Buying T7 California Beach Camper

[thatsnotmynaim]

I spoke to a number of dealers, all pretty good and got offered various discounts - mixture of VW incentive and additional dealer discount, some close to DTD. I got mine from Swansway, ordered it last Thur afternoon via email, exceptional service, good discount, they pulled the car from VW port to dealer and then got it delivered it to me at 9am this morning, 260 mile round trip.

 

[thatsnotmynaim]

What colour have you gone for ?
I’m thinking about the one below the Ocean now, as I only kept a load of tat in the cupboards !

Flat Pure Grey with black roof, looks good. We had the same, our Ocean had the cupboards full of stuff we never used and we found the downstairs bed a bit narrow. I know the T7 Ocean bed is narrower, but the Beach T7 bed is wider tha the T6.1 Ocean bed.

 

[thatsnotmynaim]

Yeah, we will take the seat out when going camping, so there will be more space, and when using as daily driver, I still can have 5 people in the car. I am actually thinking, if it will be possible to add one more seat, as this would be a great option for me. I know with 6.1 you could just inform DVLA and add seat. Wonder if this will be possible now as well

Not sure you can get 6 / 7 seats in a T7 Beach, the seats already sit quite a bit further forward than the multivan due to the bed and kitchenette, not sure if Ocean / Surf is the same or not.. I tried removing the right rear seat and putting it in front of the left rear seat and the rails have a blocking strip to not allow it, the centre rails don't and I can squeeze it in but there's zero space for the rear passengers legs..

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[thatsnotmynaim]

 

[WelshGas]

Not sure you can get 6 / 7 seats in a T7 Beach, the seats already sit quite a bit further forward than the multivan due to the bed and kitchenette, not sure if Ocean / Surf is the same or not.. I tried removing the right rear seat and putting it in front of the left rear seat and the rails have a blocking strip to not allow it, the centre rails don't and I can squeeze it in but there's zero space for the rear passengers legs..

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Only the seats with integral seatbelts can be used in any position the outer seats using the body mounted seat belt can only be used to sit on in certain positions in the Multivan. Presumably the same on the Beach.

 

[thatsnotmynaim]

All 3 rear seats in the beach have integrated seatbelts :-


They sit much further forward than the multivan.
This is my Beach with seats as far back as they go :-

This is a pic I found of a multivan :-

 

[FamCamping]

O wow, thank you very much for taking time and checking this . Actually the no leg room on one seat would still work for me, as I would have a child seat there . The mattress in the back is definitely taking more space than I thought though

How you overall like it?

 

[thatsnotmynaim]

Yes the mattress, well more the kitchenette unit, takes up quite some space. I have asked several garages if it can be removed and the official answer is no, think that's a requirement to have it classed as a camper and so cheaper road tax etc. I suspect it 'could' technially be removed, the gas is all self contained within it, but suspect they'll be a safety vent in the floor and I read on the Caddy if you remove the unit you can't put it back easily without a special tool, but seperate to that the Beach has the battery and inverter which is integrated and obviously wired up to the inlet socket on the outside of the van and the van electrics itself so the engine can also charge it..
It only arrived first thing so only had a quick look at lunchtime but will play later..

 

[FamCamping]

Yes the mattress, well more the kitchenette unit, takes up quite some space. I have asked several garages if it can be removed and the official answer is no, think that's a requirement to have it classed as a camper and so cheaper road tax etc. I suspect it 'could' technially be removed, the gas is all self contained within it, but suspect they'll be a safety vent in the floor and I read on the Caddy if you remove the unit you can't put it back easily without a special tool, but seperate to that the Beach has the battery and inverter which is integrated and obviously wired up to the inlet socket on the outside of the van and the van electrics itself so the engine can also charge it..
It only arrived first thing so only had a quick look at lunchtime but will play later..

I am sure you will be happy with it, it looks really good. Let us know your thoughts on it, when you get a feel of the van / car

 

[Paul Norris]

Good stuff, yes it’s good having them as your local, they are most probs the best dealer in the whole country. What colour do you have ?

