Delivery or collection

[Borris]

Always, always, always, collect. Even if it is the other end of the British Isles. Just treat it as an adventure. You'll only have to do it the once. The dealer may agree to pay your fares but don't let that be a deal breaker.

Also make the time for and insist on a full comprehensive hand over. Check every panel thoroughly for damage and ensure your vehicle is presented in a spotless new or as new condition, as applicable. If not, insist on it being put right before driving away. If your vehicle is second hand, pre-registered or an ex - demo, pop the roof and check the canvas for damage. Also use the check list found in th VIP section to check everything is present. If you aren't a VIP member then pay the fee immediately and join. Youv'e just taken the decision to buy a Cali for squillions of pounds so the VIP membership fee is of no consequence what so ever. And there are benefits like discounts that will recoup your fee in a flash. Finally, before you sign and pay the cash ask for a small trinket to seal the deal e.g a set of monster mats. You'll be surprised what they will do at the last minute in order to get you to type in your PIN.

Once all that is over, drive to the nearest M and S and buy yourselves a luxury picnic to christen your van on the way home.

Enjoy.

I hope you have many happy adventures in he/she/it.

 

[LunaLovegood]

Always, always, always, collect. Even if it is the other end of the British Isles. Just treat it as an adventure. You'll only have to do it the once. The dealer may agree to pay your fares but don't let that be a deal breaker.

Also make the time for and insist on a full comprehensive hand over. Check every panel thoroughly for damage and ensure your vehicle is presented in a spotless new or as new condition, as applicable. If not, insist on it being put right before driving away. If your vehicle is second hand, pre-registered or an ex - demo, pop the roof and check the canvas for damage. Also use the check list found in th VIP section to check everything is present. If you aren't a VIP member then pay the fee immediately and join. Youv'e just taken the decision to buy a Cali for squillions of pounds so the VIP membership fee is of no consequence what so ever. And there are benefits like discounts that will recoup your fee in a flash. Finally, before you sign and pay the cash ask for a small trinket to seal the deal e.g a set of monster mats. You'll be surprised what they will do at the last minute in order to get you to type in your PIN.

Once all that is over, drive to the nearest M and S and buy yourselves a luxury picnic to christen your van on the way home.

Enjoy.

I hope you have many happy adventures in he/she/it.

This seems like very good advice to me, thank you @Borris

Hoping to collect our new Cali in the next couple of weeks (), I already have a feeling of intimidation at the thought of the handover: a big commercial centre, time pressure, mustn't be a nuisance etc, etc...
I think making the dealer aware I'm coming armed with the Forum check list and expect to go through it will make me feel much more confident. Not having already paid also seems like a good idea!

Having become addicted to the forum over the last few months it almost seems unrealistic to expect that our second home will come off the production line without any problems. Too much to hope for!

Thanks again to all.

 

[Sandyvan]

This seems like very good advice to me, thank you @Borris

Hoping to collect our new Cali in the next couple of weeks (), I already have a feeling of intimidation at the thought of the handover: a big commercial centre, time pressure, mustn't be a nuisance etc, etc...
I think making the dealer aware I'm coming armed with the Forum check list and expect to go through it will make me feel much more confident. Not having already paid also seems like a good idea!

Having become addicted to the forum over the last few months it almost seems unrealistic to expect that our second home will come off the production line without any problems. Too much to hope for!

Thanks again to all.

Don't feel rushed, take your time and go through everything. There's no such thing as a stupid question.

 

[Borris]

This seems like very good advice to me, thank you @Borris

Hoping to collect our new Cali in the next couple of weeks (), I already have a feeling of intimidation at the thought of the handover: a big commercial centre, time pressure, mustn't be a nuisance etc, etc...
I think making the dealer aware I'm coming armed with the Forum check list and expect to go through it will make me feel much more confident. Not having already paid also seems like a good idea!

Having become addicted to the forum over the last few months it almost seems unrealistic to expect that our second home will come off the production line without any problems. Too much to hope for!

Thanks again to all.

The vast majority don't experience any problems. I've bought two Calis to date and am now waiting for the third. It's not as if yours will be the first Cali VW have ever made and the T6 should be a very well sorted vehicle by now. Always better to buy one of the last of a production run for that reason alone.

It is a good idea to contact your dealer in advance and let them know that you are in the driving seat i.e exactly what you require and expect on collection day. You expect a full comprehensive handover from someone that actually knows what he/she is talking about and you expect the vehicle to be tip top order with no issues. In other words let them know you are not buying just another builders van from them.

 

[Eber123]

Good afternoon,

I agree with the suggestion to collect.

Not only that you can check the vehicle, but the feeling to drive away from the dealer and the first miles of the van were driven by you (and not from an employee of VW dealership) is something you will remember for a long time.

