How many seats can a California have? Documentation needed

espenhb · Aug 2, 2024

So... I'm having a bit of a problem.

Short version: I need some sort of documentation from VW saying that it is safe to put a fifth seat in a early 2000s VW California T5.

Long version: Somehow our family of three ended up as a family of five, which is causing some logistical problems when it comes to using the California as it only has four seats. Or, in reality it now has five seats as I have already gotten the fifth seat and installed it on the rails, thinking that getting it approved by the authorities would be a breeze. Original T5 seat on original T5 rails shouldn't be a problem, I thought. The authorities begged to differ, and asked me to cough up some paperwork. A document from VW, or the the VW dealership in Norway, saying that the car can handle the extra seat. Problem is; since the car is imported to Norway from Germany (almost 20 years ago) the dealership in Norway (Møller Bil) isn't interested in helping me. And since the car is registered in Norway, VW in Germany won't help either, but keep telling me to ask Møller for help.

So, yeah...

Anyone got any ideas?

andyinluton · Aug 2, 2024

espenhb said:
So... I'm having a bit of a problem.

Short version: I need some sort of documentation from VW saying that it is safe to put a fifth seat in a early 2000s VW California T5.

Long version: Somehow our family of three ended up as a family of five, which is causing some logistical problems when it comes to using the California as it only has four seats. Or, in reality it now has five seats as I have already gotten the fifth seat and installed it on the rails, thinking that getting it approved by the authorities would be a breeze. Original T5 seat on original T5 rails shouldn't be a problem, I thought. The authorities begged to differ, and asked me to cough up some paperwork. A document from VW, or the the VW dealership in Norway, saying that the car can handle the extra seat. Problem is; since the car is imported to Norway from Germany (almost 20 years ago) the dealership in Norway (Møller Bil) isn't interested in helping me. And since the car is registered in Norway, VW in Germany won't help either, but keep telling me to ask Møller for help.

So, yeah...

Anyone got any ideas?

I put a 6th seat into a 5 seater Ocean.

My dealer - when it was in for a service wrote me note on headed paper saying words to the effect of: an additional VW standard removable seat has been installed according to the instructions in the handbook to the factory fitted Seating rails.

This was sufficient for DVLA to upgrade the registration document to 6 seats & my insurance company were also fine with it.

vbk1975 · Aug 2, 2024

espenhb said:
So... I'm having a bit of a problem.

Short version: I need some sort of documentation from VW saying that it is safe to put a fifth seat in a early 2000s VW California T5.

Long version: Somehow our family of three ended up as a family of five, which is causing some logistical problems when it comes to using the California as it only has four seats. Or, in reality it now has five seats as I have already gotten the fifth seat and installed it on the rails, thinking that getting it approved by the authorities would be a breeze. Original T5 seat on original T5 rails shouldn't be a problem, I thought. The authorities begged to differ, and asked me to cough up some paperwork. A document from VW, or the the VW dealership in Norway, saying that the car can handle the extra seat. Problem is; since the car is imported to Norway from Germany (almost 20 years ago) the dealership in Norway (Møller Bil) isn't interested in helping me. And since the car is registered in Norway, VW in Germany won't help either, but keep telling me to ask Møller for help.

So, yeah...

Anyone got any ideas?

This from the UK website, but this should help and there should be same service available from other EU countries, you might have it if you imported it already. You need to request EU Certificate of Conformance, this will detail the Certification details of your specific vehicle and this should include the max number of seats that can be installed as part of the Cert. If your Cali had 3 rails from factory then as the 3rd seat is also an after market item, then the max seats would be 5.

Be really clear in the request that you want the seat number referenced as they might give you a summary only.

VW Certificate of Conformity | VW Vans

Certificate of conformity is an official document ensuring that your van complies with the European Union vehicle specification. Discover more online

www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk

Corradobrit · Aug 2, 2024

I'm getting flashbacks of a bureaucratic nightmare in Italy in the 90's with 'non-standard' wheels/tyre size on a Mk1 Golf GTI (loved that car btw). VW headquarters in Italy confirmed wheel/tyre combo was OK for the GTI in writing but the Italian DVLA were having none of it.