Adventure planning

[Ethan Lucas]

Hi everyone,

We've just started looking at California transporters, I've always been fascinated and loved the look of them. My and my partner have a little baby boy who's 9 months old and we have a border collie. We enjoy being outdoors and thought this would be a great family investment for lots of fun adventures.... so any tips or advice would be greatly received

 

[WelshGas]

Hi everyone,

We've just started looking at California transporters, I've always been fascinated and loved the look of them. My and my partner have a little baby boy who's 9 months old and we have a border collie. We enjoy being outdoors and thought this would be a great family investment for lots of fun adventures.... so any tips or advice would be greatly received

Hire one for a long weekend or longer. Find out if it's for you before going further.
Are you going to use it all year round? Or is it going to be laid up for the winter?
Daily Driver?

 

[Hotel California]

Welcome , one tip .....leave out the word "transporters"....
All the other Q's are to be answerd on the this forum , as most are allready....

 

[sapto]

Welcome Ethan Lucas!

I think the best way is to rent different types of "tents-with-wheels": motorhomes/campervans like the ones based on Fiat Ducato, VW Californias, Mercedes Benz Marco Polos and everything between to get a feeling what are your preferences.

Have fun!

 

[Ethan Lucas]

Hi everyone,

We've just started looking at California transporters, I've always been fascinated and loved the look of them. My and my partner have a little baby boy who's 9 months old and we have a border collie. We enjoy being outdoors and thought this would be a great family investment for lots of fun adventures.... so any tips or advice would be greatly received

Hire one for a long weekend or longer. Find out if it's for you before going further.
Are you going to use it all year round? Or is it going to be laid up for the winter?
Daily Driver?

We're thinking of using this year round, possibly daily driver. But wasn't sure how practical that would be. My partners just looking into hiring one for us first, so far we've found it's anywhere between £80 - £120 per day to hire depending on the season..

 

[Ethan Lucas]

Welcome Ethan Lucas!

I think the best way is to rent different types of "tents-with-wheels": motorhomes/campervans like the ones based on Fiat Ducato, VW Californias, Mercedes Benz Marco Polos and everything between to get a feeling what are your preferences.

Have fun!

Thank you

 

[Borris]

Welcome,
Are you thinking of new or used? If you want new or an ex demonstrator then some dealers will hire one to you and deduct any costs from the aggreed purchase price if you decide to buy one.

The other question is,
Will you need a California SE/Ocean or a California Beach?
Both types are truly exceptional vehicles but are completely different.

Both versions have picnic tables and chairs neatly stowed in the side and rear doors. Both versions have elevating roofs with integral roof beds. Both also have window blinds and standard swiveling front seats. However this is where the similarities end.

Every SE/Ocean has a built in fridge, two burner stove, sink with tap, fresh and waste water tanks, gas system and a range of storage cupboards.

These vehicles also have an electro/hydraulic roof and a parking heater as standard. An aditional rear swivelling captains seat can be specified on some models, turning this vehicle from a four to a five seater. However IMO this option severely compromises this vehicles practical use. Whilst these vehicles can and are used as daily drivers they are really a full blown camper van with all bells and whistles included.

On the other hand the Beach is a sort of Cali 'lite'. With these vehicles you get none of the camper van fixtures and fittings mentioned above and the elevating roof is manually operated (IMO, a better design as it's much less complicated than the electro/hydraulic version, if you are able to operate it). You can specify either a four seater, or a five seater. The seating is completely different on both variants. The four seater version has the same two seat rear bench with drawer underneath that is fitted to the SE/Ocean and also has a useful storage box that helps to make up the downstairs bed. The five seater has the three seater rear bench seat from the Caravelle people carrier which also folds to create an enormous double bed.

This bed is higher than on the two seat bench. Both versions have a removable frame called a multiflex board, located at the real of the vehicle. An interesting name because some say that it's neither multi purpose nor flexible. This device is there to provide support for the bed when in use. However, the five seater version is IMO the best because it is higher and allows better storage beneath. Additionally, the five seater Beach can be ordered with either one or two aditional removable swivelling captains seats turning it into a six or seven seater.
These vehicles are supremely versatile and can be easily reconfigured to perform a multitude of roles which could include delivery van, people carrier, mobile office or roomy camper van. The parking heater is an option on the Beach so if you intend using the vehicle all year round, they are the first and only real essential option to go for after solving which seating arrangement suits your needs.


So the choices are, a full fat, fully equipped camper van or a multi purpose vehicle that can also be a camper van. The only real difference being that you have to provide the gas, stove, fridge, water, washing up bowel and suitable storage in the beach.



Good luck.

 

[WelshGas]

We're thinking of using this year round, possibly daily driver. But wasn't sure how practical that would be. My partners just looking into hiring one for us first, so far we've found it's anywhere between £80 - £120 per day to hire depending on the season..

