As to Coachmans, here's a bit I penned earlier today on a thread about Coachman sealant joints discolouring. One of my fellow mods felt it was too flippant and hid it. No sense of humour those WWB mods.

'I believe the marks/bits are specially colour coded, depending on dealer preference, there's a set of special tick boxes on the manufacturer's order form. They can even request when they start appearing and the production line has special time release sealant cartridges. The favourite has settings for just after the warranty runs out. I've heard tell that if you pay the dealer extra they'll specify non colouring sealant and you'll be free of bits forever.'

Thank you for your comments guys and you have all genuinely made me feel much better about it already. The reason I wanted to swap the Coachman was really because before that we had a VW T25 Camper which we adored, but decided to upgrade to a caravan for more space and bathroom facilities but the IMAGE of the Coachman was always an issue for us - not cool. Being into classics we decided the Eriba styling was much more us. We dismissed the T@b as too small and we’re really pleased by stories of the amazing Eriba build quality and lack of depreciation. But what I think has happened is that in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s the build quality of Eriba was far superior to WWBoxes and developed a well deserved cult following, premium price and reputation. Move forward to 2018 and I suggest that Eriba are still trading on this reputation, still believing their own hype and therefore still charging a premium. But they seem to have not kept up with the competition from WWB’s, that no longer wobble, are very well put together now using far more advanced construction methods than before, are packed with technology, we’ll built fixtures and fittings using premium materials, are well screwed together with a premium feel and the new Industry standard has left Eriba far behind. Fortunately due to their high level of repeat business from their ever faithful followers and their old reputation they are still winging it by, they are getting away with it! But I can assure you these vans are dated inside, basic, not that well put together with not that high a standard of build materials and for that reason are way, way, way more expensive than they should be. And it’s time you faithful folk demand they improve on quality, improve on their materials,
Improve on what standard equipment they offer and improve on value for money. Because I promise you, it isn’t value for money anymore.
Will I learn to love my Eriba’s (called Ethel) quirky charms? Yes I expect I shall. Will I be able to forgive it it’s foibles - probably, will I get over the fact I’ve over paid for it? Eventually. Will I do it again? Not on your life unless they seriously up their game. And neither should any of you. That way they will have to.

There's a thin line that Hymer have to tread with Eriba Tourings.

They are, after all, the original Hymer product that spawned a corporate megagiant. They are small and have a steel tube body frame, therefore the possibilities of what you can fit in it and where are extremely limited. Owners love them for how they look and the values they stand for. Wander too far from either the look or the values and you lose the whole essence. Change it to fill it with microwaves, ovens, etc and you lose the whole ethos and nobody who wants such stuff would want a tiny Eriba, they'd opt for mainstream. Make the Eriba bigger than the Troll and it becomes much too heavy and very, very expensive. Let's face it the OP has just had a holiday in a brand new Troll, the largest Touring van. I hate to think what he'd be thinking now if he'd chosen a 310/320.

I don’t have a problem with it’s size! Nor that it has no oven, grill or microwave! I don’t even have a problem with the size of the washroom. But the washroom sink could be much bigger coming out to the edge of the counter. I have a problem with what you get for the money! The cost! The ‘perceived’ quality V the reality. And how this is justified and why on Earth it’s core fans have put up with this in recent years!

I am sorry that you have this experience.

We have a 2009 Pontos gt. and we absolutley love it, no problems as far as I know. (Before we owned a Troll 552, and we har no problem with that one eighter). It’s a delight to travel with the Pontos, and very easy to handle when I sometimes travel alone. I was just noe looking to buy a 2018 Troll 542 gt. in Norway, so I know what you mean about the priceIn Norway it cost ca. 30.000 pund (Nok 319.000), and for a minute you post had some impact. Should I really buy a new one if the quality is this bad? Or should I keep my pre-2010😜. Even if you say that we should not buy a new Eriba before they up their game, I would never consider any other caravan. I would never consider beeing spotter in a ..... For me it’s the quality and the coolfactor that made me go camping in the first place.
(And one more thing😀, for a 10 year old Pontos I will get my money back, and then some😀😀...on my way to a new 542????)

You will love it, I hope

Elisabeth, Norway

Hahaha fingers crossed! I already love it’s looks and towing it. And being the only cool caravan on the site! 👍🏻

This is an interesting discussion. Setting aside the issue of defects for a moment....

Value for money - you knew what you were getting and you agreed the price. Order an expensive suit/dress online and when it arrives its a pile of **** - I can understand that. Sure, I think Eribas are expensive, same as I did VW campervans, but it didn't stop me buying them. Am I a fool? I knew that my VW campervan was more expensive than my friend's fiat chassis motorhome with bells and whistles on, but I also knew that the VW was far more versatile and that when I had to part with it it would sell for more than their motorhome, and I was right. I also used it as a daily drive, whereas theirs sat on the drive. I consider value for money to be more about how something benefits me, rather than should the item actually be cheaper than what it is. It's all individual choice and opinion I guess.

Do you have any defects? If you do, get them sorted with the dealer. If you don't, go over the van with a fine tooth comb and if you find them, get them sorted.

Coachman do a 3 berth Vision, their entry level range.

