Get in the back of the van

[HughS]

Good evening everyone. Having been lurking and soaking up the sage wisdom for many months now its time to gush a lot and maybe whinge a bit. Here goes:

- bought a brand new T6 Beach in November, changed mind on spec and colour in Jan delivered in April by Citygate Wycombe -v nice people, thanks Barry
- green, manual, no privacy, 150 see below for more spec notes and queries
- previously drove Saab estates for 20 years
- just back from hols in France Italy and Switzerland

Pros
Best thing is the height - you can see into back gardens, over hedges and down onto Range Rover drivers bald patches
Surprising surge of power with enough revs but basically a slow vehicle
Comfy driving position (except for key)
Warm and dry camping
Comfort for passengers
Huge increase in popularity
Extended debate about a name - currently favoured: none, Thunderbird 2 (making me Virgil ), Keith
Pre-empted men in brown coats with green van from The Grange

See next thrilling instalment for Cons (and more Pros)

H

 

[motacyclist]

Welcome Hugh, looking forward to the next instalment!

 

[HughS]

Cons

Its a hard ride. I spec'ed up-rated suspension which does stop body-roll but isn't supposed to firm up the springs. The van seems to seek out bumps and chuck each one into a twin tub with a rock in it. Im aware im sitting on top of the front wheel and im comparing it to a long swish Saab, but is that amount of crashing around normal ?

The key gets in the way of your knee.

The air vents are very crude. Does the comfort dash sort that one out?

The appearance of the front elevation is a jolly Spacehopper face (that's a Pro then) but while the T5 had a pert rear end, the T6 is rhino-arsed. A warning to us all as we get old.

Not very bright headlights.

Huge disparity between depth perception of door mirrors and rear view mirror

The front doors don't open wide enough.

The pop top clips are fiddly. I think Westfalia should be embarrassed about that.

The cupholders come with ashtrays rather than mugs. Mugs would be v desirable. Perhaps a VW badge on them.

The Beach lacks info about the status of the leisure battery.

The approach to the spec of the Beach is a bit Tesco Value - the Ocean is amply differentiated from the Beach without scrimping on front pop-top window and comfort dashboard etc.

More Pros

The top bunk is comfortable (albeit tricky to access- more work on the pommel horse needed)

The sliding door and centre aisle enables tight parking. But with a new car the paranoid avoidance of side dinks from neighbours makes this a bit irrelevant.

Cigarette lighter torch - nice touch.

A long-term solution for malaria - the van splatters vast quantites of bugs wherever it goes.

 

[GrannyJen]

Be careful of dengue fever.

Killing the mosquito does not kill the virus for some hours. Only clean the windscreen wearing white overalls hired from porton down.

 

[Victor]

Cons



The pop top clips are fiddly. I think Westfalia should be embarrassed about that.

What has that got to do with Westfalia ?

 

[VW Cali]

Cons

Its a hard ride. I spec'ed up-rated suspension which does stop body-roll but isn't supposed to firm up the springs. The van seems to seek out bumps and chuck each one into a twin tub with a rock in it. Im aware im sitting on top of the front wheel and im comparing it to a long swish Saab, but is that amount of crashing around normal ?

The key gets in the way of your knee.

The air vents are very crude. Does the comfort dash sort that one out?

The appearance of the front elevation is a jolly Spacehopper face (that's a Pro then) but while the T5 had a pert rear end, the T6 is rhino-arsed. A warning to us all as we get old.

Not very bright headlights.

Huge disparity between depth perception of door mirrors and rear view mirror

The front doors don't open wide enough.

The pop top clips are fiddly. I think Westfalia should be embarrassed about that.

The cupholders come with ashtrays rather than mugs. Mugs would be v desirable. Perhaps a VW badge on them.

The Beach lacks info about the status of the leisure battery.

The approach to the spec of the Beach is a bit Tesco Value - the Ocean is amply differentiated from the Beach without scrimping on front pop-top window and comfort dashboard etc.

More Pros

The top bunk is comfortable (albeit tricky to access- more work on the pommel horse needed)

The sliding door and centre aisle enables tight parking. But with a new car the paranoid avoidance of side dinks from neighbours makes this a bit irrelevant.

Cigarette lighter torch - nice touch.

A long-term solution for malaria - the van splatters vast quantites of bugs wherever it goes.

Brilliant posts both!

Getting our new Beach DSG in about 2 weeks. Since it was dealer spec (I jumped the queue by paying deposit on one of their own previously ordered cars), I have unfortunately missed out on both comfort dash and reversing camera (though dealer says can be fitted).

All else seems to have been specced too.

Your post giving me good idea of what to expect. The crashing over pot holes and bumps sounds rough!

 

[HughS]

What has that got to do with Westfalia ?

My understanding was that VW bought in Westfalia expertise for the California. I am probably wrong. Anyway VW or whoever engineers should be able to come up with some bent metal which does the job much more easily given a few decades to think about it. Its a key component in the camper experience. Maybe i am just hamfisted...

 

[snowy55]

Anyway VW or whoever engineers should be able to come up with some bent metal which does the job much more easily given a few decades to think about it. Its a key component in the camper experience.

VW did it's the electro/hydraulic roof as fitted to the SE/Ocean which is an over complicated bag of tricks with umpteen things to go wrong which scares me every time I use it for fear of it not coming down. Give me some clips anytime!

 

[CALI FATE]

VW did it's the electro/hydraulic roof as fitted to the SE/Ocean which is an over complicated bag of tricks with umpteen things to go wrong which scares me every time I use it for fear of it not coming down. Give me some clips anytime!

The clips are reassuringly tight - i like the way the roof and the seals are compressed by the clips feels watertight and snug

 

[HughS]

VW did it's the electro/hydraulic roof as fitted to the SE/Ocean which is an over complicated bag of tricks with umpteen things to go wrong which scares me every time I use it for fear of it not coming down. Give me some clips anytime!

I absolutely agree. Better manual clips would be good though. Looks like Marco Polo has nice clips. Do Westfalia do those too?

 

[HughS]

Hooray:
Pulls to the left in UK, but pulls to right on the Continent. So that's ok .

New car stiff engine and gearbox easing up nicely as it gets run in.

Maybe the shocks will ease up a bit...? Can you get them softened? Because no problem with body roll after all.

The bike rack is really good. Firm, secure. Could be slung lower

BooHoo:
Rear seat sliding mechanism v stiff or bust. A few of us seem to experience this. Must be us.
Drivers window rattles - I thought VW could do doors.