We are considering purchasing an Essential Caravan, Outlander 20ft. We will be doing the big lap as well as criss-cross. Does anyone have one of these who can give me their views on it? Will it handle the roads we expect to come across or do we need the Highlander series? What are the after sales service like for this manufacturer? Though we have looked at other manufacturers, is there one we should look more closely at?
A lot depends on your budget, and the type of travelling you plan on doing, all bitumen or offroad capability. Would seriously look at either Trakmaster(not cheap and our first van) or maybe a Wonderland which we currently have.
There are so many out there, you just need to have an open mind, maybe a trip to one of the many many factories in Melbourne if you are that have the time and interest.
good luck I am sure others will follow, also checkout on facebook the Lemon Caravan site, be prepared for some sad tales though.
cheers
Ian
If you can, get to view your preferred van being built. I really take little notice of manufacturers claims of a vans off road suitability but look for a well built van first and foremost.
Look at how they are attaching the cupboards to the walls, what fasteners they are using to attach doors and drawer fronts. Does the draw bar extend back to the axle? How well is the chassis constructed and do the welds look good?
If framed walls how close are the frames spaced?
I have seen so called off road vans shedding cupboards and drawer fronts etc at the first sniff of a dirt road, so sound construction is everything.
Hi we are looking at a new full off road vans with a budget up to 110000 with everything added and recently went to melbourne to check out some of the well known builders such as crusader,sunseeker,lotus,supreme JB and numerous others.We stayed away from bushtrakker ,zone,kedron because of the they wanted for them.We were very impressed with JB caravans they have been building off road vans fora number of years we toured the factory every chassis is fabricated and built to the size of van you want and right through to the end the van does not leave that factory or get other people or companies to do there work they have employed ex toyota and holden employees in there workplace they back up with a 5 year warranty on chassis and 3 year warranty on van have numerous models and layouts and can change things around to suite your needs.They also have dealer in everystate or service centre.We also did a impressive tour of sunseeker vans which build an aluminium frame model called titanium hardcore which had factory processes similiar to JB .There are plenty of full off road vans being built by caravan companies and they seem to start from around 65000 up to 150000 and we have checked the majority over the last three years at caravan shows and going to dealerships and picking brains.First thing i look at is the tare and and gvm and make sure have at least a 600kg to 1000 kg payload which rules out a lot of vans next the chassis very impoortant in a full off roader to be full 6 inch right through with a 6inch drawbar going right through to the axles not the front of van.Next i look at how much water the power system and the wife does the internal .I carry a checklist of everything we want on our new van and then way up the cost and value for money and we find its very to go past JB caravans we have also talked to numerous JB owners and never have had any negetive reveiws i dont know about essential vans maybe i should have a look at them cheers ps we want rear entry 20.6 with middle club lounge
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John
2017 dmax lovells upgrade full CSM trade aluminium canopy,3.5 m quintrex tinny and rear boat loader mangrove jack aluminium trailer
For what is worth....I will add I am not a JB caravan owner.
I am considering the purchase of a new caravan next year and after joining the JB caravans group on facebook (because I have decided they are the front runner for us)they seem to get a good wrap in terms of warranty if there is a problem, I would say personally warranty is a very important consideration.
The JB Caravans attract positive comments from owners on facebook who say the vans are of good quality with relatively few problems.
I am considering Dirt Roader Extreme(the orange/silvergray one)about 21 to 22 long.
Like you I am taking my time to decide as it is a big investment.
I don't think that people who sign up to a facebook group are going to bag the product, if the did I would hazard a guess that they broke the agreement and post would be removed. Just take your time and consider all options.
Yes, time is on my side as I won't be making a final decision till the middle of next year. I like to plan well in advance. There are a lot of pegs to get lined up first and I am researching a number of different topics simultaneously. It is a big investment and hopefully one to outlast me.
As my flying instructor used to say, "Plan your trip on the ground so you have no unsurmountable surprises in the air"
Your view of a facebook group re a certain product is possibly justified , however, I have read a few groups for other brands of vans people have brought and frankly it gives them a forum to vent re problems they have encountered and poor warranty backup.
I guess it can go either way and generally human nature in my experience suggests folk are far more forth coming with problems than praise.
