Hi to all, another newbie

Hi, just found the forum and seems like a great little community.

We are seasoned campers with a young family (two boys, 2 & 3) who all love the space camping brings but I have been looking into something towed with the car filling up with other stuff. A lot of combing of various sites and found a Dandy and just thought it was awesome and so clever, it was a brown 80's model, showed it to the wife expecting her to be horrified by the basic's (i see less to go wrong..) of it and she loved it!

And so the search begins, been trawling the usual places, preloved, ebay, gumtree for probably a 4/5 Delta (probably got that wrong, still learning!), I'm guessing I will need to be able to put it up myself for a few years at least. Unfortunately a small budget, ideally around the 400 mark preferable with some form of canopy/awning to extend the space a bit. Age not a problem as long as its dry and ready to go, happy to do a few bits along the way.

Thought I would join you folks and see if you had any help/suggestions on the search and things to look out for, from checking out sold prices think i might be able to come in on budget with a bit of luck. I'm in Somerset.

Thanks,

Vaughny

 

To the forum,if your happy with brown then your budget should get you a fairly decent unit

     
as mike says the older ones are greatly overlooked but are a bargain even though brown can always be brightened up

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my old girl is covered with flowers   

Hi Vaughny and welcome. As said you should get a nice brown for your money. The light blues go for more money, but up until around 1995 the only difference was the colour. Light blues started in 1987 but a few browns were made after then.

A 6 would give you lots of room and they seem to go for less than the rear entry models namely 4, 4/5 or 5 later known as Dart, Delta or Discovery. I understand the 6 is a bit harder to erect on your own although not impossible.

thanks for the welcomes and knowledge, when were the orange ones from?

a few pointers on what to ask people would be useful, obviously tears/holes in the PVC but what can cost lots to fix, rust, electrics, tyres on the trailer etc

Thanks

Hi and welcome to the forum   

This may help

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I am picking up my first Dandy 4/5 on Saturday  

Very excited, but a bit nervous too, picked her up for £416.50, plus the petrol for my road trip out of Wales.

I will let everyone know how it all goes, once I'm back!!!

There are bargains out there, you just need to find them, knowing my luck I'll have bought a dud, but time will tell.

Fingers crossed

Cath

there are no dud's with dandy's even like this

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all can be fixed it just depends on how much you want to spend and how adept at DIY you are ! if you have read Phoenix's post she was reborn from worst and now is as her namesake reborn and Helens post on her fathers project  

I assume you are a pessimistic cathy B but don't be because Dandy's hold there own with care and loving attention they reward you with great holl's in all kinds of weather  in comfort

I don't mean to offend but it really depends on the eye of the beholder and I do love the versatility of the dandy and ability to rebuild, the repair of pvc is not expensive from patching to tears

    i will get off my soap box now  

Cathy B I realized you don't live far from me just give me a shout and I would be happy to help

Thanks guys, not a pessimist really, just had a few knocks.

My old but loved folding caravan has been condemned, virtually, by the caravan hospital, the fabulous looking Destiny that I had set my heart on and got excited about, was gazumped from under my nose, and I then bid on the one I'm getting, in a fit of impulsive pique, and got it! Which is fantastic, and I didn't mean to knock the lovely Dandy, but am a bit nervous, not up to great DIY skills. I'm also worried despite all the checklists I'm going to miss something fairly important !!!

My glass is usually pretty half full, but am having a wobble, if I expect it to be not great, then anything better is a fabulous bonus!!
Caz I am loving the extra colours on your brown Dandy, Florence, (the van)had been decorated by the kids with stickers and she always raised a few extra looks  

I've had a few kind offers of help, and you may all regret it. There is someone on the Dandy forum who lives not far from me at all, he may really regret that   hee hee

Sorry if I offended anyone 
 
Cath

Hi Vaughny, it looks like this one I guess

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It does look really good

You haven't offended anyone Cath, I bought one that didn't turn out to be a good un and my hubby wouldn't hand the money over for it   generally you find that Dandy's are an easy repair though ...... the one I bid on had been hit by something big (looked like a vehicle had hit the rear corner) and there was no mention of it amongst other stuff in the advert. I also bought a caravan ..... won the auction   the celebration was short lived as I ended up having to spend almost £1500 on it a few weeks later     

We didn't sell the Dandy and eventually sold the caravan because the Dandy is so much easier to maintain and a lot cheaper to repair should we need to   

This is your first Dandy so your bound to be a little apprehensive but once you've got to know the ins and outs you'll soon see for yourself that they don't take much to put them right if you have to.   

navver wrote:Hi Vaughny, it looks like this one I guess

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It does look really good

If that's the one then it looks lovely Vaughny  

Helen wrote:

navver wrote:Hi Vaughny, it looks like this one I guess

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It does look really good

If that's the one then it looks lovely Vaughny  

No guys that's the one I'm picking up on Saturday    

Hope Vaughny's not getting the same one or there may be a bit of a stand off  

Good that you think she looks ok  

Cath

thought I had got a free dandy then, ahh well, search continues

sorry to hear that Vaughny but your Dandy will find you   

Just like to say    if my post sounded harsh but it was supposed to be encouraging never wish to offend anyone

Hi Cath, just wondering why the Dandy is still on auction and hasn't been removed from fleabay perhaps the seller is keeping options open in case you don't turn up which is understandable.

Hope your Dandy finds you soon Vaughny   

No worries Caz, sure I'll get something soon. The hardest part was hopefully finding out about Dandy's, just need some patience now..

how did you find out about Dandy's ...... they are campings biggest secret   most find out via a friend who has one or from actually seeing one on a site  

well, we are campers really, have a teepee with a stove which we love to bits, off to Glastonbury with the boys again (went last year when they were 1 and 2, not easy but we all had a fab time, boys on my shoulders loving everything from Dizzy Rascal to Rolling Stones) but we got a ticket for the campervan field this year to make life a bit easier for us.

So that is the why bit, I started looking around, and just cant bring myself to go for a caravan (although we had one all the time when we were growing up and had some fab holidays), started looking at pop top sprite caravans which I love, proper retro. Then moved the search onto folding campers and I just don't really gel with them either, then I found a Dandy..

I think they are a happy half way house for me, classic, simplistic, long lasting and fit the need. Somehow the wife thought the same, originally it was just for Glastonbury but with a Dandy not sure, will definitely use for other weekend/holidays so it may start to prise us away from the tent. At least give us another option and hopefully make a bit more room in the car!

We did the same thing, as a child my parents had a touring caravan and we had lots of lovely holidays but I never wanted one so we camped in tents for a long time and when camping became a bit difficult (old age and dry rot) we didn't want a caravan and then we saw someone on the camping field with a Dandy and decided that was our solution so we bought ours ....... that was 11 years ago. Since then we decided to try a caravan and sold it on after two years ..... putting the awning up was no fun and neither was getting it level or making up beds everynight nor the storage fee's ..... we had a weekend in our Dandy which we had kept at one of our meets and came home and sold the van as the Dandy just 'felt' better - we're not caravanners at heart but feel more at home camping. The Dandy makes life easier and is far more comfortable although the space can be a bit limited compared to some of the tents we've had we find it suits us well and we still feel like campers in it   We did also try a couple of nights in a tent ...... felt great until we attempted to get off the air bed in the morning  We're still 'camping' in the Dandy we bought all those years ago and I know if I sold it tomorrow I'd get more than I paid for it