Leaking Bellows: Installed since October 2023 Only

[bullibuskombi]

I assume so as I've seen many different variations (unless it's just one or two manufacturers producing multiple products). I've always though the Cali bellows seems better quality though than any of the conversions. Well, until now anyway. To be fair, a bin bag would perform better.

I covered mine with a bin bag to stop it leaking.

 

[CatNap]

Hi, I just added my vote. We have a lovely brand new red Surf, picked it up last week on the 8th. Build sometime in October. Smashing and strangely relaxing to drive with a stately progress down the road. Camped in her/him (gender undecided it seems) last weekend and all seemed OK despite a bit of rain. But my wife complained water dripped on her head when I was driving home. Hey ho clearly my driving was at fault. But parked up today in very light rain for a cuppa the problem became clear. Water came in thru the bellows seam below the front window and dripped into the cab. Also a little stream ran from the back along the aluminum rail on the left to the front and disappeared into the bodywork behind the front door. Rather a downer and we are wondering what to do. A bellows change seems rather pointless.

 

[Corradobrit]

Hi, I just added my vote. We have a lovely brand new red Surf, picked it up last week on the 8th. Build sometime in October. Smashing and strangely relaxing to drive with a stately progress down the road. Camped in her/him (gender undecided it seems) last weekend and all seemed OK despite a bit of rain. But my wife complained water dripped on her head when I was driving home. Hey ho clearly my driving was at fault. But parked up today in very light rain for a cuppa the problem became clear. Water came in thru the bellows seam below the front window and dripped into the cab. Also a little stream ran from the back along the aluminum rail on the left to the front and disappeared into the bodywork behind the front door. Rather a downer and we are wondering what to do. A bellows change seems rather pointless.

Was there a hang tag with the bellows data on it. Your's may have been produced in June /July and therefore not had the most recent mods which are supposedly fixing the leaking issue through the seams. All is not lost. I would still report it to the dealer and then start the process to get replacement bellows installed. This is the sad life of a new MY23Cali owner. But at least you are not alone.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Hi, I just added my vote. We have a lovely brand new red Surf, picked it up last week on the 8th. Build sometime in October. Smashing and strangely relaxing to drive with a stately progress down the road. Camped in her/him (gender undecided it seems) last weekend and all seemed OK despite a bit of rain. But my wife complained water dripped on her head when I was driving home. Hey ho clearly my driving was at fault. But parked up today in very light rain for a cuppa the problem became clear. Water came in thru the bellows seam below the front window and dripped into the cab. Also a little stream ran from the back along the aluminum rail on the left to the front and disappeared into the bodywork behind the front door. Rather a downer and we are wondering what to do. A bellows change seems rather pointless.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. You might take comfort in the fact that you aren't alone in facing this issue.

It's a bit worrying that your van is so recent because a number of us early guinea pigs for version "new new new new" have been assured this version is watertight. And you may have that version.

Yet despite this assertion of water tightness, tests no longer include wetting with a spray from a hosepipe. Just natural rain.

It would be good if you could find the actual Bellows part number. That might infer if there's a more recent version out there

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

You may find the tag and part number here.

Leaking pop tops on 2023 California Oceans

Short term solution requiring regular treatments. The stretchy material will continuously develop leaks due to the stresses at the seams. Perhaps - if you're right, that suggests unless a totally different method of joining the fabric components is used, the new material isn't workable?

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[RockinNRollin]

Collected last week, probably was in build first half of September with stock from a week or two earlier. I’d be interested to know the date on the tag too

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

The other thing to think about is where you bought the van from. If you had the misfortune to purchase from Eurovans, then make sure you reject it within 30 days because beyond that they don't seem to acknowledge Rejections.

 

[CatNap]

Wow, thanks for all the input. I will try and find a tag in the morning but could not see anything obvious from previous inspections. The van was bought through Eurovans Crawley. They said today that none of their customers has had a problem with the new roof bellows (since they fitted some sort of seal or tag on the bellows) we are apparently the first with a problem. They also say that all issues in the past have been resolved. Apparently they sell a lot of California's. The folk I met were nice if hard to reach at times.

 

[OooOooTheMonkey]

The other thing to think about is where you bought the van from. If you had the misfortune to purchase from Eurovans, then make sure you reject it within 30 days because beyond that they don't seem to acknowledge Rejections.

That’s against the law if they’ve tried to fix it and failed. What makes you say they won’t acknowledge rejections after 30 days?

 

[Corradobrit]

Wow, thanks for all the input. I will try and find a tag in the morning but could not see anything obvious from previous inspections. The van was bought through Eurovans Crawley. They said today that none of their customers has had a problem with the new roof bellows (since they fitted some sort of seal or tag on the bellows) we are apparently the first with a problem. They also say that all issues in the past have been resolved. Apparently they sell a lot of California's. The folk I met were nice if hard to reach at times.

EV really take the biscuit. To say you are the first complainant beggars belief. We all know it's an ongoing problem with maybe a fix on bellows manufactured from October on, but not before. Yours would have been manufactured a few weeks or a couple of months before the build date iso unlikely to have a proper revision. Think very carefully and plan to reject within that 30 days. Then order from Breeze.

 

[Kayleigh]

The van was bought through Eurovans Crawley. They said today that none of their customers has had a problem with the new roof bellows (since they fitted some sort of seal or tag on the bellows)

Is that code for FABSIL?

 

[Kayleigh]

They also say that all issues in the past have been resolved.

Ask them if they have resolved mine. It’s been on their forecourt for over two months!

 

[CatNap]

Ask them if they have resolved mine. It’s been on their forecourt for over two months!

