BEWARE - California Beach Reg GU72 CFF

[mfs81]

After a long battle with VW (since August last year) and referrals to the Financial Ombudsman and Motor Ombudsman, the vehicle that I purchased brand new from Eurovans Crawley (now JCB group) was collected by BCA last week and will no doubt be put through an auction soon.

It has a serious defect (engine cutting out) that had already had one attempted failed repair (along with other issues) so would advise staying well clear as no doubt it will continue to be bodge repaired until it is out of warranty at which point VW will no doubt wash their hands of it.

Happy to provide further details if required. Various breakdown photos attached.

 

[Corradobrit]

What miserable ownership experience. What is the background and extent of the ABT mods? Any engine control mods or just purely cosmetic?

 

[Andyhcfc]

Very Sorry to hear about your VW Cali experience. I am going through something similar regarding the collapsing roof with VW & Eurovans (not as serious as your issue). I hope you were fully compensated by VW and or Eurovans.

 

[Californication69]

After a long battle with VW (since August last year) and referrals to the Financial Ombudsman and Motor Ombudsman, the vehicle that I purchased brand new from Eurovans Crawley (now JCB group) was collected by BCA last week and will no doubt be put through an auction soon.

It has a serious defect (engine cutting out) that had already had one attempted failed repair (along with other issues) so would advise staying well clear as no doubt it will continue to be bodge repaired until it is out of warranty at which point VW will no doubt wash their hands of it.

Happy to provide further details if required. Various breakdown photos attached.

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Wheels are phat!
What Wolfrace model are they?
20” x8?
Staggered?
What ET, 30.
Don’t let it put you off though.
Mines running nicely. (Touches wood, with crossed fingers)

 

[mfs81]

What miserable ownership experience. What is the background and extent of the ABT mods? Any engine control mods or just purely cosmetic?

ABT rear spoiler and grille. LV bumper and splitter. Two different engine control modules replaced on separate occasions due to water ingress that was “fixed” by packing the area with foam.

Rear panels were a different colour to the rest of the van.

 

[mfs81]

Very Sorry to hear about your VW Cali experience. I am going through something similar regarding the collapsing roof with VW & Eurovans (not as serious as your issue). I hope you were fully compensated by VW and or Eurovans.

Eurovans are the worst dealer I’ve ever had the misfortune of buying anything from. Despite a catalogue of issues, they offered to very generously take it back for £10k less than I paid for it. Fortunately, the vehicle was purchased subject to finance and the FOS saw things differently saying that VWFS had to pay me back my deposit in full and cancel the outstanding finance

 

[mfs81]

Wheels are phat!
What Wolfrace model are they?
20” x8?
Staggered?
What ET, 30.
Don’t let it put you off though.
Mines running nicely. (Touches wood, with crossed fingers)

20” Velare VLR08s with Pirelli P Zero tyres. I have taken them off and have them for sale. I had a 2019 Beach previously that was fine. I think they are being thrown together post Covid. I won’t ever buy another

 

[Corradobrit]

Eurovans are the worst dealer I’ve ever had the misfortune of buying anything from. Despite a catalogue of issues, they offered to very generously take it back for £10k less than I paid for it. Fortunately, the vehicle was purchased subject to finance and the FOS saw things differently saying that VWFS had to pay me back my deposit in full and cancel the outstanding finance

You wouldn't be alone in that opinion. Low rent comes to mind.

 

[Perfectos]

Are you Back in a T6 now ?

 

[mfs81]

You wouldn't be alone in that opinion. Low rent comes to mind.

Wish I’d read the threads on here before!

 

[Californication69]

20” Velare VLR08s with Pirelli P Zero tyres. I have taken them off and have them for sale. I had a 2019 Beach previously that was fine. I think they are being thrown together post Covid. I won’t ever buy another

What platform are you selling them on?
Might be interested

 

[mfs81]

What platform are you selling them on?
Might be interested

Facebook marketplace

 

[Californication69]

Facebook marketplace

Link ?

 

[mfs81]

Bei Facebook anmelden

Melde dich bei Facebook an, um dich mit deinen Freunden, deiner Familie und Personen, die du kennst, zu verbinden und Inhalte zu teilen.

www.facebook.com

 

[mfs81]

Are you Back in a T6 now ?

Nope. Won’t buy another VW product ever again.

 

[Vagophile]

My sympathies. I had a similar situation with a Merc based Rapido motorhome bought from a dealer, but a different outcome. Although only 7k miles on the clock, it had had two owners. Test drive O.K. but then later driving home down the motorway it cut out. This was the start of a long saga. Enquiries revealed that the first owner had the same problem and it had been returned twice for "repair". This didn't work so he sold it. The second owners had the same problem and failed to get the fault cured, so they sold it. Merc records showed that it had had more than ten unscheduled visits to dealers.
After finding that I was not going to be fobbed off, the motorhome dealer who sold to me reluctantly agreed that fixing the fault was their problem and that it had been present from new. I kept digging and eventually Merc U.K. agreed that there had been a fault from new and I was even assigned a "personal consultant" who kept me informed of diagnostic and repair progress. The cure was a new ECU.
Maybe I was lucky; I did a lot of fact finding and pushing (including threats of publicity) myself and it was clear that Merc U.K. didn't know of the problem until I contacted them and then their response was positive.
The motorhome went on to run faultlessly for the next 100k miles.