Well I use mine all year round and as my daily driver. Others use theres as a daily commute.

 

[Ethan Lucas]

Welcome,
Are you thinking of new or used? If you want new or an ex demonstrator then some dealers will hire one to you and deduct any costs from the aggreed purchase price if you decide to buy one.

The other question is,
Will you need a California SE/Ocean or a California Beach?
Both types are truly exceptional vehicles but are completely different.

Both versions have picnic tables and chairs neatly stowed in the side and rear doors. Both versions have elevating roofs with integral roof beds. Both also have window blinds and standard swiveling front seats. However this is where the similarities end.

Every SE/Ocean has a built in fridge, two burner stove, sink with tap, fresh and waste water tanks, gas system and a range of storage cupboards.
View attachment 23768
These vehicles also have an electro/hydraulic roof and a parking heater as standard. An aditional rear swivelling captains seat can be specified on some models, turning this vehicle from a four to a five seater. However IMO this option severely compromises this vehicles practical use. Whilst these vehicles can and are used as daily drivers they are really a full blown camper van with all bells and whistles included.

On the other hand the Beach is a sort of Cali 'lite'. With these vehicles you get none of the camper van fixtures and fittings mentioned above and the elevating roof is manually operated (IMO, a better desisgn as it's much less complicated than the electro/hydraulic version if you are able to operate it). You can specify either a four seater, or a five seater. The seating is completely different on both variants. The four seater vesion has the same two seat bench seat that is fitted to the SE/Ocean and also has a useful storage box that helps to make up the downstairs bed. The five seater has the three seater rear bench seat from the Caravelle people carrier which also folds to create an enormous double bed.
View attachment 23767
This bed is higher than on the two seat bench. Additionally, the five seater can be ordered with either one or two aditional removable swivelling captains seats turning it into a six or seven seater. These vehicles are supremely versatile and can be easily reconfigured to perform a multitude of roles which could include delivery van, people carrier, mobile office or roomy camper van. The parking heater is an option on the Beach so if you intend using the vehicle all year round, they are the first and only real essential option to go for after solving which seating arrangement suits your needs.


So the choces are, a full fat, fully equipped camper van or a multi purpose vehicle that can also be a camper van. The only real differebce being that you have to provide the gas, stove, fridge, water, washing up bowel and suitable storage in the beach.



Good luck.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the time you have taken to put his response. That's great what you've wrote for us to read and all helps in making the decision.

 

[CazzaJ]

Our Cali is our only vehicle for a family of 4. One down side is that it only seats 4, so when the kids want to invite friends along on a day out, we can't fit more than 1 in (assuming my husband isn't with us). The other issue is car parks - as long as the height restriction is 2.1m its fine but some are less so we can't get into them. We live in a rural area, so this isn't a problem unless we go into Glasgow and then its just a case of knowing which car parks we can use and which to avoid. One of the main reasons we chose the cali was because we could use it as an everyday vehicle. We looked at high top vans, long wheel base vans etc but decided they were too big for everyday use.

 

[Ethan Lucas]

Our Cali is our only vehicle for a family of 4. One down side is that it only seats 4, so when the kids want to invite friends along on a day out, we can't fit more than 1 in (assuming my husband isn't with us). The other issue is car parks - as long as the height restriction is 2.1m its fine but some are less so we can't get into them. We live in a rural area, so this isn't a problem unless we go into Glasgow and then its just a case of knowing which car parks we can use and which to avoid. One of the main reasons we chose the cali was because we could use it as an everyday vehicle. We looked at high top vans, long wheel base vans etc but decided they were too big for everyday use.

Thank you, that's really helpful. I did wonder about the practical side so that's good to know.

 

[WelshGas]

Our Cali is our only vehicle for a family of 4. One down side is that it only seats 4, so when the kids want to invite friends along on a day out, we can't fit more than 1 in (assuming my husband isn't with us). The other issue is car parks - as long as the height restriction is 2.1m its fine but some are less so we can't get into them. We live in a rural area, so this isn't a problem unless we go into Glasgow and then its just a case of knowing which car parks we can use and which to avoid. One of the main reasons we chose the cali was because we could use it as an everyday vehicle. We looked at high top vans, long wheel base vans etc but decided they were too big for everyday use.

Why 2.1height limitation. I manage 2m no problem.

 

[GH72]

Hi, as already advised I would recommend hiring one first however, as somebody who was in a similar position when we bought one when our own son was young (got sick of the hassle of trying to fly with a baby) and never regretted it as it made us fall back in love with holidays in this Country and also adventures over to France! At the time we were in a larger motorhome but realised we were better off with a VW sized unit as it can be used everyday and also makes a lot of thing easier (economy and parking etc). If you do decide to buy, when your baby is a bit older, I can recommend trying a long weekend adventure to Disneyland Paris. Good luck!