looking to upgrade

[cancan]

Just spent the week explaining to the better half the merits of upgrading to a new extenda type CT. I actually got to the stage of possibly stopping at Trackabout on the way home, but then half way through my 2 hr pack up, the Jayco expanda across the road  also started packing and within 20 minutes was gone. I admit the CT itself didn't take long to pack up its all the extra stuff like kids beds, kitchen shelves and clothes shelves, etc etc etc that chewed the time.
Its funny how the tent campers were asking us about the merits of a CT and the CT owners we spoke to were talking about the merits of the expandas, I guess its a natural progression.
The merits to us is time saved in setting and packing up. 98% of our camping is at caravan parks and most of this is a 1 night weekend with the odd school holiday thrown in and always within a few hours of home. As much as I would love to get off the beaten track I know I have little chance of it happening so the expanda does seem to tick all the current boxes.
So now waiting for the Brisbane pre Christmas show to see whats about but the expanda 14.44-4 so far looks like it will cater our needs just have to work out if the outback option is worth the extra money (compared to very limited off road use it may get) and what other options to look at.
ahhh decisions decisions

[HEM19X]

Calling from the Dark Side, I hear...

[rotare]

A mate of mine brought an expanda last year, after coming from a camper trailer.  The reasons for this was the luxuries the expanda offered and the simplicity at set up time.  We went camping together after he brought the expanda, and in all honesty it seemed he was still fluffing around levelling, plugging, winding, raising, unrolling and all the other things he had to to do to get his rig sorted for the same length of time I took setting up my campertrailer and camp site.  It may have been just him as he's a fussy bugger and likes to get everything perfect and set up properly.  Either way there didn't appear to be a huge difference in set up / pack up times between his expanda and my camper trailer. 

Suffice to say he sold the expanda 6 months and a few trips later and went back to a camper trailer.  He missed the simplicity of the camper trailer, and his tow vehicle drank fuel like no tomorrow towing the dual axle van.  Everyones experience is different of course...

 

[Bird]

If your always going to Van parks, why not hire one of theirs...?

$20-30,000+ would pay for a lot of weekends away and take a massive chunk off the mortgage..

[xmasbaby67]

OK silly question coming up......

But why do you need all that stuff for a weekend trip??  And why aren't the kids packing up their own beds....unless they are too young.

We only ever put up the pantry, clothes hangers etc if we are at one spot for a week or more.

We also stay in a lot of CP's but have the packing sorted now....took us a couple of trips to work out what wasn't used, what wasn't really needed etc and pared a lot of stuff down so it's now pretty quick.  Our girls also have their own swags which makes things really easy as you just have to roll them up and shove them in the back of the car or lie them flat inside the trailer, pack the table & chairs up, electrical stuff(kettle, toaster etc) back in its plastic storage tub,cooking stuff storage tub put in trailer,luggage into the back of the car with the fridge, make our bed, disconnect water & lock kitchen up, fold tent down, pack floor covering up, put cover over tent, strap esky to tool box, hook up to car and then were off!!!!....

Just a thought before you go to the dark side.... hehehehe 

[cancan]

Not a fan of hiring and owning gives me the chance to get away from caravan parks on the very limited times that I can.
When we go away for the weekends we don't take half the crap so pack up times are a lot quicker and I know the new Trackabout extendas have better storage and quicker setup than what we currently have so I am still hopeful of staying out of the dark side although we just got back from looking at the Jayco's (not good when they are a stones throw away) and the wife does like the 14.44-4 model but the salesman said that we wont get delivery until March next year which will make it a 2012 model so price could change and we would be better coming back in December, sales must be good this month as they just weren't interested.

[Bird]

Not a fan of hiring and owning gives me the chance to get away from caravan parks on the very limited times that I can.

I was suggesting keeping what you have so you can still go away when you can, and then hire for the rest.

but if the missus has given approval, go for it now before she changes her mind (not that they ever do that )..

oh and if that place doesnt want your money, Im sure theres 2 dozen other jayco dealers that will take it. Cant believe they told you to come back later!!!!

[BigJules]

I know the new Trackabout extendas have better storage and quicker setup than what we currently have so

From what I saw at the Penrith show, this is a good direction to go in.