MTPLM 1411kg and just 140kg payload minus 20kg for a battery, that's really 120kg . The 540 is just 1300kg as standard and has a 295kg payload and even loaded with 120kg of cost options, including battery, it's got 175kg available

Vision costs £19,795

ATC is £355
Wheel lock £275
Alarm £265
Tracker £340

Total cost options £1,235

Longest single bed 6ft 1ins, the Troll 540's is 6ft 5ins

Coachman's Pastiche 3 berth is £22,595 with same size beds, same payload, but overall a bit heavier

Coachman VIP 3 berth costs £25,495 and the longest single bed is just 6ft and payload 142kg before battery, options and mover, whilst the MTPLM has grown to 1531kg

It's comparing apples with turbot.

Hi Smilesapart
As a fellow 540 owner it is sad to hear that it has been a disappointment to you. We have had ours for nearly two years and some bits and pieces have needed sorting but we still love it. We were tenters forever and did not want a white box caravan to replace our tent. We found the 540 with its pop-top up a perfect compromise.
Like others I would suggest placing your initial disappointments aside and have a good Spring & Summer season with your Troll and give it time to grow on you and for you to learn to like its strange ways. If you haven't been smitten then sell it for a good price.You can't really lose either way. MikeT

Great advice SoulBluesMan. I intend to do just that and intend to imbrace it’s quirks and hope to be completely smitten by the end of the Autumn 2018 following several planned trips away in Ethel and a 2 week holiday in France with her in the summer

Things on an Eriba Touring are a trade off.

The furniture on older vans was of a better, stonger quality than more recent production, but the fixtures and fitting, generally, have improved with time. Except maybe the 'touch' lights, which seemed like a good idea at the time.

Compare the lighting in today's vans with a decade ago and most would say it's a big improvement. The current washroom is head and shoulders above it's three predecessors, going back twenty years. Even the fridge exterior looks different these days.The door handles and locker catches are nowhere near as primitive as they used to be. But the current furniture board isn't a patch on the real wood veneered stuff and the hinges and their screws etc are pants.

But all of this has been done without losing the essence of Eribaness, which latest gizmo's and lack of idiosyncrasies would destroy.

Maybe the OP should have bought a 2000 model year 540 first of all, to understand where we've come from, rather than parachuting in and expecting a WWB replica in a smaller box.

I've been cogitating on this issue overnight and came to realise that we actually moved away from Eriba's to WWB's back in 2013 to exactly what the OP needs. Personally I think it was too much red or maybe the realisation of my own human frailty as the NHS whipped out a kidney or maybe just one too many cracks on the cranium.

Anyway we went for a Sussex Amberley, a dealer special based on the Lunar Quasar 464, a model that was only built in 2011 and 2012. In fact Sussex caravans said they only had three Amberleys delivered. If you want to see one there is one for sale at the moment in the Southampton area, and it's not our old one.

Think of it as a 430/530 Eriba turned round inside with the door o the UK side and a 420/540 Eriba size single dinette up the back. It was almost the same length as a Troll and the same width as post 2010 Trolls but taller, of course.

As you climbed in, the single dinette was on your right, across the rear of the van, with a window in the centre of the back wall. This dinette turned into a 6ft 8ins bed, so maybe the van was an inch or so wider than a Troll.

To the left of the entrance was the kitchen, with gas oven and a full size 4 burner hob. Next to the oven was a two thirds size cupboard and drawer and then the fridge, which was about 110 litres, rather than the 70 litre Eriba version. The sink was above the cupboard and there was clear worktop over the fridge. There was a range of roof lockers and a microwave above the fridge. A kitchen that was probably 30% larger than an Eriba's.

Opposite the kitchen was the washroom with swivel toilet, basin, vanity cupboard and a separate full size shower cubicle. Forward of the washroom was the wardrobe with the Truma heater under.

Forward of all that was the usual lounge with central chest and it made up into a 4ft 6ins, or thereabouts double bed. As singles the benches were about 5ft 6ins long.

So a WWB laid out like an Eriba with modern accoutrements. It had ATC as standard, a radio/CD, TV aerial etc, plenty of mains sockets, gas/mains boiler, nicely trimmed out, tasteful graphics but no character, no heart, it was soulless. You could put that partly down to having no net curtains which though we don't have them at home, give the Eriba a homely, soft, welcoming atmosphere. Or it could be it was just a cubeish shed on wheels.

we have an 18 years old Pan (Familia), it has has no niggles. Maybe these were all ironed out many moons ago or maybe they built them better then.
We leave the bed made up and sit on the bed if we are watching a film. On warmer nights, we just spend our time in the awning. Like a previous post we see it as a camper, something in between a tent and a WWB. We sleep with pop top up and zips partially opened to allow good airflow at night and have only had a little bit of condensation on the front window, which we wipe off when we get up. We haven't had any on the pop top. We also leave the windows on 'night' (slightly ajar).
We don't have a shower room, we just have a porta loo for night-time and use site facitlies. I brush my teeth and wash up using the kitchen sink when we are off grid (at festivals).
Perhaps you should go to the Spring or Summer meets and get to know some of the community. These forums are also a mine of information and support. Good luck with your purchase. As others have said, if it doesn't work out, they hold their value really well.