New to caravans

Moranscub

Hi all,

We had a family caravan when we were younger and now I am very interested to buy a family caravan. There is such a great variety. But like cars they depreciate, I am just wondering is a 3-4 year old caravan a good purchase as it will have gone through the most depreciation. When in your experience would a caravan be slow to depreciate.
Sorry for all the questions,
Thank you for your time in dealing with my enquiry
Kind regards David

oinkely

They seem to lose a fair few quid in the first couple of years and then slow down to about €1k per year depreciation to a point. If you are patient and lucky you might buy something that will hold its value for a few years. We bought a caravan (triple bunk Caravelair) four years ago and it is still worth about the same as we paid for it looking at the offers out there. It helps that it is a really good, but really rare layout.

Instead of worrying about depreciation, set a budget assuming the van will be worth very little when you go to sell it and go looking for a van that suits your requirements within the budget. Use it as much as you want and sell it when you are ready. Bonus if it leaves you a few quid in the pocket towards the next one.

That's what I do anyway, but have only purchased two caravans. The first was a 4 berth that we grew out of when the third child appeared so sold it after 4 years with €1500 depreciation. We definitely got our value from it during our ownership. The second is our current one which after four years of ownership looks like it is worth around what we paid for it, which is a pleasant bonus. No intention of selling it though as it is perfect for our needs, despite heading for it's 12th birthday shortly.

Whatever you decide on, happy holidays.

Moranscub

Thanks for the reply oinkely, very helpful

db

Caravans do depreciate but definitely not at the same rate as cars. My caravan is 11 years old and is probably worth about 40% of what it cost. i have a car the same age and it is almost worthless.

Moranscub

Thank you db, there is some beautiful caravans on the market,