California dream is over for now.....cancelling order

[Californication69]

Thanks mate. There seems to be a lot of anti BMW stuff on here, but having owned a couple over the years, I know they are well built and have had nothing but great customer service from them. Yes it will possibly work out more costly over the ownership period, but who knows what the camper van or diesel market will do? It’s not just about the money either. We tried kidding ourselves that a camper was right for us when reality and our current circumstances dictate otherwise. So a decent estate is a better option. Yes I could get a more sensible estate, but to soften the blow I’m thinking ”stuff it - if I’m not having the Cali I’m having something very nice”

I drove a 330e M-Sport for 3 years.
Out of the 37 different cars I’ve owned over 30 years, it is my all time favourite. Winter tyres on and plenty of fun in the snow.
Summer tyres on in Spring and stuck to the road like sing to a blanket.
The most comfortable seat for me, of ANY car.
Love them

 

[Jandy61]

Sleep on the decision just another week, I have really enjoyed reading your threads, lots of the same thoughts we’ve had, yes we have a long wait with no delivery date set, we thought of getting a nearly new VW Passat 4 motion estate and throwing a small caravan on the back, but in reality just not as convenient.
I would buy a real cheap crappy estate car for the space between loosing your car and picking up your beautiful van, the sh@tter will give your neighbours something to twitch the curtains about lol
Maybe one day, all of us waiting for our 204s can have a meet up sitting round a fire having a drink putting this frustrating time well behind us.
i Have noticed a lot of vans for sale now, but I would hold out for your own spec, we’ll all keep an eye out for that plate, spot Phillis van game..

 

[Saesneg Shaun]

Sorry to see you go and hopefully you will be back one day but wish you the best of luck with your new purchase

 

[LucyYorkshire]

Hi Phil, I am a big believer in going with your gut and only you can hear what your inner voices are telling you. I think from the very beginning your gut has been telling you that perhaps a Cali isn’t right for you at this moment. I think your dream of the BMW is probably bigger than your dream of the Cali.

As you know we ordered at the same time as you from the same dealer and our dream has held strong. But we have different circumstances to you - we have an Eriba and a Hilux Invincible that we’re keeping so we don’t have as many decisions as you as you’ll be without a car because of the delays. So I totally get why you are making your decision. Quick question - if you cancelled your Cali today are you going to have sleepless nights questioning yourself or are you just going to be laying awake excited about the dream BMW?
Lucy

 

[Vagophile]

Having read this through from start to finish, you have no shortage of advice!
I'm going to add my twopenn'th for what It's worth.
You don't need to cancel your order yet.
If there is going to be a time gap, consider short term contract hire, or go the other way and buy something that has taken its major depreciation hit as a short term stop gap. I have never bought a new car and have saved a mint on depreciation without running into any serious maintenance issues.
The two deposit option is worth considering.
Whatever you do, yours has been an interesting story from the start; I won't say to finish, because I'm sure that there is more to come.
As a former BMW owner, I agree that some do have a certain cachet, but terrible depreciation.

 

[Ryemslie]

My tuppence worth. Hold out, get the cali, live with it a year & if it turns out to be the wrong decision then you’ve lost nothing. Sell & but a year old, heavily specced Bmw 340 for 15k less than what you’d have paid new. It’s not as though a few extra months now are going to make mutch of a difference given we can’t really go anywhere. We bought our cali three years ago now & have used it as it should be so the honeymoon periods well & truly over but as much as the wife & I have discussed selling up for a highly specced car we just can’t seem to get past the practicalities of the cali which is why we’re now thinking of upgrading to a slightly newer cali. Your money at the end of the day though so if you & the wife are happy to take a big hit of depreciation for a nice car to get you from a to b then go for it

 

[66tim99]

Sleep on the decision just another week, I have really enjoyed reading your threads, lots of the same thoughts we’ve had, yes we have a long wait with no delivery date set, we thought of getting a nearly new VW Passat 4 motion estate and throwing a small caravan on the back, but in reality just not as convenient.
I would buy a real cheap crappy estate car for the space between loosing your car and picking up your beautiful van, the sh@tter will give your neighbours something to twitch the curtains about lol
Maybe one day, all of us waiting for our 204s can have a meet up sitting round a fire having a drink putting this frustrating time well behind us.
i Have noticed a lot of vans for sale now, but I would hold out for your own spec, we’ll all keep an eye out for that plate, spot Phillis van game..

