5th seat for T6 California ocean

[mainy]

Can someone please advise if a T5 Cali 5th seat will fit in a T6 Cali? We would like an extra seat for occasional use and have seen a T5 seat but not sure if it will fit? Appreciate your help, thanks

 

[Bellcrew]

Can someone please advise if a T5 Cali 5th seat will fit in a T6 Cali? We would like an extra seat for occasional use and have seen a T5 seat but not sure if it will fit? Appreciate your help, thanks

Yes, I have bought one, all the location brackets /fixings are identical to the T6 seat just different coloured upholstery. Does your Ocean have the three floor rails that are required to fit the seat, the four wheel drive version only has two rails.

 

[Borris]

Yes, I have bought one, all the location brackets /fixings are identical to the T6 seat just different coloured upholstery. Does your Ocean have the three floor rails that are required to fit the seat, the four wheel drive version only has two rails.

I know it's going a bit off topic but I'd be very interested in a review from someone with this fifth seat set up. I've missed our SE ever since we sold it. We now have a very practical Beach because we need the extra seats etc. However in the not too distant future an Ocean with an occasional extra seat might be a possible option.

 

[andyinluton]

We have had an SE for 4 years & have camped in it with varying numbers of kids.
The deciding factor is probably how often you are going to use it. We found the cali worked well as a 5 seat car with occasional use as a camper.
In car mode you either leave the rear shelf & mattress at home or stand it up vertically in the boot & slide the rear seat back an extra six inches to make proper leg room for the rear seat.
If you don't, you need one kid with no legs & not need access to the undersea draw!
It does however let you separate the most troublesome child & put them in isolation, & as a car with 5 comfortable seats with everyone spread out it works well.

For use as a camper that middle seat really does get in the way - you cant make up the bed with it there, open the under bench draw easily or put up the sliding table. On the other hand you can fold it down & use the back as a table.

So for overnight stops you need to get the seat out & put it somewhere & of course put it back in when you need to drive anywhere. Its a relatively heavy awkward lump to move around. But if you tend to park the van up for a few days add on an awning etc & walk / ride bikes it works well.

Cold wet evenings camping with 5 people and only 4 seats in the van can be challenging!

If the kids are little, I would consider making a shorter rear shelf - a foot shorter would let you leave the seat in, & still leave you a surprisingly good floor space along side it to access the kitchen. If its not needed, leave the middle seat head restraint at home, saves a bit more space.

To summarise - for 5 as a camper for a weekend its fine, for longer stays in one place it fine, but not so good if you are more the 14 sites in 14 days type of person.

We have tried it with 6 ! with 2x 5th seats - not to be recommended but just about doable.

 

[Borris]

We have had an SE for 4 years & have camped in it with varying numbers of kids.
The deciding factor is probably how often you are going to use it. We found the cali worked well as a 5 seat car with occasional use as a camper.
In car mode you either leave the rear shelf & mattress at home or stand it up vertically in the boot & slide the rear seat back an extra six inches to make proper leg room for the rear seat.
If you don't, you need one kid with no legs & not need access to the undersea draw!
It does however let you separate the most troublesome child & put them in isolation, & as a car with 5 comfortable seats with everyone spread out it works well.

For use as a camper that middle seat really does get in the way - you cant make up the bed with it there, open the under bench draw easily or put up the sliding table. On the other hand you can fold it down & use the back as a table.

So for overnight stops you need to get the seat out & put it somewhere & of course put it back in when you need to drive anywhere. Its a relatively heavy awkward lump to move around. But if you tend to park the van up for a few days add on an awning etc & walk / ride bikes it works well.

Cold wet evenings camping with 5 people and only 4 seats in the van can be challenging!

If the kids are little, I would consider making a shorter rear shelf - a foot shorter would let you leave the seat in, & still leave you a surprisingly good floor space along side it to access the kitchen. If its not needed, leave the middle seat head restraint at home, saves a bit more space.

To summarise - for 5 as a camper for a weekend its fine, for longer stays in one place it fine, but not so good if you are more the 14 sites in 14 days type of person.

