Hi all, I'm the proud owner of a Troll 540 and I bought it new. I did so because I was convinced of the high quality. However, the touch light in the bathroom became faulty but was quickly replaced. One of the table stays refused to work but that's not a problem. These are minor irritations but some of the bed bolts came loose and the nuts dropped off. I've had to replace them with nylocks. Then the toilet door fell off the frame on the way back from France. This is not good quality fixing and I just wonder if any of you out there have had such poor build quality problems or is it just me. By the way these problems have been easily fixed but they do raise a quality build issue

Agree, Derek. I very recently had the pleasure of being shown around a well loved and looked after 10 year old Troll. The build quality and attention to detail reflects badly on the newer model. In my opinion in the rush to reduce overall weight along with increasing profit margins of course, build quality along with QC have been cast aside. We have a list as long as your arm that shall be brought to the attention of our dealer upon returning from our current trip. All minor details but faults that shouldn't be presenting themselves in a caravan in this price category.

I suppose the danger of forums is that the when faults are found an assumption will be made that all the vans are the same, I would have thought that most Eribas in ownership are on at least their second owner and the vast majority of the new owners will not be aware if their van has had to go back at some stage for remedial work within its warranty period.
I'm still confident of the Eribas overall quality and I'm sure that there are a lot of people out there who have bought an Eriba from new and they have never experienced any problems....

However as for my experience my 2015 Famila touch light over the bed has gone a bit wonky, it gives out a green light.... The major issue I have at the moment is that on my last trip my fridge packed in on the EHU, that is a Dometic issue and not a Hymer build .. I have reported them both to my dealer who have put in a claim to Hymer and they will hopefully be sorted out on my next service in August.

Having just moved from your average white Swift caravan to a 2014 troll, I have really noticed how solid and well engineered it is in comparison. Door hinges, windows and gas locker doors are far superior and the interior furniture seems to be stronger. Very happy with our decision to buy albeit I can't for the life of me sell my old white van.

We have had our Troll 540 nearly 12 months from new and are still delighted with it. We have only had Outwell Tents before so can't compare quality, other than when we looked at other makes. The Eriba always looked better quality (and also more stylish).

We have only had two issues. The first was the hot water not working properly due to a non-return valve being fitted. ( mentioned on the Forom earlier). This was sorted at first service.

The other was that the top fixing for the cooker side splash back came out on journeys. This was put back in at service but we noticed yesterday on returning from London that it was loose again. I will solve this myself, probably with some silicon. I see this as a very minor issue.

So I guess so far so good. We will see what happens when we take it down to Portugal in 2019, after both my hips have been replaced.
MikeT

I bought my Troll new in January 2015 and it has been in constant continuous fulltiming use since then...
This is probably more use than most people give their caravan in even a ten year period.

We are not talking about the odd two or three months in the summer and a few weekends, this is fulltime touring and living in the van throughout the year.

I have had absolutely NO issues with build quality or indeed any other issues at all with my Eriba.

As far as i am concerened the famed Eriba build quality is alive and kicking in my van and I don't regret my choice of an Eriba Troll for this adventure project at all.....

I spoke to Cameron at AL the other week as he was checking what delivery date I'd be happy with for a 540. I mentioned that I'd read quite a few posts about faulty touch lights and he said that Hymer have now changed the spec to reflect this. AL are expecting delivery of 20 vans in July, which will all have the new spec light control gear.

Cheers Mark

Not for this meet Roger. I was originally told end of September, but Cameron rang to say it might be in mid July. I didn't fancy having the van rushed to get to me early, so will stick with the original date. I need to sort out a cassette awning as well, so will start a new post.

Cheers Mark

Was about to take delivery of a new Eriba in exchange for my trusty 2008 Troll 550gt, on inspection the bathroom door wouldn't shut and the bed frame fell to bits in my hands when I lifted it to see where the battery was. The order was cancelled on the spot, and I went home with my 2008 Troll. On inspection the quality has certainly taken a dive, instead of nice damper pistons to raise the various bed sections they now use window stays, the hinges on the lower seating boards are made of the thinnest of plastic material known to man and the overall wood finish was not good to say the least. With the price of these vans compared to the wobbly white boxes you would expect the quality to reflect that, I am afraid it doesn't.. still very happy with my original 550.

Since I started this thread, I have come to the conclusion that the Eriba's built about 2008/9 are of good build quality and they've gone 'down hill' since. Pity but having read all your comments, and suffered some of the above, I'm still pretty pleased with my purchase. I sometimes wonder, though, if I could have saved some money (about £1000.00) by buying from abroad. Erm! Just a thought!!!

As replied to similar Blog (today)
These vans are a great bit of kit but build quality a bit of a myth "the good the bad & the ugly"
Have you looked at the seal of your awning rail , it will be a mastic mess also !!
The screws for all doors and cupboards will go loose after a few trips, watch the toilet door on a long trip it could come off causing damage (secure it from the inside to avoid this)
However it is all easy to fix, so far....