Change from an Ocean

[andyinluton]

After 8 years of SE/Ocean ownership we are seriously considering changing to a GC600, the business mileage that I do in the Ocean has drastically reduced & I don't need it to double up as an everyday car, I'm limited to 6m by our available parking & the GC to me feels like the best fit for our needs I still have a couple of reservations & spec queries:


1. comfort of the rear seat.
The two girls could be perched on it for many hours, in the Ocean they tend to fall asleep & lean against the side of the van or fridge.
I can see that who ever gets the kitchen side in a GC is just going to fall off, with nothing to lean against. Has anyone seen any clever ideas - a folding armrest off of one of the front seats would be perfect, or anything along those lines?

2. LED headlights, we have them on the Ocean & love them, do we need them, how bad are the halogen lights?

3. Heating options. all currently available vans have gas+ electric heating, I had persuaded myself that I really wanted Diesel/electric just so we are not reliant on gas other than for the hob. Consumption then would be similar to the Ocean & a decent size bottle would be more than sufficient for a 3/4 week trip. If specifying a new van there are about 4 different heating options with auxiliary heaters etc what are they for.

4. Bluetooth rear speakers, I can see them on an options list but have no information about them.

5. Cooling in summer - has anyone camped in 30+ degrees - does the rear bed get hot, do we need the roof aircon or is there sufficient airflow or do the the blackout blinds stop the through draft.

6. Cab aircon - is good enough to cool the whole van whilst on the move? are there any aircon / heater outlets guiding air to the rear seat passengers?

7. Anyone. know of any pre-registered or new vans out there that are not showing on the VW system? I am struggling to find a dealer with an acceptable spec van that will give a decent trade in on an Ocean, they are all one or the other.

8. Lastly do ocean wheels fit a GC -am thinking specifically of my 17" winter steels, the rims have sufficient load rating. There appear to be a lot of ebay ads for wheels suggesting that they would fit.

 

[Camperfamily]

I have no GC experience, but on #7 Campersales have a low mileage one in stock but seems a relatively lower spec, which might not meet your wish list.

You mention combination of good spec van and good trade in. Have you considered separating these two transactions to get the van you want and either trading in with another dealer/ WBAC or a private sale?

 

[far.landscape]

After 8 years of SE/Ocean ownership we are seriously considering changing to a GC600, the business mileage that I do in the Ocean has drastically reduced & I don't need it to double up as an everyday car, I'm limited to 6m by our available parking & the GC to me feels like the best fit for our needs I still have a couple of reservations & spec queries:


1. comfort of the rear seat.
The two girls could be perched on it for many hours, in the Ocean they tend to fall asleep & lean against the side of the van or fridge.
I can see that who ever gets the kitchen side in a GC is just going to fall off, with nothing to lean against. Has anyone seen any clever ideas - a folding armrest off of one of the front seats would be perfect, or anything along those lines?

2. LED headlights, we have them on the Ocean & love them, do we need them, how bad are the halogen lights?

3. Heating options. all currently available vans have gas+ electric heating, I had persuaded myself that I really wanted Diesel/electric just so we are not reliant on gas other than for the hob. Consumption then would be similar to the Ocean & a decent size bottle would be more than sufficient for a 3/4 week trip. If specifying a new van there are about 4 different heating options with auxiliary heaters etc what are they for.

4. Bluetooth rear speakers, I can see them on an options list but have no information about them.

5. Cooling in summer - has anyone camped in 30+ degrees - does the rear bed get hot, do we need the roof aircon or is there sufficient airflow or do the the blackout blinds stop the through draft.

6. Cab aircon - is good enough to cool the whole van whilst on the move? are there any aircon / heater outlets guiding air to the rear seat passengers?

7. Anyone. know of any pre-registered or new vans out there that are not showing on the VW system? I am struggling to find a dealer with an acceptable spec van that will give a decent trade in on an Ocean, they are all one or the other.

8. Lastly do ocean wheels fit a GC -am thinking specifically of my 17" winter steels, the rims have sufficient load rating. There appear to be a lot of ebay ads for wheels suggesting that they would fit.

1. The rear seat isn’t amazing, it’s a compromise to allow the kitchen with a walkway, Nobody will love it, but although it’s very upright, it’s not as bad as it looks from the photos.

2. I have the standard lights and they are fine for me (unlit Highlands and Islands touring). Led would sure be better but not essential.

