Costs of cancelling a California Order?

[MarkVw2017]

North Wales, i see your from the beautiful Island of Anglesey so you will know this bridge well

I work in Anglesey all the time, absolutely love the place!

 

[bigmac77]

My sons Beaver Scout hut is just up the hill from where you took that photo.

 

[Zebedee]

Many years ago ordered the latest Porsche and then Recession hit! I was able to “transfer” my order to someone else and they paid me the deposit too so I lost nothing. Apart from having to see my ex husband driving round in “my” car for the next three years!

I earn a pittance but somehow we burble through our Cali ownership etc. Going away need not be expensive at all. You can “eat in” etc stay in cheaper campsites or free aires etc. Hope it wlorks out for you

 

[MarkVw2017]

Many years ago ordered the latest Porsche and then Recession hit! I was able to “transfer” my order to someone else and they paid me the deposit too so I lost nothing. Apart from having to see my ex husband driving round in “my” car for the next three years!

I earn a pittance but somehow we burble through our Cali ownership etc. Going away need not be expensive at all. You can “eat in” etc stay in cheaper campsites or free aires etc. Hope it works out for you

Thank you, thats some lovely advice, and your ex husband couldnt sleep or cook in his porsche

 

[MarkVw2017]

Even though im now keeping the cali, Unlike most threads its a shame we couldnt get a definite answer to this question incase anyone else finds themselves in a similar position. Feel the "any costs incurred" in the order form needs to be more clearly defined (eg £250, £500, £1000) so people know exactly where they are. Its a bit of a "how long is string" contract condition.

 

[bigmac77]

Have you got a delivery date?

 

[MarkVw2017]

Have you got a delivery date?

It was supposed to be leaving the factory Aug 30th but got a email from dealer saying VW are having delays due to WLTP so its any ones guess now and not even sure if its even been made yet :-0

 

[Borris]

Only you can work out whether it's affordable or not. My only advice would be to leave yourself some slack in your finances because life has a nasty habit of throwing in the odd unforeseen big expense from time to time. Also that beans on toast diet has a major drawback as well!

I'm not in any way suggesting you should go ahead and cancel your order. I'm merely saying that whilst they are truely great vehicles that will change your life, they aren't worth getting yourself into a serious financial bind for. VW will continue to sell them and they may even bring out an improved version soon so you won't have missed your chance, you'll merely have postponed it.

What ever you decide, good luck.

 

[MarkVw2017]

Only you can work out whether it's affordable or not. My only advice would be to leave yourself some slack in your finances because life has a nasty habit of throwing in the odd unforeseen big expense from time to time. Also that beans on toast diet has a major drawback as well!

I'm not in any way suggesting you should go ahead and cancel your order. I'm merely saying that whilst they are truely great vehicles that will change your life, they aren't worth getting yourself into a serious financial bind for. VW will continue to sell them and they may even bring out an improved version soon so you won't have missed your chance, you'll merely have postponed it.

What ever you decide, good luck.

Thank you @Borris for your wise words!

 

[MarkVw2017]

My experience if you did need to cancel: We had been looking for a nearly new Cali for months with a very specific spec. After despairing of ever finding what we wanted I finally bit the bullet and ordered a new van.
Wouldn’t you know it, about 5-6 weeks later I found exactly what I wanted. Spec, colour, everything - and about £5k cheaper.
I called the dealer and apologised profusely, saying that my wife had found out how much I was planning to spend and was threatening to divorce (actually near enough true!).
They were really good about, even refunding my £500 deposit. It probably helped that I hadn’t yet had a build date though.

Haha, my wife was the same but now is more excited than i am, hence we are now keeping it! Thank you @Bobajob

 

[soulstyledevon]

Borris has a point...
Personally I think a Cali is a luxury if you can.

I’ve had just as much fun in some of my old self builds which cost a fraction of the price of a California and still offer the same experiences and adventures.
Is the California really worth the debt...???

Absolutely NOT...

 

[Legin]

In reality your liability is the 1 k you paid they,re not going to chase you through the courts. Also the finance regs will protect you for the first 14 days.
In reality they will probably give your deposit back. Also as said you can hide behind the emissions malarkey as they have defaulted on delivery date already and the mpg will change and it clearly states you can back out if you dont like it.

Your holding the aces

 

[Verity]

Only you and your wife know if you can really survive and still buy the cali …. I think buying a cali is like having kids - if you waited till you could afford it you'd never do it. At least you know with a cali you can sell it for close to what you paid for it if times get hard, so not such a risk as any other vehicle. We sold our house to pay for the cali, but then got carried away and bought another expensive house. Oops. Husband has to work for a few more years. Oh well, at least we've got a lovely house for him to work in, and the cali has a beautiful front drive with a lovely view!

