Buying a caravan

[Briank]

We are hoping to buy a caravan but we don't like the lack of equipment in French vans, also we aren't keen on the fixed bed. If we buy a new van in UK how easy would it be to register it in France. I know that registering an older UK van can be difficult.

Thank you

Jan & Brian  (86)

[Nick Trollope]

Look for lots of postings by Sunday Driver, but whatever, don't! It will be far, far cheaper and alot less hassle to buy a caravan here.

 

[Quillan]

[quote user="Briank"]

We are hoping to buy a caravan but we don't like the lack of equipment in French vans, also we aren't keen on the fixed bed. If we buy a new van in UK how easy would it be to register it in France. I know that registering an older UK van can be difficult.

Thank you

Jan & Brian  (86)

[/quote]

I wouldn’t buy even a new van from the UK. You can have warranty issues (i.e. you have to take it back) all the grief of registering it in France. You have to change something to do with the gaz to accommodate French bottles so what are the warranty implications with that.

I actually prefer German vans and my particular favourite is the Hobby. The nice thing about France is you can buy from another EU country and go and collect it plus there are less problems getting it registered in as much as they conform without modification.

Here are two companies that sell Hobby caravans (and other German makes) and deal with English speaking companies. They will give you everything you need to register in France including all the conformity documents.

http://www.hobby-caravans.com

http://www.caravan-owandner.de

I prefer the first company myself and they have had good write up’s in the English caravan press which is how I found them.

You can save quite a lot of money buying this way and they have very good end of season sales as well where you can buy last years model at a knock down price.

One of the things I like about the German vans is that they have things like integral water tanks, good beds, nice interior designs, well insulated for winter use (they nearly always have hot air heating), curtains, blinds and mozy blinds as standard and the quality of build is really very good hence they command high resale prices in France.

One question, your not the first person (English) to say they don’t like fixed beds and I wondered why? I mean all that making up every night. With the fixed beds you often get a ‘garage’ in which you can store stuff that is accessed from the outside, no more dragging ground sheet, tables, chairs, sun loungers etc through the van.

 

[Briank]

Fixed beds if you are caravanning in France are fine but we would also want to take the van to UK in the winter. A fixed bed does limit the amount of space in the van. Thank you for recommendations I will go to the web sites.

Brian

[Sunday Driver]

To import a UK manufactured caravan into France it would have to comply with French national type approval in two areas - the chassis construction and the gas/electricity systems. 

Given that the UK caravan market is principally a domestic one, if your manufacturer is not on this list of [url=http://www.drire.gouv.fr/vehicules/constr-carav.htm]approved importers[/url] then they won't be able to provide the type approval certification necessary for importing into France. In that case, you would have to submit the van yourself for the necessary technical tests in order to obtain single vehicle type approval.  Although a new caravan should not pose a problem, it is a costly and time consuming exercise.

I have to agree with Will about continental vans.  The caravan market is different here - the weather is one key factor.  For summer, throw out the oven and use a barbecue.  Double the size of the fridge and switch on the aircon.  For winter use, European vans are better insulated with more efficent heating systems.

Edit - The URL is wrong it should be http://www.drire.gouv.fr/vehicules/constr-carav.htm 

 

[Quillan]

[quote user="Briank"]

Fixed beds if you are caravanning in France are fine but we would also want to take the van to UK in the winter. A fixed bed does limit the amount of space in the van. Thank you for recommendations I will go to the web sites.

Brian

[/quote]

I think the space thing is a misconception because the space under the bed has access from outside plus in most cases, if not all, the bed hinges up on gas struts for easy access. Some have big access doors enabling even bikes to be stored under the bed. The hobby's even have a roof rack with ladder as standard these days.I think the feeling that continentals have is that firstly it’s a pain having to make the bed up every night and big things are better stored where they can’t be seen. Don’t forget some of the bulky items such as fresh water tanks and waste water tanks are integral to the caravan so you don’t have bulky aquarolls to carry around which take up space when travelling.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that EU vans tend to be wider as well, not by much but it does make such a difference for some reason. This is why you can’t buy some of them in the UK because they are too wide and therefore illegal unless you are visiting and have a foreign plate.

