Eriba Car 600 and 602 review: the Crafter based campervan with caravan DNA

Eriba has always been a bit of an oddball in the nicest possible way. Their touring caravans are instantly recognisable, not because they shout, but because they stick to a shape and a mood that feels considered. Compact, calm, slightly retro, and quietly confident.

The Eriba Car 600 and 602 matter because they are not a token campervan range bolted onto a brand name. They are Eriba taking its design language and its obsession with clever space into the VW Crafter world, then pricing it in a way that makes you look twice. In the UK, both models start at £71,120, which is not cheap in any normal sense, but is surprisingly grounded for a well specced, premium base vehicle campervan in 2025 and 2026.

There are two big questions this review tries to answer:

First, which one actually suits your travelling life, the 600 with a fixed rear bed and four travel seats, or the 602 with a rear lounge and two travel seats.

Second, does the Eriba Car feel like value, or does it just look the part.

The quick overview: what is the Eriba Car

Both the Eriba Car 600 and 602 are high top campervans based on the Volkswagen Crafter. They are under six metres long, and they both run at a 3,500 kg maximum laden mass in the UK spec.

Key figures that set the scene:

• Length: 5.99 m
• Width: 2.07 m
• Height: 2.67 m
• Fresh water: 100 litres
• Waste water: 80 litres

Those numbers sound dry, but they translate into real world usability. Under six metres means you can still use plenty of normal parking spaces if you are happy to overhang a little, and you are not constantly battling the feeling that you brought a bus to a village. At 2.67 m high, multi storeys are off the table, and some height barrier car parks become a non starter, but that is true of almost any fixed high top campervan built for proper touring.

First impressions: it looks like an Eriba, not a generic panel van

Eriba has leaned hard into the two colour exterior, and it works. The official UK combinations are Deep Ocean Blue with Candy White, Cherry Red with Candy White, and Reflex Silver Metallic with Indium Grey.

In person, the appeal is not just the colour itself. It is how the colour breaks up the slab sides of a high top, making it feel less like a delivery vehicle that has been politely converted, and more like a deliberate object. That sounds like fluff until you own something for a few years. If you are spending this sort of money, liking how it looks on a grey February afternoon is not a silly requirement.

The interior follows the same theme. Eriba talks about premium surfaces, clever details, and a more open feel through open shelving and a clear line of sight.  In the 602 review, Out and About Live highlights the contrast of the darker furniture with warm worktop tones and felt trim that helps with both sound and heat insulation.  That felt lined look is becoming a bit of a modern campervan language, but Eriba does it in a way that feels more boutique than gimmicky.

Base vehicle: why the Crafter choice matters

A lot of UK buyers are used to the Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer, and Citroen Relay world. You see it everywhere because it works, it is space efficient, and converters know exactly how to package it.

Eriba has chosen the VW Crafter instead for both models.  That decision changes the driving experience and it changes the interior packaging.

Driving feel and day to day confidence

The Crafter tends to feel more planted and more car like than some front wheel drive panel van bases, particularly when you are travelling long distances or when the wind picks up on an exposed road. You also get a driving position and cab environment that feels modern and calm.

On paper, the Eriba Car comes with a 2.0 litre diesel engine at 140 hp as standard, with an upgrade to 163 hp as an option.  You can keep the standard six speed manual, or pay extra for the eight speed automatic.

It is worth stating this plainly: if you are spending this kind of money, the automatic gearbox is one of the most meaningful upgrades you can make to your touring life. It turns stop start traffic, steep campsite entrances, and long motorway slogs into something you do not think about. In a heavy campervan, reducing driving effort makes you arrive less wrung out.

Out and About Live also lists a healthy set of standard driving aids and comfort kit in the 602, including parking sensors, reversing camera, hill start assistance, tiredness detection, and a multifunction leather steering wheel.  In real use, the reversing camera and sensors are the ones you will thank repeatedly, especially because the Crafter body is slightly narrower than a Ducato, which is nice on country roads, but still not small in a tight car park.

Practical consequence: a slightly narrower body

The Crafter is slightly narrower than the Ducato, and you feel that in layout decisions. Out and About Live points out that the 602 still feels spacious in kitchen and living areas, despite that narrower base.  The way Eriba uses open shelving and rounded corners helps, but the narrower shell can show up as slightly tighter worktop space, or a more careful washroom design.

That brings us neatly to what actually differentiates the 600 and 602.

Layouts: the real decision is not bed type, it is how you live in the daytime

Eriba has done the sensible thing and offered two layouts that feel genuinely different.

