Servicing East Anglia/Southeast??

[Armourer983]

Any recommendations please...... for servicing of my 2018 California Ocean... prefer close to Chelmsford but willing to travel to a good garage/dealership....Thanks.

 

[Marc Oldman]

I’ve always had a good experience with Robinson’s Van Centre in Norwich. They’re a knowledgeable bunch, and have successfully negotiated a couple of warranty claims for me.

 

[Calisand]

Marriott Group in Bury St Edmunds have serviced my 2018 Ocean as well as some warranty repairs. Service has always been good.

 

[Neilos]

I used bury VW a few weeks ago. They seemed Okay ish. They no longer sell the California though. They claimed to have a Cali trained tech there but they seemed largely clueless when I asked them to look at some specific issues. They scored 0 out of 3.

I have a aluminium seat rail cover which won’t click into place. Didn’t fix that but did say they’d order me a new one. Haven’t heard anything more from them.

Headlight misting inside. They said they can’t do anything on that as they couldn’t witness it despite my pictures.

Scratches on wheel arch from the sliding door. They fobbed me off on that too. Claimed it wasn’t the sliding door. I’m pretty sure it was. Absolutely dead horizontal scratches on the protruding Arch. I’ve also had issues with the sliding door since then. Loose bolts on the top connection. So it needs to go back in.

They didn’t keep me updated as to when it was ready for pick up which was annoying as I was juggling work calls and picking up.

Did provide me with a loan but it was a panel van. Lucky I didn’t need to transport kids that day.

Haggle on price. I called two dealers and got different prices. Bury reduced their price to match Loughton. Loughton do still sell the California.

Once out of warranty I shall be back to my trusted local garage I think. Not sure it’s worth the hassle for VW service history.


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[2haw]

I live between Chelmsford & Southend and took mine to SMG Tonbridge about 6 weeks back. Had a loan Caddy and went and chilled at Bewl Water for a few hours! No kids. No Partner. Pure heaven.

 

[inthemidnighthour]

Robinson’s Norwich have always looked after us well

 

[Michael Minta]

Any recommendations please...... for servicing of my 2018 California Ocean... prefer close to Chelmsford but willing to travel to a good garage/dealership....Thanks.

Hi. I’m in Chelmsford and need MOT and service, where did you go in the end please?

 

[Armourer983]

I recommend Hanningfield Motors 01245 400406... the owners are personal friends of mine, and they service mine and mot etc.... hope this helps.

 

[Michael Minta]

I recommend Hanningfield Motors 01245 400406... the owners are personal friends of mine, and they service mine and mot etc.... hope this helps.

Thanks

 

[Skylark2.0]

Any one had any recent good experience of Norwich, Ipswich or other East Angli based VW for servicing recently? I have used Bury in the past but feel they may have lost their Cali expertise.
We may need the leisure batteries / starter battery replacing and don't want ànyone to mess it up!

 

[lfm]

Re-igniting an old thread here, but Bury St Edmunds is no longer a van centre. That leaves a big hole between Ipswich, Huntingdon, Loughton and St. Albans.

Just wondering where to book the first service... was not particularly happy with Vindis Huntingdon experience with previous Cali. I'm based near Cambridge/Newmarket.

 

[Barbara]

Re-igniting an old thread here, but Bury St Edmunds is no longer a van centre. That leaves a big hole between Ipswich, Huntingdon, Loughton and St. Albans.

Just wondering where to book the first service... was not particularly happy with Vindis Huntingdon experience with previous Cali. I'm based near Cambridge/Newmarket.

While we were still getting service included we went to https://www.marriottmotorgroup.co.uk/volkswagen-vans/contact-us/wolsey-van-centre-ipswich/

Not a California center but Vw vans. We still get emails about new vans but now have services done in a local small garage..

 

[Viktorgeorge]

Re-igniting an old thread here, but Bury St Edmunds is no longer a van centre. That leaves a big hole between Ipswich, Huntingdon, Loughton and St. Albans.

Just wondering where to book the first service... was not particularly happy with Vindis Huntingdon experience with previous Cali. I'm based near Cambridge/Newmarket.

I can recommend Wolsey VW, you could call Chris Coupland direct dial 01473 238799 the service manager there (best time 7:00-7:30am), and say the ex-Phaeton now Ocean man suggested you try them. I doubt you will be disappointed. They may not be California Specialists (try Norwich for Camper specifics, though due to building works delays they have long delays on any bookings) but for normal T6.1 work, Wolsey are I think a good call.

Always busy and their van car park is horribly packed but nowhere is perfect. I tend to drop off after hours, parking outside the car section (less packed), and putting keys in their letterbox, and collect likewise after hours, though you would first need to get to know them.

 

[lfm]

I can recommend Wolsey VW, you could call Chris Coupland direct dial 01473 238799 the service manager there (best time 7:30-7:30am), and said the ex-Phaeton now Ocean man suggested you try them. I doubt you will be disappointed. They may not be California Specialists (try Norwich for Camper specifics) but for normal T6.1 work, Wolsey are I think a good call.

Their van car park is horribly packed but nowhere is perfect. I tend to drop off after hours, parking outside the car section (less packed), and putting keys in their letterbox, and collect likewise after hours, though you would first need to get to know them.

I've heard good things, slightly too far the "wrong direction" for me this time. When they had the Bury van centre it was almost perfect.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

I've heard good things, slightly too far the "wrong direction" for me this time. When they had the Bury van centre it was almost perfect.

The balance between convenience (ease of access) and competence (trusted skills) is not easy. Now I am retired I have more time to travel to find what I want.

