Bye bye Beach

OGII

OGII

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628
Location
New Forest
Vehicle
T6 Beach 150
So according to Car Magazine Beach T6.1 isn't destined for UK shores....

www.carmagazine.co.uk

California Dreamin’: new 2025 VW California goes on UK sale priced from £63k

Everything you need to know about the new VW California campervan, which previews an all-new T7 California generation based on the Volkswagen Multivan. Read more on CAR
www.carmagazine.co.uk

Such a shame, for us the Beach was the only Cali that ticked our boxes.

I am wondering if the all singing and dancing mini kitchen in a side panel will be orderable as parts though......
 
OGII said:
So according to Car Magazine Beach T6.1 isn't destined for UK shores....

www.carmagazine.co.uk

California Dreamin’: new 2025 VW California goes on UK sale priced from £63k

Everything you need to know about the new VW California campervan, which previews an all-new T7 California generation based on the Volkswagen Multivan. Read more on CAR
www.carmagazine.co.uk

Such a shame, for us the Beach was the only Cali that ticked our boxes.

I am wondering if the all singing and dancing mini kitchen in a side panel will be orderable as parts though......
Click to expand...
I just read the same article. This would be a retrograde step, surely.
The Beach, in both 2 & 3-seater versions, is an ideal and flexible vehicle for those who want the sleeping, but not carrying the kitchen around 24/7.
 
The pre-reg and ex VW low mileage/nearly new beaches selling recently for around the £40k mark at VW van centres will look like bargains if they go up in value because of future scarcity. Kind of wishing I’d bought one now instead of my SE.
 
Just read the article and if correct it would be a shame. I wonder if just the Ocean will be available or Ocean and Coast?
 
Looking on German sites I found this:

de.motor1.com

VW California 6.1 Beach mit neuer Miniküche

VW stellt eine neue Miniküche für den California 6.1 vor. Sie lässt sich Platz sparend in die Seitenwand klappen. Den Wagen gibt es auch mit sieben Sitzen.
de.motor1.com de.motor1.com

Hitting translate on part of it revealed new names, Tour & Camper.

We'll soon be able to have Tour v Camper v Coast v Ocean "which is best" debates......


The new California 6.1 Beach with mini kitchen and RV approval receives the additional nameCamper ; the Beach version without mini kitchen with car approval will carry the additional designation Tour . There are also new things in the tour: in future, he will get two sliding doors as standard - right and left. Previously there was the beach only with a sliding door on the right side.Both Beach versions - Tour and Camper - come standard with a new digital control panel in the overhead console. This opens and closes the new pop-up roof with a hydraulic function. It is available at an additional cost. So far, there was only a manually operated pitch roof.
 
Amarillo said:
The impression I get is that the Beach Camper will have a 2 seat bench and pull out cooker, and the Beach Tour will have a 3 seat bench and second sliding door.
Click to expand...
On the German configurator you can spec either. The ‘kitchen’ is standard equipment. You can then choose 3 seat bench if you want as a no cost extra. You can spec the second sliding door which then takes the kitchen away (which also appears to be no cost swap).
 
Good intel, thanks for digging these out. I really like the new 6.1 front end (without chrome), digital dash & esp. the top spec nav screen and this new gas ring. The flat colour Coast in the recent video looked great to me.

I had thought I'd be happy with my Beach indefinitely, but I can now feel the beginnings of The Itch ...
 
hirsty said:
.
I had thought I'd be happy with my Beach indefinitely, but I can now feel the beginnings of The Itch ...
Click to expand...

Ditto!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hopefully the 2nd sliding door option will come with the necessary roof prep to fit a 2nd awning.
 
It looks like on the German configurator site you can have swivel front seats with the middle seats
 
paul_f said:
It looks like on the German configurator site you can have swivel front seats with the middle seats
Click to expand...
I meant to put can't have the swivel seats
 
I was talking to a reputable dealer on Wednesday and he also said as much. We were discussing the new changes to the Beach and he told me that he had heard from a reliable source who had attended the recent launch that VW currently have no plans to export those models to the UK. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen.
 
s2bear said:
Doesn’t it already have that? There’s a channel on the other side of mine.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
All Calis have the awning channel but do they have the fixing holes for the Awning brackets under the lift up roof?
 
