Cabanon tent advise please

[Veggy]

Hello, I'm bidding on a cabanon tent on eBay and also sort of buying one on Gumtree.... But need help deciding which to go for.
One is the Vis a Vis, it's quite old - maybe 12 years. It has no groundsheet (except in the bedrooms). But it does come with the sun canopy, which given we are heading to South France, is a must. A new canopy is £350....I don't have an extra £350.
The other tent is a Bora Bora (updated version of the Vis a Vis) and is 5 years old. It has a sewn in groundsheet throughout. But it doesn't come with a canopy.
Both cost the same, but one has the sewn in ground sheet and is newer, the other comes with the sun canopy.
I feel like a sewn in groundsheet is fundamental isn't it? Otherwise in wet weather you' re wet and cold... Pitching onto a wet floor with nowhere to put your bags etc. In hot weather the tent fills with ants and other bugs doesn't it??? Why would tents come without a groundsheet, I don't get it?
But then the canopy.... To buy one new costs so much and what if it doesn't fit the old style tent?
Please help, and sorry for the ramble! What would you go for?

you can buy a ground sheet to put in the living area.
most cabanons that come without ground sheets have flaps around the edge that you can choose to peg out or peg in so you place your own groundsheet ontop making a seal similar to a sewn in sheet.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both built in gs znd nit. Ventilation bring z massive factor which helps reduce condensation, although with canvas tjus us nit a huge problem. Ventilatoon is better in very hot weather.

I have several cabanons. all canvas. the older tents imo are better quality.

Ok thank you very much, that's really useful advice. I think I just about get the idea of pegging in and out... Will read up! And i understand the point about condensation. I suppose it's just the wet weather issue though - having no where to put bags down except in the bedrooms, and equally nowhere to sit down on the ground, inside.
So, that's one vote for the older tent.
Many thanks for your reply, much appreciated.

Sorry, another question...,are groundsheets just groundsheets or are some better than others - is a tarp good enough?
Thanks

There are generally 2 types of groundsheet. Breathable and non breathable.
Non breathable will be dryer and let less moisture in through the ground. I had a huge tarp I used in my Cabononframe tent living areas. infact I used it like a footprint. It also went under the bedrooms to keep tge underside clean for when folding them up at the end of the trip. I did find I needed to double up the tarp to be completely dry in wet weather or on very wet ground.
Breathable groundsheets don't kill the grass. They are ok but will let an element of moisture through.

You will find that some campsites insist on breathable ground sheets fir living area's to limit pitch damage. This does annoy me when I use my Cabanon because if I took my Vango with its built in gs they could nit stipilate and most modern tents do have built in gs these days.
A good compromise I do on these sites is use a non breathable gs under the bedrooms (as they cannot be breathable anyway) but bting it a little way into the living area. Then use a breathable gs for the rest of the livingarea. This gives me a dry floor just outside the bedroom and somewhere else for "dry" storage.
In hot dry weather breathable gs are ok but in a british summer they are a bit hit and miss although leave the pitch good for the next campers.

I also recommend investing in gs rings and pegs. Mist gs come with holes a ready in so they can be pegged down to stop tripping etc. However some don't so you need to make your own holes then protect tgem with a ring to prevent the sheet from splitting/tearing further. Gs pegs look like big screws wuth a flat top. They go into the hole and ground lezvind a smooth flat to to avoid pegs sticking up - very painful to stand on bare foot!

Hope this helps. I hope you can understand met ok. I am on my daughter's phone at the moment and it has the world's smallest keys.

Thanks Doristhecamel. I understand perfectly, brilliant explanation.... I understand!
Thank you both so much