Imagine sitting in your caravan 4 years ago and then imagine someone saying to you that “there are at least 12” or even maybe more caravans now which are £41,000 brand new. To name drop Coachman Lusso 1 and 2, Laser Xcels 845 and 875, Swift Elegance 845 and 850, Elddis Bucaneer Barracuda, Bermuda, Aruba, Cruiser Commodore. I don’t think many people would have believed it.
As strange as it sounds in 2020 a brand new swift Major 4 EB caravan was roughly £20,000 brand new, in 2022 at the time of writing, the same caravan from the same year is worth in the region of £21,000 2nd hand or even 3rd hand.
Whether we like it or not, that is the world we live in currently. The people who benefit from it are the people who already own caravans, the people that lose out are the newbies.
“The Caravan Addy’s Seem to think so”
In our caravan community there are several hot topic debates happening at the moment:
Are campsites worth the money any more?
Is it worth joining the CAMC or CACC anymore?
Will campsites start metering electric?
Cadac or Heat plate?
And the one we are going to discuss now is the biggest one of all, “Is A Caravan Ever Worth £41,000+?”
The @CaravanAddys seem to think so! They have purchased a new Swift Elegance 850 2022 and it received an almost glowing endorsement from them. To be honest I agree. We have a 2020 Swift Elegance 650 and having sat in an 8ft caravan for the first time on Thursday just gone, I instantly saw the added value.
“The first 8ft caravan we sat in was the Swift Elegance 845 and WOW, just WOW”
We were lucky enough to be invited to Spinney Flintshire to have a look at some of their 2022 caravans. One of the things that jumped out at me was the spectrum of costs for the caravans, ranging from the 2022 Swift Elegance 845 at £41,060 to something like a Swift Major 4 SB Vogue at £25,500. The first caravan we sat in was the 2022 Swift Elegance 845 and WOW, just WOW. Despite it not being my preferred layout you can feel the difference in that type of caravan.
The challenge for us now is that having sat in an 8ft Swift Elegance I now want to upgrade to a new caravan. Brilliant. The Caravan I think I am going to fall in love with is the new 2022 Swift Elegance 850 (the same as The Caravan Addy’s – you can watch their review here. However, please don’t be fooled by all that you read, there is value out there if you want it, similar to the example I gave before, if this is your first venture into Caravanning and staycations etc, look no further than the Swift Major 4 EB Vogue from Spinney, which brand new is only £25,500. Or even 2nd hand, 3rd hand etc, there is definitely value to be had. It is just about looking around.
All about the money
Caravans are essentially a commodity and like all commodities their price will go up and the price will/ may come down. The challenge will be is what happens when the demand drops and there is an influx in people selling caravans 2nd hand and manufacturers planning for a big demand in new caravans in the coming years. The price will inevitably have to fall, similar to housing markets I imagine.
At the time of writing the caravan industry is worth £49bn and it is expected to reach £80bn in the next 5 years so it shows no sign of stopping, slowing maybe if you listen to some reports but certainly not stopping. I suppose a lot depends on the pandemic and how much it impacts travel over the next 12 months but how it is going I am not sure if we will hear about Covid much anymore until the winter times as I believe it will become a seasonal illness.
The front infinity window in the Vigo and others is a truly stunning focal point.
We managed to review 9 caravans in total all of which were 2022 models, and I wanted to take a little bit of time to tell you about something that shocked me. It was the new look Bailey’s, they are absolutely stunning. They are some of the most beautiful looking, both inside and out. The front infinity window in the Vigo and others is a truly stunning focal point. Honestly, if you get chance you must look into them. I am also biased about the Swift Major 4EB Vogue a caravan that is in the top caravans for me for best value for money!
Conclusion “it is important to recognise the difference between cost and value”
So to answer the question, Do I think a caravan is ever worth £41,000+? I think so, it is important to recognise the difference between cost and value. Something can cost £10,000 but offer you no value, on the other hand, something can cost £42,000 but if like us, it is on a seasonal pitch and you’re using it as much as you possibly can then it represents good value for money.
Whilst typing this I can feel myself subconsciously selling that new Swift Elegance 850 to me. Things like caravans are purchases which make you feel, the excitement of the new or new to you van is priceless. Whether your van costs not a lot or costs the world it has to give you ‘the buzz’. Our does and I am sure our new one will as well.
What do you think? Is A Caravan Ever Worth £41,000+?
I think in any purchase it comes down to availability as when I longed for an beautiful big shiny new caravan I was not in a position to afford one so I as every other limited budget buyer went for the biggest I could afford with a layout I preferred. However , if one is in a position to upgrade your existing van and I’m going so radically improve your space and facilities then the spend could well be worth it .