Drop into Ocean

[Winger]

Hi All, just taken ownership of a new California Ocean in Starlight Blue. New to campervan life so steep learning curve although not new to camping life as have done most of the other types - tents, trailer tents and Caravans.
Want to use as every day vehicle too so any advice insurance and best insurers with sensible premiums would be greatly appreciated!

 

[lohr500]

Welcome to the forum. We also recently took delivery of a Starlight Blue Ocean. A great choice of colour.

Insurance is a roller coaster at the moment. Lots of posts about wild fluctuations in price for the same spec vans from the main insurers.

We seem to have struck the jackpot with an annualised cost of £235 from LV, based on our multi car policy expiring in October. (Full NCB, no claims or convictions, van parked on drive overnight, 10k miles p.a).
But from other posts, I think we are very lucky.


Sorry to be the bearer of potentially bad news, but one thing I would urge you to do as soon as possible is to put up your pop top roof facing into wind when you have moderate rain and wind.

You may have already seen the long thread about leaking roof bellows but if not it is worth looking at the last ten pages or so :

Leaking pop tops on 2023 California Oceans

Looking for other peoples' experiences with the new double lined pop top roof (the one that is grey outside / cream inside), and any potential solutions to the problem of leaking though the seams and fabric. In the last week we've had complaints from customers on all four of our March 2023...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Look also at the poll which is currently running :

04S Bellow review poll.

Unfortunately I can't edit the poll title. For clarity I am discussing 04S bellows manufactured after 9th November 2023. On behalf of all of those affected, I'm wanting to build a picture on the performance of the latest 04S bellows fitted after 9th November 2023, based on members' real life...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

In no way do I want to spoil the experience of your new Cali and I hesitated to even mention the bellows issue in my reply. But I think you need to be aware of the potential problem and establish if your bellows are affected as soon as possible. Hopefully yours are OK, but sadly for some of us they are not.

 

[Homesteader]

Hi All, just taken ownership of a new California Ocean in Starlight Blue. New to campervan life so steep learning curve although not new to camping life as have done most of the other types - tents, trailer tents and Caravans.
Want to use as every day vehicle too so any advice insurance and best insurers with sensible premiums would be greatly appreciated!

I’m the same. Using it as a car 8000 miles £560 ish caravan guard.

 

[Winger]

Thanks for the info my quotes are much higher than that. Do you know what category the alarm/immobiliser is?

 

[Kayleigh]

Thanks for the info my quotes are much higher than that. Do you know what category the alarm/immobiliser is?

If it’s a requirement for insurance, it will likely need to be an S5 tracker.
If you are looking for an immobiliser, check out the Autowatch Ghost 2.

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks for the info my quotes are much higher than that. Do you know what category the alarm/immobiliser is?

Standard Thatcham 1 alarm & Imobiliser.

 

[Winger]

If it’s a requirement for insurance, it will likely need to be an S5 tracker.
If you are looking for an immobiliser, check out the Autowatch Ghost 2.

Thanks Kayleigh

 

[Winger]

Standard Thatcham 1 alarm & Imobiliser.

Thanks for the info WelshGas.

 

[couplands]

Welcome to the forum. We also recently took delivery of a Starlight Blue Ocean. A great choice of colour.

Insurance is a roller coaster at the moment. Lots of posts about wild fluctuations in price for the same spec vans from the main insurers.

We seem to have struck the jackpot with an annualised cost of £235 from LV, based on our multi car policy expiring in October. (Full NCB, no claims or convictions, van parked on drive overnight, 10k miles p.a).
But from other posts, I think we are very lucky.


Sorry to be the bearer of potentially bad news, but one thing I would urge you to do as soon as possible is to put up your pop top roof facing into wind when you have moderate rain and wind.

You may have already seen the long thread about leaking roof bellows but if not it is worth looking at the last ten pages or so :

Leaking pop tops on 2023 California Oceans

Looking for other peoples' experiences with the new double lined pop top roof (the one that is grey outside / cream inside), and any potential solutions to the problem of leaking though the seams and fabric. In the last week we've had complaints from customers on all four of our March 2023...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Look also at the poll which is currently running :

04S Bellow review poll.

Unfortunately I can't edit the poll title. For clarity I am discussing 04S bellows manufactured after 9th November 2023. On behalf of all of those affected, I'm wanting to build a picture on the performance of the latest 04S bellows fitted after 9th November 2023, based on members' real life...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

In no way do I want to spoil the experience of your new Cali and I hesitated to even mention the bellows issue in my reply. But I think you need to be aware of the potential problem and establish if your bellows are affected as soon as possible. Hopefully yours are OK, but sadly for some of us they are not.

We are with LV and a similar premium. They have the benefit that they understand what a California is and they handled a no fault claim last year very well indeed.

I tried some of the brokers mentioned on this forum, but when you look at their claim handling reviews I’d be very wary of going down that route.