What’s wrong with a Hobby?
- Tuesday, 10 March 2009
ANDREW SAYS
First of all I’d like to reassure you that in no way have you made any kind of error in purchasing a Hobby caravan. In fact, you are to be congratulated on your wise choice. Hobby has a deserved reputation for building extremely solid, well built, and sought-after tourers, and I’m sure that you will enjoy yours for many years to come.
However some larger Hobby caravans, like many non-UK vans, may be over 7ft 6in wide. Such wide vans may only be towed legally on UK roads by certain classes of commercial vehicle. If you are towing with a regular car or 4x4 then do make sure your Hobby is one of the UK-legal 7ft 6in wide (or narrower) models.
As an imported brand, it is unlikely that the van has a CRiS (registration) number, so it is important to check that it may be legally sold by the vendor and is not stolen. The desirability of a Hobby may also result in relatively high insurance premiums, with some insurers not wishing to insure such high-risk vans at all.
My main recommendation would be to fit a Proactive Tracking System such as Phantom, if you do not have this already fitted. It is an expensive investment, but one that is worth it for the peace of mind, and you should enjoy insurance discounts as a result.
Hobby caravans are imported into the UK in very small numbers and therefore do not warrant an entry in our Buyer’s Guide. Customers usually choose their desired layout and spec from one of the multitude that are available in the Netherlands or Germany, and have the van imported. Therefore many Hobby vans in the UK are quite unique. It is purely down to their rarity that they do not get many mentions in Caravan magazine.
