Collected our (new to us) van yesterday. The handover was excellent. Brian is a really good, knowledgable chap and he ensured that I fully understood everything about all the various systems (water, water heating, toilet, gas, electrical, leisure battery, fridge, roof, mover etc.), and went through the hitch / unhitch process and towing tips very thoroughly. For someone who is new to Eriba and caravanning in general, this was all valuable stuff. My initial nervousness about towing it home (100 miles in rain, poor light, and at times heavy traffic) was minimised by the professional approach taken by AL and Brian in particular.

There were a couple of niggles, as there usually are. I was annoyed when I noticed the AL metal plate that had been riveted onto the back, under the rear window. Whilst I have no problem with a dealership sticker, as you often find on the number plate or on the rear window of any new car, I really didn't expect something as permanent and irreversible as holes drilled and four pop rivets through a shiny silver aluminium panel. If you are ordering a van (new or used) from AL and do not want this plate, you must make it clear to them at the start, as they do not warn you that they are going to do this, and certainly do not seek your agreement.

If your van was pre-owned, I wonder if AL have replaced an existing dealership plate from the original supplier, with their own?
Our 2006 555 from Lechlade had a dealership plate in the same place as yours, but our new 540 which we picked up from AL in September, just has a sticker on the roof.

Cheers Mark

That's even worse, that's another set of holes in the skin of the van, something you really don't want.
Dave

No, ours was originally supplied by the Airstream dealer near Preston, and there was an Airstream sticker on the side near (or on) the door. AL has removed this and pop riveted the plate on the back as described. There is also an AL sticker on the front of the roof, but that could be removed if I wanted. My gripe, as Dave said is that there are now four holes drilled through an otherwise near perfect Eriba aluminium panel (GT silver sided). I honestly do not get why they would do this, without at least asking or mentioning it to a prospective buyer. Totally unnecessary and totally unwanted. An AL branded number plate would be much more acceptable.

Thanks for the heads up, though I fear we will be too late. We were due to collect ours this week, but had to delay until next. I'll call Brian and see what he says, and report back. Prior to committing, Brian had talked us out of fitting a rear cycle carrier as it would puncture the skin!

That's the real value of a forum in my opinion. Manufacturers and dealers will tell you most of what you need to know, and unfortunately they'll be economical with the truth on some subjects, but there's nothing like getting advise, tips and heads up about issues and concerns from fellow Eriba owners/users. I find this forum to be very informative, and in some cases quite eye opening.

Hi Swa49

I can only agree with you about collection from AL. We ordered a new 540GT which we collected in August 2016. We were total caravan novices, having been tenters for 20 years.Cameron handled our collection and he was absolutely brilliant with us. He understood that we were a bit lost with some things and he was really patient and explained things to us in simple language. He spent nearly four hours with us. He had to break off to deal with another customer whilst we went and got some lunch and came back. He told us to ring him if we had any problems when we got on site. There were a couple of simple things we rang up about and he sorted us out in a friendly and efficient manner. I know some people have had some problems with AL but their service to us has been outstanding.

As to the AL name plate it shows how unobservant I am that I hadn't even noticed it until Adventure Leisure at Tebay pointed it out to me when we had our service done by them. Using AV for the service wasn't a reflection on AL but the fact that it took us some four hours less to drive there! We found AV also very helpful and good to deal with. MikeT

Hello Pepé Le Pew, yes I was quite vocal about it, but it was too late. There is nothing that AL could do that would return my Eriba to it's pre-plate state, short of a new body panel at the back!

My 2012 Familia 320 came with one of those Automitive Leisure plates nailed to the back (self tappers to be exact) I wasnt very impressed either , its just another point of access for water. Why dont they use a glue gun or number plate tape or better still just you ask if you want one?

My 2015 Famila 320 from Lowdhams didnt come with any tattoos

Quote: Markeriba wrote in post #2

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If your van was pre-owned, I wonder if AL have replaced an existing dealership plate from the original supplier, with their own?
Our 2006 555 from Lechlade had a dealership plate in the same place as yours, but our new 540 which we picked up from AL in September, just has a sticker on the roof.

Cheers Mark

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The main purpose of this thread is to warn future Eriba owners who consider buying from Automotive Leisure, whether new or used. The feedback has certainly been given to AL, but if they continue to do it, it's worth knowing that other Eriba dealers do not.

Just had a look. My van has an AL plate riveted to the back. I bought it privately but it was originally supplied new by AL.

Alan

Small correction due here in the interests of accuracy. On closer inspection, there are two holes drilled for rivets, not four (in our case anyway), but the number of holes is not really the issue.