Eriba Car 600: fixed rear bed, three berths, four travel seats

The Car 600 is the one for people who want a proper made up bed most nights. It has a transverse rear double bed (200 cm by 136 cm), plus the option of a further single bed made up in the front lounge.

The headline practical advantage is time and routine. A fixed bed means you can stop late, make a brew, and be in bed quickly. It also means your bedding has a home, and you are not constantly shuffling cushions and boards.

It also has four travel seats.  That matters far more than many couples think, because it keeps options open. A spare belted seat makes it easier to do weekends with friends, take a grandchild for the day, or simply justify the campervan as something that can still do normal life occasionally.

The trade off is that your daytime lounging is a little more conventional. You have a front lounge and you have a bed at the back. It is not a huge social space for four adults on a rainy day, but for two people travelling most of the time, it is a strong, pragmatic setup.

Eriba Car 602: rear lounge by day, two singles or a wide double by night, two travel seats

The Car 602 is a UK friendly layout: rear lounge, two travel seats, and a proper feeling living space at the back.

At night, the rear lounge converts into two lengthways single beds, and the Out and About Live review describes a slide out centre section that creates more of a wide double, though not full length.  The UK technical data lists beds at 200 cm by 75 cm and 190 cm by 75 cm, with disc springs.

This layout suits a particular kind of touring: slower mornings, more time inside, more reading and cooking, and a tendency to pick places where you want to sit and watch the weather rather than sprint out to attractions. The rear lounge also makes it easier to have people over for a cup of tea without perching on the bed.

But the two travel seats are a firm limitation. If you routinely need four belted seats, the 602 is not your campervan. There is no clever workaround that makes that safe and legal.

Kitchen: small differences that decide whether you enjoy cooking or tolerate it

Both models use a side kitchen layout with a two burner hob, an integrated sink, and a fold out work surface.

Eriba makes a point of soft close drawers and a multifunctional rail on the back wall.  Those rails sound like a minor accessory detail, but they are the kind of thing you either love or ignore completely. If you like order, hanging a utensil pot, a spice rack, or hooks for tea towels can keep the worktop clear, and in a campervan, clear worktop equals sanity.

The one consistent critique in the 602 review is worktop space.  This is where you should be honest with yourself about how you actually cook.

If most of your touring cooking is pasta, eggs, a pan of something comforting, and a chopping board, you will cope. If you are the kind of person who lays out ingredients and wants space to plate up properly, you will want to plan your workflow. A fold out extension helps, but you still need to be comfortable living with a compact galley.

Fridge size differs by layout in the UK figures:

• Car 600: 90 litre pull out fridge
• Car 602: 70 litre pull out fridge

That difference sounds small until you are doing a week on the move and you want milk, fresh veg, and something vaguely ambitious for dinner. If you are a regular longer tripper, fridge capacity alone can steer you towards the 600.

Washroom: compact, but properly thought through

Both models have a compact washroom with a folding basin and a pull out shower head.

The cleverness here is that you do not need a huge room to have a usable washroom, but you do need the details right. A folding basin makes showering less claustrophobic. A swivel cassette toilet is standard in the 602 review description.  You also get storage, hooks, and ventilation via window and rooflight depending on exact spec.

There is a very real downside mentioned in the 602 review: the need for a shower curtain when using the shower, and that always means dealing with damp fabric somewhere afterwards.  In practice, the annoyance level depends on your habits. If you mostly use campsites and the washroom is for quick freshening up, you will barely care. If you plan to wild camp often and shower inside regularly, you will want to check the washroom in person and decide if you can live with the routine of drying and airing.

Sleeping comfort: bed sizes are only half the story

Eriba leans into comfort details like disc springs and mattress toppers. On the Eriba Car page, it explicitly calls out disc springs and mattress topper for the rear bed.

In real use, those things matter more than people expect. A campervan mattress can be the difference between feeling fine after three nights, or feeling like you need a week at home to recover.

Car 600 sleeping

A transverse bed at 200 cm by 136 cm is a good size for a campervan under six metres.  The key question is access. Transverse beds often mean one person climbs over the other, or one person has the outside edge and the other has the wall. If you get up in the night, that matters. If you sleep like a statue, it matters less.

There is also the optional extra single bed in the front lounge.  That is useful, but treat it as occasional, not as a daily setup for adults.

Car 602 sleeping

The 602’s rear lounge converts into singles, with the option to widen into more of a double with a centre insert.  The downside is that single beds can feel narrow, and the 602 review lists narrow singles as a disadvantage.

