Buying a Conversion or Factory Built California

[California4x4]

No great surprise that on this California forum, when asked about California vs conversion, the consensus is that the California is better. It’s always good to hear what others have and why they prefer them.

 

[Bellcrew]

No great surprise that on this California forum, when asked about California vs conversion, the consensus is that the California is better. It’s always good to hear what others have and why they prefer them.

This is basically a fan club with useful information from experienced owners and now from a most welcome expert technician.
I enjoy the input from non California camper owners and perhaps one day someone will produce an alternative that will tempt me, but baby until then........

 

[Suffolk Man]

Hi kkp0897

We took 3 years to make a decision. We looked at the Ocean, Beach and a selection of van converters. We finally went for a Jerba Tiree and agree with MattC's comments on the safety and quality of the Jerba product. The features which clinched it for Jerba were

• Sliding door on passenger side. Good for UK. Unexpected advantage when driving in Europe is the unobstructed view over your left shoulder when joining a dual carriageway.
• 100w solar panel supplied and fitted by Jerba. Keeps all batteries charged up, just by parking on our drive. Also runs the fridge all day.
• 51 litre fridge with freezer section. Makes ice cubes for drinks.
• Midge proof roof canvas which can be removed by unzipping, at home.
• We like to cook outdoors. Jerba's gas locker is plenty big enough for a 3.9kg calor gas propane cylinder for the interior hob and a Camping Gas 907 cylinder for the outdoor twin ring stove.
• No corrosion issues with their roof.
• Yes our V5c describes it as a Motorcaravan, Private/Light goods, Euro 6 engine. No problem getting the French Air Quality sticker for the windscreen.

In the end, there is no "right answer" to your question. It all depends on what you want to do with your van and which features are important to you.

Our base vehicle is 150 DSG in Grape Yellow. We like the standard steel wheels because the tyres are thicker profile and absorb bumps better.

 

[Resfeber]

The California by VW is complete with a 3 yr Warranty from VW covering ALL aspects of the vehicle and Spare parts for the Habitation area are available at least back to 2005 or further. It is also registered with DVLA as a M1, Diesel Car - Body Type Campervan.

A Brand new Conversion will be based on a Commercial Van registered with DVLA N1, Diesel Van or equivalent . This CANNOT be changed, but the Body Type can be changed to Campervan if it fulfils the DVLA requirements.
A Brand new vehicle will all the driving extras that a California has will cost in excess of £40,000. The converter will then fit windows, a pop-up roof and bed a Bench seat, as the lower bed, that has not been properly crash tested and certified and kitchen and storage units made out of MDF or plywood. Also the walls will be covered in plywood and carpeted. A Mains and Leisure circuit with lights, charger, fridge, parking heater, split charge system all have to be added as well. Front seats fitted with swivels. Water and Waste tanks, Gas Lockerwould be fitted.
All in all a Conversion with all that the California has will cost more AND you will only have a limited 3 yr Warranty from VW on the base vehicle and a 1 yr Warranty on the Conversion.

Lastly Depreciation on a California is significantly less than a Conversion, in fact it is significantly less than almost any new vehicle you can buy today.

Insurance of a VW California is not a problem. Plenty of companies to choose from.

If finances are a factor then a conversion on a 2nd hand van can make sense but you will not get the same facilities and quality as a VW California without spending a lot of money .

Could not agree more with Welsh Gas' assessment of the benefits of purchasing a Cali rather than a conversion. Exactly the reason I purchased a 6 month old that was loaded with decent accessories and £10 k less than list in the included spec with 6000 miles

 

[GSX1300R]

We bought a new Cali Ocean this year. Looked at conversions but they come no where near the VW's own build quality. Front blinds in a pillars, blinds to sides and rear all into bespoke high quality mouldings, no cutains to dirty/fiddle with. Kitchen more than adequate, get a 'Grand Remoska" for a hundred quid or so and you have an oven which fits in the cupboard! I have cooked pizzas, roast chicken, stews, baked potatoes etc etc in this and all you need is a mains hook up, if none use the 2 gas rings and modify food accordingly. Fridge is a freezer on max, we spent a month in Norway last month, took 'home cooked' frozen dinners and no problem to keep them that way. Fridge doesn't look big but with right foil dishes it will take plenty of frozen stuff. Upper bed in roof we use all the time as really big and confortable, can't fault van, had it 3 months, lived in it for half this time and not a rattle, does 45-48 mpg (DSG 150 diesel)

Wow 45-48 mpg... We had a t6 150 auto on hire for a week when we had the roof done and on the computer it was giving 33 mpg.. You really must have an exceptional one..Our 140 SE averages around 37 mpg when we go to France and Spain..And overall does 35 mpg....

