Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and to caravan owning, so please bear with me if I'm asking obvious questions!

My wife and I (with 2 kids who are 5 and 7) have decided, after many years of staying in bungalows, lodges etc. on campsites (and having borrowed our in-laws VW California) that we want to start caravaning. After much research we are quite settled on something from the Eriba Touring range. I love things which are functional, beautiful and well-made and these caravans really seem to tick that box. We live in northern Spain so we have lots of exploring opportunities close by in France, Spain and Portugal.

We have looked carefully at the range. the only 4 berths are the 418 or the 550. I know that when the kids get bigger they can sleep in the awning, but for the time-being we need to all be together. At first we were not bothered about the lack of toilet in the 418, but I'm beginning to have second thoughts. The 550 has more space, but the seating area seems small for 4 people.
Does anyone have any thoughts on which would work better for us?

Additionally, we have been considering the following "extras", and it would be great to have some opinions from people who know!
1. Is the GT option worth it? I really like the sleek metal finish and some of the additions look useful. Are there any up/downsides to consider?
2. What is the antiskid system and is it worth it for 1010€?
3. Is the spare wheel + bracket worth it for 300€?
4. Am I right in thinking that all Eriba Touring caravans have a side hatch for easy access to the storage space under the bed? If yes, is there any real advantage of having a second one?
5. The electric "mover" is 2990€. I understand that I could get another one fitted instead for around 200€. Any thoughts?
6. Is an outside universal awning socket useful? It's 270€.
7. What is the Premium jockey wheel and is it worth it?
8. Is the stone guard protection worthwhile? It's 195€.

I have never driven a caravan before and I must say that I'm a little nervous about it. My feeling is that these caravans are probably going to be some of the easiest to tow. Any words or reassurance, tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks in advance for any feedback. It's all appreciated.

Neil

Hi and hope that you find what you are looking for .

Tom and Margaret

Hi Neil

We bought a 418 in 2007 when our boys were 10 and 8. We needed a 4 berth and a troll was just beyond what we could a) fit on the drive for home storage and
b) afford.
The boys slept in the front double until well into their teens when we evicted them as they were out and about until after we wanted to go to bed.
The loo issue solution was to have a small thetford porta potty which lived either in the awning if it was up otherwise it fitted in the gangway between the kitchen and the wardrobe. It was fine for overnight emergencies in either position, during the day it went outside into the awning or in the front offside bed locker.

Seating in the 418 is about the most generous you can get, our lads set up the front end of the van as a gaming station with all sorts of stuff which meant that the whole of the rear dinette was available for us. In due course they went to sleep in the awning but the large double dinette still came into its own.

Provided your family is not too shy about having to use the loo during the night if it is in the van rather than in the awning I'd go for the 418 every time the storage available is huge (much more than our current 540) and the payload is one of if not the highest available.

I'm not sure if the 550 is available as a double dinette as an option instead of the fixed bed arrangement, if it is that may be the way to go if you are buying new. For four people in an Eriba I feel that the fixed bed option would feel very cramped unless you lived and ate mostly in an awning, it depends on the season. Are your family summer only campers or do you intend to get out and about all year round, Eribas are toasty warm all year round.
As regards options I'm not really an expert , you need Colin for that, but a retro fitted mover would I feel be necessary on a Troll and a stone guard on either.

Hope you can get exactly what you want, you need to go and sit in a few, with the children, to see how you all fit. Imagine a really wet day when one of them has a cold and you just want to hunker down in the van for the day. The children want to draw, the Mrs want to do a jigsaw and you want to whittle a stick how would you fit?

Denise & Phil

Thank you very much for your replies. They are really useful. I'll be back with more questions in the near future, I'm sure.
Neil

so many choices, have fun deciding.

My wife is pretty clear that there should be a fixed double bed. The extra storage, as commented on by Colin, is a bonus, but the real reason is that making and unmaking beds/table each day isn't really what we are looking for.

Denise/Phil asked about how often we are likely to use the caravan; given work commitments etc. I think it's likely to be 2 weeks at Easter, 2 or 3 in the Summer and maybe a handful of weekends in Spring and Autumn. With small(ish) kids, when we go away, we like to spend at least a week in a place so that they can settle in, make friends etc. so we won't be moving around every couple of days.We're in northern Spain, so the weather is a bit warmer and a bit more reliable than the UK. We're hoping to be able to spend a lot of time outside of the caravan and although we will heed advice about not buying an awning straight away, I think it is something we always thought we would do in the future to expand our livable space.

I think we are still leaning towards a 418, but I look forward to receiving anymore advice or thoughts about the type of caravan and/or "extras" that might help us make some decisions.

Has anyone had both a GT and a white Eriba and can comment on the pros/cons of both?
Many thanks again.

Neil

Bed making is so simple in Eribas. No turning and flipping cushions like in most WWBs. I had the making up of two double beds in our 418 down to about 4 mins in total. Two duvets per bed one to lie on the other to sleep under easy peasy. or for added squishability a couple of the thinner duvalay toppers for the grown ups and one duvet over the top. Two duvalays and a king sized duvet fitted easily under one of the rear seats and the boys bedding went under the larger of the two front seats. Still feel that the larger seating arrangements will work better for four. A fixed bed will be more bed like admittedly but then it's just a bed isn't it? not very versatile. As an aside the 4 berth on the 418 is now an option it was standard when we bought ours.

Now that there are only two of us to go adventuring we traded up and bought a 540 Troll and whereas we often leave the rear made up as a bed and use the little dinette at the front of the van we still miss the large front dinette of the 418

Denise & Phil

Well, a quick update.
Having done all our research about what we wanted, we went to in to order our Triton 418 thinking that if we were lucky we might get it by June, only to find out that Eriba were not taking anymore orders in 2021! We are still looking to see if there are any 418s in other caravan agents here in Spain. There is one in Barcelona which ticks most of the boxes so we'll see.
Does anyone know if you can usually get things modified once the caravan has been built and sold, such as the stone guard protection or the extension to make the front bed into a double (not a single) etc.? I'm pretty sure that adding a bike rack isn't a problem.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts... and fingers crossed.

Thanks Colin... and thanks for the website suggestions.

Hi,
We've managed to track down a new Triton 418 in Barcelona (Autosumistres). It's a 2019 model - though the salesman says that the particular model ran until June 2020 with only very minor changes to what was included.
In principle it has a lot of the features we are looking for at a price we were expecting to pay.
However, it doesn't have two elements which I wanted to get your thoughts on;
1. It does not have the extension to turn the front bed into a double. They will not make any alterations in house, but they say that it should not be too complicated for a carpenter to make some sort of step as a substitute to the extension (see photo I have found here of a double bed extension on a 418 I've found online). An additional cushion would also be required, but that seems quite straightforward.
2. It also does not come with the stoneguard protection, which from what I've read on here and other places, is particularly recommended. It's about 200euros if you order it from the factory, but they are suggesting that it could be around 500-600 to order it now, ship it and fit it themselves.
Any thoughts on these two points?
Thanks again. Looking forward to officially being an Eriba folk in the not too distant future!

Eriba extension.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)