The upside is that lengthways singles are often easier to live with as a couple. Nobody climbs over anyone. You can both get up without fuss. If you have ever been on a rainy tour and needed to get dressed without performing acrobatics, you will understand why that is a genuine luxury.

Storage: where the Eriba Car quietly wins

Storage is usually the point where attractive campervans fall apart, because you cannot live in them without constantly moving your own stuff around.

Eriba’s approach is a mix of enclosed lockers, open shelves, and useful low level compartments. The brand highlights practical compartments at floor level, overhead lockers, and keeping things in place with tensioning straps while driving.

In the 602 review, storage gets specific praise, including large under seat storage and overhead lockers along the lounge, plus an open shelving area above the rear doors.  The review also gives a very real warning: that open shelf is a head cracking zone if you are not careful.  That is the kind of detail you only learn by standing up in a van a few times.

The 2025 essential guide also points out matching accessories such as a camping table and chairs in an integrated bag for rear storage, and matching boxes for the rear overhead locker.  Those are not essential, but they show that Eriba is thinking about how people actually use storage, rather than just counting cupboards.

Heating, electrics, and the move towards gas free touring

The UK technical data suggests diesel based warm air heating with hot water boiler as standard.

For the Car 600: warm air heating with boiler D4.
For the Car 602: warm air heating with boiler D6E.

There is a practical implication: if you tour in winter, or you do a lot of shoulder season trips in Wales, the Lakes, Scotland, and similar, heating performance matters as much as bed comfort. A diesel heating setup keeps you off gas bottles for the main job of staying warm and having hot water, and it also means you can refuel easily, though you do need to factor in electricity use for fans and controls.

Electrics are interesting here. The UK data lists:

• Car 600: 95 Ah AGM leisure battery
• Car 602: 80 Ah lithium leisure battery

Lithium is usually the upgrade people chase, because it can give you more usable capacity and faster charging. Seeing it listed as standard on the 602 spec is notable, even if the raw Ah number looks smaller. If you care about off grid ability, you should still ask about actual usable capacity, charging system, and whether the van has proper battery to battery charging, but as a direction of travel, it fits the premium positioning.

Eriba also pushes its app control concept, described as ERIBA Connect, with smartphone control for functions.  App control is a taste thing. Some people love it, others would rather have a simple control panel that works even when the phone is dead. The best advice is to treat it as a bonus, not a buying reason.

Weights and payload: the numbers look healthy, but options will eat them

Both models sit at 3,500 kg, which keeps them in the broadly accessible driving licence category for many UK drivers.

The masses in running order are listed around 2,819 kg for the 600 and 2,820 kg for the 602.  That suggests payloads around 680 kg, and Out and About Live lists payload at 671 kg for the 600 and 680 kg for the 602.

That is a good start. It gives you room for passengers, water, kit, and a few sensible options.

But you still need to configure carefully, because factory options add weight quickly. Eriba lists a manufacturer specified mass for optional equipment, shown as 316 kg for the 600 and 485 kg for the 602 in the UK technical data.  That is Eriba being transparent about what the vehicle can realistically carry in terms of factory fitted extras while keeping minimum payload requirements.

If you are used to the idea that you can tick every option box because it is your dream campervan, the Eriba Car is a reminder that weight is always part of the deal.

Price and value: why this is not a bargain, but can still be good value

The starting price in the UK is £71,120 for both the Car 600 and 602.

That is the number that makes people pay attention, because Crafter based campervans with premium interiors can climb quickly.

However, you need to treat the starting price as the beginning of the story, not the end.

Out and About Live notes that once you start adding options, the price can creep, and the reviewed 602 they had came in at £90,570.  They also suggest you could get a well specced 602 for around £80,000.

Those figures tell you two things:

First, the Eriba Car is priced to get you in the door, then it lets you spend plenty if you want to.

Second, the value proposition depends on self control and choosing options that genuinely improve touring life.

Options that feel worth it on this base

Based on the published option prices and typical touring reality:

• Eight speed automatic gearbox. It changes the whole driving experience, and it is priced as a clear upgrade.
• The 163 hp engine if you tow, carry bikes, or tour in hillier areas a lot.
• Parking and manoeuvring aids, though a good set are already standard.
• Solar preparation or solar itself, depending on how the UK spec is packaged, because rooftop real estate is precious on a high top.

Where people often overspend is on aesthetic trims and luxury packages that feel great in a showroom but do not change touring life much. Nothing wrong with that if it makes you happy, but it is how you end up at £90,000 without quite understanding how.