Or even a good used one, now...and sell it for little loss when the Cali turns up?https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-de...d=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New

 

[2into1]

i Have noticed a lot of vans for sale now

This is the peak. Wait for the first sniff of Spring and the shelves will be empty.

 

[2into1]

Answer to a) is easy - hardly anything as I'll now be working from home even after we're through this Covid stuff. Unlikely to be even driving for work-related things like I used

This is a good observation. The days of parking your prestigious car in the company car park to demonstrate your position in the hierarchy may well be over. Fortunately.
Even more demand for Cali's then.

 

[pilsortangle]

All the best Phil.

Enjoy the new car, its a cracker! Always loved a 3 series touring.

Shame about BMW reliability... my m2 got towed back to main dealer 5 times!
California reliability only marginally better...

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Shame about BMW reliability... my m2 got towed back to main dealer 5 times!
California reliability only marginally better...

Surprises me, i’ve owned 4 BMWs in the past with no problems.

 

[Sunstoner]

Shame about BMW reliability... my m2 got towed back to main dealer 5 times!
California reliability only marginally better...

Thats not great for any motor but esp on an M2. :-(

Ive had a couple of recent bimmers that never missed a beat. I wouldnt hesitate.

 

[Sunstoner]

The novelty soon wears off..
I’ve had a couple of tasty loan cars over the last few years.
Great to begin with. After 3 weeks, it’s just another A-B luggage mover.
With the volume of traffic and the spread of cameras. It’s hard to enjoy these vehicles, like you once could...

Admittedly, the above was a big factor plus the fact that I work from home full time meant for limited use too. Itd end up staying in the garage being an expensive ornament.

Whereas the Cali means I dont have to be stuck working in one place plus all the other obvious advantages too.

 

[B J G]

My previous BMW depreciated at approx 90p per mile. Needed a transfer box replacement (warranty thankfully).

The Camper market is changing

Electric Nissan e-NV200 Winter Camper concept revealed | Auto Express

All-electric campervan features a built-in kitchen, a folding bed and a power pack that can be recharged using a roof-mounted solar panel

www.autoexpress.co.uk

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

My previous BMW depreciated at approx 90p per mile. Needed a transfer box replacement (warranty thankfully).

The Camper market is changing

Electric Nissan e-NV200 Winter Camper concept revealed | Auto Express

All-electric campervan features a built-in kitchen, a folding bed and a power pack that can be recharged using a roof-mounted solar panel

www.autoexpress.co.uk

Too small and no range.

 

[B J G]

Too small and no range.

Gives an indication of where the market will be in 3 years with not only VW and Mercedes looking to get a slice of the profits.

in your position I'm sure that I'd cancel, came close when there was delays 4 years ago but only 6 months wait then.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Gives an indication of where the market will be in 3 years with not only VW and Mercedes looking to get a slice of the profits.

in your position I'm sure that I'd cancel, came close when there was delays 4 years ago but only 6 months wait then.

Repeating myself, but if I was waiting for a new van at the moment i’d leave the order in place but in the meantime look for a nearly new/pre-reg/conversion. I certainly wouldn’t abandon the Cali dream in favour of a car but understand that OP has been conflicted from the outset.

 

[Kernowboy]

On the bright side though, you’re on track to get the 2 x longest threads on the forum in record time . If you ignore the one about roof rot....

