COMPASS OMEGA 482 Review

 COMPASS OMEGA 482

We start our occasional series of genuine live in tests with a very well cared for Compass Omega 482.
We are going to start to test some more second-hand caravans for your information and hopefully to help you to find one that will be suitable for you.

We start with a rather nice Compass Omega 482 from one of our favourite dealers, Dinmore Caravans, to tow the Compass we borrowed the latest incarnation of the Subaru Forester 2.0X, a much more imposing machine and one which had an existing Forester owner gasping.

For our first night in the Compass we stayed on the rather nice Caravan Club site at Moorhampton, once a railway and station on the Hereford to Brecon line. Our house is only about a mile from the site so if we had forgotten some vital piece of equipment it would have been easy to pop home to retrieve it.

Back now to the Compass, a conventional two berth layout which has stood the test of time. Front twin settees with drop down locker doors, a chest of drawers in the front centre with the usual pull out table and two drawers.
Aft of the offside settee is the fairly spacious and well equipped kitchen with a domestic style cooker at the rear end of the kitchen area. On the nearside aft of the settee is the “Welsh Dresser” which includes the Dometic three way fridge, over the work surface all the controls are grouped neatly, some behind a small door.

All round the caravan at high level are cupboards, including one “drinks” one, these will hold virtually all you will want to carry. Across the front, in the centre in between cupboards is the built in radio and CD player, strangely the reception of this Kenwood model was excellent.

All across the rear of the Omega is the washroom, extremely roomy, in fact the jewel in the crown of the Compass. The circular shower is on the offside at the front with the wardrobe behind it in the corner. This wardrobe has room enough for even our myriad of attire items, under the wardrobe are three drawers for the pants and socks part of the clothing. On the nearside behind the divider is the Thetford swivel toilet with manual flush, behind that is the wash basin with cupboards under and around it. 

Above the washbasin is a corner mirror and yet more cupboards, this washroom would be enough to sell this caravan to us if we were in the market for a new model.

A Heki rooflight is fitted at the front, further back level with the kitchen there is an Omnivent, and in the washroom there is a further skylight.
Television is taken care of by a Status aerial with booster, we did not try this but generally they are not much good even with the electric booster in operation.

Externally the Omega is in virtually pristine condition, the white paint is unmarked, the coachlines and decals have not faded and no little “dings” mar the surface, and the very pretty alloy wheels are immaculate.
The “A” frame cover is good and the Winterhoff stabiliser appears to work very well. The front locker is a bit like a garden shed so you would have to be careful not to overload it and make the nose weight too heavy.
The spare wheel is an ordinary steel one, and although there is a spare wheel carrier fitted to the chassis the spare wheel is fitted in the front locker, extra weight unfortunately.

The chassis is BPW, as are all Explorer Group caravans, and it looks in good order, the corner steadies have been regularly greased and the threads are not bent, testimony to the care with which this Compass has been treated.

All in all this Omega 482 has all the equipment that you would need to make your trips out cosy and comfortable, all the equipment works as it should and with a comprehensive 12 months warranty you would have complete peace of mind.

This second-hand Compass will make an ideal model for those who want to start caravanning but don’t want, or can’t afford a brand new one. We attended a rally with our centre and not one person thought that this caravan was not new.

Our thanks go to the Caravan Club for allowing us to use their Moorhampton site and to Dinmore Caravans for loaning the Compass to us for this test.

Techy Bit
Model: 2002 Compass Omega 482
Price: £7500
Warranty: 12 months (to cover all items including water ingress)
MRO: 1115kg
MTPLM: 1325kg
Body Length: 4.82m (15ft 10in)
Overall Width: 2.14m (7ft)
Overall Height: 2.72m (8ft 11in)
Max Headroom: 1.90m (6ft 3in)
Awning Size: 9.07m
Suitable towcar would be one with a kerbweight of around 1450kg or a little more.

On Sale at Dinmore Caravans
                Hope under Dinmore
                Leominster
                Herefordshire
                HR6 0PJ
Telephone: 01568 611481

Adrian French