Beach as an everyday vehicle

[calikev]

i have decided on a beach as an everyday vehicle am i making the right decision?

 

[Hotel California]

What about your nice T4 camper , are you keeping it ?
If a Beach works for you , why not ?

 

[AndyFromTheBrac]

Entirely depends on what you need from a vehicle?

My SE was our only car for 2 years but neither my wife nor I have to commute. Wouldn’t fancy leaving it in a car park all day, is all I could say. They barely depreciate at all which offsets the comparatively ropey economy


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[calikev]

yes wim keep both

 

[calikev]

it will be on my drive most days as not needed for work

 

[flying banana]

it's only vehicle I have. use it for everything. Tescos. work. camping. going to the pub. everything.

 

[Hotel California]

How much would be the diffrence in price and is that worth to you having a Ocean ?
Guess this will end up in a Beach vs .... debate but in the end you need to think for yourself do a want to spend i bit more on a Ocean (or even Coast ) if you are just the two you don't need the extra seats.
Having had a SE before did you ? This should be a easy desision for you...

 

[T6Beach]

It was my second vehicle but I ended up using it all the time as its such a joy to drive, I then sold my every day car. Its a no brainer, cheap insurance, multi purpose, hardeany depreciation. Go for it

 

[DamienP]

The wife uses ours as an every day vehicle... we just make sure it gets a longer run out to get chance for the DPF to clear although that tends to happen naturally most weekends anyway as it's just a great family vehicle.

 

[Steve39]

Can't comment on Ocean Vs Beach, never had an Ocean or SE.

Have been using a Beach as a daily drive for 8 months and think it's brilliant for that.

I commute 15 miles into Bristol every day in it, park it in the same space I've always used, use it for taxi services for the kids (sometimes with the heater on while I wait for them to come out of whatever activity they're doing that day), pack it to the roof for stays in cottages, have picnics in it, or cook in it, park up and chill out in it for no apparent reason, put the bike in it, go to Sainsbury's, show it off to friends, go to the tip...oh and occasionally sleep in it.

In fact I can't think of anything I might want to use this thing for that it can't do (well OK maybe track days, Cali racing could be a thing though, couldn't it?)

Personally think it's a brilliant everyday vehicle, so I say right decision.

 

[WelshGas]

i have decided on a beach as an everyday vehicle am i making the right decision?

Many families around here have a Kombi or a Caravelle used as a family vehicle. I see many on the school run or at the supermarket so why not a Beach or SE/Ocean if you are into camping as well?
The main question should be really, which engine - Petrol or Diesel?
If your motoring milage includes longer trips then Diesel but if short trip mainly with just school holiday longer trips then maybe petrol because of all the pollution equipment on modern diesels.

 

[larrylamb]

If you have a T4 for camping what will you gain by having a Beach instead of a car?

 

[calikev]

Thanks WelshGas I think it will be diesel as it will be a T5 I should think I don’t need the cooking side of things this time but I’m so fed up with buying and losing so much money on cars.

 

[calikev]

If you have a T4 for camping what will you gain by having a Beach instead of a car?

The T4 is taller and very slow so not ideal for everyday use but great for holidays. Like I said my car is depreciating at an alarming rate I though the beach would be ideal for just a weekend or overnighter. Quite looking forward to a higher driving position

 

[Mark Garrett]

I completely with Steve, albeit ours is an Ocean, with 3 kids, its a perfect all rounder. Taxi, commuter, long distance mile eater, dayvan, camper...

The DSG for my commute makes it easy, appConnect for sat nav and Spotify.

We got the extra seat, rather than the bench on the Beach, we all love it. And now the season begins for the camping fun...

 

[MattBW]

I have used a beach as my main car for the last 3 years including commuting, fits in normal car parkspaces, has masses of storage and space. MPG similar to my last rather sporty car (nowhere near the performance of course). Occasionally get issues with car parks but other than that, no real problems.

I havent regretted it so far.

 

[Ciki62]

California beach t6 2 years daily driver. Before multivan t5 (it is beach without the pop up roof) 10 years daily driver. I can not imagine better multipurpose car.


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[Zebra]

Agree with all above, we use ours everyday for commute, nursery run etc. Can’t imagine going back to a car tbh.

 

[soulstyledevon]

The last 5 and a half years I’ve used my Beach as my main vehicle.

