Why we're going Bailey!

I was keen to move over to a twin-axle caravan for the added space, which is extremely important for a family of five. We started to look around at what was on the market in our price range and we knew that we wanted a pre-loved caravan, but was still covered by a manufacturer based warranty. This is something that you must be careful of when looking for a new van as if it’s not been serviced correctly then it may have lost its warranty.

Initially we were looking for a fixed bed caravan but after some careful consideration we decided this layout might not work for us at this time due to the ages of our children. So the search started for a twin-axle caravan with plenty of space and bunk beds. After a long search it came down to a handful of caravans, three of which had been built by Bailey of Bristol; the Unicorn Segovia, the Phoenix 760 or a Pegasus Palermo. We decided that an 8ft caravan might be a step too far but is something we will look at in the future.

We wanted a newer van without breaking the bank too much and this is one of the main reasons for us buying a pre-owned caravan over a brand new one.

We looked on a range of different online sites, this included dealers and private sales. The market had dramatically changed over the course of the pandemic, as had prices, so this limited our search somewhat. We found a few caravans and contacted the dealers and private owners about the caravans and what we would get with them. If we were honest, we were a little cheeky with our offers to dealers on the pre-loved caravans… it was worth a try.

We didn’t need any accessories as we already had them from the previous caravan, this was a bargaining tool. After lots of contacts and discussions we found the ideal van for us. It was a 2017 Bailey Pegasus Palermo and had the features we wanted as a family van. We had never owned a Bailey caravan but had often heard positive things about the brand.

The new caravan has a range of great features. Firstly, the huge front window, which will be great for keeping an eye on the children when they are playing outside and taking in the views of the places we travel too. It has plenty of space for all of us to sit as a family in the front area. There is also the opportunity to have some separation between the front and the back of the van by using the concertina partition. This allows our youngest to go to sleep while the older girls are watching a movie at the front or playing a board game.

The bunkbeds in the caravan are a great size and very comfortable. The caravan is extremely light and airy due to the amount of windows and the light grain wood. This was a key reason for choosing Bailey as their vans were so much more lighter and airy than other caravans.

The Palermo has a great family size fridge, which will be great for when we go away for longer periods of time. The bathroom is a good size with a separate shower. This is incredibly important at present as it means we can socially distance from people if needed.

My wife’s favourite part of the van is the sideboard that gives a sense of extra space, this includes more storage and an area that can be used as additional space to prepare food. We both cook while we are away so this space is crucial to our family.

Since buying the van we have been extremely impressed with the aftercare contact from the Bailey team. You can really tell that the Bailey team cares and have been great at answering all of our queries. We look forward to Going Safely and Going Bailey when we can to try out our amazing pre-loved Pegasus Palermo.