Is your California selling?

[vmaxkiddy]

I advertised mine on Autotrader it was a 4 months old 204PS Ocean with about 8k in added spec and done 1200 miles for just over £67k (the new list with all options was £82k). It was the cheapest of it's type by about £2k and other than one timewaster I didn't have a single inquiry on it. I ended up selling it to a dealer for £100 over the trade I'd been offered. I was very disappointed but accept the market is awash with Calis presently. I know some are saying that the demand for Cali's will grow with production ceasing but personally I just don't buy this and certainly wasn't the case for me.

If you have the price tracker on Autotrader you'll see dozens sitting at dealers for over 6 months discounted at regular intervals and still not shifting. I'd say I'd lost around £9k in 4 months, which is nothing compared to what my Range Rover has lost over the same period as everyone is nicking them and can't get insurance

Friends fathers Range Rover taken in Skegness on Wednesday night, tracked to Bristol then disappeared Thursday morning. Took 15 seconds to remove it from the driveway.

 

[Jimmylondon07]

Is there something specific that makes them easy to steal or are they just in high demand?

 

[Defender90]

Feel for you. But then I’ve lost around £15k in my 30’s on cars.
Now have 3 keepers where I’ll be paying them off once the PCP is finished.
Can’t see any other vehicles I’ll need.
California, convertible and defender.

What perfect car choices lol
I just need the convertible now

 

[Corradobrit]

convertible

Soft top of hard top? If the former I assume it doesn't leak, so it can be done.

 

[Californication69]

Friends fathers Range Rover taken in Skegness on Wednesday night, tracked to Bristol then disappeared Thursday morning. Took 15 seconds to remove it from the driveway.

Bristol, that’s there pirate country.
But in all seriousness, there are two items to have to stop them taking it with out your knowledge.
A ghost2, and VHF tracker.
It can’t stop them coming into your house and asking for keys.
But a bit more serious time wise and 99% would only try to break in to steal key if it is worth the risk.
Then that’s what insurance is for.
Less than a bag of sand with NFU for us.

Soft top of hard top? If the former I assume it doesn't leak, so it can be done.

Saab vector in Ice Blue, MY09. 1.8t.
No leaks. Totally standard apart from a Noob tune from 150 to 228 PS. With the small turbo in the 2l block, the 0-60 acceleration is quicker than an aero.
big brake upgrade on front. Yellow stuff pads.
Bilston and MapTun suspension, dropped 30mm, polybushed all round. Drives like new. Enough space for 4 adults. 80k miles. Unique

 

[Barry Chuckle]

Is there something specific that makes them easy to steal or are they just in high demand?

Apparently they're no less difficult to steal than most other modern cars, but there is massive demand for them. Someone senior in the motor trade told me criminal gangs are stealing them and exporting to Russia due the sanctions.

 

[JohnCalifornia]

Feel for you. But then I’ve lost around £15k in my 30’s on cars.
Now have 3 keepers where I’ll be paying them off once the PCP is finished.
Can’t see any other vehicles I’ll need.
California, convertible and defender.

Same fleet as me but RRS instead of Defender. (RRS garaged with convertible for obvious reasons)

 

[Californication69]

Same fleet as me but RRS instead of Defender. (RRS garaged with convertible for obvious reasons)

RRS was too small inside for our growing allocation of grandkids. Going from 1 to 3 this year!
The new defender is sublime to drive compared to a MY24 RRS in my 5 day experiance.
And the 6 pot D250 on air is perfect.
Also family pack so 7 seats in the 130.
And less than £65k brand new. Absolute steel.
Take a look at the XS edition.

 

[Californication69]

Apparently they're no less difficult to steal than most other modern cars, but there is massive demand for them. Someone senior in the motor trade told me criminal gangs are stealing them and exporting to Russia due the sanctions.

Sounds about right

 

[JohnCalifornia]

RRS was too small inside for our growing allocation of grandkids. Going from 1 to 3 this year!
The new defender is sublime to drive compared to a MY24 RRS in my 5 day experiance.
And the 6 pot D250 on air is perfect.
Also family pack so 7 seats in the 130.
And less than £65k brand new. Absolute steel.
Take a look at the XS edition.

