After making the momentas decision to sell our home, leave our jobs and take off and explore our wonderful country, we now have the difficult task of choosing the right van. We are interested in the Bailey Pamplona and Unicorn vans and we would appreciate your views, good or bad on your experiences. Other contenders are Opalite and Galaxy.
Welcome to the forum from us deconuts. I'm sure someone will be able to help you but in the meantime why not try clicking on search at the top of the page and typing in Bailey or Unicorn and some relevant posts might come up. Have fun.
We just brought a New Age van... It's awesome. We've spoken to a lot of people and have not heard one negative story. So we're pretty happy with that. We are only just starting out too. We take delivery of our van October and we're out of here (Brisbane) after that. Can't wait.
We have also decided to take the big plunge and "do it". Hi, we are Graham And Denise and have been following this forum for two years or so, members for a year, learnt lotsa things. We have European 'van, an Abi Marauder 16 foot. We have been researching 'vans and have narrowed the results down to 2 makes, Bailey and Elddis. Both are lightweight but built for Australia. Both makes are of very similar layout and have quality finish. We think that the Elddis Crusader models have the edge as they have a greater payload capacity, upto 400kgs. Elddis is made by the UK's largest c'van maker and have extensive experience in building strong vans, some of the European roads, especially in Belgium, are far worse than any blacktop and some of the gravel roads in Australia. The latest Elddis vans have a 10 year body warranty against water ingress and are made to be repaired by any competant c'van repairer. Shortly, at the last two weeks in July, we will be leaving home in Aldinga, South Australia, and heading across to the Elddis dealer and importer in Qld to make our final decision as there is about a 3 month lag for delivery of a van to your specs. Sorry if this went on a bit, but we hope it helps you.
G'day, we are also new to the forum. Our house sale is finalised on the 28th of this month. Suggestion, don't buy new immediately. There are lots of lovely preloved units available on the net. Look at one of them before you go whole hog on a new one. We purchased a 4 year old Supreme. Probably not a model we would have bought but this was the previous owners 3rd van and they were going up again to a brand new one. (A Spinifex from Qld) This van had nearly everything but even before we head off (early August) we are planning our new van in about 3 years. Heading out of Melbourne and turning left. See you out there.
We just brought a New Age van... It's awesome. We've spoken to a lot of people and have not heard one negative story. So we're pretty happy with that. We are only just starting out too. We take delivery of our van October and we're out of here (Brisbane) after that. Can't wait.
Thanks. We had a look at their website and great looking vans. Hope to take a look at them next month when we are in Newcastle. You must be very excited on getting your van in October. which model did you get and did you have any modifications made to it? Where are you off to first?
We have also decided to take the big plunge and "do it". Hi, we are Graham And Denise and have been following this forum for two years or so, members for a year, learnt lotsa things. We have European 'van, an Abi Marauder 16 foot. We have been researching 'vans and have narrowed the results down to 2 makes, Bailey and Elddis. Both are lightweight but built for Australia. Both makes are of very similar layout and have quality finish. We think that the Elddis Crusader models have the edge as they have a greater payload capacity, upto 400kgs. Elddis is made by the UK's largest c'van maker and have extensive experience in building strong vans, some of the European roads, especially in Belgium, are far worse than any blacktop and some of the gravel roads in Australia. The latest Elddis vans have a 10 year body warranty against water ingress and are made to be repaired by any competant c'van repairer. Shortly, at the last two weeks in July, we will be leaving home in Aldinga, South Australia, and heading across to the Elddis dealer and importer in Qld to make our final decision as there is about a 3 month lag for delivery of a van to your specs. Sorry if this went on a bit, but we hope it helps you.
-- Edited by Graden on Tuesday 18th of June 2013 12:09:33 PM
Hi Graham and Denise, since we made the decision about three weeks ago we have been researching like mad. Bought lots of mags and joined this forum. Like you we have learnt lots. Its a great avenue to learn so much about the life of a caravaner and the people who have taken up this wonderful lifestyle. We do like the Bailey and Elddis vans and they do have a quality finish and the Bailey is on the top of our list however as we are not looking to take to the road until next February we have some time up our sleeve to look further into other makes. Did you make many changes to the original layout? Good luck in making your decision.
G'day, we are also new to the forum. Our house sale is finalised on the 28th of this month. Suggestion, don't buy new immediately. There are lots of lovely preloved units available on the net. Look at one of them before you go whole hog on a new one. We purchased a 4 year old Supreme. Probably not a model we would have bought but this was the previous owners 3rd van and they were going up again to a brand new one. (A Spinifex from Qld) This van had nearly everything but even before we head off (early August) we are planning our new van in about 3 years. Heading out of Melbourne and turning left. See you out there.
Hi Bunkerbob, Thanks for the suggestion to look at pre-loved vans and we haven't discounted them yet. Just a matter of finding the right one that has most of what we would like and at a good price. We have only just started to look around. Enjoy the road and 'see you out there one day'.
We are in the process of preparing to travel as well, and we have done a huge amount of research across the caravan market (well over a year).
We made up our mind maybe a dozen times, then realised there was another factor we had not considered.
We realised that what we wanted did not suit everyone, aspects that are important to us may not be to others, and what others must have we just do not care about.
For us one of the most important aspects was quality, we know that we will be waking up in the van for a long time, and we do not want to wake up looking at things we are not happy with.
We sought advice from others initially on function, but then we reverted to seeking advice purely on the performance of the manufacturer. Who listened to the customer, who built in quality, who did not take shortcuts to save money, who stood behind there product. Who was happy for you to look through the factory and understand how they built vans.
We went to the caravan show and compared, we spoke to the manufacturers, we developed a score sheet, and we scored each van critically.
Eventually we settled on a Retreat Brampton, with our own changes. The decision was influenced as much by the manufacturer as it was by the van.
I suppose what I am saying is take your time and make sure you make a decision you will be happy with in six months or a year.
Hi Plendo, This has been an interesting read. Now just asking re your scoring of the vans? What were your key points? Which vans came up trumps with you?
As you can see I am brand new to this forum and reading lots... Wifey and I are looking (still) for a van that fits as close as possible to our needs.
