California beach collection disaster!

[thesquirrelpatrol]

Picked up my eagerly awaited Cali beach today. All paperwork sorted, boxes ticked, money paid. In the midst of the handover happen to glance at the air con controls.., but quickly notice there aren't any!!! Somehow In the ridiculously over complicated ordering/options/heater process VW have managed to delete the factory standard climatic air con from my beach!!!! It now only had manual vents. Upon noticing this and immediately drawing the dealer rep's attention to the problem, which had not been picked up on because of the stupidly complicated options set up for the beach, the dealer was, as was I, flabbergasted!

To be fair to the dealer he was excellent in dealing with this. Understandably staggered by this omission of a basic factory standard fitted option, he immediately assured me that it would be rectified.

I've been allowed to take the vehicle for the present on the understanding that the situation will be sorted

the two options that have been presented are:
that the vehicle is rejected as a factory fault and I continue to use the faulty vehicle in lieu of a new vehicle being ordered and fitted out correctly OR VW may try to retrofit air con to the faulty vehicle, which I understand is a costly job.

My question would be, has anyone ever had air con retrofitted? Is it exactly the same as the factory air con?
And why can't VW make a straight forward brochure with easily selected/non conflicting options so that those ordering vehicles and those selling said vehicles are not presented with an absolute minefield of incomplete/incompressible information?

There appears to me, given the size of a company such as volkswagen, to be huuuuuuge gaping holes in the product knowledge passed from manufacturer to sales in particular regards to the beach.

Any thoughts would be welcome.

Ps I cannot overstate the fact that I do not in any way hold the dealership responsible for this major f*ckup and the dealership representative has been more than fair in allowing me to take the rejected vehicle in lieu of a rectification or replacement at no cost thus far to myself

 

[Andresz]

I do not know in UK, but in France Air Condition is not a standard option on Beach (as is not stationary heating)...

Bit stupid not to offer at least basic air condition as a standard in rather expensive vehicle.

 

[Meoncoast]

I would want to reject it If you can use it until a " as order Beach is produced " that way you get a new van in a few months and maybe something extra added in way of compensation. Sorry to hear you had a bad start you sound happy with your dealer think if you keep them on your side I reckon will pay dividends, good luck and happy camping.

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Sorry to hear this, I wouldn't have thought that it would be retrofitted so would say it is best to reject if you won't be happy without air con in the vehicle.

cheers

 

[Meoncoast]

I have never been a great user of aircon as I tend to have drivers window open while driving however would not be without it as helps clear camping condensation

 

[Goldie]

Not surprising you get mis-builds given how complex the 'Car Data' form is to understand, e.g. the Beach is AE0 'without camping stove'. Cliamatic aircon code is KH1. Leaving it off altogether sounds a real cockup, but I suppose you are building it on a T5 production line and it is a T5 van until late in the production process when it becomes a Beach - scroll down list.



Andy

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Yes, air con also works as a dehumidifier too. Wouldn't be without it personally.

cheers

 

[James]

What have you got in the Beach.

Outside of the UK you have standard heating, which is three large dials, then Climatic which is semi automatic air con and finally Climtronic.

When you look at your heating controls, what do you see, I take you you do not even have a small A/C switch?

The problem for both the Beach and SE is that you're experience is as good as your dealer, so SMG for example, their product knowledge is excellent, Carrs down here in Exeter also seem good.

VW, with the Beach appear to have positioned it into a sort of no mans land, so many dealers don't really know much about it or how to sell it.

You could retrofit anything, if you want to strip the van back, but would it be worth it, no, the other thing you have to consider is how it affects the vehicle. If I was to upgrade my Climatic to Climtronic, even I can see that this would be all the trim out and certain bits replaced, even before we get to the mechanical side.




James

 

[Californiaman]

I would also reject it given the option. The idea of a retrofit is horrible.

 

[Californiaman]

I would also reject it given the option. The idea of a retrofit is horrible.

