Bye bye Beach

[2haw]

I bet the Beach is not coming to the UK but I reckon the Beach Tour & Beach Camper will.

Seriously, I'd be amazed if the Beach is no longer available over here.

 

[Drpps]

Seems a huge shame if true, but I’d very surprised. I think the Beach Tour with the twin sliding doors would sell really well. Almost echoes Renault stopping importing the Espace just as people carrier sales soared!
Beach doesn’t work for us but I know a number of friends for whom it is the perfect family wagon.
Poptop Caravelle anyone?
It would be good to see what the UK Coast spec is. They must realise the Ocean is getting silly priced so need to entice people in at a more sensible price point, but once you start adding night heater, heated seats etc to the coast you are back where you started.Good to have manual roof an option though.

 

[2into1]

Would be interesting to know percentage of Beach and Oceans sold into UK market?

I don't think we've done a survey. Perhaps the forum bosses can tell us, although it would be biased by the early years before the beach was available.
Taking recent newcomers, I sence it's in the region of 60% ocean, 40% beach. Anyone else with a feel for the split?

 

[s2bear]

I don't think we've done a survey. Perhaps the forum bosses can tell us, although it would be biased by the early years before the beach was available.
Taking recent newcomers, I sence it's in the region of 60% ocean, 40% beach. Anyone else with a feel for the split?

Oooh I’d wager at least 70/30 in favour of Oceans. Guessing obviously but I rarely see another Beach in the South East.


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[Amarillo]

Oooh I’d wager at least 70/30 in favour of Oceans. Guessing obviously but I rarely see another Beach in the South East.


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I think SMG Tonbridge told me their sales were four Oceans for every Beach.

 

[2into1]

I've created a T6 poll to see if we can get a more accurate number

Numbers sold - T6 Beach vs T6 Ocean

[UK T6 owners only please] Following the current news / rumour that VW will stop the Beach model in the UK, we were speculating on the proportion of Beach Sales to Ocean Sales. I've created a poll, but only want T6 owners in the UK to reply, as we are after the recent importance of the Beach...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[2into1]

I think SMG Tonbridge told me their sales were four Oceans for every Beach.

If that's the case, it must be (and this is a joke) that the Beach owners make far more noise here )

 

[MarkVw2017]

So are us Beach owners now going to see them become a bit of a rarity, and help residuals That would be the icing on the cake

 

[OGII]

So are us Beach owners now going to see them become a bit of a rarity, and help residuals That would be the icing on the cake

Definitely no plans to change ours. If we did it would have to be a Coast swiftly followed by advertising the kitchen/wardrobe etc. I wonder what a Caravelle owner would pay for it?

 

[Amarillo]

Definitely no plans to change ours. If we did it would have to be a Coast swiftly followed by advertising the kitchen/wardrobe etc. I wonder what a Caravelle owner would pay for it?

We are expecting to keep our van for ten years or longer.

 

[WelshGas]

So are us Beach owners now going to see them become a bit of a rarity, and help residuals That would be the icing on the cake

Not really. Only paper money and its replacement will be more expensive eg: Shuttle or Caravelle with roof or a Coast and adapt thus reducing its value. I'm sure the Beach will be back.

 

[Borris]

Well as things currently stand, you can neither order nor buy a new T6-1 Beach in the UK. So the choice is either to buy a T6 Beach from remaining dwindling dealers stock or purchase one second hand. As most people buy a Beach because that vehicle suits their needs better than the Ocean or Coast, then I'm guessing that the number of actual or prospective Beach owners should remain more or less the same. If I'm right then it comes down to a pure case of supply and demand. With no more Beaches entering the supply chain but still the same demand then the values of the current Beach should remain firm. As Beach values are already very firm my guess is that for the time being at least, they may even enjoy a rise in value. Yes, you could go and source a conversion but I doubt if most existing or prospective Beach owners would prefer that option. So unless and until VW decide to give us the T6-1 Beach then existing Beach owners will probably hang onto their vehicles for longer thereby exacerbating the lack of supply still futher. I certainly won't be selling our new Beach in four years time unless VW are offering a UK Beach!

 

[MarkVw2017]

Not really. Only paper money and its replacement will be more expensive eg: Shuttle or Caravelle with roof or a Coast and adapt thus reducing its value. I'm sure the Beach will be back.