Red

 

[thatsnotmynaim]

I am sure you will be happy with it, it looks really good. Let us know your thoughts on it, when you get a feel of the van / car

Have driven it around a bit more yesterday and I must say it drives loads better than our Cali T6.1 ever did, feels more like a car, less rattles, you feel closer to the ground, less sat on top of it perhaps, it doesn't feel heavy or like I'm fighting in the corners with it's weight or speed.

Also just had a quikc play with the layout of the seats and the rear space behind them. You can remove the part if the bed extension that's only semi fixed, so a coupe of catches on top and a special latch underneath that I hadn't found the other day, and if you remove the bed padding and the half of hte bed extension that's removeable, then the seat on the right can be moved much further back and I can fit one of the other seats in front of it no problem at all and with quite a bit of leg room. Not sure about weight limits, but I've taken some kit out, but if you add a 6th seat and a 6th passenger, not sure what that does for the payload.

 

[thatsnotmynaim]

Oh yes and one last bit, when putting the rear seats down to make the bed, on videos I've seen and in the manual, it says turn the heradrests round, but on ours if they are left on we can't lay the seats back as they faul the bed extension due to a litle spacer clip in the left and right rails which stop us pushing the seats forward that last few inches, who knows why?!?



I can't see a reason for them being there, except to make it hard to add an extra seat. I also can't see any easy way of removing them, does anyone know a way? What I have found though is if you remove the seat, then slide it all the way back, then replace the seat, you can then slide them forwad enough to do it. On the seat on the right it's fine as the spacer goes under the bed extension and you can still slide the seat all the way back for when using as a seat, but the seat ont he left, also has a spacer at the rear which stops the seat going into the battery / kitchenette and with 2 of these spacers at the rear, the left seat has to sit forward a few inches extra so not lined up with the other 2 seats if they are pushed all the way back, may not be an issue or just slide all 3 setas forward by a couple of inches.

 

[FamCamping]

Have driven it around a bit more yesterday and I must say it drives loads better than our Cali T6.1 ever did, feels more like a car, less rattles, you feel closer to the ground, less sat on top of it perhaps, it doesn't feel heavy or like I'm fighting in the corners with it's weight or speed.

Also just had a quikc play with the layout of the seats and the rear space behind them. You can remove the part if the bed extension that's only semi fixed, so a coupe of catches on top and a special latch underneath that I hadn't found the other day, and if you remove the bed padding and the half of hte bed extension that's removeable, then the seat on the right can be moved much further back and I can fit one of the other seats in front of it no problem at all and with quite a bit of leg room. Not sure about weight limits, but I've taken some kit out, but if you add a 6th seat and a 6th passenger, not sure what that does for the payload.

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This is amazing , will be a big plus for us

 

[Kayleigh]

To me, that rear kitchen really hampers the versatility of the Beach if you cannot remove it. I wonder if a Multivan and aftermarket bed is actually a better option for those that don’t use/need the pop-top.

 

[thatsnotmynaim]

Yes not sure why they no longer offer the Beach Tour over here, I know it probably not registered as a campervan so attracts luxury road tax but it does make sense if you prefer to cook outside with a portable stove or just boil a kettle.

 

[FamCamping]

UPDATE: We ordered New California T7 Beach , We used Drive the Deal in the end, got contacted with Eurovans Crowley. Now the wait begins. Thank you @thatsnotmynaim, your posts pushed us to make a final decision

 

[2haw]

All 3 rear seats in the beach have integrated seatbelts :-
View attachment 135397

They sit much further forward than the multivan.
This is my Beach with seats as far back as they go :-View attachment 135396

This is a pic I found of a multivan :-
View attachment 135398

Since discovering that the Beach is available with 245hp and 4wd, I’ve started to take a bit of an interest.

