We were in your shoes about 3 years ago. We did a lot of camping but out of swags but had a baby on the way so we wanted a little bit better setup and something we could leave with all the camping gear in it when not in use so it was easier to pack and go when we wanted to go camping.
I just kept looking at gumtree and we decided we wanted something cheap first as we were still not sure if we would use it enough, we wanted something with batteries, and wanted something a bit more towards offroad as we do a lot of 4wding and camping in the high country.
We also thought if we get something cheap we could then on sell quickly if we found we liked it and used it and wanted to upgrade. We still have the cheapy and have done some big trips with it. Have done cape york, the high country, tassie and a few other smaller weekend trips. We have just upgraded things as we found we wanted something. Put electric brakes on to help offroad, another battery, installed some anderson plugs and dc-dc charger, installed a small inverter, and replaced the suspension after the cape york trip finished it off haha. Put a new totally sealed tent travel cover on which stopped any dust getting into the tent when travelling. we paid $3.2k for it and I have probably sank another $1k - $1.5k all up over time and have learnt a hell of a lot doing most things myself.
We have looked up upgrading lately but as we have customised stuff as we wanted it over time, even though ours is old, it works for us. And in reality as we are not retired and have a kid, we are not able to get away as often as we would like and I hate the thought of tens of thousands of dollars just sitting in the shed getting used a couple of times a year.
I would just advise that with your budget, factor in you will probably need to replace some things or you will find you will want to customise it a bit or add things to be how you want it which will cost as well. Also definitely get something with batteries. So good being able to hook up some LED lights and plug in the fridge and stuff like that. Makes life so much better.
Its probably the best value for money things I have ever purchased. Just keeps on going with minimal fuss. Couple of things break here and there but it does go through hell sometimes, and I go wonder if I did have a more expensive one if we would have taken it to the places we have taken this one.
I colour-coded all the poles with different colour electrical take so blue goes to blue, red to red etc and can have the tent set up in about 5 minutes and the awning in about another 10. Soft floors only take a while to set up on your first few tries and you will look at people with hard floors set up quickly and cry haha. But you work it out and get it down to a fine art. I just now look at people in caravans when its raining or cold and cry haha. Its a downfall of camper trailers is that everything apart of sleeping such as cooking, eating, sitting, is designed to be outside. Awesome when the weather is good, comes to be a little challenging if you get a few days worth of crappier weather.
Nest upgrade will be a larger tent if I come across one second hand as at some point there will be another kid on the way and will need a little more room.