 

[MarkVw2017]

Only you and your wife know if you can really survive and still buy the cali …. I think buying a cali is like having kids - if you waited till you could afford it you'd never do it. At least you know with a cali you can sell it for close to what you paid for it if times get hard, so not such a risk as any other vehicle. We sold our house to pay for the cali, but then got carried away and bought another expensive house. Oops. Husband has to work for a few more years. Oh well, at least we've got a lovely house for him to work in, and the cali has a beautiful front drive with a lovely view!

Yes, good advice. If it was a new car, would defo pull the plug. It seems when you drive off the forecourt with a cali, it basically holds its price. We have the essential options so even if we find we need to resell, nothing exciting but we have the options that get the thumbs up (apart from the 2 seat bench which is a bit like a marmite option, love it or hate it ;-)

 

[Ksar-el-kebir]

Dear Cali Gurus,

So my order is in the pipeline and i might jist have to cancel my order for financial reasons (some very unexpected and large bills have come through ) so im just reading the small print on the order form and it states "if cancelling an order, you will have to pay any costs incurred"

Now when i read this when sending off order form, i didnt really care because you never send off an order form with cancelling in mind anyway.

But on on reflection, this "any costs incurred" is very vague because in theory, they could say anything so does anyone have experience of what the costs would be to cancel a California. I have put a £1000 deposit down so will assume i can kiss that goodbye?

I have been told its nearly made and will be leaving the factory soon

 

[Ksar-el-kebir]

Dear Cali Gurus,

So my order is in the pipeline and i might jist have to cancel my order for financial reasons (some very unexpected and large bills have come through ) so im just reading the small print on the order form and it states "if cancelling an order, you will have to pay any costs incurred"

Now when i read this when sending off order form, i didnt really care because you never send off an order form with cancelling in mind anyway.

But on on reflection, this "any costs incurred" is very vague because in theory, they could say anything so does anyone have experience of what the costs would be to cancel a California. I have put a £1000 deposit down so will assume i can kiss that goodbye?

I have been told its nearly made and will be leaving the factory soon

I ordered a fairly high spec Ocean 4motion last year. It was ready in December but VW wouldn’t release any Californias. After a few weeks with nothing happening and no information I cancelled it. I got my deposit back and I still maintained a good relationship with Robinson’s Van Centre Peterborough, excellent salesman Lukasz Korbel.

 

[RetroRed5]

I myself had a blip a few weeks ago when the realisation suddenly seemed to hit me that I'm going to have to pay for the Cali pretty soon; the cash is already ring-fenced for it but this didn't stop me having a sudden case of ground rush and a "oh crikey, what have I done" moment; thankfully it soon passed

Great to see that you and the Mrs figured out a way to keep the Cali in spite of a few unexpected bills coming your way

 

[G3WRT]

Dear Cali Gurus,

So my order is in the pipeline and i might jist have to cancel my order for financial reasons (some very unexpected and large bills have come through ) so im just reading the small print on the order form and it states "if cancelling an order, you will have to pay any costs incurred"

Now when i read this when sending off order form, i didnt really care because you never send off an order form with cancelling in mind anyway.

But on on reflection, this "any costs incurred" is very vague because in theory, they could say anything so does anyone have experience of what the costs would be to cancel a California. I have put a £1000 deposit down so will assume i can kiss that goodbye?

I have been told its nearly made and will be leaving the factory soon

my reading is that you can immedaitely sell it for a premium. why not ask here and then more broadly.

 

[ArunAlec]

my reading is that you can immedaitely sell it for a premium. why not ask here and then more broadly.

Think this might have been resolved by now ……. The Cali was ordered in 2018!

 

[CampervansScotland]

Dear Cali Gurus,

So my order is in the pipeline and i might jist have to cancel my order for financial reasons (some very unexpected and large bills have come through ) so im just reading the small print on the order form and it states "if cancelling an order, you will have to pay any costs incurred"

Now when i read this when sending off order form, i didnt really care because you never send off an order form with cancelling in mind anyway.

But on on reflection, this "any costs incurred" is very vague because in theory, they could say anything so does anyone have experience of what the costs would be to cancel a California. I have put a £1000 deposit down so will assume i can kiss that goodbye?

I have been told its nearly made and will be leaving the factory soon

If you can afford it, take delivery and sell privately as you will make a profit due to the demand, or ask if anyone would like to take on the order for you.

 

[ArunAlec]

If you can afford it, take delivery and sell privately as you will make a profit due to the demand, or ask if anyone would like to take on the order for you.

Think this might have been resolved by now ……. The Cali was ordered in 2018!