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Hi, I've only been introduced to caravanning last year. Managed my first 43 years without ever stepping inside one and then last year a 2004 Hymer Nova 2 berth landed in my lap. Can honestly say i wasn't too keen on the idea but was persuaded by my better half to give it a go. 4 weeks later, towbar fitted and awning hastily bought and we were off on our first weekend over easter. It was a baptism of fire and a lesson in reading the manual before you go, but as a family of 4 we all enjoyed the adventure. After 2 other stints during the summer the van has grown on me. It's in excellent condition (solid German? build quality) and has been fully serviced and valeted ever year it seems. I have been sleeping in the awning and my wife and boys in the van. Although it's a 2 berth the bed is quite spacious. However, looking forward we want to caravan for the next 3/4 years while the boys are still young enough so my plan is to upgrade to a younger (07/08) 4 or 5 berth next year. I like the lounge at either end set up for best use of space but i think that means a 5 berth. So basically i have no experience so i will be asking lots of questions. Apologies in advance for my ignorance in all things caravan.

I had a good time looking round the NEC on Weds, I always enjoy looking in the Euro vans and we are considering one for our next van. My general view was that there were some very innovative layouts (much more so than UK vans) and that perceived quality was good. Further observations below: Tabbert ("Pep") - bright external colours had the effect of making the van look budget, I suspect that will put a lot of people off. Internally a much nicer feel: light airy Weinsberg - only the small and huge on display. Very similar feel to a Sprite on the inside (i. e. not too basic, light, fairly traditional) Knaus - disappointed that the Lifestyle model dropped. Was told before the show that a new one is due but the people on the stand did not know that (I suspect they were just rented for the show). The other van's had a really good quality feel to them though, Hymer / Eriba - Disappointing. Orange feel to the interior reminded me of continental vans of old. Really expensive too. Hobby - very impressive. Lovely interiors that felt very well built. Very clever layouts, including a double bed that drops down from the ceiling. Odd gas hob that leaves you wondering where you drain your pots though. Strange pricing (i. e. hard to tell what justified the difference between the cheap ones and expensive ones). Definitely on our list for next van. Did anyone else have a look? Tempted? Thoughts?

Hi All, have owned a lovely Coachman 460/2 VIP for the last 9 years and had loads of fun in it with our two dogs. Time now for a bit more space (and a fixed bed 😊) so am patiently waiting to collect a Hymer Nova S 545 ordered at the NEC in October from Lowdhams. This is a new updated model from Hymer imported from Germany. It's a bit concerning that it seems to have dropped off the radar this year and there doesn't seem to be a UK importer now for this model. Also see in the news that Hymer have bought out the Explorer Group. Not sure how concerned we should be about these two points? The Buccaneer had also been on the wish list, but reading on this site and talking to people (and a close inspection at the NEC) we were put off by all the quality control/warranty issues. Any other Hymer owners or Lowdhams customers out there? Be grateful for any 'heads up' you can give - never bought a new van before so any advice very welcome!

