T6 Cali vs T6 transporter and a custom job

[Chill]

Hi all

I am new here so please be gentle...

I am looking for a t6 DSG 4 motion with a fair few bells and whistles but can't seem to get one for this summer. I am now considering a well speced T6 DSG 4motion transporter and taking it to a custom shop. Budget is circa £65k. Any advice would be appreciated in terms of should I just order the Cali and wait or would a custom job be a better bet.

Thanks.

 

[WelshGas]

Hi all

I am new here so please be gentle...

I am looking for a t6 DSG 4 motion with a fair few bells and whistles but can't seem to get one for this summer. I am now considering a well speced T6 DSG 4motion transporter and taking it to a custom shop. Budget is circa £65k. Any advice would be appreciated in terms of should I just order the Cali and wait or would a custom job be a better bet.

Thanks.

Are you planning to keep it long term?

A California will retain its value a lot better than any Conversion.

If you want a guaranteed vehicle for this summer then you could look at an ex-demo T5.1 SE but there are only a few left.

 

[Chill]

Hi, many thanks for the reply, we would be keeping it long term. I have an option on a Cali of the right spec for early August but am impatient and would like to start enjoying life a little sooner, perhaps I should just wait and pick up the Cali in August...

 

[AlisonF]

£65k - wowzers - you're either desperate or got money to burn? What's wrong with ordering and if you want one short term renting - you'd still save £5-10k on a top spec...?
Maybe I missed something here
Hmm read that back and it sounded rude. Sorry. Welcome. Hope you get what you're after. Search the forum and hopefully it will help

 

[larrylamb]

Good things come to those who wait....
Top spec Cali, maybe a dealer might have one as a demo, get a deal, leaves you room to "make it your own" leather, wheels etc etc.

 

[Chill]

£65k - wowzers - you're either desperate or got money to burn? What's wrong with ordering and if you want one short term renting - you'd still save £5-10k on a top spec...?
Maybe I missed something here
Hmm read that back and it sounded rude. Sorry. Welcome. Hope you get what you're after. Search the forum and hopefully it will help

That's ok, you are right and I think we will order the Cali for August and rent until then.

 

[Keith Smith]

We had arranged to buy a Transporter conversion but the sale fell through and getting a Cali was very much a second choice. However now we have the Cali we are VERY happy and feel we have been really lucky that things turned out this way.

 

[Borris]

Hi all

I am new here so please be gentle...

I am looking for a t6 DSG 4 motion with a fair few bells and whistles but can't seem to get one for this summer. I am now considering a well speced T6 DSG 4motion transporter and taking it to a custom shop. Budget is circa £65k. Any advice would be appreciated in terms of should I just order the Cali and wait or would a custom job be a better bet.

Thanks.

Welcome Chill,
Well if it were me, I wouldn't do it. A Cali to your own personal spec is a classy piece of kit and is well worth waiting for. It will hold its value much better than any conversion.

Again, if it were me and I wanted one quickly, I would ring every UK dealer and see if any of them have a demonstrator that is near to my desired spec. I would then try to negotiate a good deal. Other than that just put in your order and chill.
You could always hire while you wait.

 

[GrannyJen]

It might be an ill wind blowing whatever it does....

Stick to the Cali order, you know what you are getting. With conversion it all might be a bit rushed, not a lot of time for getting snags out, etc. As suggested above, hire in the meantime if you must have a Cali a couple of months earlier. Hiring may demonstrate features and needs that you had not considered.

I hired whilst waiting for Mine. I'm glad I did. I had a much better appreciation of what else I needed when it finally arrived.

 

[snowy55]

Welcome Chill
If you order now you won't get delivery in August more like October.

 

[Stoneybroke]

If looking at the T 6 Cali's being sold by dealers as ex-demos, just be sure the front seats swivel... Swivelgate comfort seat rejects are out there!

 

[Meoncoast]

Order a Cail wait and hire for this years holiday

 

[marshian70]

On this forum you're going to get a pretty one sided view. It depends what you want really as some of the conversions out there are really excellent, arguably perhaps cooler looking than the stock Cali, but I agree with the others - if I was spending that kind of money I would definitely go California. You can always spend some of the budget on Sportline mods etc. if that takes your fancy.

