Just on the off chance, if anyone has a folding camper they are considering moving on from. Preferably from a time post Conway being bought out by Pennine, say 2007/8 ish, toilet/wash basin not essential but do need the mains hook up. Willing to travel a reasonable distance from the Reading/ Newbury area, say up to 150 miles, looking to pay up to £4000 depending on spec and condition. Andy
Already too old for sleeping on the floor. The folding camper is an affordable halfway house (no pun intended) between having nowhere to put a caravan and not having the funds to afford a camper van. Andy
I’m sure you do but you aren’t going to be a volunteer track marshal for the BSB next year. Needs must and we need to be at the circuit from 6:30/7:00am which makes staying off circuit challenging …….. and equally expensive long term. Andy
P;is you don't get loads of that b&b and beer money back after a few years Serious question: why not get a van/camper? You can then use fro trackdays etc too
Post #3, I don’t have the funds for a camper van and not sure I’d want to buy one if I did, plus no space for parking. A folding camper can be pushed through the garage and live in the back garden. Andy
Folding campers are a nightmare Andy. I owned a Pennine for a short while and it was the worst investment i ever made. They are an absolute ball ache and you'll be wishing you never bothered. To pack them ready for your trip you basically have to erect the bloody thing, pack it and then fold it back down. If it's raining then you are buggered. They are heavy and without a motor mover you'll be struggling to move the thing about. They are also very hard to move on. I would seriously consider a small caravan and look for somewhere local to store it. I store my caravan 10 miles from my house and it only costs £400 per year to do so. They are so much more practical mate.
Previously had a folding camper for a number of years so am fully versed with ownership. In an ideal world a camper van would be the obvious choice but I don't live in an ideal world. Andy
Alistair, I’m 69 years old in a month and the accommodation is to be shared with my girlfriend. Ask yourself the same question and what's your answer going to be ? No prizes for the correct answer Andy
I worked in a caravan place in my late-teens / early-20s and have to agree. People bought trailer tents for exactly the reasons you mention and then for exactly the reasons @tcrofty7 mentioned they quickly brought them back to trade for a caravan, losing a lot of £ in the process. The most commonly cited reasons for not gelling with them were tentlike reasons; 1) Arriving somewhere when it's already raining and having to make the thing habitable and 2) Packing up when it's wet and then having to dry them out to avoid mildew and horrible smells / stains. We used to try and avoid taking them in PX as they were always a saga. We were Conway dealers very briefly.
ok mate, im not as old as you granted but i did the same to my van, its basically a tent on wheels, when the time comes its warm, dry, small camp stove can fit in there, going to fit a small diesel heater, can get me and the bird in there when she tags along, when we go home i remove the air bed/matress and its a van agian. if its just me i bring my camp bed and sleeping bag. its great.
Andy I expect you are fed up with people telling you you don't want one by now, personally I did find the one we borrowed just once a bit of a faff, but did think we'd get better at putting it up and down with practice. It would appear to be an ideal solution in your particular case. Or, have you thought about hiring a motorhome? You'd get quite a few long weekend rentals from your £4K, have less faff, be more comfortable, and also get something each time you don't have to worry about maintaining long term. The ones to look for are the people who are hiring out their personal vans, they are often a bit older than ones a company would rent out and significantly cheaper. Worth a look.
