Some of you will remember us and our Todpod from a few years ago. We moved to the dark side and are now seriously considering a return to the fold.
We are thinking of a new Troll 540 or possibly the new 542 and I'm looking across the channel to see what my money buys. I know we have 4 UK dealers but the Euro is so poor at the moment it's very tempting. Just priced up a like for like 540 and it came out £5k cheaper from Germany verses AL.
Do anyone have any experience of buying new abroad?

Regards
Simon, Michelle and Logan the dog

Most European vans come without a battery and charger fitted.
There would also be the cost of collection / delivery
And some modification

How to: Modify an Imported Eriba for UK Use

It's a great saving and there are plenty of folk that have gone across the water to buy one, bear in mind that you will not have a transferable warranty recognised by a UK Hymer dealership.

That will be a swift change back to eriba?? welcome back

P

Welcome back Simon.
I'm sure I remember the story of somebody ordering a UK spec van in Europe and having it delivered to a port but can't think who or where.
The warranty business might be a bit of a problem especially as some of the recent vans have had issues.
TonyP

I have bought a few caravans back from Europe (non Eriba and it was a long time ago!) however I would do the same again. If you pay tax locally ie where you buy it from you will pay tax on a van as new, whereas if you pay it on arrival back in the UK you can argue the point that it is used!

My personal opinion would be if you decide to buy abroad, don't pay asking price! let them know you can buy in the UK if they don't give you the deal, often they will have new Eriba stock (how long has it been sat there, again barter).

Have a holiday in Europe in the new Eriba, that way you should be able to sort out things your not happy with (faults, if there are any?) whilst your still abroad.

Having no on board battery would'nt be a problem for us, we don't need a mover (although I would consider one if buying again) and we were always on sites with EHU (in the latter days anyway).

The ongoing warranty is a dilemma, HYMER warranty if for Europe (at least that's what my HYMER booklet told me!) I think that some of the Eriba dealers "play" with the rule book as it suits them, I may be wrong?

Just my twopennyworth best of luck with your purchase decision

I'd be tempted to forget buying from Germany especially if considering haggling over the price. We're a tight-fisted lot over here when it comes to dealing especially when it comes to goods that are easily sold within our own local market whilst at the same time not being mass produced.

Holland is the land of happy campers with a very thriving Eriba market - imported from Germany obviously. It also has the advantage of being a short skip and a jump over the pond and from what I gather from a number of sources, quite a few UK Eriba owners have imported from Holland and have found it completely hassle fee with most of the communication taking place over the phone or via emails. They've then set a date, hopped over on the ferry, hitched up and returned back to the UK in the same day.

There should be NO import charges as both Holland and the UK are European Member States and on the understanding that VAT, or whatever it's called in Holland, has been paid then that's the end of it.

The guarantee is as Agger says - Europe wide on the understanding that the conditions of warranty are met i.e. the van is serviced by an authorised Hymer dealer and that it is tested for water ingress at the prescribed intervals over the 6 year period. I personally think that anyone who has experienced difficulty with warranty claims in the UK has not 'pushed' the dealer hard enough by pointing out that they have an obligation in this area as part and parcel of being authorised dealers. If push comes to shove then you can always contact Hymer in Germany directly advising that you are experiencing difficulties regarding warrantly issues and let them sort it out.

As pointed out - the European vans do NOT come supplied with onboard batteries, water heaters etc and also have 2-pin sockets. As regards the battery - this eats up a considerable amount of your useable payload and if you're not really the hardy type that goes camping in minus thirty degree temperatures where a walk to the campsite facilities is a pain and/or camps wild, then not having these will not be an issue. We've certainly not missed it during our time of Eriba ownership. The socket issue is easily overcome by fitting replacement sockets which are readily and cheaply available and which any reasonably competent/confident DIY person can replace. The reversing and rear fog light is also the other way around but once again easily interchanged with advise on how to do it posted on here somewhere.

