Sportsmad RV

Being new to Caravanning, we attended the Bathurst Caravan and Camping Show in October 2024. We saw a caravan at the show and spoke to the sales manager, informing him that we had not owned a caravan, but were looking as we would like to travel and see Australia in the future. He showed us a couple of vans, but we found the bathrooms very limited, especially the shower area. He then showed us the Adventure 20' 6" van and we were surprised at the room of the bathroom. He then explained that we would be required to collect the van at Wollongong, where we would be booked in to a local caravan park for 2 nights. This would be so that we could be shown the ins and outs of the caravan, and how it all operates.

When we travelled to the dealership in February 2025, we were given a 1 hour rundown by a young man who showed us around the van. He stated he would be at the caravan park the next day, as to give a lady who also purchased a van a rundown, and if any questions, he would help us then. We drove to the caravan park and set up the van, but found we had a few complications, such as no water even though we were connected to the mains by hose. The next day we waited for someone from the dealership, and in the afternoon tried to call on a number of occasions. Finally spoke to Vicky who stated her husband would come and resolve the problem and also help with any other questions. When he did not turn up stated he would be there in the morning before we left. It came time we had to leave, so tried to call on the way home. Also the lights on the van would not work, and the rear-view camera stopped working. We called and were informed would resolve the problems when we got home. There were also a number of small things we had to repair ourselves. The dealer stated he was in Orange, so would call in and help on his way through. He did not turn up, but did turn up a couple of days later. The water was due to a stuck valve, and I was able to resolve the lights problem. After he left, we found that the rear view camera again was not working. We had to take it on 3 occasions to an auto electrician at Bathurst, to have it finally replaced. We still have no idea on how certain things operate. The fridge does not work, and we have not been game to use the van since purchased 6 months ago. We have tried to sell but have not received any reasonable offers. Even after only used on 3 x 2 days occasions in 6 months. It is now the last week of August 2025, and have not used the van since early March. Due to the poor weather at home, we have decided to go north for a week, even without a fridge! On the first night we found we have no lights, or any other 12v items we can use. We connected water to the van, to find it is leaking at the connections. The new pressure control valve replaced by the owner is actually an old one, with the connectors glued in on a previous occasion. When we were leaving we went to empty the toilet dump. This has always had a rattling noise since we got it. You can't use the wheels, as they just fall off all the time. We went to empty, and the contents went everywhere, including over us. The insides had completely fallen apart! After spending 2 hours I was able to get the parts together, except for a white piece not listed on the web. So we have spent a week in a van with no lights, toilet, power, fridge and water!

If you are an experienced caravan user, this may be the ideal caravan for you. If you are inexperienced, I would not recommend SportsmadRV. This is also the Manufacturer of the caravans. There are no proper manuals except those from the individual companies on the caravan supplied, and you will feel as if you are the cause of all the problems. You certainly won't receive 2 days familiarity run down as promised! The caravan itself is well laid out and does have some excellent features. But how to use them, and after they are paid for, you have to be prepared for a lot of inconvenience and be prepared for all the problems being your fault!