Grand California camper control panel

[Eber123]

According to german forums this has been known atleast 1.5 years by VW and there is no fix up to date and they have no idea when this could be fixed. We have had enough and have made a decision to return our car to the dealer.

Hello Satuja,

Haven't read all posts here, but you mentioned that you plan to return to car to the dealer. Obviously there are different laws in Finland compare to Ireland but I was wondering how you plan to do it?

We also had problems with the GC 600 and only last week I thought all issues are now dealt with and we can start to use the camper. But leaving on the way to Sligo the third time the same issue happen, which make driving more difficult.

I believe that my dealer will accept the camper back, but I also believe they will deduct for each km driven, lost value etc. I have no idea how much this might be, but on a new price of EUR 95K I expect they will deduct something between 4k and 6k.

This would be the money that we would be missing to buy a replacement (what replacement I don't know anyway because camper vans are like hen's teeth in Ireland). That would mean that our tours for 2021 are gone and maybe our tours even for 2022.

Do you expect to lose some money too?

Unhappy Grand California,
Eberhard

 

[satuja]

Been talking with the dealership and what I understand it's not the dealership that is "buying" the car but instead the VW importer company which brings the VW's to Finland. Hoping to hear from the importer about the return next week.

And yes most likely will be losing money and we have had the car for so long and have driven so many kilometers with it. But not going to wait anymore and hoping for a fix to all of these problems.

There is also some sort of system here in Finland were they deduct an amount calculater from driven km's, but will know more when we hear from the importer.

 

[splitwee]

According to german forums this has been known atleast 1.5 years by VW and there is no fix up to date and they have no idea when this could be fixed. We have had enough and have made a decision to return our car to the dealer.

That sounds crazy...
Don't you think a control pannel Swap could/should solve the problem?

Have you got a link to the german forum's topic your talking about?

Thanks,

ALEX

 

[Wavefury]

I don't think it's as easy as a control panel swap. I suspect it's inherently a bad software / coding issue.

If it makes us 600 owners feel any better, at least we have overrides for the lights and steps with other manual switches inside, and we can 'fix' the problem temporarily with the big red switch. With the new 6.1 Oceans with the same new control panel they are having roof opening and closing failures (as reported in their forums on this site) which is a much more serious issue. One guy had to abandon his Ocean on a campsite as he couldn't close the roof to drive home Also! Also, they don't have a red switch option, so it's removing 4 fuses to reset it.

I'm picking up our new Ocean on Thursday....feeling a tad apprehensive about it....

 

[splitwee]

For Satuja and Myslelf (at least), the problem isn't solved with the red or the blue switch.
It gives issue to the battery charging, so the fridge is not working (blinking), the shower isn't working well, probably the heater as well...

 

[The Merle]

Hello Satuja,

Haven't read all posts here, but you mentioned that you plan to return to car to the dealer. Obviously there are different laws in Finland compare to Ireland but I was wondering how you plan to do it?

We also had problems with the GC 600 and only last week I thought all issues are now dealt with and we can start to use the camper. But leaving on the way to Sligo the third time the same issue happen, which make driving more difficult.

I believe that my dealer will accept the camper back, but I also believe they will deduct for each km driven, lost value etc. I have no idea how much this might be, but on a new price of EUR 95K I expect they will deduct something between 4k and 6k.

This would be the money that we would be missing to buy a replacement (what replacement I don't know anyway because camper vans are like hen's teeth in Ireland). That would mean that our tours for 2021 are gone and maybe our tours even for 2022.

Do you expect to lose some money too?

Unhappy Grand California,
Eberhard

I would hope you get a full refund as they have sold you a faulty vehicle and the amount of times you e taken in to dealer for it to be fixed only for it to break again!

 

[andyinluton]

I don't think it's as easy as a control panel swap. I suspect it's inherently a bad software / coding issue.

If it makes us 600 owners feel any better, at least we have overrides for the lights and steps with other manual switches inside, and we can 'fix' the problem temporarily with the big red switch. With the new 6.1 Oceans with the same new control panel they are having roof opening and closing failures (as reported in their forums on this site) which is a much more serious issue. One guy had to abandon his Ocean on a campsite as he couldn't close the roof to drive home Also! Also, they don't have a red switch option, so it's removing 4 fuses to reset it.

I'm picking up our new Ocean on Thursday....feeling a tad apprehensive about it....

The Ocean problems are nothing to do with the control panel, its the roof hydraulics that are the problem.

 

[Eber123]

I would hope you get a full refund as they have sold you a faulty vehicle and the amount of times you e taken in to dealer for it to be fixed only for it to break again!

