Have we already had “peak Cali”?

[Camperfamily]

(Caveat upfront: this is just a bit of fun and, of course, is entirely subjective!)

With this week’s announcement of the Multivan California, are we now in the era of ‘peak Cali’ being a previous model?

If you’re looking for insight on the new Multivan California, the current trending thread is here:
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/world-premiere-of-the-all-new-volkswagen-california.53952/

 

[sidepod]

Good point. Everyone here has an obsolete van.

 

[Camperfamily]

Who mentioned obsolete?

 

[CamperFam]

I just love how NO ONE has said the new one is the peak . Anyway, we all know the T6 was the peak. With all that refined, tried and tested storage, years of legacy parts and tambour doors fixable through selotape, no digital dash to break, and no leaking bellows....

*grin*

 

[Camperfamily]

I just love how NO ONE has said the new one is the peak . Anyway, we all know the T6 was the peak. With all that refined, tried and tested storage, years of legacy parts and tambour doors fixable through selotape, no digital dash to break, and no leaking bellows....

*grin*

Ah, but you can get all of that on the T5.1 without the complexity of AdBlue and DPF re-gens

(Let’s quietly ignore the roof galvanic corrosion issue, the remedial work for which was completed before we bought our T5.1)

 

[Barry Chuckle]

It'd be interesting to see how differently this question will be answered in 12m time when we've had the new one for a while.......

 

[vmaxkiddy]

Ah, but you can get all of that on the T5.1 without the complexity of AdBlue and DPF re-gens

(Let’s quietly ignore the roof galvanic corrosion issue, the remedial work for which was completed before we bought our T5.1)

Unfortunately some original roof repairs are failing. Have a good look at yours. The cap is cracked on mine and whatever adhesive they used to attach the trim with has reacted with the A pillar metal, the paint bubbling can be seen with the trim still attached.

 

[Camperfamily]

@vmaxkiddy sorry to see that, that’s very poor indeed. That looks like the repair work wasn’t completed per the requirements, which should have seen the same spec adhesive used as in the factory (I believe it’s one made by Sika). I’ve not seen another example like that on here, so suspect it’s an isolated incident to your repair/ your repairer.

Ours was done really well and looks exactly as it did when we bought the Cali in 2019, a month or so after the work was done.

 

[Camperfamily]

Currently only 15% of us think the best Cali has yet to come. Looking strong for residuals

 

[vmaxkiddy]

@vmaxkiddy sorry to see that, that’s very poor indeed. That looks like the repair work wasn’t completed per the requirements, which should have seen the same spec adhesive used as in the factory (I believe it’s one made by Sika). I’ve not seen another example like that on here, so suspect it’s an isolated incident to your repair/ your repairer.

Ours was done really well and looks exactly as it did when we bought the Cali in 2019, a month or so after the work was done.

Not isolated unfortunately. I know of two other uk vans, repaired at different body shops, and the one from Germany /Czechoslovakia

Thank you VW headquarters Germany!!

I simply want to share my gratitude towards VW Headquarters in Germany for acknowledging responsibility for a major rust repair. In short, a 2015 cali with 11500km, bought from Germany, imoported to Czech republic, discovered heavy roofline rust under the marquese railing, former owner...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[pchmlk]

Currently only 15% of us think the best Cali has yet to come. Looking strong for residuals

Only 56 votes and let’s face it, the vast majority have voted for their own model!!

 

[Lee.Van.Cleef]

I just love how NO ONE has said the new one is the peak . Anyway, we all know the T6 was the peak. With all that refined, tried and tested storage, years of legacy parts and tambour doors fixable through selotape, no digital dash to break, and no leaking bellows....

*grin*

Toss up between the T6 (late model with wide bellows, split sink top and nice cab) vs the 6.1 with improved wardrobe doors and fancy control panel.

Of course, the perfect Cali would have been built on the T6.1 LWB base to alleviate the bed time shuffle, but that ship has sailed, alas.

 

[babble]

i've now got a T6.1 and think peak cali was my previous T6. less stupid electronics and much better dash.

 

[CamperFam]

We've got one such late T6 (Dec 2019) with panoramic bellows (that dont leak) and split tabletop. Very chuffed with the model year we've got as honestly feel it's that perfect balance between the single-run of the T6.1 tech elements, the availability of parts for the older tech, whilst all the other gains. Only thing we 'miss' is removal of the tambour doors and the 'reclined' rear bench - but we always have kids chairs on it, so it's no loss currently.

 

[Lee.Van.Cleef]

Yep. The improvements to the wardrobe doors are the 6.1 features I'd like most for similar reasons. And maybe factory usb-c points.

 

[2into1]

I've always said (sometimes an unpopular view) that if your Cali isn't at least your 2nd family car, and you keep your Cali on the drive waiting for holidays, then there are far better camping vehicles.
Based on that theory, this is a move in the right direction. A better 'daily' with manageable consequences for camping.

Also I've been running my Cali in 3 seater mode (bench out, 5th seat in) which is great for my biking activities, keeping the bike inside the van, 5th seat to cook on and the upstairs to sleep. The bed changes here make it a lot more adaptable for that type of use, as removing and refitting the old bench is so difficult.

 

[Camperfamily]

@2into1 I think the 1-vehicle-solution is a reasonable use case and sales pitch for the Multivan Cali (and what the VW presentation focussed on - calling it a “camping car”).

I personally think the T-series Beach offers a better balance of daily vs. camping, but the T7 seemingly wasn’t an option for VW due to the commercials partnership with Ford.

I do like the look of the Multivan from the outside, just not the interior size compromises for what is - I believe - a longer vehicle externally vs T5/6.