Does anyone know Vw’s cut off for unladen weight on a 3.5t 600

[oliver100]

So I ordered a GC600 with the below options and put a deposit down with the dealer but got a call the next day to say that I couldn’t have the awning as it would take it overweight for the 3.5t chassis. I understand this is an issue many will have had and wondered if anyone knew the cut off weight VW stick too when adding options. I’m assessing if we will have enough payload even if we drop the awning and have it built for 2 adults, 2 children’s, bikes and all our stuff! Not interested in going for the 3.8t option as neither myself or my wife have the correct c1 licence

Factory Options
4A3 - Heated Driver+Front Passenger Seats
6N2 - Mudflaps - Front And Rear
6XP - Power Adjust Folding Heated Wing Mirrors 7Y8 - Blind Spot Monitor+Rear Traffic Alert
8IT - LEA Headlights+Separate LED DRL
9M5 - Additional Engine Heater
9N2 - Step Illumination-On+Off Control
9X0 - Driver Assistance Pack A
Candy white
KA1 - Rear-View Camera
YBB - Awning-Black Housing
YBC - Over-Cab Bed+Larger Skylight+Addtnl Lght YBG - Bicycle Rack
YEI - Solar Panels Support Fr Auxiliary Battry YHC - Heating System-Water+Interior Pwr By Mns ZA3 - Lights+Vision Pack A

 

[AndrewCook680]

9N2 - Step Illumination-On+Off Control

please Double check you want this, it is NOT an outside light under awning, but down inside van in front driver and passenger footwells. A lot of people spec it thinking it’s an outside light for awning.
I didn’t spec it and I do have an outside light under my awning.

 

[AndrewCook680]

@oliver100
we had discus about that step light earlier in year.
many folk ordered it thinking it was outside light,,

Step illumination with on/off control extra option

I checked and the option I ordered was the same one “9N2 Trittstufenbeleuchtung vorne” till today I believed on what the dealer told me and was confirmed by the German forum that it was the footwell lights, if it is outside I don’t know what it is. I do indeed agree with you. The option 9N2 is...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[The Yorkshireman]

Hi our 600 has over cab bed, solar, SOG, awning and router.
At the weigh bridge it was 3050 that’s completely empty of all fuel driver and water.
Having weighed all our stuff including us, two folding e bikes just one standard 11kg gas canister and 20l of water we are only just within the 3500kg.
Hope this helps.

 

[The Yorkshireman]

Hi our 600 has over cab bed, solar, SOG, awning and router.
At the weigh bridge it was 3050 that’s completely empty of all fuel driver and water.
Having weighed all our stuff including us, two folding e bikes just one standard 11kg gas canister and 20l of water we are only just within the 3500kg.
Hope this helps.

Just checked it was 2968 at the weigh bridge after fuel and driver weight had been taken off.

 

[The Yorkshireman]

Just checked it was 2968 at the weigh bridge after fuel and driver weight had been taken off.

FUEL	75
WATER	30
GAS	24
BIKES	44
RAMPS	4
ELECTRIC CABLE	5
HOSE	1.5
WATER EQUIPMENT	3
TOOLS SPARES	1.5
SHOES	7
GRAB BAGS	3
CLOTHES	30
BEDDING	3
TOWELS	3
WASH BAGS	1.5
KITCHEN EQUIPMENT	12
GRILL	8
AIR FRYER	3.4
FRIDGE
DRY GOODS
DRINKS
US	153
SAFETY EQUIPMENT	2.5
SMALL TABLE	1.5
SIGN	0.5
BOWL	0.5
CRATE BIN	2
INDUCTION HOB	6
KETTLES TOASTER	3
MATTRESS TOPPER	14.5
BLINDS	2
TV	5
QUILT	5
Hair DRYER	0.5
	454.9

 

[oliver100]

this is really useful thanks, how many of you are there in the van, we need to account for 2 adults and 2 children. I really can’t understand why we can’t order ours looking at your spec other than the overcab bed, awning, solar, and maybe bike rack most other items will have negligible weight. The salesman told me to drop the diesel heating option but in my mind I can save a whole load of weight in gas bottles if I just use a 907 from my current California for the hob ‍

 

[oliver100]

9N2 - Step Illumination-On+Off Control

please Double check you want this, it is NOT an outside light under awning, but down inside van in front driver and passenger footwells. A lot of people spec it thinking it’s an outside light for awning.
I didn’t spec it and I do have an outside light under my awning.

Thanks. I had read this in the past but didn’t want to take the risk for the sake of £60. Is the outside light part of the awning or the body, that would be another kick if I had to drop the awning as it’s something I always think would be useful on our current Cali ocean

 

[The Yorkshireman]

this is really useful thanks, how many of you are there in the van, we need to account for 2 adults and 2 children. I really can’t understand why we can’t order ours looking at your spec other than the overcab bed, awning, solar, and maybe bike rack most other items will have negligible weight. The salesman told me to drop the diesel heating option but in my mind I can save a whole load of weight in gas bottles if I just use a 907 from my current California for the hob ‍

Hi there’s just the two of us and we have gas heating.