I do like the new defender and it would be my next car of choice but my RRS has devalued by at least £10K in 6 months due to them been pinched all the time at the moment. My insurance doubled last year and is due again in June so the should be interesting. Nobody wants to buy these cars now for these reasons so residuals are dropping like you wouldn’t believe………

 

[Neuromancer11]

Glad I got out of my RRS when I did in Feb, cost me £1000 extra to shorten the lease by 6 months, insurance was £625pa for the first three years, my renewal in March was £2700!

 

[Barry Chuckle]

I do like the new defender and it would be my next car of choice but my RRS has devalued by at least £10K in 6 months due to them been pinched all the time at the moment. My insurance doubled last year and is due again in June so the should be interesting. Nobody wants to buy these cars now for these reasons so residuals are dropping like you wouldn’t believe………

I've had both the D250 & D300 in 110 form I found the D250 a bit sluggish as it's a fair old weight of metal to shift around!

 

[Kayleigh]

I’m getting lost in an Ocean of acronyms… RRS, D250, D300 in 110 form

 

[aeicalifornia]

Feel for you. But then I’ve lost around £15k in my 30’s on cars.
Now have 3 keepers where I’ll be paying them off once the PCP is finished.
Can’t see any other vehicles I’ll need.
California, convertible and defender.

same here!
more bases covered:
California, convertible (Mazda MX-5 MK1), 4x4 (RR L322 Autobiography 3.6TDV8), and super sport (BMW 1M Coupe - one of 6.313 worldwide built).
which one to trade?
my driveway is too tight.
and wife not so happy, as you all might guess...

 

[lohr500]

Out of the three "cars", I think it would have to be the MX5.

The L322 is thought by many to be the best version of the RR made to date, so if you have a good one, hang on to it.

The 1M Coupe has rarity and the wow factor.

Tidy MX-5 Mk1s are getting scarce, but I'm sure you could always find another one in the future if you ever regretted selling yours.

 

[Californication69]

I've had both the D250 & D300 in 110 form I found the D250 a bit sluggish as it's a fair old weight of metal to shift around!

Wife drives it mainly, so had to push the great MPG factor. I don’t mind it. I found the D300 in the velar was licence losing quick.
I like being captain slow now. Had my 8 lives as a speedy cat.

 

[Bobby D]

I think the bubble is deffo leaking a little, the market is dropping but the right price things are still selling fast. Been looking at A Class Hymers around the £45K mark and they don't hang about. Seem to sell within a week.

 

[Norfolk Jim]

Bristol, that’s there pirate country.
But in all seriousness, there are two items to have to stop them taking it with out your knowledge.
A ghost2, and VHF tracker.
It can’t stop them coming into your house and asking for keys.
But a bit more serious time wise and 99% would only try to break in to steal key if it is worth the risk.
Then that’s what insurance is for.
Less than a bag of sand with NFU for us.

Saab vector in Ice Blue, MY09. 1.8t.
No leaks. Totally standard apart from a Noob tune from 150 to 228 PS. With the small turbo in the 2l block, the 0-60 acceleration is quicker than an aero.
big brake upgrade on front. Yellow stuff pads.
Bilston and MapTun suspension, dropped 30mm, polybushed all round. Drives like new. Enough space for 4 adults. 80k miles. Unique

I like the look of the 93 convertible but would never have one as don't like rag tops however I've had 9 Saabs starting with simple CS9000i ending up with 9-3 Aero TTiD Hirsch. My fastest though was a 9-5 Aero Estate which spent a week at Abbott Racing having their suspension, exhaust, hybrid turbo, big injectors clutch upgrade etc etc..............taking it from 250hp - 320 hp but with massive torque. It went like stink like yours must. I had it on track up to 160 mph very solid. Wiped the floor with most modern performance cars but look un intimidating. If they still made them I'd still have one; if they'd made the new 9-5 est in UK i'd have had one.....

 

[HowieDog]

Not a Cali, but sold the Hymer Free last month. Had it 22 months from new and 27,000 miles and sold for 4k less than I paid for it. Having said that, I only had two enquiries and one of them bought it, advertised in a Hymer group on Facebook.

There is still very limited supply and a new one would be almost £100k (which is nuts).