Thank you.

I raised the issue to get the Grand California 600 changed to a new model. There is still one white one on the forecourt, but EUR 2k more expensive as we have paid for ours.

We had a long talk about the issue. The question is if the dealer will get money back from VW Ireland. To some extend they suffer from all this the same as I. I made it clear that I can't afford to lose money.

At the moment the camper is for repair with the dealer and I wait in the meantime for the dealer coming back to me to see what can be done. Exiting times.

Regards,
Eberhard

 

[Wavefury]

The Ocean problems are nothing to do with the control panel, its the roof hydraulics that are the problem.

Yup, that is my point exactly. Swapping the control panel out won't fix the problems. It's how the software that drives it is interpreting the various inputs from the vehicle sensors, and seemingly occasionally gets confused and stops responding to certain functions. Resetting the CP resolves it temporarily until the next time it craps out.

 

[Simon1]

Yup, that is my point exactly. Swapping the control panel out won't fix the problems.

Same goes for the tap, fridge, step, pump, hinges, doors, lights. Lol

 

[soppelsa]

When is the Mk2 GC coming out?
Earlier than anticipated?
Will that be road tested on the consumer and dealership?
None of the above,just paper over the cracks with a 4 year warranty.
Withdraw shamefully from the fixed bed market!

 

[Jester]

When is the Mk2 GC coming out?
Earlier than anticipated?
Will that be road tested on the consumer and dealership?
None of the above,just paper over the cracks with a 4 year warranty.
Withdraw shamefully from the fixed bed market!

It’s really a shame and disappointing you have had so many issues, however like so many others, I Haven’t or just a few.

Like any new product you will get issues, It is annoying it takes to long to have issues resolved but part is down to the global problem we have And lack of knowledge from the Tec’s as training was late in coming and then lockdown.

I hope you either have the issues sorted or move on to another van.

Just returned after 5 weeks away and have to say no additional issues cropped up.

Wish you good luck going forward.

 

[satuja]

Today we returned our GC680 to the dealership and we got an offer that we could accept. So our travels with the California are over. Hope that all of you can enjoy your travels and have better luck with your GC's that we had.

Travel safe,
satuja

 

[Simon1]

I'm familiar with the control panel issues and how to hard reset it if it stops responding but even after this the on/off and step tabs still haven't worked for months. Well today I went into the van having left it for a few weeks since our last trip and it seems to be fully working without the usual reset. The battery is always topped up with the solar so I don't need to leave it on hookup to keep it charged. I'm wondering if the software could've been updated over the air, that would explain it.

 

[T3Z-GB]

I had all sorts of problems which I believe was all control panel related. I did however only notice them when the battery level was below 50%, in saying that, with the new control panel my battery is always around the 70% bit we’ve not altered our living habits.
from my experience my previous control panel was faulty, incorrect levels readings, incorrect battery %, loss of touch control. Once the panel was swapped out. Everything seems perfect. Maybe try have yours swapped out for peace of mind.

 

[Simon1]

I had all sorts of problems which I believe was all control panel related. I did however only notice them when the battery level was below 50%, in saying that, with the new control panel my battery is always around the 70% bit we’ve not altered our living habits.
from my experience my previous control panel was faulty, incorrect levels readings, incorrect battery %, loss of touch control. Once the panel was swapped out. Everything seems perfect. Maybe try have yours swapped out for peace of mind.

The original control panel was replaced due to it humming and it also had the freezing issues but unfortunately the new panel is the same apart from the humming noise so I thought the software must be the culprit and wondered whether VW were able to update the software via the onboard SIM card that comes imbedded in the van.

 

[T3Z-GB]

The original control panel was replaced due to it humming and it also had the freezing issues but unfortunately the new panel is the same apart from the humming noise so I thought the software must be the culprit and wondered whether VW were able to update the software via the onboard SIM card that comes imbedded in the van.

Really annoying! All I can echo is what everyone else says. Persist with it, once sorted it’s a lovely van and will give you many years of pleasure and memories.

 

[Simon1]

Really annoying! All I can echo is what everyone else says. Persist with it, once sorted it’s a lovely van and will give you many years of pleasure and memories.

Definitely agree it’s a lovely van and this issue is just a minor annoyance that I’m sure VW will get to the bottom of sooner or later.

 

[ekonomism]

Having problems with the alarm, but also with the control panel. The alarm started going off regularly, every hour. Had some controllers for the doors replaced. But when I got it back the control panel was out of order, the inside lights not working and the alarm started going off again after a while. Hope the readings on the water tanks are not correct, otherwise the car is submerged in water.

