Im new and need some advice please

[James]

dsg or manual ...both as good as each other ....get the colour right ,as you look at that everyday

Lee

I thought DSG was slightly better ?



James

 

[AndyFromTheBrac]

I'm still in a dilemma, and can't make a decision. I really want an auto but I'm not sure if I have the patience to wait for one. I do like the black manual that I test drove the other day but I don't like the miles and amount of owners it has had.
I don't know what to do

Is that the 30-odd thousand miles?? If so, don't be put off by that. "Ordinary" T5s handle a lot more (capable of starship mileage), but for some reason people worry when a Cali has more than a dawdle per year. Providing there's history 40k over 3 years is nothing IMO

I also worried about ex-rental, but bought one (indirectly from the same BVMS chap here) as it was the perfect spec and my van is impeccable. No worries!

Andy


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Rich Corrado]

I'm still in a dilemma, and can't make a decision. I really want an auto but I'm not sure if I have the patience to wait for one. I do like the black manual that I test drove the other day but I don't like the miles and amount of owners it has had.
I don't know what to do

2010 van could be over three years old which would give average annual mileage of 11000 which is not a lot. It has full service history & if it is in good condition & been looked after, no visable damage inside or outside then number of owners shouldn't matter.
It has a good amount of extras & good spec.
As has already been said if you do not want to be looking & waiting for ages then you should think about being more flexible. Calis really do hold their value very well.

I had a black car years ago from new, would not buy another black vehicle again, they show up every mark & dirt. That's just my personal opinion.

34000 on an everyday car is perfectly normal but I wouldn't describe the average California usage as normal. A rental California does this sort of mileage.
I would not describe the car as having full service history as it has had one long life service! I don't care what anyone says, you should change the oil and filter on a car/van once a year, even if it has only done minimal mileage. As for the owners it has had 3 previous, which would mean I am the 4th registered owner of this Cali, which in my opinion makes it less desirable when I come to sell it.
As for the colour I'm a bit boring and the last 5 or 6 cars I have owned have been black, I just think black looks smart but I do agree they show every mark and are harder to keep clean.

 

[Rich Corrado]

Let's just be clear, I don't think 34k is a lot of miles I just think its high for a 3 year California.

I'm trying to see Oli from BMVS (who has been very honest and helpful)on Saturday to look at some ex rentals and then take it from there.

 

[calikev]

I think the mileage depends on how the van is used remember the Cali is ideal as an everyday vehicle a lot of our members only have a Cali mine is 3 years old with 26k and I do have another vehicle to use but enjoy driving it so much it's creeping up

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

Let's just be clear, I don't think 34k is a lot of miles I just think its high for a 3 year California.

I'm trying to see Oli from BMVS (who has been very honest and helpful)on Saturday to look at some ex rentals and then take it from there.

See you saturday, both vehicles are in valet as we speak, and Ill have some better pictures for you tomorrow

 

[Mollen]

I'm still in a dilemma, and can't make a decision. I really want an auto but I'm not sure if I have the patience to wait for one. I do like the black manual that I test drove the other day but I don't like the miles and amount of owners it has had.
I don't know what to do

My 2 penneth worth DSG every time.

 

[bernie]

If you wait for exactly what you want to appear at the price you want, you might wait a long time. Unless you're prepared to pay top rates, you will have to be flexible, I think.

 

[maui2512]

I liked the manual one which I drove at the dealers, but we spend most of our time crawling through traffic to and from our children's gymnastics classes so it had to be auto in the end...I think waiting to get an auto if that is what you want should be a priority...if you end up not enjoying driving it because it's manual then you just won't get your money's worth...colour (surprisingly enough for a woman was way down on my priority list. I figure any colour is fine, it's the functionality that really makes the difference on your enjoyment of the van...

 

[CaliG]

They don't come any better or blacker than this one...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/v ... ?logcode=p

...very nice!

CaliG

 

[Bleur fleur]

I know someone who might be selling theirs. I will see them this weekend and find out more!

 

[Rich Corrado]

They don't come any better or blacker than this one...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/v ... ?logcode=p

...very nice!

CaliG

Already fallen in love with it but I think it's over priced....

 

[Rich Corrado]

I know someone who might be selling theirs. I will see them this weekend and find out more!

Is it a black auto? If so I would be very interested!

 

[Autonaut]

Just a thought about car colour. We think there is a noticeable temperature difference between light and dark coloured cars. This isn't so important in a car because you always have the AC running when needed. Lounging around in a Cali in a hot country with all the doors open and the roof up is rather different so we were happy to go for sand beige, very light and reflective. The blue and red look good and black is very smart but these colours do absorb more heat. Other Cali owners might disagree with me or think the difference is minimal.
We bought our first camper van ever last year and made a beeline for the south of France. Our only problem was that flies would sometimes gather in pop up and were therefore buzzing around irritatingly at night when we bedded down up there. The Brandrup Flyout seems very expensive. Anyone got any other solution? I suppose I should put this in a different thread.

Generally though we love out Cali and can't get over how comfortable it is. Hope you find your perfect Cali like we did.

 

[Rich Corrado]

I know someone who might be selling theirs. I will see them this weekend and find out more!

Any joy?

 

[HistoryBob]

Just a thought about car colour. We think there is a noticeable temperature difference between light and dark coloured cars. This isn't so important in a car because you always have the AC running when needed. Lounging around in a Cali in a hot country with all the doors open and the roof up is rather different so we were happy to go for sand beige, very light and reflective. The blue and red look good and black is very smart but these colours do absorb more heat. Other Cali owners might disagree with me or think the difference is minimal.
We bought our first camper van ever last year and made a beeline for the south of France. Our only problem was that flies would sometimes gather in pop up and were therefore buzzing around irritatingly at night when we bedded down up there. The Brandrup Flyout seems very expensive. Anyone got any other solution? I suppose I should put this in a different thread.

Generally though we love out Cali and can't get over how comfortable it is. Hope you find your perfect Cali like we did.

I had the same in the south of France. Flys up in the pop up roof. Solution I used was never to open the window covers in the roof. The flys didn't seem to go up into the dark roof area. Defeats the object of having windows but cured the flys at night problem.

 

[Backin5]

My top tip is to carry a 12v vacuum cleaner - £5 from Asda - and have a quick 'hunt' for the little beggars just before bed. Hoover them up then release them on the late night toilet run, very humane.

 

[Autonaut]

Thanks for the tips on flies - I shall use both solutions. I'm afraid I wasn't very humane in one place because there were so many I resorted to the rolled up magazine solution. When I had dealt with them the normally grey seating below had changed from light grey to charcoal grey so they probably needed culling!