3. Remember that if on a hookup you can use electric or mixed heating and water. I’m 40+ nights in, including most over autumn / winter, and just changed my first cylinder. I think the gas / electric system is one of the best things about it.

4. Can’t comment. Might be nice to have. Built in stereo is surprisingly good quality actually.

5. Yes but only a couple of nights. Have battery fans stowed in lockers. Needed them, but worked ok. Would definitely not want to lose the skylight.

6. Yes it’s good enough. Scottish summer though…

7. Think they are in very strong demand.

8. Not sure but make sure load rating for wheels and tyres are sufficient I think.

 

[andyinluton]

@far.landscape Whats #7 Campersales?

Ive tried WBAC - not good this month, Motorway is £10k better than WBAC, I don't want the hassle of private.

I've currently got a variance of £15k on trade in prices. So there's a large amount at stake. The dealer with the van closest to the spec I want has the worst trade in....

The sensible thing to do would be to sell our van in a couple of months at peak demand & order a new van - current delivery is about October. When it comes to thing automotive though I don't tend to do sensible.

VW incentives & DTD discounts are currently good & make the secondhand vans look expensive.

 

[Camperfamily]

I was just referring to number 7 on your list and suggesting this:

Used Volkswagen Grand California 2.0 for Sale

Used Volkswagen Grand California (2021) for sale with a 2.0 177 HP Diesel engine, 8 speed Automatic gearbox, 2 berths, fixed roof, 1 former keeper covering 2,332 miles and finished in Reflex Silver. Warranty and finance available. Ref. CS643.

www.campersales.co.uk

 

[Camperfamily]

Ignore that, it doesn’t have the upstairs bed

 

[andyinluton]

Ignore that, it doesn’t have the upstairs bed

Shame - otherwise perfect & competitive price.

 

[Jay20cali]

I would honestly sell private and buy new
I don’t really like a private sale but it’s more beneficial and from experience works out better.

 

[Jay20cali]

Also to add there’s been a lot of problems with the grand control panel also the water pump so buying new you have more chance of these issues being ironed out

 

[Holidaymaker]

1. Seatbelt each passenger hold in place.

2. Led headlight very weak white light - led take bicycle lamp.

3. I am 4 heaters. 1 - dashboard regular driving heater - not makes feet very warm - is pigeon make more hot air. 2. diesel + electric heater is 2 control - toilet wall and floor - you must go inside mini door. wall panel and floor control make conflict talking and you are not any heating. Must long time stay floor and adjusting truma control and try make heating coming on. Hot water is take very long time make diesel and electric - is more quickly you can make kettle hot water and is washing you self pail and washing cloth. 3 is remote control diesel heater making only floor vent next parking brake area warm. 4 is roof ac can makes warm until 9c - must take wool cloths.

4. I am not extra speakers - is control panel bad functions many problems already.

5. you must sleep back door open make wind arrive - can growing terrible hot. window back door too small moving air.
Ac machine make noise same then farmer tractor - impossible sleeping ac is activate.

6. I am not knowing.

7. I am not knowing.

8. you is excellent advice 2 thing. buying extend factory warranty. 1st year not use much camping machine - is many gc spends much this time repairs service centre, especial water system, leaking, pump problem, taps problems, water flood floorings. once is service centre fixings many fault, but cannot fix everything then is you can plan holiday!. Always take pail and washings cloth. always taking towels dry flood waterings. joining to German grand California Facebook and can learning how is fixing many troubles and holiday can complete to happy end before arrive service centre,

 

[yossarian]

9 Is the 100Ah leisure battery sufficient? If not how have you solved that?

 

[arsein]

9 Is the 100Ah leisure battery sufficient? If not how have you solved that?

for me is enought: during summer (I'm in southern Switzerland) 3/4 days off-grid refrigerator (no solar panel), during winter: 2 days Fridge+Truma depending by external temps

 

[arsein]

After 8 years of SE/Ocean ownership we are seriously considering changing to a GC600, the business mileage that I do in the Ocean has drastically reduced & I don't need it to double up as an everyday car, I'm limited to 6m by our available parking & the GC to me feels like the best fit for our needs I still have a couple of reservations & spec queries:


1. comfort of the rear seat.
The two girls could be perched on it for many hours, in the Ocean they tend to fall asleep & lean against the side of the van or fridge.
I can see that who ever gets the kitchen side in a GC is just going to fall off, with nothing to lean against. Has anyone seen any clever ideas - a folding armrest off of one of the front seats would be perfect, or anything along those lines?