The leisure battery is probably low, of course. Probably something very wrong with the control panel also. But I don't understand how a faulty panel could turn on the alarm. Maybe there is some connection.

Of course I have reset the leisure battery a couple of times. First it did work, but now everything is chaos - alarm, leisure battery and everything.

Going back to the local VW-dealer on Monday of course

 

[Eber123]

Hello,

Sorry to hear from your problems.

It is known that the Camper Control Unit causes problems. It is not one of the best VW products .

I had problems with the Camper Control Unit too (camper is with the VW dealer at the moment). There is now new software available, which caused the unit to fail completely after the upgrade. No, I don't make this up. After 2x days they managed to get the unit back. I am not sure which version is installed now, the new or the old. I can collect the camper on Monday, the I know more.

I am worried, because my Pandora Camper Mini alarm was deinstalled for troubleshooting purposes. This has to be reinstalled at some stage next week. I hope that the alarm installation won't have / cause the same issues as you experienced.

May I ask which alarm system you have installed?

Happy Updated Grand California,
Eberhard

 

[ekonomism]

Hello,

Sorry to hear from your problems.

It is known that the Camper Control Unit causes problems. It is not one of the best VW products .

I had problems with the Camper Control Unit too (camper is with the VW dealer at the moment). There is now new software available, which caused the unit to fail completely after the upgrade. No, I don't make this up. After 2x days they managed to get the unit back. I am not sure which version is installed now, the new or the old. I can collect the camper on Monday, the I know more.

I am worried, because my Pandora Camper Mini alarm was deinstalled for troubleshooting purposes. This has to be reinstalled at some stage next week. I hope that the alarm installation won't have / cause the same issues as you experienced.

May I ask which alarm system you have installed?

Happy Updated Grand California,
Eberhard

My alarm is the standard factory alarm in Sweden, don't know about other countries. First I thought it was a glitch in the app, but then I stood outside the car and could hear that the alarm actually did go off at precisely one hour intervals. My theory is that it is not actually the alarm, but that the control panel somehow triggers it by eigher lighting up something or changing the voltage.

But as of now, have no idea about exacly what causes it to go off ...

 

[Simon1]

My alarm is the standard factory alarm in Sweden, don't know about other countries. First I thought it was a glitch in the app, but then I stood outside the car and could hear that the alarm actually did go off at precisely one hour intervals. My theory is that it is not actually the alarm, but that the control panel somehow triggers it by eigher lighting up something or changing the voltage.

But as of now, have no idea about exacly what causes it to go off ...

Just a thought but could you turn off the red switch in electric cupboard and see if alarm still activates every hour as alarm is powered by the engine battery and this would illuminate the control panel.

 

[ekonomism]

Just a thought but could you turn off the red switch in electric cupboard and see if alarm still activates every hour as alarm is powered by the engine battery and this would illuminate the control panel.

That's a good idea. Thanks for the suggestion. Should have done that. Now the alarm has not been spontaneusly activated more than once since it was back from service. However, I doubt that changing the door controller solved the original problem.


At the moment indoor lights are out and the panel is in chaos. Half the residential part of the car is not working - the indoor lights and the sensors for water and stuff. So there is a major control panel problem I think. Residential battery probably ok, since the fridge is working ok.

 

[Simon1]

That's a good idea. Thanks for the suggestion. Should have done that. Now the alarm has not been spontaneusly activated more than once since it was back from service. However, I doubt that changing the door controller solved the original problem.


At the moment indoor lights are out and the panel is in chaos. Half the residential part of the car is not working - the indoor lights and the sensors for water and stuff. So there is a major control panel problem I think. Residential battery probably ok, since the fridge is working ok.

My sympathies, as it renders the van unusable!
I had various tabs stop responding on my control panel a while back and it also made a humming noise so the dealer replaced it. It solved the noise but the intermittent tabs remained although it just started fully working the other day somehow without any input from me. But yours sounds different having gone haywire like that. Hope they fix it quickly!

 

[Holidaymaker]

Having problems with the alarm, but also with the control panel. The alarm started going off regularly, every hour. Had some controllers for the doors replaced. But when I got it back the control panel was out of order, the inside lights not working and the alarm started going off again after a while. Hope the readings on the water tanks are not correct, otherwise the car is submerged in water.

The leisure battery is probably low, of course. Probably something very wrong with the control panel also. But I don't understand how a faulty panel could turn on the alarm. Maybe there is some connection.

Of course I have reset the leisure battery a couple of times. First it did work, but now everything is chaos - alarm, leisure battery and everything.

Going back to the local VW-dealer on Monday of course

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It tells now you are submarine - California is really master of many talent!