 

[martinhjones]

You might want to consider serviceability and costs though.
I had a problem in France with the hydraulic roof stuck part way and would neither close nor open. RAC equivalent and local service agents couldn't do anything, so it had to go to a VW dealer. Stayed in a hotel for several days and repair cost 500 Euros.
Last year the fridge failed - dealership again. This time cost was over £1750.
Standard van with commercially available off-the-shelf fitted parts may reduce the risk of long outages and big expense.
I wish someone could convert the pumped roof to a manual one as I live in fear of it happening again every time I use it. Not just the cost, but being stuck somewhere and having to give the van up for several days.

 

[GSX1300R]

You might want to consider serviceability and costs though.
I had a problem in France with the hydraulic roof stuck part way and would neither close nor open. RAC equivalent and local service agents couldn't do anything, so it had to go to a VW dealer. Stayed in a hotel for several days and repair cost 500 Euros.
Last year the fridge failed - dealership again. This time cost was over £1750.
Standard van with commercially available off-the-shelf fitted parts may reduce the risk of long outages and big expense.
I wish someone could convert the pumped roof to a manual one as I live in fear of it happening again every time I use it. Not just the cost, but being stuck somewhere and having to give the van up for several days.

£1750 for a California fridge... I imagine that would be a complete replacement.. I would have thought that the worst thing that could go with the fridge would be the compressor at probably couple of hundred quid maybe a bit more.. But it you are having it repaired under warranty it hardly matters....I’m afraid you will always be taken advantage of if you can’t do the work yourself... It doesn’t matter what it is I will always have a go to repair something myself but not everyone has the skills to do it...I just love the challenge. As long as you have the tools none of it is rocket science....

 

[WelshGas]

You might want to consider serviceability and costs though.
I had a problem in France with the hydraulic roof stuck part way and would neither close nor open. RAC equivalent and local service agents couldn't do anything, so it had to go to a VW dealer. Stayed in a hotel for several days and repair cost 500 Euros.
Last year the fridge failed - dealership again. This time cost was over £1750.
Standard van with commercially available off-the-shelf fitted parts may reduce the risk of long outages and big expense.
I wish someone could convert the pumped roof to a manual one as I live in fear of it happening again every time I use it. Not just the cost, but being stuck somewhere and having to give the van up for several days.

If you had kept up membership of VW Assistance you might not have had that problem with the roof. VW Assistance £150/2yrs Full Home + European Cover.

 

[GSX1300R]

I get my breakdown cover with Barclays which includes full worldwide insurance cover...The RAC covers all my vehicles for myself and my Wife ....at home and Europe.. VW Assistance is from what I can see £100 a year With the AA and for just the one vehicle... As for VW mechanics knowing everything regarding The California , these are specialised vehicles and only a few get trained on California’s. When we bought our Van in Sinclairs VW van centre in Cardiff I knew more about the California than they did...They were pathetic... it’s only when we got home we realised the we were supposed to have a 2 hour hand over demonstration.... So after all that would not my trust in VW dealer in the middle of Spain to know anything about the VW California....Carry some spanners and fix it yourself unless you need to replace the gearbox then that’s a bit more difficult.....

 

[WelshGas]

I get my breakdown cover with Barclays which includes full worldwide insurance cover...The RAC covers all my vehicles for myself and my Wife ....at home and Europe.. VW Assistance is from what I can see £100 a year With the AA and for just the one vehicle... As for VW mechanics knowing everything regarding The California , these are specialised vehicles and only a few get trained on California’s. When we bought our Van in Sinclairs VW van centre in Cardiff I knew more about the California than they did...They were pathetic... it’s only when we got home we realised the we were supposed to have a 2 hour hand over demonstration.... So after all that would not my trust in VW dealer in the middle of Spain to know anything about the VW California....Carry some spanners and fix it yourself unless you need to replace the gearbox then that’s a bit more difficult.....