 

[calidub]

Reject Reject Reject !!

 

[calidub]

Reject Reject Reject !!

 

[Goldie]

Looks like you had a great spec ordered. Even if you didn't really need aircon and got a substantial discount you would have a terrible problem trying to sell it on later. There is enough debate over the merits of Climatic and Climatronic on here so you have to reject it.

It would be interesting to see how much it is put up for sale as a demonstrator after you return it. I saved about £10k on my Beach and accessories because the dealer could shift it without privacy glass and had been told that privacy film couldn't be fitted to double glazed windows. It cost me £250 to have the film fitted! I know aircon will probably be £2-3k plus, but there may be a bargain waiting for someone prepared to drive a hard deal to get it fitted otherwise it will be hard to shift.

Andy

 

[thesquirrelpatrol]

What have you got in the Beach.

Outside of the UK you have standard heating, which is three large dials, then Climatic which is semi automatic air con and finally Climtronic.

When you look at your heating controls, what do you see, I take you you do not even have a small A/C switch?

The problem for both the Beach and SE is that you're experience is as good as your dealer, so SMG for example, their product knowledge is excellent, Carrs down here in Exeter also seem good.

VW, with the Beach appear to have positioned it into a sort of no mans land, so many dealers don't really know much about it or how to sell it.

You could retrofit anything, if you want to strip the van back, but would it be worth it, no, the other thing you have to consider is how it affects the vehicle. If I was to upgrade my Climatic to Climtronic, even I can see that this would be all the trim out and certain bits replaced, even before we get to the mechanical side.




James

It's definitely the 3 large dial heating and after the drive home on Friday (which was warm here in scotland) and today which was mild but wet, the van is noticeably stuffy.

There is no question in my mind that the vehicle, without air con is a reject scenario. To be honest th retrofit idea fills me with dread. I just can't get my head round how a standard feature like air con could have been missed and I also can't believe that anyone in their right mind would order a camper as expensive as this without air con so why on earth was it not at least queried at the point of build.

Anyway, these issues aside, as I've said the dealer has been very reasonable in reassuring me that the situation will be rectified and so long as that remains the case I will also remain reasonable. The guy at the van centre was very very good with me throughout the ordering process, I did shop around a little between the dealerships most local to me and I ordered with this dealership because his knowledge and understanding of the cars was comprehensive and even when it was the case that there was a question he didn't immediately know the answer to he made an effort to find out for me.

The problem, as I see it, is specifically with the beach because, by the dealers own admission, out of the 40 Cali's he's sold this year mine was the only beach. I think this is maybe peculiar to scotland because the beaches appear to be a lot more popular elsewhere in the country.

At the end of the day, if I have to keep the reject vehicle for a few months whilst waiting for a replacement it's not the worst thing that ever happened.

Thanks for everybody's comments and opinions, as always the advice in here has proven to be very helpful, great forum!

 

[gatvol]

Welcome to the world of vw California's. A never ending sequence of "which decision is the least bad"

Go for the new vehicle. Risk of collateral damage if kids on the minimum wage start messing with your van. You will get to know the warranty process very well.

 

[James]

What have you got in the Beach.

Outside of the UK you have standard heating, which is three large dials, then Climatic which is semi automatic air con and finally Climtronic.

When you look at your heating controls, what do you see, I take you you do not even have a small A/C switch?

The problem for both the Beach and SE is that you're experience is as good as your dealer, so SMG for example, their product knowledge is excellent, Carrs down here in Exeter also seem good.

VW, with the Beach appear to have positioned it into a sort of no mans land, so many dealers don't really know much about it or how to sell it.

You could retrofit anything, if you want to strip the van back, but would it be worth it, no, the other thing you have to consider is how it affects the vehicle. If I was to upgrade my Climatic to Climtronic, even I can see that this would be all the trim out and certain bits replaced, even before we get to the mechanical side.




