7 Caravans Under £10,000

Buying on a modest budget can be a challenge but it is possible to find first-rate tourers at affordable prices, as we prove with this selection of seven — including an amazing-value caravan for only £2900

Word by Val Chapman
Photos by JOhn Chapman

If you're contemplating a first venture into touring, it's good to know you can get on the road for four figures, and in a caravan that's in sparklingly good condition for its year. We found eight caravans under £10,000, cherry-picked to guide you on what to expect for your money in various layouts and lengths.

It's not always easy to find great-condition caravans in the more senior age brackets; it takes patience — or luck in finding your perfect caravan just sitting there waiting for you to buy it.

Our advice is: don't be tempted to buy privately — or from a website.

Go to a reputable caravan dealer, as we did to make this selection.

We headed for Glossop Caravans, where the Peak District meets the Manchester conurbation. And then, on our way back to Lincolnshire, we called at Robinsons Caravans, which has branches at Worksop and Chesterfield. Both of these excellent retailers are among those which set out to cater well for first-time buyers, with a wide choice of vans in the lower-price brackets and lots of advice available for beginners.

This wide-ranging selection of vans was chosen as an example of what's available for your money. From £9999, right down to an absolute gem at £2900, there's something for everyone.

Buying Advice

Tyres

Standard advice is to replace caravan tyres when they become five-years old. That doesn't relate to tread wear; it's all about rubber degeneration with age. Fine cracks can develop in the side walls, especially if the caravan has been kept in direct sunlight. So, when you're buying a used caravan, ask your retailer to check the ages of the tyres; you may need to have them replaced.

Heating

All the caravans we picked have the Truma heating system.

Retailer checks

Before you tow your caravan away, your retailer will have carried out a series of checks to make sure all is good. That's a major reason for going to a retailer rather than buying privately.

Glossop Caravans, for example, has a 122-point checklist; it's used for all caravans above £2800. This includes electrical, gas and water functions; basically, making sure that everything that should be working, is working properly.

Glossop Caravans

Lunar Clubman 530L — £2,900

• Year 2000
• Berths 4
• Body length 5.33m
• Overall length 7m
• MIRO 1002kg
• MTPLM 1300kg

A caravan for £2900? Can this be true? Stepping into this Clubman is like stepping back in time — and into a cottage. Chintzy, floral curtains and a pelmet in the rear wash room look pretty.

Velvet curtains in the L-shaped lounge look cosy. Floral patterned, tactile Dralon upholstery looks country-cottage, and delicate frosted glass shades on mains-power wall lights adds to the traditional look. There's even diamond-pattern leadlight glass set into the drinks cabinet door!

The L-shaped lounge is spacious, with a picture window on the offside. (The seating converts to a double bed.) And this model has the advantage of a two-person dining area opposite the kitchen, convertible to bunks.

All this for £2900! It's hard to believe, especially when you consider that Clubman is Lunar's high-spec range; quality fixtures and fittings are obvious.

The shower room contains the wardrobe, with a complexity of drawers and shelves within the unit that occupies the whole of the nearside wall. Everything in the 'little room' is in first-rate condition; amazing considering that this caravan was built 17 years ago!

The kitchen is exceptional for the age of the caravan, too. Its green enamel sink and drainer surface still shines. The four-burner hob, grill and oven look top-class for the age, too.

And there's a clever design element in this kitchen: the sink and drainer have a flush-fitting cover that matches, and becomes part of, the rest of the kitchen surface.

There's a lot to like about this caravan; its exceptional condition, its homely, cottage-style and its large wash room with generous storage space. Anything to detract from its excellence?

A few tiny dents on the inside and outside of the door and on the nearside panel (awning poles are undoubtedly to blame), that's all.

Coachman Laser 590/5 — £8,400

• Year 2004
• Berths 5
• Body length 5.94m
• Overall length 7.67m
• MIRO 1494 kg
• MTPLM 1710 kg

Layouts have fashions — and this Laser is another example of a model with an L-shaped lounge; rare among today's new caravans. We chose it, yes, on the basis of exceptional condition for its year, but also because it is a fine example of a big family caravan with two lounges — another layout element currently not in new-caravan fashion.

The spacious rear lounge makes a double bed. A bi-fold bunk rises from the rear wall.

We love this caravan for many reasons. It's ideal for a family looking for plenty of holiday space; this is one tourer for which an awning (while nice) is by no means a necessity, even for five people.

It's on twin axles, which enhances its towing stability. And it is in close to new condition, with a gleaming cooker that doesn't appear to have had much use and a carpet that looks like new. There's one mark on the lounge seating, but we are pretty sure that could be removed, and close inspection revealed some fine scratches in the base of the sink.

But that's all.

Colours?

Dark green was a fashionable colour for caravans in the first half of the 2000s. Here, the green theme extends to the sink and drainer, plus the front of the cooker. While it's not a today-trend, it does still look smart.

Anything not to like? Comparing this caravan with more recent models, it lacks a separate shower — the toilet, washbasin and shower are all in one compartment. Don't let that put you off, though; if you get fed up of wiping the shower tray after every use, just use campsite showers!

Bailey Ranger GT60 520 Series 6 — £9,400

• Year 2009
• Berths 4
• Body Length 5.49m
• Overall length 7.1m
• MIRO 1123 kg
• MTPLM 1326 kg

We'd been hoping to find a fixed-bed layout for this selection — a rarity in the under £10,000 bracket, simply because there were not as many in the 2000s as they are today. So we were delighted to find this one, with the added bonuses of light weight and a spacious, U-shaped lounge.

