Whether this is your first van purchase or you have been an avid embracer of the mobile touring lifestyle for decades, buying a new caravan is a very exciting prospect. Imagining yourself, friends and family enjoying the space, visualising how you will use the different features on offer, considering the individual floorplans and configurations to decide which is most suitable to your lifestyle – there are quite a few decisions to make.
The plethora of great Australian caravan manufacturers can further complicate the process. There are so many, they all seem to offer great products, which one should you choose? Once you’ve chosen the manufacturer, which of their ranges then individual models will you go with?
Most manufacturers offer several ranges including on road and off road variations and some offer a selection of variants within each range. Some decisions are based on personal preference, others decide on a specific caravan on the basis of recommendations by other owners.
But for many buyers, a major deciding factor can be that all-important price. The price in terms of affordability. Will it be the budget model, the basic package or the one with all the bling and extras?
From our perspective as lifestyle finance specialists, we’re approaching the topic from the caravan loan angle. Providing you with some direction, information, resources and tools to assist you in the decision making process.
A caravan purchase can be a long-term prospect as you may plan to keep it for quite a few years. So you want to ensure you make all the right decisions.
Converting Price to Repayments
For the most part, caravan manufacturers provide very informative coverage of each of their caravans on their websites. Great for browsing and comparing the list of features and inclusions from van to van and brand to brand. Some include a basic pricing while others request you contact them or one of their dealers for pricing.
Price is one thing. But if you’re planning to take out a loan to purchase your caravan, it’s likely the more important dollar value is what your repayments will be. That can be the real deal maker or deal breaker.
So the first step is to source the pricing on each of the caravans you are considering. Your selection may be based on a particular style and size from different manufacturers or the basic and deluxe editions from your manufacturer of choice.
Equipped with the prices, now it’s time to put our caravan loan repayment calculator to use to convert that purchase price to possible caravan loan repayments. This is a great resource. It’s easy to use and it’s free to use! No obligations, just a free resource we make available to assist caravan buyers.
The real value of the calculator is appreciated when you fully understand how you can use it to compare the different caravan prices and plan how you want your loan structured.
To see the difference in repayments for a budget caravan, a basic model and the top of the range model, simply enter the purchase prices and keep the loan term and our current low interest rate the same. You’ll need to do separate calculations for each caravan.
This process will quickly provide you with an estimate on repayments for each caravan. More significantly, you’ll be able to see if upgrading to the top of the range is still within your expectations. With our caravan loan comparison rates, you may find that the variations across the different prices a pleasant surprise.
These are only estimated repayments as your actual offer may be more or less than the result displayed. But regardless, these could be the figures which put your caravan purchase in perspective and assist with making the final decision.
Planning Your Caravan Loan
When considering caravans based on price, the way your caravan loan is structured is important to take into consideration. With Jade’s Secured Caravan Loans, the same interest rate applies to all caravans – from budget to the fully blinged-out version. The interest rate and resulting loan offer you will be offered is assessed on your credit profile and application, not the price of the van.
Note that individual lenders will have specific loan conditions around how much they will loan to certain applicants.
Lenders may also have requirements around the maximum loan terms they will offer. But your Jade consultant will negotiate hard to achieve the terms you want. The loan term, that is the amount of time you have to pay off the loan, can be critical. By varying the loan term, the monthly repayments change. The longer the loan term the lower the monthly payments. The shorter the term the higher the monthly repayments.
Deciding on a repayment level that works with your household budget is a personal decision. If you require advice around your financial situation, we recommend you consult separately with your financial advisor. In our role as a responsible lender under ASIC guidelines, we are not in a position to provide advice on individual financial decisions.
So now with our resources and with the assistance of your Jade consultant, you can quickly source loan quotes on different caravans you are considering. So which one will it be? The budget, the basic or go for the top of line?
For loan quotes on the caravans you are considering, contact us and speak with a Jade Caravan Finance consultant at 1300 000 003
DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE INCLUDES INFORMATION, DATA, SPECS, DETAILS AND MATERIALS SOURCED FROM EXTERNAL SOURCES SUCH AS MANUFACTURERS, SUPPLIERS, GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS AND NO LIABILITY IS ACCEPTED FOR ERRORS IN THE REPRESENTATION OR PRESENTATION OF SUCH INFORMATION. THE ARTICLE IS PRESENTED AS GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED AS SPECIFIC FINANCIAL ADVICE FOR INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES. THOSE REQUIRING ADVICE IN REGARD TO THEIR INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES ARE DIRECTED TO SEEK INDEPENDENT ADVICE FROM THEIR FINANCIAL ADVISOR OR CONSULTANT.
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