Maybe I'm too logical but why do dealers, all of them, run such disorganised ads on their websites?

For goodness sake, all Eribas come with a basic standard spec that's the same for all but there are a lot of cost options that are the things that buyers need to know. But dealers mix them up and reading a number of ads turns your head to mush. You end up wondering does a particular van have an option or have they left it off the list by mistake. Then you have to waste time contacting them to find out if the van suits or not. It drives you scatty.

Take this ad selected at random
Triton 430
Chassis upgrade - look at a different panel on the same page to confirm it's 1200kg up from 1000kg but why not just say '1200kg chassis upgrade'.
Rear dinette - so not a fixed bed job
GT Package including silver - silver what for goodness sake, toilet, curtains, yeah all right we know it's the exterior, but that's just slapdash
Alloy wheels - yeah they're part of the GT Pack
Fridge - hells teeth, in the middle of listing contents of the optional GT Pack, we suddenly slur across to the fridge, which is standard.
Upholstery upgrade - well great but why not say what fabric it is, rather than just that it's not either of the standard options, although it might also mean sprung seating - who knows.
3 burner hob - another cost option and have the dealers ever tried to use 3 burners at once - practically impossible.
Pull out shower - another cost option of dubious utility and that sticky cold curtain - yuck.
Hitch head stabiliser - a standard fit item for the last five years, so why mention it in the middle of optional equipment?
Additional reading lights - Aye-oop we're back to GT Pack contents from six items back
3 Berth - now we're getting silly and mixing van basics in with equipment
External storage room - we're now proving that whoever wrote this ad didn't have the vaguest idea about Eribas. By applying my immense brain power and logic I think they mean the exterior locker doors which come as part of the GT Pack.
Heating - well that's good to know but is it gas only or does it have electrical too? If gas only it's another standard spec item sculling around in amongst GT Pack and cost option items, or is it the fan and trunking which is a cost option?
Mosquito net roll up screen - Flynet to you and me and another GT Pack stalwart mimbling about in a random list.
Sink cover and cutting board - GT Pack
Stone deflector - GT Pack (and not USS Enterprise deflector shields - I canna hold her much longer Captain!)
Toilet - well hooray for that, but again a standard spec. item.

For the searching punter leave all the standard stuff out of ads

Specify the options added, so in this case:

1200kg chassis upgrade
Dinette lounge
GT Pack
Upgraded fabric or sprung seating
3 burner hob
Shower pack
Heating fan and ducting

So we know there's no boiler, no fitted freshwater tank, etc, etc

It's worse than pulling teeth

As new potential purchaser I totally agree. My other posts illustrate this as I try to get my head around things.

To me, all the sites, including Hymer to some extent, are written and laid out by people, often salespeople, who know the product inside out, and forget the reader doesn’t. Even Eriba veterans won’t always know what the product on offer each year is as different combinations come and go.

I work in the digital business, and one of my biggest tasks is getting companies to rethink how they portray and describe themselves to their audience. Eriba/dealers have four types of customer they need to talk to -
1) new customers unfamiliar with the product and caravanning
2) new customers switching from other caravans
3) existing eriba customers looking to trade
4) existing customers who need ongoing support (manuals, advice, repairs, upgrades)

Examples of this -
Socket upgrade - to me adding more sockets sound like a good idea, but where? the benefits?
Heater - gas only? upgrade to use electric? benefit? how it helps? when is it worth it? circulating air upgrade? why? there is no clarity on the pros and cons and who it might suit
How does it effect the weight? Does it take up valuable space?

Everyone is different, and what is essential to one person is a space wasting toy to someone else, but without clear information it is difficult to make an informed choice.

I'm glad we bought an old van. None of these things to worry about! Take or leave it.
Seriously, it is frustrating especially when it isn't a cheap purchase.