Which one should you choose

This is the part most reviews rush, so let’s slow it down.

Choose the Eriba Car 600 if

You want a fixed bed every night without converting seats
You want four belted travel seats
You do longer trips and care about fridge space and simple routines
You like the idea of a small third berth for occasional use

The 600 is the sensible all rounder. It feels like the one you could live with as your only vehicle more easily, because it does more jobs.

Choose the Eriba Car 602 if

You are touring as a couple and value lounge comfort as much as bed comfort
You like the idea of sitting in the back with a view and proper space on a wet day
You prefer lengthways beds over a transverse bed setup
You do not need extra travel seats, and you are happy with a two person touring rhythm

The 602 is the more lifestyle led choice, but in a practical way. A rear lounge changes how a campervan feels at night, and it is often the difference between tolerating a rainy weekend and genuinely enjoying it.

The smaller realities: things you should check in person

There are a few details that matter enough to go beyond brochure talk.

Sliding door side in the UK

The 602 review notes that the sliding door remains on the “wrong” side for UK buyers.  This is one of those topics that creates a lot of online noise, but in real life it depends on how you travel.

If you spend most nights on campsites and park in neat pitches, it might be irrelevant. If you do lots of roadside stops, busy aires, or lay by lunches, you might care more.

The best advice is simple: imagine a typical day. Imagine pulling into a lay by on an A road. Which side do you want to step out into.

The step, flyscreen, and daily in and out

The 602 review mentions an electric step and a sliding flyscreen.  Those are the little features that feel like fluff until you live with them. A good flyscreen makes summer cooking calmer. A reliable step matters if your knees are not twenty anymore, or if you are constantly in and out with wet coats.

The washroom drying routine

If you plan to shower inside regularly, test the space, check how the curtain sits, and consider where you will hang it to dry.  It is not glamorous, but it is the difference between a washroom that feels like freedom and one that feels like a damp compromise.

A quick word on awards and the hype factor

Awards do not tell you whether a campervan suits your life, but they can tell you whether a model is being taken seriously by people who look at a lot of vans.

Eriba says the Car 600 was honoured as Best Fixed Bed Campervan at the Out and About Live Campervan Awards 2025.  The Hymer press release also states the Car 602 was honoured as Best VW Campervan at the 2025 Practical Motorhome Awards.

That aligns with the general impression: these are not half baked first attempts. They feel like the work of a big group that knows how to build leisure vehicles, but with a brand identity that is not trying to look like everyone else.

The Campervan.win angle: why a premium campervan still matters to everyone

It can sound odd to talk about a £71,000 campervan and then talk about putting campervans and motorhomes within reach of everyone. But the two ideas are connected.

The premium end sets expectations. It sets the baseline for what good layout design looks like, what proper insulation feels like, what a calm cab experience does for long distance touring, and how a brand can design for real living rather than showroom theatre.

If you understand what makes the Eriba Car 600 and 602 work, you can make smarter decisions at every price point. You can spot which features genuinely change comfort, and which ones are just expensive decoration.

And if you are entering a competition world, or dreaming while you save, it helps to have a clear picture of what you are actually aiming for.

Verdict: is the Eriba Car 600 or 602 worth it

The Eriba Car range gets a lot right, and it does it without feeling like a generic conversion with a fancy badge.

The value is in the combination:

A premium base vehicle that is genuinely pleasant to drive
A layout that feels European in its use of space, but still UK friendly in the 602
A design identity that does not fade into the campsite crowd
Thoughtful living details like a fold out work surface, clever washroom solutions, and storage that is designed for touring life

The downsides are mostly honest campervan compromises:

Limited worktop space depending on how you cook
Narrow singles in the 602 if you prefer a big bed
Two travel seats only in the 602, which rules it out for many families
The price can climb quickly once options start piling up

If you are shopping in this bracket, the biggest recommendation is to treat the 600 and 602 as two different campervans that share a shell, not as a minor variation. Sit in both. Imagine a rainy Tuesday. Imagine a sunny Sunday. Imagine the moment you arrive late and tired. The right choice becomes obvious when you picture real routines, not brochure scenarios.

Finally, a sensible note: specifications, equipment and pricing can change, and images on manufacturer sites often show optional kit. Always confirm the exact UK spec with a dealer before you commit money.

If you do that, the Eriba Car 600 and 602 make a strong case for themselves. Not as budget campervans, because they are not. As premium, under six metre touring tools with a rare thing in this market: a clear point of view.

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