The new one is coming from a German Hymer dealer as there is much more choice and its almost 20% cheaper (even after import costs) than buying from an overpriced UK dealer.

 

[Grorich]

I think the VW offers have taken a lot of buyers out of the market at this present moment but now you can no longer order one it remains to be seen how prices will be affected over the next month or two.

I know a lot of dealers are overstocked at the moment (rejections haven’t helped) so P/Ex values are low but when I spoke to one dealer they were confident a reasonably priced Cali should have no problems selling privately.

Hi

Have you got any more info on the rejections you mentioned

 

[Jimmylondon07]

Hi

Have you got any more info on the rejections you mentioned

Grab yourself a cuppa and a kitkat, get yourself nice and comfortable and have a looky at this.

Leaking pop tops on 2023 California Oceans

Looking for other peoples' experiences with the new double lined pop top roof (the one that is grey outside / cream inside), and any potential solutions to the problem of leaking though the seams and fabric. In the last week we've had complaints from customers on all four of our March 2023...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[Norfolk Jim]

Must admit when I sold my camper I had it on here and had 2 muppets message me, eBay had 4 enquiries but sold it via Autotrader where I had 5 enquiries, all genuine. I sold if for just over £1200 more than I bought it for in 2015 and that's a 2007 van conversion. On Cali front all I looked at through dealers seemed to have sold in the blink of a hat. The one I've bought was sold subject to deposit before I spoke to dealer and he took my deposit!! The one in Norwich was only advertised on Autotrader by dealer on Monday, I drove it Tuesday late morning and it when we came back from test drive unknown to me and the dealer with me someone frmo Wales had placed a deposit!! That was a Mid 2023 with 1250 odd miles on it - bang went for £66k - teh market seems to be all over the place then @Jimmylondon07 on here hasn't had a nibble and his was newer and lower price with warranty

 

[Jimmylondon07]

Must admit when I sold my camper I had it on here and had 2 muppets message me, eBay had 4 enquiries but sold it via Autotrader where I had 5 enquiries, all genuine. I sold if for just over £1200 more than I bought it for in 2015 and that's a 2007 van conversion. On Cali front all I looked at through dealers seemed to have sold in the blink of a hat. The one I've bought was sold subject to deposit before I spoke to dealer and he took my deposit!! The one in Norwich was only advertised on Autotrader by dealer on Monday, I drove it Tuesday late morning and it when we came back from test drive unknown to me and the dealer with me someone frmo Wales had placed a deposit!! That was a Mid 2023 with 1250 odd miles on it - bang went for £66k - teh market seems to be all over the place then @Jimmylondon07 on here hasn't had a nibble and his was newer and lower price with warranty

Yeah I'm planning on taking some new pics over the weekend, maybe that'll help. I haven't got around to putting it on autotrader yet either, I'll do that if I still haven't had any luck in the next week or so.

I reckon the biggest reason is that mine has aftermarket wheels on it which is probably quite off-putting for some. If it comes to it I'll swap them back over but I've priced it such that whoever buys it will get both sets and can make a fair chunk of change off the set they don't want (assuming they don't rotate them for summer and winter use). We'll see I guess!

 

[Norfolk Jim]

Yeah I'm planning on taking some new pics over the weekend, maybe that'll help. I haven't got around to putting it on autotrader yet either, I'll do that if I still haven't had any luck in the next week or so.

I reckon the biggest reason is that mine has aftermarket wheels on it which is probably quite off-putting for some. If it comes to it I'll swap them back over but I've priced it such that whoever buys it will get both sets and can make a fair chunk of change off the set they don't want (assuming they don't rotate them for summer and winter use). We'll see I guess!

Like marmite - I hate it but wife loves it........... I'm afraid I didn't like the look of your wheels and that's what put me off others - I still like original wheels but that's just me. The new one I'm getting has the woodstock wheels which I wasn't sure about at first but they've now grown on me

 

[Norfolk Jim]

I also don't like these lower front spoilers - they take away to essence of what a Cali is - a leisure vehicle - not a sports car. I hate these converted vans with huge wheels and lowered suspension like chav vans - they think they look cool - I never steriotype but never park near them on a site...