I'm not into the Beach but it would be unfair on existing loyal or future customers to discontinue it in the UK.
Its a great vehicle for what it does.
I also like the colour of the Beach in the Vid.
 
Following on from my previous post, I can actually believe that the new Beach models, what ever their names are, won't be coming to the UK, purely on the grounds of cost. Cali sales have been down year on year for the last two years, again confirmed by a dealer. This may be partly due to the new VED rates but regardless of the cause, Cali sales in the UK are slowing. To spec a Beach to a reasonable level is a costly business. I should know as I've just ordered one and I can assure you that for what I will be paying, I could buy a very nice brand new Ocean, except I don't want one of those. So a nice Beach is already extremely expensive. Now add to that a new model with these expensive new changes and the prices will only go one way and that's before any import tax due to a possible no deal Brexit is factored in. Net result, sales stall. No, I can't be sure of this but it all looks very plausible to me.

I'm only glad I took the plunge when I did.
 
Last edited:
Borris said:
Following on from my previous post, I can actually believe that the new Beach models, what ever their names are, won't be coming to the UK purely on the grounds of cost. Cali sales have been down year on year for the last two years, again confirmed by a dealer. This may be partly due to the new VED rates but regardless of the cause, Cali sales in the UK are slowing. To spec a Beach to a reasonable level is a costly business. I should know as I've just ordered one and I can assure you that for what I will be paying, I could buy a very nice brand new Ocean except I don't want one of those. So a nice Beach is already extremely expensive. Now add to that a new model with these new changes and the prices will only go one way and that's before any import tax due to a possible no deal Brexit is factored in. Net result, sales stall. No I can't be sure of this but it all looks very plausible to me.

I'm only glad I took the plunge when I did.
Click to expand...
It could work out a very wise move Borris, the residuals would remain high. I know this is only relevant if you decide to sell but its a nice feeling while you continue to enjoy the bus, that its not devaluing at a rate of knots.
Our Ocean is six months old now, with the options that we wanted with two previous vans to learn from, If prices of the 6.1 are as high as predicted then good well looked after late 6s residuals should remain high.
Should.
Not withstanding that its a crying shame for future Beach owners, that an alternative version wont be available.
 
Sandyvan said:
It could work out a very wise move Borris, the residuals would remain high. I know this is only relevant if you decide to sell but its a nice feeling while you continue to enjoy the bus, that its not devaluing at a rate of knots.
Our Ocean is six months old now, with the options that we wanted with two previous vans to learn from, If prices of the 6.1 are as high as predicted then good well looked after late 6s residuals should remain high.
Should.
Not withstanding that its a crying shame for future Beach owners, that an alternative version wont be available.
Click to expand...
I agree, if true it would be a crying shame. The Beach is a truly remarkable vehicle that is perfect for a multitude of family applications. I've long held the view that as far as the California is concerned, VW are in danger of pricing themselves out of the market and the signs are now there.

As for our new Beach, we hadn't' intended changing yet as we already had a very nice one. However, as it turned out, it was the optimal time to sell the previous bus with a service still available to the new owner along with another 18 months of Factory extended warranty. The other reasons were the looming threat of an extra 10% import tariffs following a no deal Brexit and the fact that I don't like aspects of the T6-1. Also I have always thought that the last of a production run are the most sorted vehicles and are usually sold with bigger discounts.

You may be right and our choice may prove to have been a very wise one. We shall see.
 
Last edited:
Yes I was also told today no Beach coming to the Uk just the Ocean and new Coast
 
This defies logic. There's nothing difficult to bring the new Beach in RHD (as they are bringing the Ocean). It's loss of sales for the factory, for the dealer network and the service and parts department. I wouldn't mind a sneaky flutter that this is a case of cock up rather than a plan, and will be reversed.
(unless I've missed a big reason why it would be difficult / expensive for vw..... Perhaps they are cutting down on all the extensive specialist training they give to the whole network :))
 
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