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how we
chose the right camper for us.....
an
analytical approach
by Tracey
Lyons
the way it used to be
My style of camping has been the old
fashioned way for years. Cart it all in a car and either sleep in a
tent or clear the vehicle and sleep in there. My second car was a
old delivery van for sleeping in and I bought a used box trailer to
cart my wares. Worked great until the van got written off in an
accident (mental note: vans tend to crumple around your legs in a
head on collision).
What next? A ute of course. Needs a canopy to keep out the
weather, so Dad made me one so I could take my puppies everywhere.
Downfall was that I needed a tarp for privacy and sideways rain and
you have to pack things up to drive anywhere, but it worked well.
stepping up
I’d been bringing home brochures for camper trailers from 4x4
& camping shows for ages. I knew I wanted one, but with so many
choices and so many more options, the brain explodes before any
decisions can be made, and once again it would go on the backburner.
Just wanted something I could pull with my little 4 cylinder ute.
Then my partner started to seriously look at the camper
brochures as well and before you know it we are making decisions and
choosing OUR camper.
So how did we choose ours? Well, it was hard and a lengthy
process.
Looking at our particular style of camping was critical.
Tents, fridge, comfy seats, good food, overnighters and the odd week
here and there. Nothing lengthy to date. No two weeks stays, no one
month stays, what a pity. Lights a must. Some way to run the laptop
for camera downloads and the odd movie. Have to charge that laptop,
the camera and phones. When The Kid was younger, we had to charge
his game as well, but he’s not as active with us camping these days,
but that could change.
what type
We decided to go with a hard floor camper. Much less canvas
which means it’s lighter to put up and down, easier to set up and
somewhere to get out of the river of rainfall going through the
camp. It also meant we could set up without having to be too
critical of the surface under a soft floor. There is a smidge less
storage, but we have a 4wd ute tray to fill if required. Another
consideration was me being able to pack it up by myself in the
“worst case scenario” and tow it when needed. I’m probably the
youngest back surgery case my doctor has ever seen and I definitely
don’t wish to have more surgery again anytime soon, so it had to be
easy for ME to open and close on my own. I have to be able to hook
it up to the tow vehicle with the minimum of back straining effort
too, so a good jockey wheel and hitch height were also a must, as
I’d never be able to push one around on my own.
Out of all the hard floor campers, we ruled out anything that
did not have a rear access door. If we are storing clothes inside
the camper whilst touring, and decide to have a swim, there would be
nothing more inconvenient than not being able to get them, so that
also means an under bed storage draw of some sort . Let’s rule out
any camper that doesn’t have one of those or isn’t easily set up to
put one in. It must be 4wd to suit the tow vehicle and the type of
camping I’d like to do in the future (Bungle Bungles here we
come!!). We’ll have to view the campers and be able to poke, prod
and drill the salesman, which rules out any that don’t have a
showroom with in a few hours from Brisbane. That didn’t mean we
wouldn’t consider one further afield, just that we’d have to catch
them at a camping show or do a one off recon to visit them. So far
we are narrowing the field considerably. We may or may not buy new,
but in the showroom is a great way to see what’s new in the camper
trader trade and get a feel for brand names. Also gives us a great
chance to sum up the friendly salesman and any after sales service
we might require. The camping & 4x4 shows are a great opportunity to
see many campers side by side, so you can go from one to the other
comparing them with things still fresh in your mind.
which one
Leaving the Boy Stuff to my partner, we also ruled out
anything that wasn’t up to running a few things on 12volt and
carried its own battery system so that it could be independent of
the tow vehicle when required and didn’t want to wire things up
ourselves. We wanted good quality wiring, possibly solar in the
future, something easy to understand and change if required. The
suspension needed to be heavy duty. The tyres dependable and spaced
well enough to follow the wheel track of his ute. The body durable
and either rust proof or extremely resistant as we live near the
coast and plan on a few beach adventures and something that would
withstand the rigours of a gravel road or in fact no road.
The Girl Stuff was a matter of a good mattress to sleep on at
night, a useable kitchen and good lighting for those after journey
meals. A pantry large enough to carry all those items required for a
well stocked functional kitchen. Easy access to an esky
(fridge/freezer one day in the future) and enough room to manage
either a small one or a large one depending on our camping needs.