I suppose Caravelle with a pop up roof added still won't have that all important California badge and would be classed as a conversion, and ripping out a coasts kitchen, well if someone does that, can they do it in front of a dealer, I would love to see that ;-)

 

[MarkVw2017]

Well as things currently stand, you can neither order nor buy a new T6-1 Beach in the UK. So the choice is either to buy a T6 Beach from remaining dwindling dealers stock or purchase one second hand. As most people buy a Beach because that vehicle suits their needs better than the Ocean or Coast, then I'm guessing that the number of actual or prospective Beach owners should remain more or less the same. If I'm right then it comes down to a pure case of supply and demand. With no more Beaches in the supply chain but the same demand then the values of the current Beach should remain firm. As Beach values are already very firm my guess is that for the time being at least, they may even enjoy a rise in value. Yes, you could go and source a conversion but I doubt if most existing or prospective Beach owners would prefer that option. So unless and until VW decide to give us the T6-1 Beach then existing Beach owners will probably hang onto their vehicles for longer thereby exacerbating the lack of supply still futher. I certainly won't be selling our new Beach in four years time unless VW are offering a UK Beach!

Very true! My friends wants a Ocean as they didn't even know what a beach was (could say poor marketing on VWs side). But when we showed them ours and the reasons we opted for a beach over a Ocean, they now also really want a beach. They have two kids and just absolutely loved the king-sized bed (and all snuggling together whilst I stayed in their tent, I picked the short straw) and tonnes of flexibility you get with a beach. The ocean is amazing and go to when people think of a campervan, but I feel the 4:1 sales ratio of ocean v beach is defo down to poor sales talk and marketing (but then again, the ocean is £10k + more so of course they will push that much harder in the forecourt I suppose). I'm going to keep.my beach until there's no diesel pumps or actually diesel left and then leave it on the drive as a retro shed/ office and then buy another camper when they can do 500 miles on electric only with a 5 min charge via a house socket.

 

[Nolan]

I guess the Beach will reappear in a year or two once T6.1 production and Brexit* are running more smoothly.

*T6.1 production is probably easier to fix than Brexit.

 

[MarkVw2017]

I guess the Beach will reappear in a year or two once T6.1 production and Brexit* are running more smoothly.

*T6.1 production is probably easier to fix than Brexit.

Shhhhh, don't mention the b word on here!!! Sends the lovely Cali Gurus......

 

[Amarillo]

I suppose Caravelle with a pop up roof added still won't have that all important California badge and would be classed as a conversion, and ripping out a coasts kitchen, well if someone does that, can they do it in front of a dealer, I would love to see that ;-)

That all important California badge has no importance. I ordered my Beach debadged. So a Caravelle or Shuttle with a pop top added would be, for us, a very attractive option.

 

[MarkVw2017]

That all important California badge has no importance. I ordered my Beach debadged. So a Caravelle or Shuttle with a pop top added would be, for us, a very attractive option.

True, but that California badge states "manufactured by VW". However,if your not bothered about owning a Cali, there's a whole world of conversions out there.l, but of course, don't hold there price anywhere near a California ;-)

 

[TripleBee]

Don't want to stick out anyone's eyes, but we Belgians are still able to buy the T6.1 Beach. Even in yellow!

 

[OGII]

View attachment 55462

Just me or isn't that a T6? Or are you lucky Belgians still getting Beaches and also not suffering from T6.1 wide mouthed frog grills? Looks like old stock to me.

 

[TripleBee]

You are right. Didn't pay attention to it.
It stood next to a T6.1 Ocean.
My bad. Ignore this post!

 

[OGII]

You are right. Didn't pay attention to it.
It stood next to a T6.1 Ocean.
My bad. Ignore this post!

So just wide mouthed Belgian Beaches then....

Who has costed up the cooker internal panel?

 

[TripleBee]

Looks like Belgium doesn't have the new Beach too at the moment?

 

[dadnickdad]

Sorry to revive an old thread and also new here - we are in a position the moment of either going for a Cali or keeping our Velle and doing the conversion. We have found a company (kernow) who can deal with the business climatic aircon & fit genuine cali parts inc the roof - I'm slightly concerned that we will devalue our van I suppose. But on the flip side its a 204 blackberry with lots of extras that we love and really works for us (inc the lovely interior) - having the pop top & go for a removable slide pod I think will be superb..but I'm still hesitating! Would be interested to hear from anyone who has had this done and perception of it as a 'thing' amongst the forum.

 

[OGII]

its a 204 blackberry with lots of extras that we love and really works for us (inc the lovely interior)

Forgive me but you answer your own question.

It's your van, it works for you, you love it.

With the myriad of good/bad/indifferent conversions out there that still readily find homes you won't have any issues selling it in time. Even more so if you keep it for a number of years.

Many on here have come from conversions and only end up with Calis as they do what they want at a quality level they want without aggro. We all then mod our vans to a greater or lesser extent or wish we'd added or could add that one extra.

Follow your heart.