I, and I am sure other forum members in East Anglia, will be interested in who you use for your first service (et seq) and how that goes.

Those of us with new vans will need to stick with a VW dealer, which is limiting, older out of warranty vans will have a wider field of choice.

 

[Barbara]

The balance between convenience (ease of access) and competence (trusted skills) is not easy. Now I am retired I have more time to travel to find what I want.

I, and I am sure other forum members in East Anglia, will be interested in who you use for your first service (et seq) and how that goes.

Those of us with new vans will need to stick with a VW dealer, which is limiting, older out of warranty vans will have a wider field.

re:"Those of us with new vans will need to stick with a VW dealer, which is limiting, older out of warranty vans will have a wider field."

Yes in my case I took my van to Wolsey VW for the first 3 years and they were OK, they rang me if there was a recall. Our cars were being serviced with a local garage we used for years so the van gets serviced there too. After all most things are just the same as any other VW van.

However when we wanted a tow bar fitted we tried a local a towbar fitter that we had use for our car but he pointed out the complicitly of fitting due to the roof and where the connection were. We took the van back to where we had brought it in Preston. We went to Devon to have the diesel heater fitted. Agree about balance between convenience and competence.

 

[Micka]

Re-igniting an old thread here, but Bury St Edmunds is no longer a van centre. That leaves a big hole between Ipswich, Huntingdon, Loughton and St. Albans.

Just wondering where to book the first service... was not particularly happy with Vindis Huntingdon experience with previous Cali. I'm based near Cambridge/Newmarket.

You could try VWAudiTec, the guys in Chelmsford have been good with my T6 Beach. Dont know about the Bishops Stortford branch but its another option. I also want a few retro-fits sorting out such as my radio replacement but theres not much about in this area...

 

[Skylark2.0]

We had a very positive experience at Huntington recently, we made sure that the Calfornia Master tech was on site and aware of the service.
We also used to use Bury St Edmunds, they were great for Calis and were run by an enthusiast who was on this forum.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

We had a very positive experience at Huntington recently, we made sure that the Calfornia Master tech was on site and aware of the service.
We also used to use Bury St Edmunds, they were great for Calis and were run by an enthusiast who was on this forum.

I heard that a Bury St Edmunds master tech who was California specialised moved to Ipswich VW (I think they are/were the same ownership). Might that be the same?

Do you recall what name he posted as?

I am a big fan of identifying a good VW dealer tech and associating him with all repairs and service.

 

[Skylark2.0]

I heard that a Bury St Edmunds master tech who was California specialised moved to Ipswich VW (I think they are/were the same ownership). Might that be the same?

Do you recall what name he posted as?

I am a big fan of identifying a good VW dealer tech and associating him with all repairs and service.

It wasn't the master tech that followed the Forum, it was the garage owner who I suspect retired. The master tech, I think was called Chrism and I think he transferred to Ipswich but I haven't confirmed that. Let me know if you track him down?

 

[Viktorgeorge]

It wasn't the master tech that followed the Forum, it was the garage owner who I suspect retired. The master tech, I think was called Chrism and I think he transferred to Ipswich but I haven't confirmed that. Let me know if you track him down?

Thanks, @Skylark2.0. My contact there is a Chris, too (as my post above), but he is the service manager, not a master tech. Nonetheless a good reliable contact (accepting always that they have a big workload and have to ration their time accordingly). I will try to track down Chrism (I assume the ‘m’ is not a typo).

I had understood they Bury St Edmunds were owned by Marriott Motors as is Ipswich but perhaps I had that wrong.

Before I bought, my biggest deliberations were deciding what colour to choose. Once I got the Ocean I moved on to ‘accessorising’ , now that is done I have moved on to maintenance!

 

[Skylark2.0]

Thanks, @Skylark2.0. My contact there is a Chris, too (as my post above), but he is the service manager, not a master tech. Nonetheless a good reliable contact (accepting always that they have a big workload and have to ration their time accordingly). I will try to track down Chrism (I assume the ‘m’ is not a typo).

I had understood they Bury St Edmunds were owned by Marriott Motors as is Ipswich but perhaps I had that wrong.

Before I bought, my biggest deliberations were deciding what colour to choose. Once I got the Ocean I moved on to ‘accessorising’ , now that is done I have moved on to maintenance!

Yep, Chrism is typo! Maybe the guy was the manager then, it was Marriott Motors though.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

Yep, Chrism is typo! Maybe the guy was the manager then, it was Marriott Motors though.

I will post again below after my first service if I find out anything useful. I do not believe that Chris Coupland, the service manager, was ever at Bury St Edmunds, but I was definitely told of a California savvy master tech coming to Ipswich when Bury closed a few years ago: when I still had a Phaeton but was considering a California.

 

[Kayleigh]

Re-igniting an old thread here, but Bury St Edmunds is no longer a van centre. That leaves a big hole between Ipswich, Huntingdon, Loughton and St. Albans.

Just wondering where to book the first service... was not particularly happy with Vindis Huntingdon experience with previous Cali. I'm based near Cambridge/Newmarket.

Vindis Huntingdon is a VW car dealership that also services vans. Their van centre is in Northampton, although I have no experience with them.
Has anyone used Group 1 Van Centre in Peterborough?

 

[Skylark2.0]

Vindis Huntingdon is a VW car dealership that also services vans. Their van centre is in Northampton, although I have no experience with them.
Has anyone used Group 1 Van Centre in Peterborough?

Vindis us a VW van centre and a car centre according to the VW site. The courtesy car was an electric transporter which was interesting