8 Essential “Must Haves” When Buying a Family Caravan

Before hitting the road with your family for that highly anticipated Caravanning adventure, you need a certain set of assurances. A family caravan should be like a home away from home, allowing you to ease into your vacation and enjoy all the benefits of a well-deserved break.

At Jayco we always have families in mind, which is one of the reasons why, after 45 years, we remain Australia’s leading brand for recreational vehicles. To help assist in buying your first family caravan, we have gathered together what we consider to be the eight essential “must haves”.

Safety assurance

It’s perhaps not surprising that safety tops the essentials list. This is your family after all and feeling safe and secure when you’re away from home is of prime importance.

Jayco takes pride in the strength and security of every one of its vehicles. All our caravans undergo rigorous examination at our Quality Assurance Centre to meet stringent safety requirements. A new feature of our family Jayco 2020 Journey caravans is Sway Command Tow Control for increased safety assurance while driving. There’s also the standard Breakaway System, which activates the electric brakes and brake lights in the unlikely event of a caravan accidentally separating from the tow vehicle. And for the Expanda and Journey caravans you have the option to include additional safety items like reversing cameras.

What’s more, our 24-month warranty gives great peace-of-mind that your vehicle will be free from defects and we provide a 5-year structural warranty too. Jayco certainly has you covered.

Easily expandable spaces

Space is an absolute no-brainer when it comes to caravans, particularly where growing families are concerned. Whether it’s expandable living areas, large ergonomic kitchens or the ability to add or subtract sleeping quarters, smart use of space in family caravans is crucial.

You certainly won’t be space deprived with a Jayco. Specifically designed with families in mind, the Jayco Journey comes with an ability to sleep up to six individuals, with the added benefit of a full ensuite and a spacious modern kitchen. Our Starcraft Caravans are commendable when it comes to family space too. They comprise of ample living areas, a kitchen with food preparation bench space to cook up a storm and bathrooms with full ensuites.

And it’s all in the name with the Expanda. Apart from generous living areas, these caravans offer sleeping spaces that can easily expand to accommodate up to nine family members. The clever design allows you to fold up the top bunk to open up a play space for the kids too. While the double beds come with an optional privacy screen to conveniently separate your space from the younger generation.

Extra storage

Extra storage is another necessity, particularly when you have a growing family so it’s certainly worthy of its own “must have” here.

Both our unique part caravan, part garage Work ‘n’ Play and Basestation Toy Haulers were specially designed with storage in mind. The built-in hitch points and superior storage spaces allow your bikes and other outdoor family toys to be easily strapped in before setting off on your journey.

Our other family caravans don’t skimp on more conventional family storage requirements, neither. Both our Expanda and Journey Caravans come with an abundance of internal and external storage, including optional large slide out storage drawers and easily accessible external storage hatches for all your outdoor entertainment needs. All of this ensures you’ll never be caught short on storage.

Comfortable quarters

Comfort should come with the territory too. This is your family’s den after all. Whether we’re talking the all-important living or sleeping quarters or the ability to air-condition or insulate those areas depending on the climate, comfort comes in many forms.

Our family caravans have been designed with maximum comfort in mind. There are innerspring mattresses throughout our range to promote sleep assurance; our cushions are made from high-resilience foam to provide years of comfort, while our roof-mounted air-conditioners take the heat out of the summer season.

Ability to customise

As the leading manufacturer of recreational vehicles, adaptability has become part of our DNA. This includes the ability to customise your caravan with a choice of modern décor options.

Being able to choose from different floor plans that alter your area depending on you needs, or choosing from a list of optional extras to optimise your caravan based on specific family requirements, makes so much sense to us.

Those creature comforts

Let’s be honest, a benefit of any family caravan is being able to conveniently take a bit of home with you. So you need that indispensable full kitchen, decent Wi-Fi connectivity and some modern technology to enhance your vacation.

Our Jayco 2020 Starcraft comes with a full kitchen that boasts a 164-litre fridge, a 4-burner cooktop with griller and the always-essential microwave. While the Journey boasts a mammoth 171-litre double-door fridge that’ll accommodate all your food and drink cooling (and freezing) requirements.

Connectivity is crucial too. With our Sphere Wi-Fi, (which includes GPS) you and your family will stay happily connected throughout your adventure. Amazon Alexa is available too for a number of Jayco caravans to ensure you stay on top of your van’s operations and daily requirements via convenient voice command. And it’d be remiss of us to overlook your family’s screen entertainment requirements. This includes a 24-inch TV (with DVD player) to prevent you from falling behind on your favourite shows.

Strength and durability

Naturally with a growing family in tow it’ll increase your load somewhat. Therefore you need a caravan with the strength and durability that’ll withstand all that heavy lifting while you’re out and about exploring our beautiful country.

That strength starts with our Tough Frame construction: Jayco’s vacuum-bonded quad-layer wall construction technology, which is stronger and lighter than conventional caravan walls and provides superb thermal and acoustic insulation.

JTECH 2.0 Suspension has been designed specifically to keep your Jayco strong and durable during the harshest Australian conditions. It delivers greater stability, which means a smoother journey, with the added benefit of more precise handling and increased ground clearance that ensures easier towing.

What’s more our patented Aluminum frame furniture has extra strength and durability, while our lightweight hot-dipped, galvanised Endurance Chassis are reassuringly stronger than conventional box chassis for added protection again corrosion.

Power to the People

When there are more people to cater for the need for a reliable power supply becomes greater, particularly when you’re in remote areas.

The Australian-designed BMPRO Battery Management System has been made especially for Jayco and will meet all your family’s needs. The built-in fused power converter provides a safe 12V supply from 240V mains and delivers substantial lighting on either a 240V or 12V supply.