 

[GrannyJen]

On this forum you're going to get a pretty one sided view. It depends what you want really as some of the conversions out there are really excellent, arguably perhaps cooler looking than the stock Cali, but I agree with the others - if I was spending that kind of money I would definitely go California. You can always spend some of the budget on Sportline mods etc. if that takes your fancy.

I agree with that view to some extent. However when I was weighing up my options before Christmas the lead time quoted by one converter that I would have most definitely have considered amongst the best was as long as the wait for a Cali.

Yes, a transporter may be available (although even for base vehicle I was quoted 10 weeks for DSG/4motion/204) but then spec that up to a full-fat SE, wait for parts, wait for workshop time, then wait for the inevitable snagging. I was in no hurry, I have a Cali, but even so I got to disinterest point before we had gone 2/3rds of the way through the "extra parts" availability list.

 

[Chill]

Many thanks for all your great comments, please keep them coming.

 

[bvddobb]

Hi Chill,

Welcome here! Just to add to the comments here: we would ALWAYS rent for a few weeks before deciding to go the standard Cali or the Conversion route and before ordering anything. It will give you a very good feel for what makes sense for you and what not. So you would know better how to spec your order.

And who knows: you could still find that you don't like some details of the Cali design, and a conversion would fit your needs better! Also there are a lot of very nice 'standard' conversions out there, that have been in production for longer periods of time and have proven their stance. You would have less hassle and snagging there, because the converter has ample experience with their conversion.

We have never been very impressed with the 'retain value' argument of a Cali (say Cali owners ;-): the real value for us lies in our use of it, and we intend to drive it around until it dies... We wanted the van that fitted our style of travel the best. Would that have been a conversion (Spacecamper on a Rockton a good candidate, or the Terock camper...) we would have bought a conversion.

 

[calimera]

Welcome Chill
We are waiting sort of patiently for our T6 ocean ordered January. We hired a T5 Cali twice & motorhome . Really helpful in deciding what worked best for us.

forum member Ewan shares his thoughts " Is the new VW T6 California for me"
on his blog wildaboutscotland.com

 

[sapto]

All said! A warm welcome from Switzerland and have fun ordering or converting/have one converted!

Personal I would go for ordering, enjoying the time without a Cali or rent one!

Cheers
sapto

 

[Chill]

Welcome Chill
We are waiting sort of patiently for our T6 ocean ordered January. We hired a T5 Cali twice & motorhome . Really helpful in deciding what worked best for us.

forum member Ewan shares his thoughts " Is the new VW T6 California for me"
on his blog wildaboutscotland.com

Thanks for this and I have read Ewans Blog with interest.

 

[phillme]

wowzers ... 65k ... if i were dreaming i would have the best of both ... specked up t6 window van ... inside of the t6 cali ... beach roof and a trip to a German off road company that i cant spell let alone afford ooo love a good daydream x

 

[Stuart]

For me one of the big benefits of the cali is the sliding rail system. When I initially started looking at used converted vans none of them used a rail system.

 

[johnyboy]

residuals! according to asking prices today I am only £1k per year in depreciation.
Other small things - no carpeted walls, no curtains, chairs have a home, gas bottle nice and safe itn eh water tank!

 

[Chill]

Thanks for all your help on this. We took the plunge and ordered the Cali today. Great spec and it is in the showroom now but we can't get our hands on it until 1 August!

 

[DM]

Congratulations - you won't regret it. We just picked up out T6 Ocean after a 5 month wait. I won't say that the waiting is exactly part of the fun but this forum sure helps.

To echo the views of others here (mostly biased Cali owners) ,we spent a couple of months researching conversions versus Cail. Sliding rails were a must for us which narrowed down the field to those using the Reimo rail system - which is nice. It also offers the advantage of a 7 seat option with full kitchen etc. I also agree that carpets on the walls are also a no no which narrows the field further. Then we costed everything up and found that conversions generally cost more. So the Cali it was for us.

No regrets.

 

[Andy80F]

Good choice. I might have looked to the mercedes Marco Polo, given the budget, before looking to the converters but you have at least something to look forward too.