Just wondering, do you have to revolve the middle seat to make the bed or could the middle seat be left at home if it wasn’t needed?

Is the middle seat needed to support the mattress?

 

[thatsnotmynaim]

It’s not needed, it’s revolved just to put it out the way, if it were the same type of seat as the left and right it could simply be laid flat, but as it’s a seat that can be made into a table by folding it forwards that means it can’t be laid back flat.

 

[Californication69]

Since discovering that the Beach is available with 245hp and 4wd, I’ve started to take a bit of an interest.

Just wondering, do you have to revolve the middle seat to make the bed or could the middle seat be left at home if it wasn’t needed?

Is the middle seat needed to support the mattress?

I’ve just ordered the Ocean in 245 and 4Motion.
I’ll let you know how it goes after a month.
Breeze reckon two month lead time.
They are working full time and pumping them out of the factory.
I guess to get them out on the road so people can see them in the flesh.

 

[Californication69]

UPDATE: We ordered New California T7 Beach , We used Drive the Deal in the end, got contacted with Eurovans Crowley. Now the wait begins. Thank you @thatsnotmynaim, your posts pushed us to make a final decision

I got my quote from Jim at DTD.
Then breeze beat them by £495.
Got 2k off dealer cont.
2k off as I’ve had VW finance within the last 1 year.
And £5k off as a 6% discount.

Try Brad at Breeze Poole.
He might be able to beat DTD and give you some towards the penalty you’ll have to pay to cancel with DTD.

 

[Rhauri]

thatsnotmynaim,​

Yes the mattress, well more the kitchenette unit, takes up quite some space. I have asked several garages if it can be removed and the official answer is no, think that's a requirement to have it classed as a camper and so cheaper road tax etc. I suspect it 'could' technially be removed, the gas is all self contained within it, but suspect they'll be a safety vent in the floor and I read on the Caddy if you remove the unit you can't put it back easily without a special tool, but seperate to that the Beach has the battery and inverter which is integrated and obviously wired up to the inlet socket on the outside of the van and the van electrics itself so the engine can also charge it..
It only arrived first thing so only had a quick look at lunchtime but will play later..

Did you get so far as seeing if you can remove the kitchenette unit ?
- I like the idea of this Beach, but want it to be like my T6.1 Beach where it's a day to day vehicle for school runs, surfing, taking the dogs for walks ..... ie no desire to carry the extra weight and lose space to bits I don't want day to day.

 

[2haw]

thatsnotmynaim,​

Did you get so far as seeing if you can remove the kitchenette unit ?
- I like the idea of this Beach, but want it to be like my T6.1 Beach where it's a day to day vehicle for school runs, surfing, taking the dogs for walks ..... ie no desire to carry the extra weight and lose space to bits I don't want day to day.

I read on another thread that the kitchen unit houses the electrical hook up and battery connections. To enable it to be classified as a motorhome, I can’t see this being easy to remove.

 

[thatsnotmynaim]

No but I looked at the back (from boot) and front (from behind seats) of the unit and whilst from the back it looks like the electrics that take up a 3rd of the space are separate to the kitchen, if you look at it all from behind the seats it’s more like 50:50 and more like one unit. So can’t be removed without removing the electric hookup and inverter which is probably wired to the van so it can be charged from the engine..

 

[thatsnotmynaim]

I read on another thread that the kitchen unit houses the electrical hook up and battery connections. To enable it to be classified as a motorhome, I can’t see this being easy to remove.

Yes agree, in the diagram 8 is the gas bottle cover and 10 the leisure battery cover..

 

[Bob Gnarly]

Since discovering that the Beach is available with 245hp and 4wd, I’ve started to take a bit of an interest.

Just wondering, do you have to revolve the middle seat to make the bed or could the middle seat be left at home if it wasn’t needed?

Is the middle seat needed to support the mattress?

One thing to be aware of is that the Hybrid beach camper is only available as a four seater. It's not very clear on the configurator unless you check the interior pictures.