Last weekend we went car shopping. We made the decision to hold onto our current Beach (because I’ve had some roof corrosion issues and don’t want to give VW any more money) and we also have a little Porsche Cayman for the fun stuff.
However there are 3 of us in the family now and we wanted a third car which we could all fit in and which still had some performance. Audi S3/4 type thing. But after looking around at Audi, BMW and Mercedes I thought all the vehicles were boring and didn’t offer what my two current cars offer.

So, we have decided to posssibly (can’t believe I’m saying this) ditch the third car idea and buy another new Beach.
It pains me to hand over more money to Volkswagen, but nothing else out there fits the bill. My Beach does everything so very well and 90% of the time it’s the vehicle I jump in.
To the supermarket, to work, to Europe. Whatever.
The Beach does everything I need it to do and other vehicles seem insufficient in comparison.

So with my van currently back at Volkswagen for round 3 of roof corrosion fix, I’m going to ask the question with VWCS to offer me an attractive replacement discount as compensation and hopefully jump into a new T6 in a few months time.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

I live in a 7th floor flat, with a 2.1m height restricted car-park space at level -1

The Beach is our only car, we are a couple with a small dog, it is used for everything which we can't walk or cycle to really. I do also have a motorbike tho. We've covered over 32,000 miles in our first 15x months of ownership and slept in it 116x nights so far during that same period.....

I've no idea about how much I'd get for it, if I sold it tomorrow..... but one things for sure, with the savings over previously running 2x cars and the £££ saved during nights, weekends, and longer trips away in the van.... It is definitely paying-for-itself IMO, no other car-arrangement can even come close.

 

[Amarillo]

We have a VW Beach which we hope to use as a family car for ~10 years.

It is not appropriate to use for shorter journeys. We have a wide range of bicycles and bicycle accessories such as child and cargo trailers, and our current thought is to buy an electric bike to help our aging knees cope with hills. We are put off electric cars by their high purchase price, and if we don't buy an electric bike we will probably buy a small petrol car for shorter trips or journeys with just one or two members of the family.

We live in London and would consider it selfish to clog the local roads with a great big 7 seat MPV for short journeys with just one person.


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[calikev]

thanks for all your replies i am viewing one later keep you posted

 

[Amarillo]

We have a VW Beach which we hope to use as a family car for ~10 years.

It is not appropriate to use for shorter journeys. We have a wide range of bicycles and bicycle accessories such as child and cargo trailers, and our current thought is to buy an electric bike to help our aging knees cope with hills. We are put off electric cars by their high purchase price, and if we don't buy an electric bike we will probably buy a small petrol car for shorter trips or journeys with just one or two members of the family.

We live in London and would consider it selfish to clog the local roads with a great big 7 seat MPV for short journeys with just one person.

Just re-read my response and it comes across as a bit abrupt and opinionated. I won't edit it, but will add that all circumstances are different, and our circumstances of living in London and making lots of short local trips are not a natural fit for a California Beach.

We will also be doing lots of longer distance weekend family trips for which the California Beach is the ideal vehicle.


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[Barbara]

i have decided on a beach as an everyday vehicle am i making the right decision?

Such a flexible vehicle. I have a car too but I prefer to use the Beach as my everyday car. Easy to get in and out of using side door in car parks. Holds loads. Visibility great. Better turning circle than my car, I can park on roadside parking easier. My bike can be carried. Has a Portapoty and space to have a picnic for long trips. A home from home. Lots of load space, you can buy large things on the spur of the moment. Great ride, quieter than our Vw sharan.

 

[Terrysamw]

i have decided on a beach as an everyday vehicle am I making the right decision?

Well, it depends on what you want it for. We got our Beach just over a year ago and I cannot believe how much an effect a vehicle can have on your life. It was a huge decision for us and we have not regretted it once. Our beach has been a daily driver, weekend escape van, removal van, mobile bird hide, grandparent transporter, child/univeristy transporter, hangover recovery van, work space, utility bike carrier, escape from bad weather and relaxation space. Why have a big car when this can do so much more too? We used to camp a lot anyway so we just stick our camping box in the boot and go, otherwise its a roomy space.On our first night way in pouring rain our teenage boys said it was the best weekend as family they had had in years, because we sat together and just chatted. So why not have a daily driver that can do all that too?
The only thing I would say (and I haven't had a problem yet)- is the need to check the height in carparks, otherwise it fits everywhere and drives like a normal car.