different vans on show. If you fail to keep in mind these items, you may just lose sight of what it is you are actually looking for. I usually send these in an sms to Mr, that way if we head in different directions, we both have the list at hand.
Many people we have spoken to took the following items as most important when looking for their new rig.
*Kitchen style and space
*Suspension – off road or touring model
*Solar and off grid set up
*Washing machine
*Ensuite and layout
*Bed design (east-west or north-south)
*Annexe and awning
*Storage space
*Ease of setting up
*Fridge and freezer capacities
*Air conditioning and extra heating facilities
*Stove plus full or half sized oven
*Single or dual axle
Once you and your family have cracked this area, you will not need to spend (or waste!) so much time looking at endless amounts of caravans. You will know if your budget allows for new or used, which pretty much eliminates a great deal of the caravan population.
For us, our recent purchase was a relatively short exercise as we are certainly not new to the caravanning world and already had our must haves list even before we began the hunt. We began with Jayco as we know Jayco have factories and repair shops and spare parts stores all over Australia. If things are going to go wrong for anyone, it always seems to be us so we want to have the security of fast and easy access to parts and or repairs (god forbid) if need be. Plus, we've always had Jayco's and love them. From the Dove, to the Finch, the Eagle, the Expanda, Sterling and StarCrafts, we've always found them to be simple to use and really nice vans.
Then, we knew we definitely want to be travelling with an ensuite, with a separate toilet and shower. Although we have car fridges, we wanted the large sized fridge with separate freezer and plenty of room within each. I love cooking and need plenty of bench space in the kitchen, and most caravans we looked at were pokey in the kitchen. We also wanted the luxury of an on-boared washing machine, you can watch our video on How To Use A Caravan Washing Machine. Mr wanted a dual axel, and air con and heating was a must! So we had narrowed down our search, but in turn was also not always a good thing because it left us with fewer to choose from. Patience is the number one key when going through this entire process.
If you have the energy for walking all day, bumping around other show-goers and moving slow in herds of hundreds of other caravanners / campers, then the Caravan and Camping Show is your best be to taking a look at many many different types of vans.
You are welcome to take a look in each van. Open the cupboards, lay on the bed, test out (without the water) the shower and sit on the lounge, just to get a feel for it all. You will more than likely have to share the space with many other potential buyers also, as they are all in there doing the same as you are. And trust me, it sure can get squeezy in there waiting for the kids to get off the bunks!
You also need to be prepared to be bombarded by sales people. As persistent as they are, they most often are quite helpful. If you are not quite ready to buy yet, you may find yourself avoiding them or giving them the one or two worded answers, however, they have a lot of knowledge of the products and apart from speaking with van owners themselves, these guys are the people you want to speak to.
Just a tip though… If a brand new van is the way to go, you want to be prepared to wait up to 12 months for your van to be built. If you are planning your lap before that time, we recommend you find something close to new, even perhaps a demo model from a dealership direct.
And while we are on the subject of caravan and camping shows, don’t leave there without checking out as much as you can. Each pavilion has a myriad of products to purchase, demos to watch and so much to learn if you are a newbie.
Hire one for the weekend
The new fad these days is to hire a caravan. Not just from a seller, or dealer, but more from owners who just don’t get to use their caravans often and want to make a little extra pocket money and see it being used for what it was designed.
There are a few reasons why people would hire a caravan.
They can’t afford the big outlay – this one just makes a lot of sense, and as you would probably by now be aware, caravans can be a big outlay, especially if you want a decent one that isn’t a ‘renovators delight’. Some people are just not yet in the financial position to purchase a van, but still don’t want to miss out on holidaying with their families just because they don’t own one.
They have nowhere to store it – with all of the new housing developments going up these days, so many of the blocks of land just don’t allow the room for a house, some backyard for the clothesline and kids to play, and a caravan. The blocks of land are getting smaller as large chunks of empty space are being sub-divided, leaving not much room outside of the home.