We have tried it with 6 ! with 2x 5th seats - not to be recommended but just about doable.

Thanks Andy,
That's very interesting.
In our case, as grandparents with regular child minding duties for three youngsters, this configuration might just work quite well. The fifth seat would only stay in the van for day to day use, with the rear shelf removed and the twin seat bench pushed back to give better leg room. "It does however let you separate the most troublesome child & put them in isolation" I'm liking the sound of that very much indeed! I would remove it and leave it behind when touring or camping as that would almost always involve just the two of us.
However, I suspect that when it comes to replacing our Beach and I once again come to weigh up the pros and cons, the extra versatility of the Beach may well end up winning me over again but we shall see.

 

[andyinluton]

It sounds like it could work well for you especially if the camping & needing 5 seats never clash.

It depends what you think the extra versatility of a beach is.

For me an SE is ok as an occasional wardrobe transporter from ikea etc & even with the kitchen there its bigger in "Van Mode" than most cars, but the kitchen does stop me using it as a builders van which is a good thing.

I didn't want 7 seats, we have a 7 seat car for that, I didn't want it for the dump run - I have a trailer for that. If we had a beach all the camping gear would have to stay in it as the garage is already full & if its got to stay in the van why not have it as a permanent fixture.

I don't know what I would do with the extra empty space in a beach, so it seemed silly to deprive myself of a fitted fridge, cooker & sink just to get some extra space which I would only fill up with a fridge, cooker & water containers!

 

[Borris]

It sounds like it could work well for you especially if the camping & needing 5 seats never clash.

It depends what you think the extra versatility of a beach is.

For me an SE is ok as an occasional wardrobe transporter from ikea etc & even with the kitchen there its bigger in "Van Mode" than most cars, but the kitchen does stop me using it as a builders van which is a good thing.

I didn't want 7 seats, we have a 7 seat car for that, I didn't want it for the dump run - I have a trailer for that. If we had a beach all the camping gear would have to stay in it as the garage is already full & if its got to stay in the van why not have it as a permanent fixture.

I don't know what I would do with the extra empty space in a beach, so it seemed silly to deprive myself of a fitted fridge, cooker & sink just to get some extra space which I would only fill up with a fridge, cooker & water containers!

Well in the end it's all down to personal circumstances. At the moment the Beach fits our needs perfectly but I can see the day when our needs may have altered sufficiently to make the five seater Ocean an attractive alternative.

We came back from the airport early this morning after a glorious holiday in the sun. There were three kids in child seats, four adults and five large suit cases on board. I couldn't contemplate doing that in an SE/Ocean. Admittedly, it doesn't get used as a seven seater that often but often enough to make it a very useful trick indeed. Also I don't often use it for lugging stuff about in either (other than for camping) but it is extremely useful when I do. I could make alternative arrangements on these occasions if I were to go for a five seater SE/Ocean and may well decide to do so one day but for the moment we often use all of the various advantages that the Beach offers. However, having previously owned an SE I must say that I do miss the self contained, ready to go purpose built camper thing. We are fortunate to have enough space to store all of the separate camping clobber you need with a Beach and that's fine but having the van ready and packed to go is an attractive advantage.

 

[mainy]

Thanks for the replies. Ours has the 3 rails. Originally we had planned to go for the 4motion until the sales rep advised us adding the 5th seat isn't possible due to payload capacity and it being restricted to 2 rails.

 

[Trev]

I know it's going a bit off topic but I'd be very interested in a review from someone with this fifth seat set up. I've missed our SE ever since we sold it. We now have a very practical Beach because we need the extra seats etc. However in the not too distant future an Ocean with an occasional extra seat might be a possible option.

We have an Ocean with 5th seat. Leg room isn't great but if you need to carry 5 it does work. very heavy so not something you'd want to move in and out routinely unless you are strong or want to save on gym fees. It seems to be the best value optional extra from VW.

 

[Tom Rae]

I too am a grandad taxi with a 2009 T5 Cali, I am considering getting a third rail fitted for a 5th seat and wondered if a 6th seat could also be fitted, both additional seats would be for sporadic transporting, not camping.

