thesquirrelpatrol
VIP Member
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- 164
hi,
We have now been the happy owners of our beloved beach for 9 months and just thought I would firstly share my thoughts thus far followed by a quick question.
It's been 13 months since I first placed my order for my dream campervan and after a slight hitch (the first van we received in May was a factory misbuild with no air con) we received our fully specced black beastie in November (with complimentary xenons and subbed out sport line front grill in place of the bike rack). I called her moby dick, I know the whale was WHITE but she's named in honour of john bonham!
in retrospect the misbuild was a bit of a blessing in disguise, as it gave me a chance to iron out the creases in what I liked from the options I picked and what I didn't. I chose to get rid of the bike rack because I found it a bit cumbersome and would probably say if I were to use a rack in the future I would chose a tow bar mounted one. Coupled with the fact that literally 2 weeks before I collected the first van in May my wife and I found out we were to become parents in January, it'll be a few years yet before I have need of a bike rack.
Having had the van nearly 9 months now I really couldn't see us wanting anything else, the beach is everything to all people. It's a mobile home. The most comfortable taxi you'll ever be in. A mobile breastfeeding station with unrivalled privacy in car parks. The coolest looking people carrier on the road - you get used to many an envious look from Renault scenic driving school runners. Kids love it, it's a mobile play tent! The 140ps drives as close to like a car as a van will ever get. I couldn't be happier we got it, yes it is expensive but it's by far the best purchase I've ever made and we hope to get many years use out of it with our daughter and dog Baxter.
Anyway some brief thoughts on what's good and bad.
Good;
Xenons -overpriced, unless you get them for free, but WAYYYYYYY better than the halogens
Waeco cfx fridges are the dogs - again, overpriced but a cold beer is worth you left bo**ock at a 5 day music festival in Somerset
Milan anthracite upholstery is very smart
Downstairs bench bed is very comfy when used with self inflating camping mats on top and they pack away light!
Dab (radio 6) is indispensable
Bad;
Bluetooth integration in normal rcd dab radio is crap, you can't select tracks or control song selection from the radio or mfsw- this is unforgivable - my work van (a Renault trafic) has better Bluetooth and it cost £11k!
Fog lights only available as halogen, pet hate of mine is halogen yellow mixed with xenon white, I did replace the factoryfit lamps with Osram nightbreakers but still not great.
FUEL EFFICIENCY!!!
The main reason I'm posting this message is my mpg. Before I had my Cali I had a 2.5l tdi 2006 transporter unlined with 50k on the clock. From the 80l tank I would generally get 450/500 miles, not great mileage but it was a fast and light van with a thirsty 2.5l engine. The first beach i had I felt was a bit sluggish but I reckon I was getting 500 miles out of a tank. However I'm concerned over what I'm receiving from the new van. When I check the trip computer my average is sometimes as low as 23 mpg, with a bit of motorway driving it goes up to 26/27. I'm only getting 350 miles out of a full tank. Now being honest, my wife has predominately being using the van for short trips, with very little motorway driving, but I didn't do a lot of motorway driving in my transporter and my fuel economy was never this bad. Mine is the 140ps beach. Has anyone else had a similar experience or could suggest if there could be a problem with the fuel management or something?
Thanks
Adam
We have now been the happy owners of our beloved beach for 9 months and just thought I would firstly share my thoughts thus far followed by a quick question.
It's been 13 months since I first placed my order for my dream campervan and after a slight hitch (the first van we received in May was a factory misbuild with no air con) we received our fully specced black beastie in November (with complimentary xenons and subbed out sport line front grill in place of the bike rack). I called her moby dick, I know the whale was WHITE but she's named in honour of john bonham!
in retrospect the misbuild was a bit of a blessing in disguise, as it gave me a chance to iron out the creases in what I liked from the options I picked and what I didn't. I chose to get rid of the bike rack because I found it a bit cumbersome and would probably say if I were to use a rack in the future I would chose a tow bar mounted one. Coupled with the fact that literally 2 weeks before I collected the first van in May my wife and I found out we were to become parents in January, it'll be a few years yet before I have need of a bike rack.
Having had the van nearly 9 months now I really couldn't see us wanting anything else, the beach is everything to all people. It's a mobile home. The most comfortable taxi you'll ever be in. A mobile breastfeeding station with unrivalled privacy in car parks. The coolest looking people carrier on the road - you get used to many an envious look from Renault scenic driving school runners. Kids love it, it's a mobile play tent! The 140ps drives as close to like a car as a van will ever get. I couldn't be happier we got it, yes it is expensive but it's by far the best purchase I've ever made and we hope to get many years use out of it with our daughter and dog Baxter.
Anyway some brief thoughts on what's good and bad.
Good;
Xenons -overpriced, unless you get them for free, but WAYYYYYYY better than the halogens
Waeco cfx fridges are the dogs - again, overpriced but a cold beer is worth you left bo**ock at a 5 day music festival in Somerset
Milan anthracite upholstery is very smart
Downstairs bench bed is very comfy when used with self inflating camping mats on top and they pack away light!
Dab (radio 6) is indispensable
Bad;
Bluetooth integration in normal rcd dab radio is crap, you can't select tracks or control song selection from the radio or mfsw- this is unforgivable - my work van (a Renault trafic) has better Bluetooth and it cost £11k!
Fog lights only available as halogen, pet hate of mine is halogen yellow mixed with xenon white, I did replace the factoryfit lamps with Osram nightbreakers but still not great.
FUEL EFFICIENCY!!!
The main reason I'm posting this message is my mpg. Before I had my Cali I had a 2.5l tdi 2006 transporter unlined with 50k on the clock. From the 80l tank I would generally get 450/500 miles, not great mileage but it was a fast and light van with a thirsty 2.5l engine. The first beach i had I felt was a bit sluggish but I reckon I was getting 500 miles out of a tank. However I'm concerned over what I'm receiving from the new van. When I check the trip computer my average is sometimes as low as 23 mpg, with a bit of motorway driving it goes up to 26/27. I'm only getting 350 miles out of a full tank. Now being honest, my wife has predominately being using the van for short trips, with very little motorway driving, but I didn't do a lot of motorway driving in my transporter and my fuel economy was never this bad. Mine is the 140ps beach. Has anyone else had a similar experience or could suggest if there could be a problem with the fuel management or something?
Thanks
Adam
