Buying a 5 seat but need 7 seat - the dealership says you can't do it!

[simplek1]

hi, helpful, knowledgeable, California owners

Please help!! So we've had our deposit down on an ex demo Beach since beginning of January. When we spoke to salesman he said we could put two extra seats in to make it the 7 seater that we need and he would get us a price; this was at the beginning of January - the beach will be available to us in March! We have patiently waited and have yesterday made the call to find out if he has got the price of the seats.... after 24 hours of him avoiding us we have finally got to the bottom of it. According to The business manager this is the first he has heard of it and he doesn't believe it is possible; even if it is they will be around £2500!!!!!!!!!!!

Has anyone had this done at another dealership and can you clarify if this is the correct information? We sold our car yesterday in preparation for March, and we have baby number 4 due in 6 weeks - panic mode has well and truly set in!!

Thank you

 

[DM]

Unfortunately I think the manager may be correct. I asked about adding a fifth seat to an Ocean and was told it was not possible. There is an issue with rails in the Ocean but I was also told that seats cannot be added later because the vehicle is registered as having the number of seats that it leaves the factory with. I'm pretty sure the registration. And be changed - at a price - but I guess the dealers just don't want the hassle.

I don't think you will get anywhere with VW or a dealer. Other options are to buy the beach and then look for additional seats on eBay / gumtree. There are usually seats there but you'd have to be very careful about fittings. You could also try the coach builders. They may have seats that they have taken out of a vehicle when converting. You'll probably have to not be fussy about the trim though.

Good luck - I hope you get sorted.

 

[Dave bee]

Does your beach have the rails for the extra seats? If so the middle row seats are £500 + each on eBay. You might find someone on here who has some they never use who might sell you theirs. As long as the rails are fitted you will get the seats if you are patent, never cheap but way cheaper than a vw dealer. You might find you only need one! We normally have 6 and a kitchen pod fitted most of the time.

 

[simplek1]

Thank you so much for your quick reply - this news has certainly crushed us today after finally getting into the last 3 weeks before we become beach owners!!!

It does worry me doing things not according to the book - I wonder why vw aren't allowed to if. It seems so odd when the rails are there

 

[simplek1]

Thank you @Dave bee it definitely has the rails as it has the 3 seater bench in... or at least to my minimal knowledge that means the rails is there. So do you think it is just the case of buying them and fitting them? I honestly thought that's all it was, I never thought about how many seats the car is registered for etc. I just don't want to do anything that is dangerous at the dealership has said the rails may not be right to hold the additional seats and if there's an accident they may not hold... it's scary stuff

 

[Dave bee]

If the rails are there then beach seats or caravelle middle row seats will fit. There are some good t5 specialists on eBay but I would avoid anything from abroad( others might disagree). Can't see any problem with fitting the extra seats as long as you make sure you tell your insurance company it's a 7 seat beach, which would be correct.

 

[jts46]

You may also need to alter the logbook or whatever it is called these days for the amount of seats you require

 

[Dave bee]

You replied prior to my post, If it is a 5 seater I would expect it to be that way from the factory not retro fitted. You can easily change the v5 to 7 seats however it may not even state 5 I'm not sure. Sounds more like the dealer can't get the seats easily for you and doesn't want the hassle.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Unfortunate scenario.....

I picked up my 7-Seater Beach 3 weeks ago.... Whilst I don't need the 7x seats, I did add the additional 2x at a cost of £720 (before overall vehicle discount.) I was just being prudent, from a re-sale point of view.... "Better looking at them, than for them" was my logic.

If VW can't supply the seats, at a similar price.... You'll probably have to look elsewhere, eBay etc.... Then, once fitted, inform DVLA, and get your V5 registration book updated. Plus, make sure your insurance is for the correct number of seats. This process, probably sounds worse than it'll be.

It's a pity your dealer didn't iron this out earlier.... Perhaps you could insist on a refund of deposit, and look elsewhere for a 7-seater?

Good luck anyway! And maybe you'll get lucky on this forum, and source some additional seats.

 

[Stoneybroke]

The V5 of my Beach says 7-seater even though I have the 2-seater bench version (with an extra middle seat).
If you look at the brochure it is clear that you can buy the Beach as a 7-seater.
It seen the dealer is saying they Won't, rather than it can't be done.
Perhaps you need to take in one and show him the pictures!