 

[lohr500]

Nope. Won’t buy another VW product ever again.

Oh dear. Now I am worried

After a shocking experience with a new Jeep a few years ago which involved multiple visits to two different dealerships, three recoveries on the back of a tow truck, weeks stuck in garages and apathy and incompetence from Jeep UK and beyond, I vowed never to buy another Stelantis Group vehicle again (Citroen, Peugeot, Jeep, Fiat, Alfa, Vauxhall).

I was thinking my forthcoming VW Cali experience would be better, having had few problems with new Audi's, Skoda's and VW's in the past. I just hope your bad experience was an isolated case and that I'm not going to face the same pain again that I had with the Wrangler.

 

[Justinitus1972]

I think, as with many things it depends an awful lot on the quality of the aftersales from where you bought, especially with something as complicated and relatively rare as a California. There are good dealers and not-so-good dealers - as @mfs81 has demonstrated. A search on here for opinions on the dealer you‘re purchasing from will hopefully give you some peace of mind.

Oh dear. Now I am worried

 

[RockinNRollin]

Just because a few owners have some serious reliability issues doesn't mean it's endemic (either within a specific vehicle or a wider brand). As above with the Mercedes example, it sounds like the problem was diagnosis not repair as such. I suspect the same with the OP. I realise the OP is frustrated, but it's unlikely (I would have thought) for VW to "bodge repair" because while the vehicle is well within warranty, that dealer would be accountable for any subsequent failings and if these were due to poor workmanship, I suspect the dealership themselves would have to shoulder the cost, rather than it being recharged to VW UK as warranty work would be normally. In the case of the OP I wouldn't be surprised if there's been an internal standoff where the dealership keeps saying to VW UK "we have tried x and y, still doesn't work, can you authorise a new engine" (or some other major overhaul), VW UK then says "no, we're not authorising that, too expensive, keep looking". Rinse and repeat, not that it helps the poor customer in all of this of course!

 

[Californication69]

Totally agree with others on here.
Had a useless bloke who cleaned the California before EV gave me the keys.
Brand new.
Scratches everywhere because the “valeter” in the loosest terms wrecked my pearl black factory finish.
End result.
EV and VWCV paid out nearly £8k for new lacquer over most panels.
Resulting in a stunning finish.
And at the dealer I wanted it done at.
So my journey was 7 months of hassle.
But for the next 20 years I’m happy.

 

[Markgray6.1ocean]

Very Sorry to hear about your VW Cali experience. I am going through something similar regarding the collapsing roof with VW & Eurovans (not as serious as your issue). I hope you were fully compensated by VW and or Eurovans.

Does the roof drop in the drivers side in hot weather?

 

[SusiBus]

EV supply most, if not all the discounted DtD Calis. Apart from the sales staff, they probably haven't got enough back up staff, they sell alot of Calis! As the saying goes, perhaps it's "You get what you pay for"

 

[Andyhcfc]

Does the roof drop in the drivers side in hot weather?

Hi, it drops both sides. I only use the van when it's warm, and it happens then. Getting ready for a trip to Spain and if it happens I will keep calling out VW Assist, so they will have a record of it. VW and Eurovans have not been very forthcoming with a fix to date. It feels like they are limping along until the warranty runs out.

 

[Vagophile]

it sounds like the problem was diagnosis not repair as such. I suspect the same with the OP. I realise the OP is frustrated, but it's unlikely (I would have thought) for VW to "bodge repair" because while the vehicle is well within warranty, that dealer would be accountable .

You are right that diagnosis is the key. In my case the vehicle had new injectors, fuel pressure regulator (maybe not the correct terminology) replacement of a fuel cut-off system associated with deceleration and some other fuel and electrical related parts. All the while, a long standing acquaintance who was a fleet manager for a major utility company kept telling me that the problem was highly likely to be the ECU, but that was not diagnosed until Mercedes U.K. became directly involved.
I thought that modern diagnostic kit should find the problem straight off, or is there more to it?
In response to iohr500, the saga would not unduly influence my decision to buy another Mercedes, there are times when you can be have problems, but they are the exception and life goes on.

 

[Andyhcfc]

Just because a few owners have some serious reliability issues doesn't mean it's endemic (either within a specific vehicle or a wider brand). As above with the Mercedes example, it sounds like the problem was diagnosis not repair as such. I suspect the same with the OP. I realise the OP is frustrated, but it's unlikely (I would have thought) for VW to "bodge repair" because while the vehicle is well within warranty, that dealer would be accountable for any subsequent failings and if these were due to poor workmanship, I suspect the dealership themselves would have to shoulder the cost, rather than it being recharged to VW UK as warranty work would be normally. In the case of the OP I wouldn't be surprised if there's been an internal standoff where the dealership keeps saying to VW UK "we have tried x and y, still doesn't work, can you authorise a new engine" (or some other major overhaul), VW UK then says "no, we're not authorising that, too expensive, keep looking". Rinse and repeat, not that it helps the poor customer in all of this of course!

I have to pull you up here, what do you mean by a few owners have reliability issues? There are more than "a few" on here and VW has denied any other owners had similar problems with the collapsing roof to me. Mr Bates had a similar experience with the Post Office it seems.