They test them before buying one – this one is a great idea. Caravanning certainly isn’t for everyone, and you wouldn’t ordinarily know without having one. You wouldn’t want to buy one only to realise that it just isn’t for you and your family. Now we have the opportunity to ‘Try before you buy’. So for just a few hundred dollars (depending on the van of course) you can find a van similar to one you think would be ideal for you and hire for a few days. This way, you can get a feel for caravanning and the small spaces, the packing and the road tripping before your shell out thousands and thousands.
They don’t feel they would use it enough to fork out the big money – most people who own caravans use them for under 52 weekends of the year. 52 weekends = 104 days. 365 days in a year – 104 = 261 days of the year that the caravan sits idle. If you spent big money on a van that sits unused for that amount of time each year, you’re bound to question your purchase. But, having said that, it is also nice to know you can just pack up, hitch up and head off whenever suits you.
Confidence and previous experience
When purchasing a caravan, you should also take into consideration your previous experiences towing, if you have any. Example, it wouldn’t be wise to purchase a 24 foot caravan having never towed anything prior. If you haven’t had a lot of experience however, there are some really good towing courses available that definitely would suit you. The most I had ever towed was a Jayco Finch, approx. 10 foot and only 20 kilometers down the road to a repairer when we purchased our 23 foot van so I was a novice. And out on the highway, I came to a pretty hairy situation, hence Mr preferred I didn’t drive the other half of our half lap! So a towing course is something I personally am going to invest in and is recommended for people who are quite new to towing.
Collection Day
If you haven’t previously owned a caravan, today is the day you really want your brain to be as switched on as possible. Your seller is going to take you through a lot of information that is going to boggle your mind. And if they don’t offer to show you everything, please ask them to. There will be a general walk through, using the services it comes with i.e. air con, toilet, water products etc, hitching up, and a really important one – that dreaded awning! It may pay if you have a list written down the day prior to collection of the items you would like to be shown how to use. If you’re a seasoned caravanner, you will know most of this stuff anyway. We have compiled a list of things you should ask your seller to walk you through.
*Using the air con (and the units’ heater) plus any other heating facilities like diesel or gas heaters. Some can be hard to learn how to use, but when you have the hang of it, it’s a quite quick and easy process.
*Using the awning – this one is super tricky as there are many steps to do this and if you get it wrong, or do it in the wrong order, you can potentially end up breaking it, which is going to cost upward of thousands (depending on the issue). It took Mr only a couple of goes to get this one right. We upgraded our Jayco Dove we had back in 2015 when we were in QLD and the owner of our new (at that time) van was kind enough to walk us through setting up the awning a couple of times.
*Using the toilet including emptying the cassette – most of these are relatively simple to use, once you know how. They are generally the same in nature, and if you’re lucky, the owner will have the books and user manuals in the van for you when you purchase it.
*Using the washing machine – this one is fairly easy to get the hang of. I seemed to work it out just going by the basic functions on our washing machine at home. I let Mr work out the pipes and water and stuff as he’s a very cluey hands-on person who seems to just know how stuff works.
*Using the water items – such as filling the tanks, emptying the tanks, where all the pipework is, the drainage, the shower, sinks. Most of this isn’t difficult to use, when you know how to use it. It works much like a house system, just defined a little differently.
*Using the TV and stereo unit – have the seller show you where to plug these in and how and when they work, including when you are running on 12v only. Some sound systems have outdoor speakers connected and can be a little tricky to work out how to direction the sound to particular areas of the van. I for one, got a little stuck on a trip, where I was in the van trying to connect the TV sound through the stereo system. I thought I had it going ok but there was no sound coming out of the internal speakers, so I kept turning it up until I heard it coming from the external speakers. I went outside and it was absolutely blaring and so many campers were watching and probably remembering their first mistake of this nature. I must say I was a little embarrassed!