Some come with all the perks, but we don’t really need all
the bling that comes with a “fully equipped camper” right now, as we
plan to utilise what we already have for as long as we can. We
purchased an AquaCube for hot water showers and have been pleased
with it so far, as well as a shower cubicle for those times when we
are in company, but will still utilise the campfire heated water
where possible. It’s looking more and more like a base model for us.
Something we can add to when we want and what we want and when
financial commitments allow.
narrowing it down
We then had our list of potential campers down to about six
in all. We checked the second hand listings constantly looking for
the “bargain of the century”, but we found they all came with things
we really didn’t require, boat racks, boats, outboard fastenings,
bike racks, extra rooms for kids, old fridges and solar panels, one
even came complete with all their camping equipment (guess they
didn’t like it much). We found pricing was getting more expensive
for the age of camper we wanted too (up to 10 years of age)
especially with all the extras that the owners had added as they
required them. Time to consider upping the budget amount somewhat I
think. Speaking with people who had just sold their camper trailers
is an enlightening experience. One gent tells us that he was
extremely disappointed with his last camper trailer (a Chinese
manufactured Australian assembled model) compared to when he first
bought the brand (Australian all round) as it was breaking along the
seams, was no longer dust proof and after a few years of good
travelling though all terrains, it was in his words “falling apart”.
We crossed them off the list too as he was very honest with us. We
crossed off another as they are over 2,000 km’s away and are very
scarce in the sales section for a valuation comparison. One camper
trailer on the list we don’t really have a good look at and it
somehow disappears from the list on it’s own. Which leaves us with
three.
We cross #3 off the list as we check them out with an agent
and they aren’t all what we were expecting. A much cheaper
manufactured version of #1 & #2 which unfortunately shows in the
camper trailer itself. And of course they are about to rise by
$4,000 if we don’t make up our minds this weekend. The salesman will
give us till Monday afternoon before the current price is gone.
Given that they aren’t as nice as we were thinking, we do seriously
consider the “rush offer”, but decline it.
And then there were two.
Both
these beasts are tough, come with many options and are roughly the
same costs for the same age camper trailer, but even though they are
similar, they are vastly different. We were still scanning the sales
ads each night, calling sellers and getting their feel for the
camper trailers we are looking at.
We are almost at brand new pricing but picking they all come
with some sort of accessory. We can sell things: boat and loader,
extra canvas, old fridge etc, but are we really saving money in
doing so? Going second hand? We will be getting older canvas. Have
they looked after it correctly? Can we live with those small tears,
animal munches, the interesting stains, and incorrect attempts at
waterproofing? Replacing ropes, the odd pole and re-straightened
pegs? Dings, bashes, gravel damage to paint, replacing mudflaps,
fixing that dodgy repair?
Yep sounds like we are upping that budget again …Ye Gods!
the spreadsheet
So we still have the 'Big Two'. And it’s a hard decision to
make. They are both worthy of The Spend. But which way do we go and
how do we decide? Back to the showrooms and give them the complete
poke and prod. I’ve decide to compare them using a excel spreadsheet
listing all the standards, extra’s and it’s pricing, what’s missing
on one that you get on another, what modifications are required (if
any) and at what cost to be hitched up and following the ute? Took
me awhile to do it, but it was well worth it for us. It showed us
that in some cases, things aren’t always what they seem. It also
proved that some companies are easier to deal with and are much more
up front with their pricing and assistance. It proved that not all
websites are easy to use. But in both cases the sales people were
really great and genuinely helpful. They tackled all our tricky
questions without hesitation and there were a lot of answers that
were missing from the spreadsheet which they answered to the best of
their knowledge. If I phoned them with a question, they didn’t sound
like “oh god it’s that woman again” instead they were only too happy
to help.
So now we are just left with the decision itself. We knew it
will be one of the 'Big Two', but which one. Both admitted to price
rises in the not too distant future but allowed us a few weeks to
make our decision. I guess they knew it would be a tough one.
Comparing both sides of the spreadsheet made our choice much easier,
seeing both campers compared item for item, dollar for dollar,
standard for standard, extra for extra. Of course, we had to like
each camper for what it was and be happy with the choice we made.
It’s an awful lot of money to make a mistake on …
thanks to Tracey for sharing
her thoughts
october 2010
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