Hi All! leaving the California dream!

James Gonzalez · Jun 25, 2019

Not longer a dream, Its now a reality! we just got our Vw california! I promise myself to have one since i was a kid and my dad used to own a T1. So many good memories and now looking forward to make a new ones with my family!!
I used travel the world for work and I fed up with that and now don't wanna know about airports or hotels so the Cali suit me perfectly, First adventure trip is already next week! loads to learn about the Cali so hope I can have some help from this big and nice community.

Loz · Jun 25, 2019

2into1 · Jun 25, 2019

I had a similar route in. Used to fly most days. Only flown 4 times in the last 10 years of Cali ownership. 140SE is a great starting point (wish I’d kept mine).

Lorri · Jun 26, 2019

babble · Jun 26, 2019

2into1 said:
I had a similar route in. Used to fly most days. Only flown 4 times in the last 10 years of Cali ownership. 140SE is a great starting point (wish I’d kept mine).

why do you wish you had kept it 2into1?

ans welcome James! i'll be joining you in three weeks when my documents are done!

2into1 · Jun 26, 2019

babble said:
why do you wish you had kept it 2into1?

Well it (a 2010 facelift 140 se manual) did everything my T6 150 DSG does for £20k less and seemed a whole lot simpler.....none of this 2 hourly forced regeneration of the dpf, no ad blue system to worry about, it was a manual and while I appreciate my DSG it sometimes behaves like a learner driver since it got the latest remap from vw. (Some twerp in Hannover can completely change the way your van behaves). The 140 is a proven engine and seems very trouble free. The T6 engines are still a bit of an unknown. My 140 had had the roof cap repaired with the new method and it had all gone smoothly. If electric vehicles start to impact diesel Cali residuals, it had a whole lot less to lose.
I thought car play and dab was an absolute must but hardly use it. (I just Bluetooth podcasts and use google maps on my phone, held on a tasteful dash vent near my right hand (I’m right handed). Don’t get me started on the stop / start system in the T6!......etc

2into1 · Jun 26, 2019

2into1 said:
Well it (a 2010 facelift 140 se manual) did everything my T6 150 DSG does for £20k less and seemed a whole lot simpler.....none of this 2 hourly forced regeneration of the dpf, no ad blue system to worry about, it was a manual and while I appreciate my DSG it sometimes behaves like a learner driver since it got the latest remap from vw. (Some twerp in Hannover can completely change the way your van behaves). The 140 is a proven engine and seems very trouble free. The T6 engines are still a bit of an unknown. My 140 had had the roof cap repaired with the new method and it had all gone smoothly. If electric vehicles start to impact diesel Cali residuals, it had a whole lot less to lose.
I thought car play and dab was an absolute must but hardly use it. (I just Bluetooth podcasts and use google maps on my phone, held on a tasteful dash vent near my right hand (I’m right handed). Don’t get me started on the stop / start system in the T6!......etc

Oh I forgot that the complexity of the 6 vs 5 seems to be putting off some independent garages from investing in the necessary gear to work on them. That may just be a natural time lag and they will eventually invest, but once I’m out of warranty I currently face paying vw £150 just to read an error code whereas that would buy me a full morning’s hard graft at my independent vw specialist on my 5.

babble · Jun 26, 2019

yes, it doesn't sound ideal really. I guess the most important thing to remember in relation to all this is that it is the 'experience' that is the most important part of it all, in that the Cali, any Cali, (or similar) allows us the freedom to get away and spend wonderful times away from home in far-flung places. After that it is just details really. You might, if you still had your old Cali, have by now had some big unexpected expenses i guess. who knows!

The DPF regeneration is something i'm highly suspicious of, because i think it must produce an horrible amount of air pollution when it is taking place (which is not included in the 'calculations' of air quality in relation to the EURO standards.) I'm more comfortable with the AD blue, which i think may be a pretty good thing overall, bu. (i might ask a friend who works on this actually)(i'll report back with my findings.)

TripleBee · Jun 26, 2019

Welcome to the "family".
Just do like I did: take off and try out the van. Learn from your errors, and if really necissary, look for answers on this forum.

But most of all: ENJOY!