*Using the fridge – especially if the fridge is a 3 way – 12v / 240v / gas fridge freezer. Some of the newer fridges automatically change their setting when they are no longer connected to the current setting, however others need to be changed over manually. If you will be travelling to off grid destinations, you are more than likely going to run your fridge off the gas. And some gas fridges can be really tricky to light. It takes time and patience, but you’ll need to be shown the basics on how to do this at least.
*Using the electric brakes – this applies to most bigger vans with a higher weight load. Smaller vans that don’t weigh under the threshold don’t need the electric brakes. Have the owner explain all of this to you.
*Using the solar system – some vans have a really good setup with a control panel that pretty much runs the crux of the van. It is a simple panel that everything connects to and tells you what solar you are making, what power you are drawing and how full or empty your water tanks are – fresh and grey.
*Using the lights – some of the bigger vans have a lot of lighting, which means a lot of light switches and panels. Ask your seller to show you how and where to turn the lights off. You can later on label these if remembering what is where is a problem for you. There are some light switch panels that are actually like a remote and can be reprogrammed to turn off a different light switch to what it currently controls. For instance, I couldn’t even tell you why but our awning LED light switch is connected to a switch in a top cupboard above the dining area. I’m baffled as to exactly why this is, but Mr will be reprogramming it to the switch next to the entry door of the van.
*Using the stove / grille / oven – not a lot to using these that isn’t the same as your appliances at home really. Some have a glass top with a safety catch, to stop the stove working when the lid is not in the correct place.
*Most importantly though – Hitching up and predeparture walk around. Your seller would know best what items to check for before departure, i.e. checking windows locked, doors in travel position, vents closed, awning rolled up and locked in place etc. And hitching up. There are a few safety things here that need to be done when hitching up. Making sure the van is secured to the tow vehicle, handbrake off, electric brakes plugged in (if applicable), lights connected and working etc.
You could also consider asking the seller if they wouldn’t mind you videoing them demonstrating using these items. Some people love being in front of a camera and won’t mind at all, however there are some people who certainly wouldn’t be interested in this. In this instance, take a pen and paper with you and write it all down as they show you each item. But, be sure to make sure you are confident in how to use the van and everything it comes with before you drive away.
One really big important tip also (and this goes with buying a tow vehicle as well) always do a PPSR check on the vehicle before committing to purchase and handing over any money. PPSR is a goverment site that allows you to enter the VIN of the vehicle and check for the following:
Security interest on the vehicle - meaning that there is no finance. If you purchase a vehicle with finance and the seller doesn't pay out the loan and then fails to keep with their commitments, then the financier can literally come and take your vehicle away from you.
Vehicle written off or stolen - this check will also advise you whether or not the vehicle has been written off or reported as stolen.
We never buy a vehicle without doing these checks first. If we are paying and taking away the same day we first look at it, then we do the check before we pay, or if we look at the vehicle and pay / collect at a later date, we do the check before we put down a deposit and then again just before collection. The owner could quite easily obtain finance and use the vehicle as security in between the time you pay the deposit and the time you collect. It's a small $4 total for a big peace of mind. You can go to the website here. Once you've paid your fee for the check, you can nominate an email address and have the search certificate sent to you.
Final thoughts – No matter how you find it, and what you find, make sure it is exactly what you are looking for in a van. Don’t get roped into a sale that you are not 100% sure on. It is a big outlay and you don’t want to travel with regrets, this is supposed to be a time of excitement and making wonderful memories to carry for the years to come. Keep your list handy and don’t just settle for something because you are sick of looking. Your dream van is out there, and it will find you at the right time.
Just a few of the important things in a handy list for you:
~Work out what you can afford and stick to it.
~Look through many different types of van styles, and pick the one that works best for you
~Visit the caravan and camping shows, and the yards close by
~Make sure the seller walks through everything with you on hand over day.
Happy and safe travels to you all x
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2025 Big Lap on a Budget
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