If you are going to take the van back to the UK in the winter then a German van is defiantly the answer as they (the Germans) even take theirs skiing (well not literally but to stay in) amongst other winter activities that’s why they are so well insulated, heated, double glazed etc.

If I were you I would get the French Caravanier magazine find some dealers near you that sell Hobby, Knaus and Fendt, go have a good look and get some prices then compare them to the websites I gave you.

I just found this doing a google search on Hobby Caravan which might help you make up your mind.

Hobby De Lux 460 UFe (http://www.downshirecaravans.com/caravans/viewdetails.asp?productID=278) 2006 model new

£11,990 to £17,879 (17,839 Euros to 26,602 Euros)

Bought in Germany with tax paid (http://www.hobby-caravans.com ) 2007 Model

£8,831 to £9,050   (13,140 Euros to 13,480 Euros)

 

SD- Sorry about editing your post and adding the URL. By the way it’sa Chris not Will.

 

[Sunday Driver]

Oops!  Sorry about that, Chris!

Thanks for correcting the link (I've changed the original as well).  Bloody French can't spell "vehicles" properly.....  [;-)]

 

 

[powerdesal]

We had a Swift 470 SE some years ago which was standard with double glazing, blown air heating, full insulation, flyscreens and thermal blinds, on board water tank, hot and cold water and ditto shower, cassette loo.This was as a UK spec van. I believe that Swift also market in Europe.

[P]

[quote user="Briank"]

We are hoping to buy a caravan but we don't like the lack of equipment in French vans, also we aren't keen on the fixed bed.

[/quote]

Jan and Brian

I do not know whether you have experience of fixed bed vans but....

We started off with one in which we had to make up the bed each night. We found this a real chore. Make it up at night and then have to unmake it the next morning and put everything away. We found this was taking the pleasure out of caravanning. We then changed to a fixed bed and what a difference. Go to bed when we want without having to make it, get up in the morning, straighten the duvet and that is it. The under bed storage - which in ours has access from the outside is excellent. Our windbreaks, chairs etc are all stored here, so there is no need to load them into the living part of the van - even more useful when you do not put an awning up. In fact we changed our fixed bed for another fixed bed (the original one as the first of the type made by the company and we changed it for their latr version - in these the bed goes across the back and does not have one corner of the bed cut off, saving me having to have a leg amputated [:D]). Ours has an L shaped lounge, corner washroom - with a separate shower.

We would never go back to a non-fixed bed van.

Paul

[Briank]

Update.

Well we have been to Germany and bought a Hobby van at a much cheaper price including an awning so thank you for all the info. We took all the documentation to the sous-prefecture and it was sent off. We were told it would take about 8 days for the carte grise to arrive. Eight days later all the documentation came back because one sheet was missing - teile 1! We contacted the company in Germany and they have said that this part is only supplied if the van is registered in Germany. Ours only had temporary registration for exportation which we had sent to the French authorities. They also asked what do French caravans get when they are bought in France. Does anyone know? We thought this was going to be so much easier than buying a UK van but still there seem to be problems. Has anyone else registered a van bought in Germany? There could be two reasons for the confusions. I am sure that they think we are German and also the van is 2006 and maybe they think that it has had a previous owner. We have to go back to the sous-prefecture but would like to be armed with some information if possible.

Thank you

Brian & Jan  (86)

[Sunday Driver]

Being German makes no difference, neither does the fact that the van may have had a previous owner.  You need to have the invoice which proves you have title to the van, and a certificate of conformity to prove that the van complies with French safety standards.  You obtain the latter from Hobby France - their address and telephone number is in the link that I posted earlier.  I suspect this might be the thing that's missing.