Hi, it's quite a while since I posted on CT but we are now proud owners of a brand new Troll 530 purchased from Airstream and Company at Tebay; we collected it last October. We bought from Airstream because they are a mere 40 minutes drive from our home. We were also impressed by the workshop facilities and by John, the shop manager. In fact the workshop is in some ways more of a factory as, with the Airstreams, shells are imported from the US and substantially the internal fit is done at Tebay using local / European sourcing. In other respects though the sales operation is unusual as there is no accessory shop and no secondhand van sales; it's quite unlike a "normal" dealer. But when we approached them in late August 2013 they had a Troll 530 that substantially met our preferred spec. It was a new 2013 model but had been in their sales stock pound since the Spring. We were downsizing from a 7. 2m Bailey Pegasus. We negotiated a deal that was not attractive to us financially. We discovered that new Eribas are expensive especially when all the "options" (many of which are almost essential and more of which are highly desirable) are added into the price. As Airstream don't sell used caravans the Bailey was traded through a channel and we could not obtain a better trade-in figure. Many would have walked away but we had set our hearts on a new Eriba; they had what we wanted in stock and for various reasons we wanted to move fairly quickly. So we signed! The fulfilment of the transaction involved some interesting experiences relating to such things as price confusion and ambiguity, the options fitted and (by agreement) to be dealer-fitted and difficulties / delay in obtaining parts from Hymer. Indeed the parts relating to battery charging arrangements were sourced by Airstream directly from Hymer's German supplier (Schaut). As a result it took 5 weeks from order to be able to collect the van. Even then the electrical fit did not represent what we had ordered and paid for and we agreed with Airstream to bring the van back to them 1st week of December for this to be sorted. I must say that in mitigation of the inevitable stresses and annoyances of all this, Airstream behaved correctly to us on all the points and they readily admitted that they are still "on a learning curve" with Hymer. We took the van back to them 1st week December and they had by then obtained all the required parts to do the agreed work. They estimated less than a week to complete the job and for us to collect our van. Unfortunately one of the parts (a small control panel) proved faulty and had to be re-ordered. By Christmas it had still not arrived. But it arrived by the time Airstream re-opened on 6 January and the work is now in progress as I write. I am at a loss to understand why the two required part procurements (in September and December) took so long. Although I do know that, for the first of these, Airstream had no invoicing arrangements with Schaut and parts could not be dispatched until clearance of Euro funds from Airstream to Schaut; this certainly caused some of the delay. One further minor irritation was the fact that we ourselves had to do the transfer of CRiS registration from Airstream to us (it had been registered to them since its arrival at Tebay), pay the associated fees and etch our own windows as no-one at Airstream seemed to know what to do! But hopefully our Eriba will very soon be in the state specified on our order! We have been unable to obtain from Airstream any documentation on the Mechanical/Electrical 2-year warranty on the Eriba. The water ingress warranty is well-specified (terms, conditions, coverage, exclusions) in the Instruction Manual supplied to us for the caravan and that also contains stamps for the required annual damp checks. There was (is) nothing anywhere about the M/E warranty! Airstream's position is that nothing exists and that it is impossible to obtain anything from Hymer. However we did learn, from our own research, that a Hymer "Warranty Stamp" exists and also a process whereby this should be requested by the dealer from Hymer when a new caravan is sold. This is then to be pasted (by dealer or customer) into a space provided in the Manual, constituting proof of warranty. In our Manual that space is still blank. Airstream claimed not to know of any of this but after a bit of pressure from us, the administrative lady at Tebay "found" our stamp and is keeping it for us until we collect our van so we can then paste it in and show it to any Hymer dealer if we have a problem (in the wilds of Slovenia perhaps?). But Airstream continues to insist that no other warranty documentation exists anywhere and cannot be provided. Please can anyone comment on this? Finally I would echo the point, already made elsewhere on this forum, that Airstream's Technical Director (Anthony Slocock) is good. He is competent and has been unfailingly helpful to us (actually in some non-technical aspects as well), always "doing the right thing". I would also say that John, the workshop manager at Tebay, inspires a lot of confidence. The jobs completed on our caravan in September (not just the electrics, but also fitting a Gaslow system) were done thoroughly well. So anyone thinking of buying an Eriba from Airstream should not be deterred by my experience as there is much to be said for a good workshop side. The part procurement situation may be of some concern though. And just be careful on the administrative and commercial aspects of buying from them. If anyone can comment on warranty documentation from their own experience, I'd be grateful. Sorry for a long post. Roger.

I am looking to purchase a second hand Nova 470 2007 model so would like to hear of any issues or problems and what I should look for when viewing this model. Many thanks in anticipation. ...

My new battery arrived today. A rather expensive gel 110ah! I'm confused by what seems to be a black wire that's + & a brown - for battery terminal wires!! Doesn't seem right but was working fine. Can anyone confirm this to be correct? Germans eh!!?

Lightweight Vs very heavy, new Vs old, 6 year Warranty Vs 1 year dealer warranty, British build quality Vs German build quality. ... any thoughts