If there are some issues with the van, you are in a not so good position anyway (sorry ). If you decide to get it delivered, the hand over might not be good and things get missed. If you collect it and there is an issue with the van and you decide not to take it home at that day, you have to do the journey back by train and come back at a later stage.

The best prospect would be to take the train to the dealer, check the van, which is in wonderful order and enjoy the first journey home with your new diesel companion.

I wish you free roads, good weather and no problems with the van.

Regards,
Eberhard

 

[LunaLovegood]

The vast majority don't experience any problems. I've bought two Calis to date and am now waiting for the third. It's not as if yours will be the first Cali VW have ever made and the T6 should be a very well sorted vehicle by now. Always better to buy one of the last of a production run for that reason alone.

It is a good idea to contact your dealer in advance and let them know that you are in the driving seat i.e exactly what you require and expect on collection day. You expect a full comprehensive handover from someone that actually knows what he/she is talking about and you expect the vehicle to be tip top order with no issues. In other words let them know you are not buying just another builders van from them.

Thanks to Sandyvan and Borris fo good advice.

 

[Neilos]

Ours was delivered for various complicated reasons, wasn’t what I wanted ideally, and it turned up with paint damage. I rejected it, garage didn’t argue, they collected it again the following week and returned it repaired. To be honest it was fine, bit of hassle and someone else driving your van about but ours was an ex demo so slightly different. Did save me a lot of back and forth and did get the bits I wanted sorted. Had I caught the train down there and found the paint damage, chances are I’d have driven it home and done the same on the repair anyway because we’d planned to use it. Slightly different for a new van I guess.


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[Seaview]

Sorry to hear you’ve not had an ideal experience.

We could have looked to buy from a dealer 15 minutes from where I work but wanted to try for a positive buying experience so went elsewhere. The fault does not lie with the dealer and I am hopeful they will remedy the situation but it does involve them contacting VW customer service to address all aspects of the remedy.

 

[Seaview]

Thanks, I’ve asked them to leave the unwrapping/cleaning for us to do, we are also quite meticulous and I’m sure we will manage to do a good job.

I’d be interested to hear where you purchase your number plate surrounds as I’m not a fan of advertising specific dealers either.

 

[Seaview]

Thanks for all your input, we have decided to collect in person. Sadly, not on the agreed date but the dealership is working to make it available as soon as possible.

Don’t want to tempt fate by saying much more at this stage till we have her home safely and in the condition we had hoped for a new vehicle. Fortunately, it’s not our first Cali so we should be able to check for any anomalies and hopefully won’t find any on collection day.

 

[Seaview]

She is new and yes you are right to suggest we treat it as an adventure and we will.

 

[Jontymo]

Had ours delivered on the Friday before Sept 1st which was on a Sunday as dealer not open on Sunday. No issues at all.

 

[Zebedee]

We had ours delivered although I knew more about it than the dealer but paid a hire company £40 to give me a masterclass as we were desperate to go camping. I had gone over it the previous Saturday on the forecourt.

 

[Seaview]

For closure in this one, just wanted to thank you for your comments and advice in our hour of need, we did our 10 hour round trip and collected our new Cali.

We purchased from the Preston dealership based on the reviews we had read on here and also how they handled my initial call (female phoning up wanting to buy a new Ocean with a specific spec). I dealt with Steven who had good communication throughout and found our wish list vehicle from VW new stock. We missed the two tone deadline by a couple of days but also decided not to put in an order not knowing what financial impact on vehicle price will be applied after the ‘B’ deadline.

Yes, there was an issue with collection due to the transporter driver getting a small scratch in the roof clear coat from a tree branch. The van went off to a VW approved premium car spray shop and we couldn’t even identify where the scratch had been in collection yesterday. Regardless, the full VW bodywork warranty still applies. They could have just dealt with the issue and not told us but I’m glad they did even if it caused some momentary angst.

So glad we went to pick up and would highly recommend this where possible as opposed to delivery. It was great to see our new van all shiney sitting there in the showroom waiting for her new owners. It goes without saying and especially for new owners to Cali’s you get a great handover, we even have an useful app installed on our phones as recommended by Steven.

On buying from VW stock in Germany we got all our wish list, ACC, DSG, reversing camera, removable tow bar (for bike rack) and lots of other goodies. We hadn’t planned on adding LED lights but she had them and based on the long drive home last night we absolutely love them, so much brighter. She also has Cascaval alloys again not a requirement for us but now that we have them we really like the look as otherwise we would have had identical wheels to our recently sold Cali.

I will post a photo later as I know we all like to see a pic if possible ......

 

[Seaview]