Hello

[TVtrevorthecamper]

Newbie here. Looking to buy a 10 year old Cali very soon. Any advice on what to look for would be most appreciated. 2WD ver 4WD? What parts of the fit out suffer the most, problems with engines and suspension, that sort of thing.

Trev.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Where do you start. Obviously there are pitfalls with any 10 year old vehicle. The more “bits” on the vehicle the more to go wrong. I’ve never been in a position where I needed 4wd and can be expensive if it goes wrong. They say that the 180 bi turbo is more liable to drinking oil when the engine wears more rapidly. Can be costly. Big wheels with wide tyres look nice but have a hard ride and expensive to replace. Make sure it has a good service history. To me it doesn’t matter if it’s Dealer serviced or your local garage after all it’s a VW van.As long as the job is done correctly that’s all that matters.

 

[Graham T]

 

[Velma's Dad]

Newbie here. Looking to buy a 10 year old Cali very soon. Any advice on what to look for would be most appreciated. 2WD ver 4WD? What parts of the fit out suffer the most, problems with engines and suspension, that sort of thing.

Trev.

Welcome Trev. For every question that gets answered here, think about how the poster's use of their van might compare with yours. Eg 4WD might be very important for someone who takes their van to the Alps, but not so much if you're only going to be summer camping. One huge difference is whether you need your van to be your daily driver, or just a high-days-and-holidays camper.

Biggest question obviously SE/Ocean or a Beach - I assume you'll get yourself straight on that before you go much further. If you go for SE/Ocean don't kid yourself that you can just buy a fifth seat and pop it in and out whenever you need to... they are bloody heavy and awkward. Okay maybe if you're a body-builder.

Auto (okay DSG actually but who cares) is very popular and adds a lot to the already very easy-riding driving experience. However that may be less common on a 10-year old van and the 6-speed manual gb is certainly very nice to use.

For general van use you'll probably want rear parking sensors although obviously you could get after-market ones if necessary.

To answer your question about which bits of the fit-out suffer, well mostly that will be the bits you can see yourself, eg scuffs on cupboards, upholstery etc. On an SE/Ocean the rear cupboard "tambour" doors will likely be on about their third set of sticky tape to hold them together but that's no real issue. As long as you demand to see everything working - water tap, fridge, diesel heater etc - you're not likely to find many issues inside the van.

Mechanically speaking Ozzy Pete has mentioned several good points although the 180 Biturbo issue really seemed only to affect 2010-11 model year (I think) and even then most will have no issue. Generally these vans are very reliable. Obviously as part of the service history you need to know when the cam belt was changed (water pump usually changed at same time).

 

[TVtrevorthecamper]

Thank you for the helpful tips. I am probably going to see a few before I take the plunge. It is still quite a purchase for a 10 year old one, in comparison to buying a car which is what I am used to.
Is the manual box more reliable than the DSG or are they about the same?