{"id":131,"date":"2020-03-18T16:09:15","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T16:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/blog\/?p=131"},"modified":"2023-08-15T00:43:32","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T00:43:32","slug":"buyer-guide-to-first-caravan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/blog\/buyer-guide-to-first-caravan\/","title":{"rendered":"A Buyer Guide to your First Caravan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Your first caravan is a big investment and if you get it wrong, you could end up hating your new hobbie, rather than enjoying the journey. Although there is much to consider before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/new-and-used?cat=caravans\">buying your caravan<\/a>, searching for a caravan for sale should be an enjoyable and exciting experience with minimal stress. With that in mind we have put together a buying guide for first time purchasers below:<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Budget<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Let\u2019s face it, everyone has a budget. We all want everything that opens and shuts, but you need to stick to a comfortable budget, especially when buying your 1st van. Research shows that most people that enjoy caravanning will buy 3 vans before they get exactly what they want so buying your first one should be affordable and easy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Set your budget ahead of time and make sure you stick to it. The last thing you want is to go out and get that shiny new toy, only to regret it when the first payment comes out and you can no longer afford the holidays to enjoy it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This will also be a big indicator as to whether you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/new?cat=caravans\">buy a new caravan<\/a> or look at <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/used?cat=caravans\">second hand caravans<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Needs and Wants<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When you research features of vans make a list of must-haves V wants. Make sure your list includes everything you think you can\u2019t go without such as ensuites, TV\u2019s and reversing cameras. Then make a list of nice to haves if money allows. This will help you narrow the field once you start looking.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When you\u2019re creating your lists don\u2019t just think of physical features, remember to add things such as ease of towing, weight, set up times and spare parts. Having a new van with all the bells and whistles is great, but not so much if you can\u2019t service it or get a hold of parts if something goes wrong.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Read Reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The best way to find out how your chosen van performs in the real world is to read reviews from people that have it. There are plenty of review sites out there so do some research and reading and see what the pros and cons are of the caravan you\u2019re looking at.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You&#8217;ll want to look out for things such as hoe easy people think it is to tow and park, how long it takes them to set up and also what features it has that suits your travel style. If you\u2019re an off grid traveller you\u2019ll want to know how big grey water tanks are and if the solar power is enough to charge and run your van at free camps and for how long.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Storage<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When it comes to buying your caravan, you may be thinking about your trips, towing and what you\u2019re going to take but don\u2019t forget to factor in where it will live in it\u2019s downtime. Make sure you measure the space and that your van will fit comfortably for the times of the year that it won\u2019t be used. We\u2019d all love to be on the road permanently but that is only a dream for 99% of us.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Storage may also be a big consideration when looking at a fixed roof or pop top van. If you\u2019re looking to store under a carport for instance, then the height of a pop top may be much more convenient to you.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Also Read: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/blog\/a-guide-to-buying-motorhomes-in-australia\/\">A Guide to Buying Motorhomes in Australia<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/blog\/buying-a-rv-your-ultimate-how-to-guide\/\">Buying an RV? Your Ultimate How-To Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Buy once, cry once<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s a simple philosophy. Do your research and reading and only buy once? This will save a lot of heartache down the track. Take your time, consider your options and enjoy the journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your first caravan is a big investment and if you get it wrong, you could end up hating your new hobbie, rather than enjoying the journey. Although there is much to consider before buying your caravan, searching for a caravan for sale should be an enjoyable and exciting experience with minimal stress. With that in&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/blog\/buyer-guide-to-first-caravan\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A Buyer Guide to your First Caravan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[89,91,61,44,47],"class_list":["post-131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-caravans","tag-buy-caravan","tag-buying-guide","tag-caravan-for-sale","tag-new-caravan","tag-used-caravan","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Buyer Guide to your First Caravan - RV Central<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/blog\/buyer-guide-to-first-caravan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Buyer Guide to your First Caravan - RV Central\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your first caravan is a big investment and if you get it wrong, you could end up hating your new hobbie, rather than enjoying the journey. Although there is much to consider before buying your caravan, searching for a caravan for sale should be an enjoyable and exciting experience with minimal stress. With that in&hellip; Continue reading A Buyer Guide to your First Caravan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/blog\/buyer-guide-to-first-caravan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RV Central\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-18T16:09:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-15T00:43:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Golf-Caravan-607-Tourer.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"654\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"436\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Buyer Guide to your First Caravan - RV Central","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rvcentral.com.au\/blog\/buyer-guide-to-first-caravan\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Buyer Guide to your First Caravan - RV Central","og_description":"Your first caravan is a big investment and if you get it wrong, you could end up hating your new hobbie, rather than enjoying the journey. Although there is much to consider before buying your caravan, searching for a caravan for sale should be an enjoyable and exciting experience with minimal stress. 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