 

[westfalia]

Nice.

Nice.

Can you not get both of them

 

[PhilR]

View attachment 72335
Nice.
View attachment 72336
Nice.

Can you not get both of them

Yeah!!! Why the heck not. Life is too short!......
If I had an bottomless pit of cash and a big enough driveway!!!

 

[PhilR]

Shame you are opting out @PhilR. Your posts always generate good debate and let's face it theres not a lot of that going on at the moment during these Covid times. The chances are the seed has been sown and I'm sure you'll keep an eye on the forum. Once we all get up and running and start talking about our travels you never know you might have another think about it. Enjoy your new BMW I'm sure it'll be great.

Thanks mate. I love this forum and I love the idea of a Cali......too much really, as it was me pushing to get one when my wife didn’t really want to.....yet. She is right (aren’t they always!!). It is too early for us. The delay has probably been a blessing in disguise. It’s given us time to consider our options. Since ordering I’ve also been nervous about the amount of niggles and quality issues on the 6.1. I’m hoping they are all isolated issues, but it still makes me nervous. I’d have bought a decent T6 if it had been a good option but it wasn’t compared to a new one.
But that’s all irrelevant - the timing isn’t right, that’s what it boils down to. I agree 100% with what people are saying about the Cali - it’s a fab proposition and part of me is definitely a bit sad. But I’m still a bit of a petrol head and love nice cars...I’ll get to Switzerland still, but quicker now via the Autobahns and stay in a nice hotel. I’ll just miss having that afternoon nap and snacks at the top of a mountain pass!!

 

[Jester]

Shame about BMW reliability... my m2 got towed back to main dealer 5 times!
California reliability only marginally better...

Shame had a few until 2018 never had any issues and customer service exemplary. Wish they made vans.

 

[westfalia]

Yeah!!! Why the heck not. Life is too short!......
If I had an bottomless pit of cash and a big enough driveway!!!

Just to spoil the picture on depreciation, ours was about 4yrs
old and the new one came out, we thought about upgrading until
it became aware that it would cost our van + about 30k €
That was the point that we new our van was a keeper.

Our vehicles since have mostly depreciated, it is what it is.
I got a kebab last friday night, cost 6€. How much depreciation
did i suffer there.

 

[Ryemslie]

Shame about BMW reliability... my m2 got towed back to main dealer 5 times!
California reliability only marginally better...

Luck of the draw with any car these days!

 

[Thepuma]

Sadly, after all the planning and excitement, the frustrations have finally took their toll and we are cancelling our order. If you read my first post on this forum you'll know we had reservations about purchasing a Cali after a 2 day hire. But we stuck with our dream and brushed aside concerns over 6.1 issues, VW customer service and the delays. However we've had enough of the uncertainty and the real possibility of being without a car for a few weeks or months even, so after a real good talk about it we are going to go for an estate car again. A very nice one at that, as cancelling a Cali order gives you some nice options! We're hopefully going to go for a BMW M340i. Fully specced (but with no bed or kitchen!) and with discount it is about £52k, so way less. More importantly there are NO (or none I can think of) compromises, unlike there is with the Cali. BMW have also told me today that they have confirmed factory build slots allocated in March.
We will take out a 3 year PCP and maybe when that ends we will reconsider the Campervan dream.

Hopefully we should get back our deposit . I've purchased a VW number plate, so that is a wasted £400. Anyone want VW21 PMR

Thanks for all the fabulous advice and information on these forums. I don't think I'll be participating very much from now on, but I may be back in just over 3 years time.

Finally, fingers crossed for all of you waiting on a factory order. Hopefully you can see it out. Our company car goes back at the end of April and we need a big car for the dogs. I made VW aware of this issue but they haven't offered any kind of solution sadly, so we couldn't take the chance. We could try and get a used one, but the value is poor at the moment.

Thanks again,
Phil

Tonbridge say they have some on order for delivery mid april