 

[mmaddock]

Sorry to butt-in here, but I read this thread with interest...I was under the impression that I could just buy a caravan anywhere (very 2nd hand in our case!), hook it up to the back of my car and away we went to anywhere we wanted without any restrictions or licencing - along similar lines to buying a trailer.  I have to admit I've never heard of having to register a caravan!  Does it have to be registered like as for a car? is this just a French thing, or do you have to do it in the UK as well?  We'd probably be looking at an older one (likely around 10 years old on our limited budget).  Has anyone got a quick summary of info anywhere about registration requirements? (we live in France)

Cheers,

Matt

[Bob T]

I think that it is only the UK where you can hook something to the back of your car and tow it. In France anything over 500kgs needs a seperate Carte Gris. In Germany a caravan also needs its own registration.

[Teamedup]

French caravans have their own registration and number plate. Donc they need their own registration papers too and these are not always easy to obtain.

 

NB Trailers over a certain size also need their own registration and own number plates too.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Briank"]

Update.

Well we have been to Germany and bought a Hobby van at a much cheaper price including an awning so thank you for all the info. We took all the documentation to the sous-prefecture and it was sent off. We were told it would take about 8 days for the carte grise to arrive. Eight days later all the documentation came back because one sheet was missing - teile 1! We contacted the company in Germany and they have said that this part is only supplied if the van is registered in Germany. Ours only had temporary registration for exportation which we had sent to the French authorities. They also asked what do French caravans get when they are bought in France. Does anyone know? We thought this was going to be so much easier than buying a UK van but still there seem to be problems. Has anyone else registered a van bought in Germany? There could be two reasons for the confusions. I am sure that they think we are German and also the van is 2006 and maybe they think that it has had a previous owner. We have to go back to the sous-prefecture but would like to be armed with some information if possible.

Thank you

Brian & Jan  (86)

[/quote]

Can't help with the paperwork. What model did you buy and how much did you save and was it one of the links I gave you. If so whatwere the people like?

[Briank]

It was one of your links and we would certainly recommend them. It is a family concern. They were very helpful and spoke English which was a relief because our German is now non-existent.

Our van is a Hobby 495UFe, a 2006 model which we prefer to 2007 models. It came with an awning included in the price and was 3000€ cheaper than a 460 2007 model without an awning that we had seen in France. Even taking into account the cost of travelling and hotel costs it is still a very good saving.

I have written to Hobby-France and hope to get all of the information needed to satisfy the prefecture. We had thought it would be easy to register in France!! I will update when we have succeeded.

Brian & Jan  (86)

[Briank]

And we thought it was going to be easy in France!! Hobby France have telephoned today and they are saying that we need to send them a cheque for 500€ and they will send us a new chassis number and the necessary documents for immatriculation in France. We also need to change the gas fittings and they will send that for 25€!! It doesn't seem any easier than registering a UK caravan. Has anyone else tried to register a new German bought caravan in France? Did you have the same problems?

Fed up

Brian & Jan  (86)

[Quillan]

I think they are saying about the gaz bottles being different in France so that is quite normal. The only thing I know other than that is that the regulator MUST be screwed to the bulkhead i.e. it can't be on the end of the pipe that connects directly to the bottle.

I don't understand about the chassis number. You might try PMing Sunday Driver he knows a lot about these things. To be honest though for what you saved I would pay the 500 Euros. Try looking at the prices of Hobbies in France?

[Sunday Driver]

Quite frankly, I'm amazed that Hobby France have the nerve to ask for 500 euros for the paperwork.  The van was built in 2006, therefore it will have been built to conform with EU wide caravan standards, including the latest design of gas system that is mandatory throughout the EU - and which is (naturally) wholly acceptable in France.  All they have to do is issue a certificate of conformity for the chassis and gas system and that's it!

I'd go back to them and complain about it.  Ask them why you have to exchange the gas fittings on a 2006 van which they should have built to common EU standards!