Thank you Piccola for the offer of your Eriba but we probably will go for either the famillia or at a push the triton the troll is getting just a bit to long for our drive.
Thank you Morphy

Hi Morphy, we have a 2012 Familia 320 that we bought from AL, they delivered it to my door in the North west for a small charge which was certainly cheaper than paying for diesel and accommodation.
For us its just the right size, it fits on our small drive and a doddle to tow. Familia 320.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Have you had any problems with the Famillia have you had it since new do you have any of extra's on the van. We keep looking for one but keep toying with the idea of new. But how much do you lose with buying new but then again how much pleasure do you get with buying new. It is not like we have loads of money but with a loan we could do it.

But buying used it could have a lot of extras on that would make using the eriba more pleasurable what do you do.
Morphy.

some of 2012 and the 2013 models had electrical problems where the car did not charge up the battery, I had the warranty work completed by a Hymer dealer in Huddersfield. As you can imagine going back to Poole was out of the question. Some of the prices quoted new are the basic van and you have to start adding in the battery, battery charger pack, spare wheel, stabiliser, stowage flap, fly screen, intersprung seat cushions. The 2014 vans will charge you extra for smooth skin and an extra hob ring.
An extra which was worthwhile was the ultraheat electric converter in the gas fire which means I can just use the hook up and save my gas.
The post 2012 vans have a fully galvanised chassis and they have a flatter roof with a profile pop top that sits into the van rather on top, by doing this there is slightly more head room and a bigger door to try and avoid the Eriba kiss, I still manage to crack my head on the top of the door and I'm only 5'2"
We bought a new Eriba for one reason and I would assume it will be the same for you, I'm in my late 40s and I don't expect to buy another van again. It is not unusual for an Eriba to last 30 plus years, they are legendary for longevity and very low depreciation. I sold my previous Puck more than I paid for it. I have seen a 2012 Familia for sale £1500 more than I paid for mine new, that is something which is unheard of with your normal British Caravans.
If your in the North west area you are more than welcome to have a look at ours and ask questions, its got its winter coat on but you can still get inside it.

Thanks for the very kind offer poptop we are going to the Manchester caravan show Friday night, There is an Eriba dealer there hopefully he will have one on show. Also going to the Birmingham one in February Airstream will be at that one. I am in the North West next door to Burnley probably around 50 mins from you. But as said should be able to view at one of the shows thank you again for your very kind offer though.

Morphy

We are off to the Manchester show on Friday night, it's free admission after 5pm and pretty quiet compared to daytime. If you would like to pick our brains on our Familia we are happy to meet up and help if we can. I'm not aware of any Eriba Touring dealers there, which dealers are they? On ebay there are 2 familias for sale, I think one is year 2009 and the other 2011, you are able to see the difference in appearance, some folk prefer one to the other, it's all down to preference but could determine if you were to buy new or pre owned. Ellen.

Current new 320 pricing is about £15,000 from AL or Airstream with a sort of UK standard fit out. You could spend around £1,000 more on other extras.
As to depreciation it depends on how you eventually sell the van. Sell or trade it in to a dealer and you can reckon on losing at least £3,000 in the first year (VAT making up £2,500 or so) and a further £750/£1,000 or so every year for the next 8/10 years at which point it slows down to almost nothing. AL tend to work on a £3,000 margin on used vans, so a van traded in for £10,000 will reappear in their shed for around £13,000.
If selling privately you can 'earn' an extra £1,500 or so, splitting the dealer margin so the buyer gets a better price but without the dealer support and the seller gets a bit more for the hassle of advertising and preparing and showing buyers round etc.

Oh and I hadn't heard of any Eriba dealer going to Manchester either. Airstream at the NEC are rather an unknown quantity as they've only been dealers for a short while. With AL taking on additional franchises I suspect they'll have fewer Eribas on the stand as they'll have to make space for the other brands. To avoid disappointment it could be worth a call to Jason or Steve to check what vmodels they intend taking.

When Andy says arrange a visit, contact http://www.automotiveleisure.co.uk/Contactus.html
they see you by appointment and can arrange a discount on somewhere to stay (or they used to)
Steve and Jason are nice folk.

Hiya Ellen yes would be good to have a natter but don't know what time we will arrive the missus has a flower shop so needs sorting before we set off. We are hope full of setting off and getting there for 17.00 but not 100% yet. As you can see with my posts as far as Eriba or caravans for that matter are concerned we are very green. We are moving up from a tent as the boss has had enough of being cold and no loo in the middle of the night and is putting her foot down.

The dealer or dealer I thought had Eriba's maybe I am wrong and someone will point this out after reading this is Lowdhams of Huddersfield.

Morphy.

Hi Morphy, I will pm you our phone number incase you fancy a natter. We bought Doo Dah from lowdhams but I am sure that they now only sell the Hymer nova vans. Airstream is the nearest but there is a small dealer at Barrowford that advertises on Preloved UK that are near to you. Hope to meet you at the show. Ellen

Thank you crow steamdrivenandy its a mine field and used Eriba,s at a decent price go so quickly and when you work it is really difficult getting around to see them before they are gone. I have an added problem that I work a lot of weekends and the missus during the week no doubt some where a long the line we will get there. Its just the loss of so much money on new verse used and a used one that may have all the extra's.
Morphy I will get there no doubt. This is a fantastic site though with a lot of info and very friendly helpful people.

Thank you Ellen,
Morphy.