2. LED headlights, we have them on the Ocean & love them, do we need them, how bad are the halogen lights?

3. Heating options. all currently available vans have gas+ electric heating, I had persuaded myself that I really wanted Diesel/electric just so we are not reliant on gas other than for the hob. Consumption then would be similar to the Ocean & a decent size bottle would be more than sufficient for a 3/4 week trip. If specifying a new van there are about 4 different heating options with auxiliary heaters etc what are they for.

4. Bluetooth rear speakers, I can see them on an options list but have no information about them.

5. Cooling in summer - has anyone camped in 30+ degrees - does the rear bed get hot, do we need the roof aircon or is there sufficient airflow or do the the blackout blinds stop the through draft.

6. Cab aircon - is good enough to cool the whole van whilst on the move? are there any aircon / heater outlets guiding air to the rear seat passengers?

7. Anyone. know of any pre-registered or new vans out there that are not showing on the VW system? I am struggling to find a dealer with an acceptable spec van that will give a decent trade in on an Ocean, they are all one or the other.

8. Lastly do ocean wheels fit a GC -am thinking specifically of my 17" winter steels, the rims have sufficient load rating. There appear to be a lot of ebay ads for wheels suggesting that they would fit.

1. the rear seats are awful, my daughter can't sit for more than half an hour so she lies across the long side of the bench and puts her feet on the kitchen. She urgently needs to find a solution but I think she will have to be replaced.

2. I have both the ceiling light LEDs and the RGB LEDs around the cabinets. The RGB ones are nice, my wife and daughter use them often, the led of the ceiling light and all those scattered in the leisure are in fact adjustable in intensity: I must say that they are comfortable.

3. I also have the Truma Combi 4E (Gas + Electric) it is very powerful even when I go to 2'000 mls in the mountains and inside the camper at night the temperature drops to around zero it takes just a few minutes and if you want to start sweating too . In mixed use: I have had it since April 2021, with mixed use in summer, autumn winter, cooking, one cylinder lasted 9 months

4. I don't have a BT speaker unfortunately because the Crafter's audio is really bad. I think I'll adapt my Apple HomePod Mini for the Leisure part (as soon as I get it).

5. I don't have HVAC in Leisure but if you don't park in the sun you can survive (I've been to Italy often and it gets quite hot in summer).

6. The Crafter's air conditioner is very good and powerful enough to cool the passengers on the rear bench as well. It doesn't work wonders for the Leisure part.

7. N / A

8. I don't know how to answer, I solved it by buying snow chains that I have never used yet.

 

[Eber123]

Good morning,

Last year we went through the same / similar process and changed from a T6 Ocean to a VW GC 600.

To 1.)
We only. use the rear seats for the dog (dog seat). The few time I used them they were not comfortable, but ok. Would I like to sit on them for a long journey - no.

To 2.)
Ours has the LED lights. In comparison to the H7 from the T6 they are better, but not as much as I expected. Never the less I am glad to have them.

To 3.)
Heating for me is a big issue at the moment. We have the gas heating (no "E" version). First of all the heating is more than sufficant. It warms up the camper rather well. No issues here.

So far my experience is only with the GC 600 and it feels to me that I go through the 11 kg propane bottles rather quickly. The issue is not cooking, but heating and warm water.
In UK or Ireland you easily get the red propane bottles, but if you go abroad for a longer time this can become an issue. Also it seems that the propane gas bottles are expensive.

It is beyond me why VW not offering LPG system. It is more comfortalbe, cheaper to run, and more flexible. To change to a LPG system is possible but expensive.

My clear advice - go for a diesel heater.

To 4.)
No experience because we don't have them.

But thinking about it. I believe the speakers are in the back. What good do they do in the back? Do you listen to music while lying in bed or sitting at the table?

To 5.)
We have no experience with cooling in summer. If it is too warm we open the window. If this won't help the Truma heater has a ventilation setting.

If I could decide I wouldn't go for an air condition. I would prefer the Maxxvan.

To 6.)
I am not 100 % sure about this, but I don't believe the cab AC will sufficiently cool the entire camper.

To 7.)
Don't know.

To 8.)
Don't know.