 

[andyinluton]

this is really useful thanks, how many of you are there in the van, we need to account for 2 adults and 2 children. I really can’t understand why we can’t order ours looking at your spec other than the overcab bed, awning, solar, and maybe bike rack most other items will have negligible weight. The salesman told me to drop the diesel heating option but in my mind I can save a whole load of weight in gas bottles if I just use a 907 from my current California for the hob ‍

Drop the bike rack but get the dealer to fit it after registration for the same money.
I totally agree re diesel heating - you can use a 907 gas cylinder for the hob to keep weight down.

Ours had awning, gas heat & the extra bed. Had to get towbar retrofitted as that would have taken us over the limit.

I would even drop the solar in preference to diesel heating - you can retrofit the solar, hassle but do-able.

 

[andyinluton]

To be legal, makers must ensure a minimum payload in accordance with The EU Directive for Masses and Dimensions. They derive this minimum using the following formula based on the length of the vehicle (L), the number of berths (N) and a figure for the “Conventional Load” (CL). The Conventional Load is the number of passenger seats (P) times 75kg.[/B]

The formula is 10xL + 10xN + 75xP = minimum payload in kg.

So a GC 600 with 4 seats is 400Kg minimum payload allowed.

 

[GCless]

What matters here is what options VW will fit and still consider it is below the 3.5te limit. I went through the same process and found there is no logic to what options tip you over the unspecified VW limit. For example, Ambient lighting seemed to weigh more than solar panels.

I ended up with a spec similar to yours without the LED headlights, bike rack and solar panel and it fit under the 3.5te limit. I took the bike rack annd solar panels off and fitted the bike rack myself (it’s not difficult) and bought an EcoFlow Delta and portable solar panel for a lot less than the VW option price. I use this to top up the leisure battery on the rare occasions I need an another couple of days off grid without driving to recharge from the alternator. Being able to position the panels to get better sun exposure without moving the van is another benefit.

I’d suggest you sit with your dealer and try different option configurations until you get the combination of the highest priority items on your wish list that fit within VWs apparently random unpublished limit.

 

[AndrewCook680]

Thanks. I had read this in the past but didn’t want to take the risk for the sake of £60. Is the outside light part of the awning or the body, that would be another kick if I had to drop the awning as it’s something I always think would be useful on our current Cali ocean

@oliver100 its separately attached from awning. we didn’t spend the £60 on the step illumination and still got this light outside

 

[oliver100]

Thanks for all the helpful replies on this, so for anyone with a similar problem in future you can work this out yourself using the configurator, the standard weight before options is 3083kg with the option cut off set at 3140kg for a 3.5t chassis. I managed to figure out the weight of the options from adding and subtracting on the configurator as it gives an updated weight on the technical details section. In the end we dropped the awning although did manage to cook up a few alternatives that kind of worked with the awning but meant dropping the diesel heater which was a deal breaker for us. I have no clue how LED headlights weight 5kg more than normal ones, but apparently they do!

 

[Calimili]

Thanks for all the helpful replies on this, so for anyone with a similar problem in future you can work this out yourself using the configurator, the standard weight before options is 3083kg with the option cut off set at 3140kg for a 3.5t chassis. I managed to figure out the weight of the options from adding and subtracting on the configurator as it gives an updated weight on the technical details section. In the end we dropped the awning although did manage to cook up a few alternatives that kind of worked with the awning but meant dropping the diesel heater which was a deal breaker for us. I have no clue how LED headlights weight 5kg more than normal ones, but apparently they do!

3140kg, i.e. 360kg for 4 people will never work. You‘ll be severely restricted in what you can carry on hol.

 

[oliver100]

That 3140 weight already includes a 72kg driver, full tank on fuel, ad blue etc and 20l of water so not a true unladen figure

 

[oliver100]

Basically you’re only allowed to add 57kg’s of options before Vw won’t build it. Best weight saving option imo is going for the diesel heating as you can just use a single small 907 bottle for cooking and not two massive bottles as normally needed for gas heating

 

[Domstrange]

What matters here is what options VW will fit and still consider it is below the 3.5te limit. I went through the same process and found there is no logic to what options tip you over the unspecified VW limit. For example, Ambient lighting seemed to weigh more than solar panels.

I ended up with a spec similar to yours without the LED headlights, bike rack and solar panel and it fit under the 3.5te limit. I took the bike rack annd solar panels off and fitted the bike rack myself (it’s not difficult) and bought an EcoFlow Delta and portable solar panel for a lot less than the VW option price. I use this to top up the leisure battery on the rare occasions I need an another couple of days off grid without driving to recharge from the alternator. Being able to position the panels to get better sun exposure without moving the van is another benefit.

I’d suggest you sit with your dealer and try different option configurations until you get the combination of the highest priority items on your wish list that fit within VWs apparently random unpublished limit.

Do you find standard lights no problem compared to led