James

It's definitely the 3 large dial heating and after the drive home on Friday (which was warm here in scotland) and today which was mild but wet, the van is noticeably stuffy.

There is no question in my mind that the vehicle, without air con is a reject scenario. To be honest th retrofit idea fills me with dread. I just can't get my head round how a standard feature like air con could have been missed and I also can't believe that anyone in their right mind would order a camper as expensive as this without air con so why on earth was it not at least queried at the point of build.

Anyway, these issues aside, as I've said the dealer has been very reasonable in reassuring me that the situation will be rectified and so long as that remains the case I will also remain reasonable. The guy at the van centre was very very good with me throughout the ordering process, I did shop around a little between the dealerships most local to me and I ordered with this dealership because his knowledge and understanding of the cars was comprehensive and even when it was the case that there was a question he didn't immediately know the answer to he made an effort to find out for me.

The problem, as I see it, is specifically with the beach because, by the dealers own admission, out of the 40 Cali's he's sold this year mine was the only beach. I think this is maybe peculiar to scotland because the beaches appear to be a lot more popular elsewhere in the country.

At the end of the day, if I have to keep the reject vehicle for a few months whilst waiting for a replacement it's not the worst thing that ever happened.

Thanks for everybody's comments and opinions, as always the advice in here has proven to be very helpful, great forum!

Okay - that makes sense, so as you said, no aircon, standard T5 Heating, a RHD misbuild in effect.

I think the advice here seems pretty good, you will have to reject the vehicle, quite what the dealer does with a UK Beach with no aircon is anybody's guess, but that's not your problem.

I am sorry to hear that, retrofit to my mind wouldn't be impossible, but the amount of work involved, would it ever be the same?

Seems positive with the dealer, so hopefully it will be sorted.

My only query would be, and maybe i don't understand the process, if your dealer is ordering a RHD Beach, how has it not got aircon when it is a standard feature for the UK? It probably doesn't matter but I'd like to know how and why the error has occurred


James

 

[timber]

Welcome to the world of vw California's. A never ending sequence of "which decision is the least bad"

Go for the new vehicle. Risk of collateral damage if kids on the minimum wage start messing with your van. You will get to know the warranty process very well.

we' re all doomed mr mainwaring :laugh2

 

[James]

Welcome to the world of vw California's. A never ending sequence of "which decision is the least bad"

Go for the new vehicle. Risk of collateral damage if kids on the minimum wage start messing with your van. You will get to know the warranty process very well.

i don't entirely agree with that, I do get what you're saying and there are horror stories and clearly i am commenting on one here, but in nearly two years of ownership, I've had no real problems (touch wood) and I've not had problems with dealers.

I acknowledge there is a problem with some dealers and i realise VW's approach to the Cali in the UK can be questioned but it's a bit unfair when many people are happily driving around in their Cali's without issue.

James

 

[bluebell]

reading gatvols previous posts he seems to have a real hatred of VW. He still has a Cali though :?

 

[Goldie]

Welcome to the world of vw California's. A never ending sequence of "which decision is the least bad"

Go for the new vehicle. Risk of collateral damage if kids on the minimum wage start messing with your van. You will get to know the warranty process very well.

You ought to clarify your second paragraph. There must be no end of young people on minimum wage and they are no more likely to damage your California that a drunken person leaving the pub on 4 times the minimum wage or someone with a shopping trolley in the supermarket car park.

I have a son (still in UK), graduate with an IT degree, who due to the job market has worked in a pub on minimum wage and now drives 30 miles to work in an IT job. By the time he pays to run his car he is on little more than the minimum wage and commutes an hour plus each way.

There must be tens of thousands like him. Don't tar them all with the same brush.

Andy

 

[BerndRos]

True......

I have 5 apprentices working in my business and they all do a splendid job and are progressing well. However they only account for 25% of my total staff and we don't let them do work beyond their present skill levels until they are trained further. My firms clients are paying for more highly trained staff to look after the work they ask us to do and thats what they get.