CAMPING THE KIWI WAY

I have chronic persisting back pain. I cannot last more than about 5 minutes doing any chores before pain sends me to a chair. Sometimes I can do the supermarket run easily, other times it’s agony.

When we go camping I can only sit and watch others go exploring when really I would prefer to join them. It is another form of a horrible cruel, disability.

Buying the caravan meant we could travel with my mobility scooter inside the caravan. This meant not only could I get involved on walks with our camping group, it also meant we didn’t need to sell our car to buy a van which would have meant that I couldn’t take our young granddaughters camping with us.

I know the caravan is classed as a toy hauler, but we didn’t want to use it for toys, rather as a means to improve my life.

The caravan was only 9 years old. We pawed over the photos, checked questions asked, relieved to read it was water tight when asked about leaks and damages. Measurements seemed to work for holding my scooter. It had an awning which we could use to store the scooter in at night which meant we could access the bathroom area at night. So we made a phone call to the owner to discuss it further.

I asked, if they kept it, what would they do to improve it. They said nothing needed doing. We asked if they could hold it for us until the following weekend however they were not keen. We were going away south that weekend and they were going away for a week. We were concerned someone local to them would look at it before we got to view. it So after considering all the information we had, and as they had answered everything in a positive manner, we chose to trust them and made an offer which was accepted. We pressed Buy Now.

Why we didn’t do an inspection at pickup

The few days before we went to collect the caravan, hubby was recovering from having put his back out. We almost cancelled the drive to collect it. We travelled the day prior to the pick up so as to break our trip. On the day we collected it, rain was coming in waves. We could only carefully follow them around the caravan as they showed us how things worked. 

Hubby asked if the roof was in good condition . He said yes and offered us to go up on a balcony to look, but we chose to trust him as it was a sloped section and we couldn’t afford either of us to upset our backs. I did attempt to walk up a small sloped driveway to see what I could, but it was not high enough. So, we were pleased he confirmed it was in good nick.

After sheltering from a rain shower in their garage, we loaded and left. Then our nightmare started.

Big leak

We stayed at a riverside camp on the way home because hubby was struggling with his back. We decided to leave the caravan attached to the car, even though it meant the back of the caravan was higher than the front. It was only for one night. It poured with yet another rain shower. Then I glanced up and noticed a line of water about 10 cm wide, flowing past the shower door, past the hand basin area, reaching the toilet door. Approx a metre long. It was no small trickle. I wish we had taken a photo before we grabbed a towel to mop it up. On closer inspection, the outer corner of the caravan was soft and full of water. I had noticed a smell when we first entered the caravan, but I thought it was because the caravan had been shut up and needed a good clean and airing. We, fortunately, are not used to musty smells. We are now! The awning was stored in that part of the caravan which will be why we didn’t notice that damp corner.

First thing Monday, I called a local specialist and booked it to be looked at. We had to wait til the end of the week.

I burst into tears when they told us what they found. The roof was soft and is probably the main cause of water down the sides of the caravan. There were signs of repairs in many places. It has had ongoing prolonged water ingress. It will need stripping before they can see the extent of damage done. We were guttered. They took 39 photos.

We also discovered earlier in the week that the awning was not the right style for the caravan either. The awning had rounded corners, (and two big rips), whereas the caravan had square corners. I contacted a firm that dealt with this style of caravan and they said the manufacturer did not recommend using this style of awning but a “pull out” model only.

Warning

At the time of writing this, the caravan still sits empty, untouched in our back yard. We are in discussions with our lawyer.

Victims don’t seem to have many rights these days. There is lots of protection for the seller though. Good and bad ones.

So, do get your vehicle checked so no one can pull the wool over your eyes.

More

On investigation we discovered that not many firms want to do a pre-purchase inspection anymore. If anything is missed or not able to be seen (come on, they can’t take it all apart!), the firm takes the hit — purchasers try to make it a financial one to avoid having to pay for it themselves. So I guess we can’t blame them for not wanting to do inspections. I heard this from a number of firms I contacted. Google ‘caravan pre-purchase inspection’ for someone near the seller.

The best advice I was given was don’t buy it before seeing it. If the owner won’t hold it— there could be a reason… ◼️

The writer has chosen to be anonymous.

See page 20 What you need to look for… for a checklist from Collyn Rivers.