I paid £150 for 2 yrs. The VW Assistance Vehicles are Silver with trained technicians who certainly know how to manually lower the roof on a California, the only California camping equipment system that is likely to stop you driving to a Dealership, they also know which Dealers to transport you to and VW Sinclair, Cardiff isn’t on their list for California related problems. The same happens in Europe.
In my experience Bank provided Insurance cover have so many exclusions in their fine print they are often next to useless in the real world but as long as your happy.
I live close to Cardiff but bought my vehicle from South Hereford VW and that’s where it is serviced. They do know about Californias.

 

[GSX1300R]

We are very happy with our banks insurance.. It’s not a freeby like lots of bank insurances.... I’ve gone through it with a fine tooth Combe and it covers everything including Repatriation from Europe... Plus full personal health insurance for both of us Worldwide... That’s nice to know that nobody in Wales knows how to work on a California... Cardiff being the capital that’s not good... Wouldn’t want to brake down here we would have a hell of a long wait for someone to turn up from somewhere in England. The middle of Spain would be even worse....

 

[WelshGas]

We are very happy with our banks insurance.. It’s not a freeby like lots of bank insurances.... I’ve gone through it with a fine tooth Combe and it covers everything including Repatriation from Europe... Plus full personal health insurance for both of us Worldwide... That’s nice to know that nobody in Wales knows how to work on a California... Cardiff being the capital that’s not good... Wouldn’t want to brake down here we would have a hell of a long wait for someone to turn up from somewhere in England. The middle of Spain would be even worse....

Mines not a freebie either. There is a reason it’s part of the package on paid for accounts and it’s not down to the generosity of the Banks towards their fee paying customers.
Have fun.

 

[andyinluton]

I would not my trust in VW dealer in the middle of Spain to know anything about the VW California....Carry some spanners and fix it yourself unless you need to replace the gearbox then that’s a bit more difficult.....

Why not - I can understand the typical spanish VW dealer not being an expert on the camping side, but the van bits are the same as every other T5 / T6

The bits on the cali that are going to totally wreck your holiday are going to be the Roof not working & the van bits so you can't drive.

Tap / fridge / hob & bits like that are an inconvenience as opposed to pack up & go home. ( be a bit like having a beach)

Even if the roof fails, our backstop position would be to lower it & find a hotel / villa / campsite with cabins, or put the kids in a tent.

That leaves you with just the van side to worry about & I recon in Spain you've got as good a chance of getting it fixed as you would have with any other mainstream modern car.

 

[GSX1300R]

Thats what I mean, a few tools a workshop manual and a bit of good old common sense goes a long way. And if all else fails thats what you took breakdown cover for in the first place........

 

[Meoncoast]

When we had a sensor fail on our van VW assist came out I could have had a regular yellow AA partrol quicker but waited for VW assist he escorted me and van to dealers and effectively jumped the queue at dealer's. I will be adding VW assist when mine runs out in December. May not be the cheapest breakdown service but happy with cover at the cost.

 

[Wild Bob]

Hi all

First time poster and I’d like to start by saying this is a great forum.

Forgive me if this has been asked already but I’m currently looking to buy a California but as the title says, should I buy a converted one or factory built?

Are there any major pros / cons? My immediate concern is insurance with buying a modified vehicle that’s made to resemble a factory / OEM build I.e declaring all mods etc

Thanks in advance

We looked at converting my 2 year old Kombi but when we added up how much a top class conversion would cost we decided to buy a new Ocean.

 

[GSX1300R]

Really it comes down to if you can afford to buy a new California.. At 60k+ they are certainly NOT cheap. I would say you could have as much fun with a converted van as you can in a California. If you only have 30K to spend then get a conversion if you have 60K get a California.....We have had more people come over to our California asking to have a look than some of these 100k + motor-homes.. Its the Dreamer in all of us.... For comfort and space a motor-home takes some beating but for going places where you wouldnt dream of trying to take a motor-home the California comes out on top....

 

[CaliKate]

Welcome! It's all down to what you want. With conversions, you can spec out a van pretty much how you want. But the VW Cali is factory-built, so has many benefits, too. Can't really add anything further than others but I DO know that we went through this decision process for FIVE WHOLE YEARS. And almost went down the conversion route. However, as others have said, we felt the Cali would be the safest bet. Good luck!