How many Grand Californias are out there I don't know. But it seems that there are at least a few with all sorts of problems. We hat more than our fair share of issues, which almost made us giving back the camper.
If you go ahead buying one, ensure that you have a.) warranty as long as possible and b.) a good VW dealer near by and c.) if you buy used it must be at least a 2021 model.
Sometimes I feel the Grand California is like a box of choclates, when you open it you are not sure what kind of problems you might get.

Also an issue is the battery. The 92 Ah AGM is not the most powerful in the world. Especially that, long term, only 50% of the AGM battery should be used. That leaves 46 Ah. That is not a lot. The solar panel helps - obviously in the summer. In the winter the battery lasts about 1 1/2 days. In the summer double the time.

I am not a specialist, far away from it, but it seems that it is more complex to "improve" electric in the Grand California. I struggle to find somebody in ROI to even look into this. And if somebody does it, it is very expensive. Because the Grand California is not that often, companies won't have a lot of experience with it.

Beside that the GC 600 is a wonderful camper. Driving is a dream (without the Crafter as a base, VW would have never sold many of those campers).

Best of luck with your plans.

Kind regards,
Eberhard

 

[B J G]

I've considered the GC but tend to favour the Conversion Manufacturers, Hymer etc.
Reason being that it is their Business to do mobile leisure vehicles and use Commercially available parts for heating, water, cooking etc.
VW use of integrated computerised control seems to create problems that aren't needed in a leisure vehicle.

Having 2 different service agents to deal with can seem an issue but it keeps the original van being dealt with by a fully experienced setup, VW or whoever and the leisure part by a dedicated leisure vehicle workshop.

 

[SusiBus]

When l looked at the GC one of my first thoughts was how uncomfortable the rear seat looked. From my experience, as your girls get older they will be less tolerant of putting up with an uncomfortable seat. So I think you've got your answer there, it's not going to be a GC. Which is a shame if it means that you will be leaving the forum I've enjoyed your input on the forum.

 

[ThomasHJ]

@andyinluton depending on how old/tall they are, you could look at something like this:

 

[andyinluton]

When l looked at the GC one of my first thoughts was how uncomfortable the rear seat looked. From my experience, as your girls get older they will be less tolerant of putting up with an uncomfortable seat.

The two youngest are 18 & 12, 18yr old is only interested in coming if we are going abroad so 90% of the time it will be just the 12 year old, I think for one + some cushions it Should be OK.
Compared to our old Rollerteam MH where the seat was a lump of 50mm foam on some plywood which you then converted into a bed & slept on it doesn't look that bad.

They both fit in the upper bed so thats OK

The attraction really is the on board facilities & not needing an awning, it would extend our camping season & makes single night stops far more practical.

I have looked at alternatives but cant find anything else I like at 6m. The size is important as we have a h shaped drive & at 6m it fits on the shorter leg in front of the garage. Any longer & it has to go the other side, takes 2 parking spaces & sits in front of the lounge window which we don't want.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Before you do anything to drastic have you thought about what you take in the Ocean and tried slimming things down…?

I’m sure 4 is a squeeze, but we are a family of 3 and we never require an awning for our travels. Those days are far behind and I could never go back to owning one.

Can you be more ruthless with packing and what’s really required for your trips…?

 

[andyinluton]

Before you do anything to drastic have you thought about what you take in the Ocean and tried slimming things down…?

I’m sure 4 is a squeeze, but we are a family of 3 and we never require an awning for our travels. Those days are far behind and I could never go back to owning one.

Can you be more ruthless with packing and what’s really required for your trips…?

No - we need a porta potty / somewhere to get changed etc, thats the awning.

We usually have the dog with us as well, she takes up more room than kids.

We do occasionally do without but wouldn't do it for a week. Last year we did a couple 16 day trips that were just one or two nights in each location, we took both a Driveaway and the comfort sides / front for the roll out.
The thought of having an extra hour in bed rather than spending it packing up a wet awning is quite attractive.

Similarly, if time permits ( I'm semi retiring imminently) it may be nice to saunter down through France rather than our usual 12 hour dash through it. Having our own facilities makes that more attractive & opens up using Aires etc

Don't get me wrong I love the Ocean, but have always used it as a car foremost & a camper as its secondary function. If I don't need the car side perhaps a slightly larger van would enhance the camping side of things.

Although its only 1m longer the layout seems to be pretty good, the two "bedrooms" are separated I could use the laptop on a table whilst the others are still in bed, we wouldn't have to get everyone up & bench back into seating mode before using the kitchen.
Most importantly the amount of packing away before moving would be minimal.