 

[bbqforce10]

I believe that you need the extra rail to fit the additional seat in the rear. I'm not sure if you can fit two extra rear seats, it may only be possible to add one.
I can recommend Colin at Oxfordt5 for retro fitting the rails. I am converting a T5 and he fitted genuine vw rails for me to go with my 2 seater california seat/bed. He provides an insurance recognised fitting certificate.

You could also change your passenger single seat for a double bench seat.

Passenger single seats are in demand and you could get good money for it (£500+)

 

[Stoneybroke]

You might want to look at this...

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[owen_h]

Or VW website for the Beach
https://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/media/2554088/beach_floorplan_2.png
"Three seat bench with optional second row seats"
Which dealer (so we can avoid)

 

[2haw]

If the Beach you have ordered has a 3 seat rear bench with 4 rails, I'm sure two seats could be bought and easily installed, could you ask the dealer to check what the current registration document states?

Also, could you ask on here to see if anybody is willing to do a deal and add 2 seats onto an order?

 

[Dave bee]

On the issue of the ocean, the most recent brochure has the option of deleting the seat rail. Looking at pictures it appears the rail for the fifth seat is now standard, not the seat, but if correct great for those buying second hand in the future and needing seating for five.

 

[andyinluton]

As 2haw said - ask to see the v5 it probably says 7 seats.

If that is the case its just a question of getting hold of 2 extra seats. At one time dealers were ordering extra seats even if customers didn't want them as they were worth more on eBay than VW charged as an extra at build time.

If it doesn't state 7 seats on the V5 it should be a simple process to get it changed - however bear in mind insurance companies may then treat it as a modified vehicle.

 

[simplek1]

Thanks everyone for the reassuring words - I felt like all was at a loss after initially not seeing an issue whatsoever - apart from the cost element which we didn't know so were a bit nervous about the answer on!!

So next thing to do is to ask them to check V5 - and just hope it says 7 seater to jump the first hurdle. Then hope we can work it into a deal since they have left us with such a crazy unexpected amount of money to find.... whilst also hoping the extra digging they are doing with VW doesn't throw up some genuine reason why it can't/should t be done!

@Jonathan Duke c'mon now that's just rubbing it in

@owen_h and @Stoneybroke i think it is more a case of they are saying about it being done retrofit, as opposed to not being possible - that's my fault sorry!

 

[Gary&Heather]

If the Beach you have ordered has a 3 seat rear bench with 4 rails, I'm sure two seats could be bought and easily installed, could you ask the dealer to check what the current registration document states?

Also, could you ask on here to see if anybody is willing to do a deal and add 2 seats onto an order?

If the beach has four rails two seats can be fitted.

 

[simplek1]

Good advice thank you. My husband said exactly that "why don't people just pay the extra £700 odd and get two seats to sell on" it really makes no sense that VW would allow such a crazy thing to potentially happen.

I will pop a post on and see if anyone would be kind enough to add two seats for us, or even ask if the dealership could do it as some kind of goodwill gesture for us.

Feeling much more positive now

 

[simplek1]

@Jonathan Duke c'mon now that's just rubbing it in

My laughing emoji didn't show up

 

[2haw]

Here is a part of my V5 that states 7 seats. Maybe somebody with a 5 seat Beach could check their V5 to see what is says?

 

[owen_h]

My 2012 Beach has 7 seats on the V5 document. Physically there are only 4 belted seats . Mine was also a demo and came with an extra seat which I sold on this site.
Had a look on eBay and there are a few seats listed on there at the moment. Around £450 each. Need to look for Caravelle seats so the upholstery will be different to the Beach but fitting is the same.

 

[andyinluton]

Need to look for Caravelle seats so the upholstery will be different to the Beach but fitting is the same.

Why the need to look for caravelle seats? beach ones are available...

 

[owen_h]

Why the need to look for caravelle seats? beach ones are available...

I didn't spot any but probably not using detailed enough search criteria. Is the T6 Beach fabric is different to T5 Beach fabrics?

 

[MattBW]

They do occasionally come up on here, often for more the region of £300 and go very fast, I'm not convinced the £500 ebay ones sell that often.

I've been tempted a few times but the fact I have never seen one in my fabric has stopped me