EV really take the biscuit. To say you are the first complainant beggars belief. We all know it's an ongoing problem with maybe a fix on bellows manufactured from October on, but not before. Yours would have been manufactured a few weeks or a couple of months before the build date iso unlikely to have a proper revision. Think very carefully and plan to reject within that 30 days. Then order from Breeze.My

 

[CatNap]

Hi, it feels like I just wandered into a war zone. As I said the comment about our being first relates to October and later bellows. The dealer fully acknowledged the previous issues prior to October. Please do not suggest otherwise in the context of my post.

The dealer also suggested we may have the old bellows despite delivery in November.

Zzzzz

 

[Jimmylondon07]

Hi, it feels like I just wandered into a war zone. As I said the comment about our being first relates to October and later bellows. The dealer fully acknowledged the previous issues prior to October. Please do not suggest otherwise in the context of my post.

The dealer also suggested we may have the old bellows despite delivery in November.

Zzzzz

Though you’re right, it’s also understandable that there is a lot of negative sentiment towards Eurovans on here when quite a few of us have had a horrendous experience with them over the last few months as this situation has played out.

I have no issues with the Service side of their business either by the way, they’re actually very helpful.

 

[dspuk]

Hi, it feels like I just wandered into a war zone. As I said the comment about our being first relates to October and later bellows. The dealer fully acknowledged the previous issues prior to October. Please do not suggest otherwise in the context of my post.

The dealer also suggested we may have the old bellows despite delivery in November.

Zzzzz

I’d say you have given lead times. Once the repair is fully VW endorsed and verified all vehicles remaining to be fixed will be under VIN lists and the dealer should be able to check.

So far from what has been said the non leaking bellows have only been on replaced ones, so for all we know the factory fit may be old/existing stock.

Welcome to Nam. Bellows-Nam.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Someone posted the latest part number from their replacement bellows on here. @Betsycalifornia I think.

The product ended NR which is apparently the latest foolproof version.

The dealer should be able to lookup what product code was fitted to your vehicle. I suggest you ask them that question.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

Is that code for FABSIL?

Not sure about Fabs, but certainly seems to be a lot of Fibs coming from them....

 

[Betsycalifornia]

Someone posted the latest part number from their replacement bellows on here. @Betsycalifornia I think.

The product ended NR which is apparently the latest foolproof version.

The dealer should be able to lookup what product code was fitted to your vehicle. I suggest you ask them that question.

I was told that NR is the latest product by the dealer.
however, they might be lacking in ability, or something else.
a search on other forums in German (Google translated) revealed the following:

“The part number included is 7LA 875 059 C. This is the current part number for the electric roof.
8NR is the color code for the blue bellows.”

as mine are blue and the person saying the above didn’t know that I assume it’s correct and the dealer needs to clean up after some defecation by one of the male cows.

 

[Corradobrit]

More people over here are on their 4th and 5th bellows. The latest one with a manufacture date 29/9 still leaks. Unlucky cutoff? Hoping so. We need more data points with bellows manufactured in Oct/Nov.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

I was told that NR is the latest product by the dealer.
however, they might be lacking in ability, or something else.
a search on other forums in German (Google translated) revealed the following:

“The part number included is 7LA 875 059 C. This is the current part number for the electric roof.
8NR is the color code for the blue bellows.”

as mine are blue and the person saying the above didn’t know that I assume it’s correct and the dealer needs to clean up after some defecation by one of the male cows.

OK. So there is no change in product code. Just some potential enhancements and a clear-out of existing stock.

@CatNap - no need to check the product code itself, it will almost certainly be the latest product code (the C variant) but you won't know for sure if its new new new new new....

Was there a tag hanging from front window zipper, with like "03S" stamped on it along with serial number and manufacture date? Odd if there wasn't.

Here's my QC tag.

Does your T6.1 double skinned Bellows leak?

I’ve tested mine today in the rain, it leaks at the bottom seal too. Build was May 23. Same numbers on the tag as previous ones. Such a shame to hear this. Mine leaks like yours - mainly at the bottom seal.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[Corradobrit]

OK. So there is no change in product code. Just some potential enhancements and a clear-out of existing stock.

@CatNap - no need to check the product code itself, it will almost certainly be the latest product code (the C variant) but you won't know for sure if its new new new new new....

Was there a tag hanging from front window zipper, with like "03S" stamped on it along with serial number and manufacture date? Odd if there wasn't.

Here's my QC tag.

Does your T6.1 double skinned Bellows leak?

I’ve tested mine today in the rain, it leaks at the bottom seal too. Build was May 23. Same numbers on the tag as previous ones. Such a shame to hear this. Mine leaks like yours - mainly at the bottom seal.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

I think many dealers might remove these hanging labels during vehicle prep. Mine was missing.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

I think many dealers might remove these hanging labels during vehicle prep. Mine was missing.

Over in blighty I don't think many were removed originally.

They might not be too keen for them to be left on at the moment, particularly because if any leak and the manufacture date or serial number crosses over with the new new..... version - that would be a nightmare for the dealers and VW.

I still only know 1 which has been "user tested".

Other than @Rockinrollin and @Betsycalifornia, has no-one else received bellows installed since late October / early November??

 

[RockinNRollin]

They might not be too keen for them to be left on at the moment, particularly because if any leak and the manufacture date or serial number crosses over with the new new..... version - that would be a nightmare for the dealers and VW.

Mine is one such overlap; think it's dated 28/09/23 and I'm fairly certain I know of a "leaker" dated later than that. Testing this weekend . . .

 

[Kayleigh]

Mine is one such overlap; think it's dated 28/09/23 and I'm fairly certain I know of a "leaker" dated later than that. Testing this weekend . . .

Remember only real rain is accepted by VW and not hosepipe rain.