It's happening....

[SpikeMcBike]

Hi all,

I have been a lurker for a while and have been picking-up all the advice I need - what a fantastic resource this this place is. Thank you.

We are seasoned campers and have always had envious conversations with owners of anything VW on campsites all over the UK and Europe. We were a bank transfer away from buying a T25 (our initial choice) but at the very last minute we decided that I am no mechanic and we thought going "modern" is the right way to go. The thought of going konking out on L'Autoroute des Anglais did not fill us with enthusiasm, especially as we like long range Euro driving hols with the tent.

So, a few weeks ago, the missus was away for the weekend and with time to kill, I took the kids to the local dealer to have a casual look at our dream.... I had a Beach in mind, and was quoted silly lead times by the sales guy I spoke to. He then suggested we look at their demo. The kids were sold. Within 30 mins we had agreed a price, placed a deposit and sorted a pick-up date, all without consulting my wife.

To cut a long story short, we pick it up in 4 weeks and I think the wife is more excited about it than me. We have already sold the family car (the Beach replaces this) and are currently all squeezing into her little Polo.

It is a '16 plate T6 Beach, Indium Grey and just as I would have specified, give or take, and we have a ferry booked two days after we pick it up. Actually I think I am the most excited about this....

 

[Amarillo]

Within 30 mins we had agreed a price, placed a deposit and sorted a pick-up date, all without consulting my wife.

Wow! I can barely buy a loaf of bread without consulting my wife!

Congratulations on your purchase. We ordered our Beach in April and are having to wait until December before delivery. However, I take some comfort from ours being a better spec than yours: it will be yellow.

 

[sapto]

Great story! Please post some pics of your picking up-1st trip!

 

[Hotel California]

Nice to have you on the forum , welcome.

 

[motacyclist]

Congratulations on your choice and welcome

 

[WelshGas]

Welcome. Grey, any grey, is the "Best" colour. Well I think so.

 

[MattBW]

Sounds very similar to my experience, I only had to wait 2 weeks though You will have a great time with it. Congrats!

 

[Cooptroop]

Always best to go ahead an make that impulse purchase. Wifey will be cross initially, but when she calms down you'll still have your new Cali...

 

[Tommy Gun]

Well done on:

a) The new van. Very nice.

...all without consulting my wife.

b) Wearing the pants

 

[tritone30]

I have been on the waiting list for a new Beach since April, and December seems such a long way off. Whilst wandering around the Range recently I couldn't resist this.

 

[44Whitehall]

Was it the demonstrator at Peasmarsh? If so, we had our eyes on it and missed you (and the van) by a matter of minutes!

We are sorted with a "Post-It Note" yellow van and are happy as can be...

Have fun and safe travels.

 

[SpikeMcBike]

It has now happened. We picked up our ex-demo Beach a month ago, which came with a fairly basic spec but notably has 150 DSG, front and rear parking sensors, multi function steering wheel, cruise control, awning and bike rack (new T6 thing).


We are a Dad and a Mum with 2 upper primary school kids. We kicked straight off into a 2,500 mile road trip in France, covering Champagne, Provence, Med, Languedoc, Loire.


We will use the van as our family car (wife has runaround for school runs etc) and will use it for camping in season (we are fair weather) and we hope the van will extend our season. We also plan to do a 2-3 week holiday every summer in the van. Otherwise, we cycle a lot and we like going to the beach all year round, so will be used as a day van most weekends.


I owe the forum some feedback based on all the knowledge I have picked-up from it, so here are my thoughts;


High driving position – fantastic.

DSG – with cruise control = lazy man’s driving, very smooth.

Fuel consumption - not great fully laden and 4 bikes on the back. But who cares? Much better with a light load.

Comfort in front – seats are like armchairs, love the armrests.

Comfort in the back – we did some long days on the road which used to kill the kids but the space in the Cali transformed the journeys.

Versatility – we had the bench forward and back, it creates many different vehicles.

Loadspace – swallowed all our clobber sans issue; clothes, bedding, drive away awning, camping gear, fridge, booze, food.

Ride quality on motorway – almost silent cruising at 70-80mph. Effortless, even when fully laden.

Connectivity – plenty of options for keeping the kids’ devices going and streaming or playing music

Upstairs bed is perfect for kids – they slept, they chilled and had fun up there

Downstairs bed – no comfort mattress supplied and we have not perfected it yet but currently have self inflatable mattress (legacy from our tent days) and a 4 inch down mattress topper and this has made things pretty comfy. We will invest in something designed for the job next year but are happy for now.

Carpets – I ordered some from Ulli at California-camping.de – a must have in my eyes, fantastic addition.

Seatcovers – I got some second hand waterproofs off eBay. I have only covered the rear bench but they are great. I am not sure what I will do with front seats, will probably leave them

Cubby holes – loads of space to put stuff, drinks etc.

Seat-back Kangaroo from Ulli again – brilliant and fits perfectly

Comfortz thermal windscreen cover – Essential kit and well worth the investment, especially under the blazing sun. Kept the Cali cool inside to allow some nice lie-ins.

Standard interior lighting – more than adequate and versatile, including the fag lighter torch and upstairs Osram thing – all works well and doesn’t need up-speccing.

Swivelling chairs – now I have the knack, they are fine to use

Roof bungee – I have one but not sure it is needed on a manual T6 roof. I still go through same procedure to ensure it is all tucked in correctly and do a “staged” pull-down of the roof.

Crates – we use storage crates for camping gear, hook-up, ramps etc. It all stays in the van so we can fire up a brew anytime.

Wind-out awning – awesome, works a treat and offers proper sun protection, too. We also used it open and attached to the drive-away awning too.


We purposely went cheap on the drive-away awning as we will not use it for short camps. We bought an Outdoor Revolution Turismo XLS. It has main area where we set up the kitchen and also a bedroom, which we used as a wardrobe / dressing room. It worked really well but the material is thin /cheap and I wouldn’t fancy its chances in a gale force storm! We have a Quechua Base Seconds 4.2 for that – they are bombproof, so we are undecided what we will use in the long term.


Bike rack – is brilliant at its job, comfortably and solidly takes 4 bikes. Some say its ugly. I have no complaints and I certainly would not go 3rd party when the VW product is so good.


So, as an ex-demo I had no choice in spec. The standard semi-auto aircon struggled in near 40dec C temperatures, especially in the back of the van. I would definitely specify 3 zone climatronic, if I had the choice. Otherwise, I like the 16 inch wheels, they look OK and there is plenty of rubber for kerbing. Maybe the LED lights because they look cool but they are bluddy pricey as an option. I don’t miss anything else, including adaptive cruise control, which I though I would.


Finally, the Dealer – I am not gonna name names but it would be easy to find out. Quite frankly, they were flipping useless from day 1. The PDI was non-existent, paperwork missing, delivered with paintwork defects that should have been picked up etc. Their communication was terrible and I always had to chase, at every stage of the process. Anyway, the van needs to go back in for the paintwork to be sorted but after that, I will sever relations. It certainly took the shine off the experience of buying the vehicle. Anyway, it is almost over.


Overall, I love it. As do the whole family and it really does everything you chuck at it very well. Its beauty is its versatility.

 

[motacyclist]

Thanks for the comprehensive impressions and info, glad you're enjoying it

 

[GillianC]

Great post thanks Spike.

Glad you are all enjoying your van.

Will message you about the dealer!

 

[Neilgbj]

Welcome and thanks for your thoughts, always useful...having just done a month or so in France sometimes forget what a versatile machine the Cali is (whatever model!)