It's a four-berth, of course — the lounge makes a giant double bed — but the principal appeal of this model is to couples. And there's a lot to like, including the large dresser, with two cabinets to augment kitchen storage space; huge under-bed capacity, and plain woodwork styling, with no handles on the top lockers.

It's terrific value for money, and in superb condition. The oven, grill and steel hob base still shine. There are some scratches in the base of the sink but that's inevitable in steel sinks unless a mat is placed under the washing-up bowl. And the chopping board (provided as standard) has many score marks — well, it is meant to be used as a chopping board, so that's easy to forgive!

Anything not to like?

The shower and toilet share a compartment (on the offside, alongside the bed). There's a bi-fold plastic door to confine shower water to the shower tray but you would still have to dry it after each use otherwise you'd get wet socks when walking to the loo! While combined shower-toilet rooms have largely become extinct among new caravans, they are nonetheless workable — especially as all good campsites have decent showers.

Bessacarr Cameo 495 SL — £7,400

• Year 2006
• Berths 2
• Body length 4.78m
• Overall length 6.43m
• MIRO 1300kg
• MTPLM 1550kg

Bessacarr was once the flagship of the Swift Group's tourer portfolio. Bessacarrs are still made by Swift, but now only as a special edition, for Coupland Caravans in Lincolnshire.

They're in £30,000-plus territory new; down the years of Bessacarrs they have been renowned for high quality and high spec; tourers to which many caravanners aspire. So we were delighted to find this example of original Bessacarrs, at an affordable price and in superb condition.

Its attributes?

Big U-shaped lounge with no knee-rolls, so creating a double bed from the upholstery sections would result in a totally flat mattress. Lots of kitchen surface and a large dresser opposite — effectively making a galley kitchen.

Full-width shower/dressing room containing a big wardrobe suite complete with shelving and drawers. A spice rack mounted on the kitchen wall! An umbrella stand (yes, really — it's a leather loop and drip tray by the door). And a Dometic extractor fan mounted under the base of the top kitchen lockers. All for £7400!

And the condition? It's hard to believe this caravan is 11 years old. Our eagle eyes found a bit of rust along the rear edge of the glass hob lid and some circular scuff marks in the base of the metal sink. That's all.

Sprite Sportstyle S2 — £9,200

• Year 2011
• Berths 2
• Body length 4.34m
• Overall length 6m
• MIRO 1011kg
• MTPLM 1167kg

At the opposite end of the weight and equipment spectrum, we found this little lightweight example, the youngest in our £10,000-budget selection at Glossop and the newest, demonstrating that price reflects those two factors first and foremost.

It's a compact caravan, yet it has an enormous shower-dressing room spanning the whole of the caravan's width.

Its cooking equipment is a three-burner hob, grill, oven and microwave. The dresser, opposite the kitchen, creates additional food preparation space, ranking this caravan among those ideal for keen cooks.

And its condition? When we came to inspect this caravan closely we were in for a surprise. There are no burnish marks on the pan trivet or above the burners at the rear of the oven, which means the hob, oven and grill have never been used!

The sink has a durable, beige stone-effect surface. Like most of these we see, there are no scratches in the base.

This is a superb little caravan, and with a small amount of extra spec compared with the standard two-berth Sprite; Sportstyle is the special edition brand of Lowdhams Caravans — these are Sprites with microwaves and some other items of equipment that would otherwise have incurred extra cost.

Swift Charisma 570 — £8,900

• Year 2007
• Berths 6
• Body length 5.5m
• Overall length 7.1m
• MIRO 1252 kg
• MTPLM 1490 kg

Beds for six, two seating areas, good kitchen storage, an extractor fan and a lounge long enough to make single beds (as an alternative to a double)… This caravan has many elements that ensure its appeal to families looking for their first, or second tourer.

It's a layout not seen among new caravans today, with bunks across the back wall — and a door on the offside, leading into the bunk area. The idea is you can fold the base bunk upwards and use the area for storage.

The combined shower-toilet room is in totally immaculate condition. The hob — with a mains hotplate as well as three gas burners — is almost pristine. Its oven and grill show no evidence of use. This is the sort of condition that we are accustomed to seeing in used caravans much younger than this Charisma and in the high teens price range. Yet here is a family caravan — with true charisma — in wonderful condition well under our £10,000 budget.

Robinsons Caravans Worksop Branch

Coachman Amara 560/6 — £8,999

• Year 2009
• Berths 6
• Body length 5.5m
• Overall length 7.3m
• MIRO 1367 kg
• MTPLM 1575 kg

Closely comparable in price and layout with the Swift Charisma we'd chosen at Glossop, we picked this one at Robinsons to demonstrate that, although this excellent six-berth layout is now a rarity, you can be lucky enough to find them.

Like the Charisma, the Amara 560/6 has a door leading into the bunk area so that you can use it for storage. Unlike the Charisma, the Amara's fridge is on the offside, which means you get an extra surface, above it, and it also means there is more storage within the kitchen — two cabinets and a drawer.

Apart from inevitable sink-base scratches caused by using a bowl without a protective mat, this eight-year-old tourer is as close to pristine as you'd find in a caravan of this age; another great example of value for money.