All in all - there are a lot of advantages to buying overseas for the cash buyer with very few disadvantages. It obviously pays to be careful when dealing with cash and so at least one trip to visit the seller and view the van is highly recommended but once again from what I've read, there have been no particular problems between UK buyers and Dutch sellers.

great post Deeps

Ref the tax above in deeps post, he is quite right, however you used to be able (maybe still can) which country you paid your tax in, often you could claim this back at border crossings, with the relevant form filled out, I'm guessing here but I bet tax rates are different across Europe so you may be able to order where you pay less tax.

In the past I have on a "few" occasions played the tax system when buying or moving cars or other vehicles from GB to mainland Europe or vice versa (however that was some time ago, and as always these things change constantly)

Unfortunately in the UK Hymer in Gemany have a policy of not carrying out warranty work on non UK spec vans, I was intrigued to why Lowdhams stipulated that they will only service and stamp the log book for UK vans, so I asked Hymer in Germany.
The upshot is that they were correct and they were only carrying out Hymers directive, only UK specification Eribas can be serviced and have warranty work carried out by a UK Hymer dealership.
Also don't forget they don't have the British regulation fire stamp on the upholstery.

My Email:

Hi, please can you advise, I live in the UK, If I buy an Eriba touring in mainland Europe will I be able to have my van serviced and warranty work carried out by a UK Hymer dealer with a non UK specification van? Thanks.

Hymers Email reply

we refer to your request dated 23.02.2015 and thank you for purchasing a HYMER vehicle.

Regarding your request we have to tell you that is is very important that the vehicles have a UK specifications. Otherwise, the HYMER dealers in the UK are not allowed to make the checks which are needed for the vehicle.

So, unfortunately it is not possible to have the service work carried out in the UK.

We want to apologize for all inconvenience caused.


Mit freundlichen Grüßen / yours sincerely / sincères salutations / distinti saluti

i.A. Carina Wohnhaas

As I mentioned earlier, it is possible to order and purchase a UK spec Eriba from continental dealers.

You are aware that Jandi price all their vans in €'s and therefore as the £ is so strong at the moment you can get a real bargain.
I initially priced my new Eriba Nova Light 465 against 1.25€ to the £1 but I'm now expecting to get 1.3790€ against the £1 when it's delivered end June.
This means I'll be saving quite a few pounds, around £2K on the original estimate.

Good time to but if you can.
David

Thanks for all the great replies guys. We're pretty set on a Troll 540 (must be silver) with full electrics, battery, mover and ultraheat. we plan to leave long beds made up with Duvalays and use the front 90% of the time but with the beds back to seating if we have extra people over. As we've had a Triton before we know pretty much what were dealing with but being northern the money is important. We're over in France for the next month so I'm going to get a couple of quotes, we've emailed Jandi and I'll try 1 Germany and couple of Holland.
Honestly, I'd prefer Jandi but it's a flipping long way from Plymouth so abroad is just as close. See how we go

Simon

I bought my van new from AL, it was such a long way it was cheaper for it to be delivered. AL charged £1 a mile at the time, they now do free delivery on new vans.
Servicing and warranty work isn't a problem as I use a Hymer dealership near to where I live, I don't think Jandi deliver however it may be worthwhile considering using a professional caravan delivery firm like the one in the link

http://www.towing-services.co.uk/

We bought our first Eriba in January this year (2008 Troll 550GT) from a dealer in Holland who could not have been more helpful - they love the Brits. Apart from Greece we are the only country in Europe which does not have a logbook-type registration for a caravan so there is virtually no paperwork for them apart from an export declaration. My local caravan dealer could supply English replacement sockets at about a fiver a time and were a piece of cake to exchange. Out original intention was to pay for the van with a Visa card (expected cost about £350 but secure), however Visa is virtually unknown in Holland - they use Mastercard, however we ended up using internet banking with the help of the dealer's internet and instead of £350 expenses the fee came down to a mere £20. Research for the caravan was done on the internet site Marktplaats. Give it a go. PS I needed a new awning and this was also purchased from a dealer in Holland - internet order made Tuesday evening this week and it arrived here in Cheshire on Thursday morning. Hope this helps.