 

[Tom Rae]

Perhaps a Beach two seater bench might fit the existing rails?

 

[Borris]

Perhaps a Beach two seater bench might fit the existing rails?

It should but you might find access to the rear two seat bench a major issue and even more important egress from it in the event of an accident.

 

[Tom Rae]

It should but you might find access to the rear two seat bench a major issue and even more important egress from it in the event of an accident.

True, however the bench could be close to the front seat backs as the occupants are small children with short legs. It would be pretty heavy to lug in and out too. I may be better just to have a third rail fitted and use a 5th seat.

Tom

 

[Borris]

True, however the bench could be close to the front seat backs as the occupants are small children with short legs. It would be pretty heavy to lug in and out too. I may be better just to have a third rail fitted and use a 5th seat.

Tom

I'm not aware of anyone trying this. Still if the occupants are only small then it might work.

 

[andyinluton]

Perhaps a Beach two seater bench might fit the existing rails?

If you do a search, this has been discussed before, the two seater beach bench is almost identical to the ocean bench. I have previously tried & its not possible to put two benches in at once and have a safe means of access to the rear one.

The bench is much deeper than the 5th seat & therefore uses a lot more floorspace. to make enough room to squeeze into the rearmost bench the front bench has to have its front edge touching the backs of the front seat so no leg room at all.

The access into the back bench ends up being less than a foot wide through the side door, with that also being the only exit route in the event of an accident.

 

[Tom Rae]

If you do a search, this has been discussed before, the two seater beach bench is almost identical to the ocean bench. I have previously tried & its not possible to put two benches in at once and have a safe means of access to the rear one.

The bench is much deeper than the 5th seat & therefore uses a lot more floorspace. to make enough room to squeeze into the rearmost bench the front bench has to have its front edge touching the backs of the front seat so no leg room at all.

The access into the back bench ends up being less than a foot wide through the side door, with that also being the only exit route in the event of an accident.

Thanks Andy, very helpful, now back to fitting a third rail.

Tom

 

[Bellcrew]

Thanks Andy, very helpful, now back to fitting a third rail.

Tom

Recent comments on this subject go into some detail, see below
You can fit a sixth seat in but the leg room is almost nonexistent on one seat, OK for a very small child in a none-Isofix seat (one without the support leg). The front and rear travel stops have to be removed and you will need to notify your insurance co/DVLA. Andyinluton has done this, again search the threads.

"Having spoken to a very well regarded and skilled retro fit specialist in the T5 world, I can confirm that the cost of retro fitting a third / middle seat rail is approximately £550. This does not involve removing the kitchen so no risk of any nasty squeaks or rattles creeping in. Cornwall.... Premium Kampers. The chaps name is Murko.
Andrew. (Ajspicer)"

 

[Baloni]

I've a lovely 4motion and now have our third child due!

So I've two options I just need to explore as I see....

Can a rear facing double seat bench be fitted behind Ocean rock & roller?

Or

Could I remove the passenger captains seat and replace with a fixed double seat?

 

[andyinluton]

Notwithstanding number of seats on V5 insurance etc. We found it possible to use the two normal seatbelts in the rear bench and use an isofixxseat in the middle of the bench at the same time.
Downsides with double front seat are:
No kids in the front in France.
Access from front to rear is none existent

 

[Baloni]

Thanks Andy I will explore our child seat juggling options on the bench and then ask VW if I can fit a double seat in place of the passenger side Captin chair if that doesn’t work! Then it’s here we come!

 

[andyinluton]

You will be wasting your time talking to a VW main dealer. try someone like Oxford T5 as below. They specialise in fitting & swapping seats between all sorts of Vw vans, also the go to place if you did want the extra rail fitting to take a fifth seat.



OXFORD T5.
We specialise in Caravelle and Kombi conversions to VW T5 Transporters.
We install genuine VW Caravelle and Kombi seats including floor rail systems, quick release floor brackets, seat belts and trim. We also buy and sell genuine VW T5 Transporter front or rear seats and accessories. In addition we can offer part exchange on your existing seats and arrange Window fitting.
Please call Colin on.
07799 626310