Thinking of buying a folding camper or trailer tent...

[GeorginaA]

... what sort of things should we be looking for?

Looks like for our money, we can get a 6-7 year old trailer tent OR a 15 year old folding camper. Is it worth going for the older camper (I do like the idea of having the cooking stuff built in and in the main unit, with a quicker set up time.

Also can you recommend makes/models?

For a camper we like the look of the Pennine Pullman and the Pennine Clubman, for a trailer tent the Conway Mirage or the Conway Corniche look to have the space within our budget. Any others we should look at? Any recommendations for places other than Ebay to go looking for second hand trailer tents/folding campers?

Ta!

bump - going to look at one this morning, so would really appreciate the advice from the mumsnet campers.....

UK Campsite sell quite a bit of stuff or local papers. We have had trailer tents - make sure you see them up so you can inspect the canvas. I would have liked to have had a folding camper for the reasons you put. We have tried to buy at the beginning of the year when there might not be so many around but you can get a better bargain. After April/May prices seem to go up espec when we get weather like this.
If you are going to be keeping it in a back garden and need to pull it through a gate etc. make sure you check the width.
We have always had Conway/Pennine I don't think you can go wrong with them - easy to put up and made to last.

Thanks TwoToTango Certainly the 15 year old Pennine Pullman we saw today was in very good condition for its age. Has some patching on the canvas but was rewaterproofed last year and is immaculate inside. It's JUST wide enough to fit through the doors in our garage (about 4cm room each side so fairly tight though, eep). Still, she said she has over 50 people watching the auction, so still could go way over our price range

Went to see some new ones too, at a camping showroom nearby. Have fallen in love with the Conway Countryman... bit pricey though from new and a HUGE risk if it turns out we don't actually like camping in it that much...

I know what you mean - we are always looking at the new ones when we go to the camping shops - they are fabulous aren't they but if you didn't like camping you'd never get your money back would you. Good luck with the auction - have a look on UK Campsite they do good reviews as well.

I have been - the UK Campsite site is very good. Also been looking on Preloved.co.uk - unfortunately all the ones that seem in our price range are at least a 3 hour drive away which is a big trip with the kids if it turns out that we don't like it much when we get there

Oh poo - it wasn't on a buy it now - but obviously one was suddenly introduced, and it's just gone (suspect someone offered them the money while they were visiting today ... bum)