Volvo Owners Club Forum - View Single Post - What and when was your first touring caravan?

The vast minority · Sep 15th, 2017, 04:57

Thats quite a tale Colin, these days people new to caravanning don't know how good they have it!

Mardon Meridian of early 90's vintage which I bought for £300 in 2009. Used it twice to go to the same CL over the next 3 years towing it with a Peugeot expert 2 litre turbo. It had all the kit, boiler, blown air, a thetford and a decent kitchen with fridge and oven so wasn't the hardship that caravaners in the 70's faced.
The problem for us was the remoteness of storage and although we enjoyed the days away we had in it (all 4 of them) I always had to book in advance with the farmer where it was stored for him to get it out meaning quick last minute getaways were impossible. It would always be filthy as it was stored outside so we never really got much use and I eventually gave it to the farmer in lieu of 6 months storage that I owed him. I vowed we wouldn't have another if we couldn't accommodate it at home so when we moved to a house big enough to accommodate a caravan and all of the cars I bought that holy grail of the caravanning world an ERIBA. I bought an old one 1989 just to try it and we instantly got the bug with 4 trips including a week away in northumberland in the first 2 months towing with a new Jeep Wrangler 2.9 L. We liked it so much that in November we bought a brand new ERIBA Troll 530 and have already had 15 trips in it. The Wrangler had to go because, insanely it had only a 1000KG towing rating and the troll is 1300 MGW. I towed with the new Peugeot Partner Tepee up until July this year and bought the old V70 to take over as that car was on its limit which isn't ideal. I liked that Volvo much better for towing but it was petrol and realising its FWD limitations in an only slightly muddy site a few weeks ago I sold it and got a like new 2012 XC 70 AWD last week. Today is the first trip away towing with the XC 70 in fact and we are going to a grassy, sloping CL that has seen its fair share of rain in the last few weeks.
Al

Sep 15th, 2017, 04:57	#2
The vast minority Member Last Online: Aug 17th, 2018 16:43 Join Date: May 2017 Location: Thirsk	Thats quite a tale Colin, these days people new to caravanning don't know how good they have it! Mardon Meridian of early 90's vintage which I bought for £300 in 2009. Used it twice to go to the same CL over the next 3 years towing it with a Peugeot expert 2 litre turbo. It had all the kit, boiler, blown air, a thetford and a decent kitchen with fridge and oven so wasn't the hardship that caravaners in the 70's faced. The problem for us was the remoteness of storage and although we enjoyed the days away we had in it (all 4 of them) I always had to book in advance with the farmer where it was stored for him to get it out meaning quick last minute getaways were impossible. It would always be filthy as it was stored outside so we never really got much use and I eventually gave it to the farmer in lieu of 6 months storage that I owed him. I vowed we wouldn't have another if we couldn't accommodate it at home so when we moved to a house big enough to accommodate a caravan and all of the cars I bought that holy grail of the caravanning world an ERIBA. I bought an old one 1989 just to try it and we instantly got the bug with 4 trips including a week away in northumberland in the first 2 months towing with a new Jeep Wrangler 2.9 L. We liked it so much that in November we bought a brand new ERIBA Troll 530 and have already had 15 trips in it. The Wrangler had to go because, insanely it had only a 1000KG towing rating and the troll is 1300 MGW. I towed with the new Peugeot Partner Tepee up until July this year and bought the old V70 to take over as that car was on its limit which isn't ideal. I liked that Volvo much better for towing but it was petrol and realising its FWD limitations in an only slightly muddy site a few weeks ago I sold it and got a like new 2012 XC 70 AWD last week. Today is the first trip away towing with the XC 70 in fact and we are going to a grassy, sloping CL that has seen its fair share of rain in the last few weeks. Al Last edited by The vast minority; Sep 15th, 2017 at 04:59.