You're absolutely right N and as you say Hymer don't help themselves because, even in German their descriptions are cryptic. I suspect that the writing of dealer ads is a job given to a junior member of staff who cut and paste bits from Hymer, which are often poor translations from the original German. How else would you get standard fittings jumbled up with options and with stuff that's in a pack sprinkled about at random.

I have a list of options I'd want in a van and I'd like to see at a glance whether a particular ad contains them, but the way they're written you stand no chance.

And OK the ad I quoted was from Adventure Leisure, but AL are just as bad and never list a van's MTPLM which is important given they can all be upgraded, Becks, Lowdhams they're all at it. Tony at Eriba Caravan Sales get the basics right in his ads and even Dom's at Eriba Shop could do with a bit more thought about what people are looking for. But it's the proper establishment dealers that are the worst culprits.

Sorry Colin, I should've left the 's' off 'doors' as I meant the singular.

Funnily enough I noticed on the 2018 price list that on some items Hymer have included a few words of explanation but the translations leave a lot to be desired and probably don't help anyone much at all. What they proba ly need is a proper UK marketing unit. Maybe that's what buying Elddis gets them.

This is excellent advice.
Incidentally I wonder how many Eriba owners change their first purchase when they have used it and discovered that, maybe, it was not quite the right choice.
I know we did having first thought that sleeping across the van wasn’t a problem but discovering that crawling across each other wasn’t as easy as we thought because of the location of the fridge and wardrobe. Triton 430 or Troll 530.

We thought the same when we bought our Adria Coral Compact Tony https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/...e=cw39an&page=1 but the transverse fixed bed is on top of the 'garage' and as you can see at about worktop height. So having clambered over Mrs SDA of a morning with my head at ceiling height, teetering on the edge with a 7ft drop to the floor all felt a bit precarious. Luckily it had the illuminated dancing pole to cling on to and steps at about 2ft high, but it was still not the easiest of egresses.

There have been great leaps on bounds by car manufacturers with online configurators in recent years. They provide sophisticated speccing options that cleverly incorporate the various packages and editions. It is great how each option has a decent picture and description helping to make a sound choice.

The bottom line - its all about clarity and solid, clear infomation.

Its nice to see Hymer germany are taking their first steps into configurators too. Look forward to reaching the level of detail of car websites and also it making its way over to UK website eventually.

btw this forum is fantastic

People that actually use Eriba vans regularly are best placed to advise others regarding what works and what doesn't. That's the value of a forum like this. I may be talking out of place, but how many salesmen use the product they are selling? By the and of this year, I hope we will have enjoyed twelve trips or more, some on grid, some off, in different seasons, in different climates, with awning and without etc. etc. We absolutely love the transverse fixed bed in our 430, and couldn't imagine either a bigger/longer van or having to make up our bed each night, but we may feel differently in 12 months. Who knows? Each to their own, but always listen to the users, not the dealer website.

I think I know a bit about Eribas and I'm searching for a van, but running through those website listings is like running through treacle. The info is so mixed up and you're never sure that it's correctly quoted and some of the descriptions are laughable. All I want is to know which options are fitted to a van. I know that it'll have heating, a fridge and most will have a toilet etc, that goes without saying.

What would help, I guess, would be if each dealership had a standard cost option package that they ordered on all their stock vans, like Eriba UK used to do and I think maybe AL still do. But the other, more recent, dealers seem to have played Blind Man's Buff with the order sheet and you can never be sure what each stock van has been fitted with. Of course what hasn't helped is having two optional exterior finishes and the special editions too as they increase the permutations possible. It's as if they're trying to anticipate what customers might want in a van but, so far they've not found the mix that I want.

The other thing that wrankles is that if you want to order a van to your own spec. you pay full price and wait for a factory order, or possibly the dealer can persuade Hymer to amend one of their pre-ordered slots to meet your request. That's fair enough. But to insist on asking full list price on van's you've bought in speculatively and are saying 'this is the spec' take it or leave it' seems wrong. If the customer is compromising on what they want, then the dealer should too.