I know its not been normal, but in the last two years the only place we've been where I wouldn't have got the GC parked is the local station.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Sounds like your ready for a change Andy.
Personally, I would look at either Westfalia or Hymer vans at 6m.

Good luck and keep us posted on how you get on

P.s I’m sure the Motorhome show is on at the NEC next month, probably worth a look.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

HYMER GC S CrossOver edition at a glance| HYMER campervan

The perfect companion for a trip into the unknown: The Grand Canyon S CrossOver edition model is off-road capable and self-sufficient for up to 10 days. Discover now!

www.hymer.com

 

[GCless]

I moved to a GC600 last year from T5 Cali SE and have absolutely no regrets. The biggest difference is not having to faff about with portaloos, awnings and rearranging things morning and night. To answer your questions;

1. Rear seats are pretty upright but no less comfortable than the SE.
2. Had the LED lights on the Cali but not on GC and haven’t missed them.
3. Go for diesel heating with remote control. Less messing about with gas bottles and you have the ability to start the heating or ventilation remotely from your smartphone to come home to a warm or cool van. Used this a lot more than I expected. That said I exclusively use electric heating when on hookup which works just fine.
4. Bluetooth speakers weren’t an option when I bought mine. I just use a portable speaker.
5. The GC is much better insulated so temperature doesn’t fluctuate as much as Cali. Roof aircon will take you over the 3.5te weight limit and only works on hookup.
6. No problems.
7. If you are considering a pre-reg you’d probably be better off speccing your own new van so you get exactly what you want…it’s a lot of money to spend and then feel compromised in some way. I’d also sell privately as even if you “price to sell” you’ll get a lot more than any trade in offer.
8. I wouldn’t take any chances with winter wheels, best to get professional advice. Personally I wouldn’t bother unless heading for the ski slopes.

I suspect I am not too far away from you if you want to have a look and discuss further, drop me a PM.

 

[Jay586]

Affinity vans look good too. Adventure Leisure in Tebay are getting some in, sometime...there's a few other dealers getting them too, sold via Coachman in the UK, so their dealers.

 

[Eber123]

Good morning,

June 2021 we were in Northern Ireland for a few days. It was a wonderful time, but even though it was nice my wife and I agreed that we "out lived" our Ocean and decided that we would like to go for something a wee bit bigger.

For us not a bad decision, but timing wise it was very bad. At the time there were almost no camper vans anywhere available in Ireland.

Also it seems that all motorhome dealers are not in the Dublin aea. Never the less we visited a few (Letterkenney, Norther Ireland) but with no success.

I don't know why I haven't thought about it, but my wife suggested to visit the VW dealer were we bought the Ocean.

So off we went. He had a few GC 600 available, so we spend over an hour to look at the camper and took it for a test drive. I would have preferred the GC 680 but at the time there was only one available which was in Sligo and that was LHD. My wife argued that the GC 600 would be the better choice.

So we went for it and took one of the 4x which were on stock with a configuration that suite us best. The trade-in price for the Ocean was not bad either.

What made us decide to go for the GC 600? Mainly it was that it was available (I have to be honest). We didn't fancy a build time of a year or even more. The second big reason for us was that the support for the camper comes naturally with the VW Dealer net. In our case they are 25 km away from us and we got an additional VW warranty which covers us for 5 years up to 300.000 km.

Disadvantage was that the configuration was done strangley. We got only the standard gas heating (no electric), no alarm etc. To improve this we got the Pandora Camper Mini installed (which at the end of the day is far better than the standard VW alarm. VW was so good to take over half the cost of the installation). Also we will get the LPG refillable gas installed before we go onto our summer holiday.

We had massive problems with the camper starting within a week of ownership. Because of this we lost summer 2021 season. Would we had these issues with a different camper - maybe. But our VW dealer was close and really did his best to help us. Are all issues sorted? No! Do I expect that they will be sorted soon? No! I believe that VW made the entire software to complex and causes a lot of the problems. They are not able to fix it.

Have I said all that. The GC 600 is good. Driving is a dream (have I said that I would love to drive a model 8 Ducato with 180 HP and automatic). I think the bed is so much more comfortable. The wet room is brilliant. It gives so much freedom (but that counts for all camper vans with wet room). And everywhere I go people talk to me about the camper. I never got so much interest for a vehicle as with the GC.

Almost happy Grand California,
Eberhard