Hello From Germany

[Chriswoody]

After being a lurker for a short while, I figured it was about time I said Hello. I'm originally from Devon, but now live in Northern Germany, about an hour up the road from Wolfsburg and I'm also married to a lady from Wolfsburg. The whole German side of my family drive VW and some even work in the factory.

I had a ratty old T4, ex builders van, in Britain which I reluctantly sold when I moved here a couple of years ago. I then decided to go for the real deal and buy a California. Several years of hard work later I know own an old 1998 Cali Joker. The engine is currently on 310,000 km and running as sweet as a nut. We paid far to much for it though, I managed to miss a few of it's faults, which I'm a bit annoyed about. Mostly the dodgy paint scheme, when you look close it's had a blow over and there is some worry corrosion breaking out in a few places. However apart from the knackered AC, everything works and we had a great three weeks in it with the kids this summer, covering over 4 thousand fault free kilometers.

 

[calikev]

Hi welcome what a cracking looking van. Great colour

 

[Hotel California]

Hi and welcome from Belgium .
Cali looks nice and clean on the picture , +310.000 km ....nice!

 

[HowieDog]

Nice - I like my T5 Cali but have a soft sport for my old T4 Westfalia. Absolutely bullet proof!

 

[jts46]

welcome, and lovely colour

John

 

[ArcticMatt]

What a cracking van. It looks fantastic. Not a bad place to live if you need any spares

 

[motacyclist]

Welcome Chris, nice van

 

[welshwestie]

Do I spot Kaktus interior?

Love the colour, we too have green, but it's Friesian green.

I think it better on the noggin to have a very good condition California, than an immaculate one. If ours was in show room or near show room condition, I would worry about keeping it in tip top condition. It's bad enough when driving through narrow B roads in the UK, it would be worse if our Corky was a minter.

We use our van all year round, and uncovered. Now if we had a garage then I think I would end up obsessively polishing and cleaning agghhhh.

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

Nice, and an unusual colour.

dan (only on 295k km!)

 

[sidepod]

Nice awning colour coding......

 

[Chriswoody]

Thanks for the welcome folks. It certainly is one of the more vivid colour options! It's kind of growing on me a lot.

Well spotted on the Cactus interior as well, it also comes with all the extra stowage pockets, really handy for losing things in.



Generally it's a good little van and we had a great time in it this summer. I was going to drop the awning originally as it's pretty tatty and rough and replace it with a drive away awning, but this summer in the warmth of France it was invaluable and I couldn't imagine having a great big tent stuck on the side. So I'm going to look at tidying it up a bit.

 

[sidepod]

I see you don't have the mounts on the bodywork for the awning legs. I assumed they were standard.
Its a fab little feature. Means you don't need to peg the legs down in the wind.
T5's dont have them either as the sliding door overhangs the rear end.
Might be worth looking out for a set.

Podster.

 

[bxl_lad]

Hi Chris,
Nice van indeed (and can vouch for the colour!) - A newbie here myself (and another Brit abroad - me in Belgium, though also with a German lass!).
I'm liking the black vinyl surrounds on the windows, did you do that yourself (if so where'd you get them?)

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Chriswoody]

Hi Matt.

Good to see another green van owner!

I'm sorry but the Vinyl was already on the side when I bought it. I have seen it in the past being offered but I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it. It does look good though especially with the tinted Windows as well, however it is peeling a little in places.

Podster, I'm sorry I'd not replied to you as well. I'll have to look into those feet, they sound interesting.

Chris.

 

[bxl_lad]

I'm sorry but the Vinyl was already on the side when I bought it. I have seen it in the past being offered but I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it. It does look good though especially with the tinted Windows as well, however it is peeling a little in places.

Cheers! Will keep looking - I think they break the green up a little, adds a nice touch... (Having had the bumpers and mirrors done, I'm wondering if there's a thing as 'too much green'! )...

 

[WelshGas]

Welcome from Wales.