Leaking pop tops on 2023 California Oceans

[portofinopoll]

The 05S will have additional black waterproofing membrane along the horizontal and zipper seams

Also bear in mind you do have VW Warranty until at least Sept 2026 so if Bellows leak you have a bona fide claim. My van is March 2023 and did leak. We had new 04S Bellows fitted & upto now this has proved watertight.
Whilst others have suffered leaks on their 04S, & changed for 05S. Very few 05S have been reported to leak so IMHO I would not let this issue put you off. Of course you can always spray some Aquatex, which, while not VW approved, does seem to do the job.

 

[apforrest]

Hi all,

There are a lot of comments here, so rather read over them all, can someone tell me what we are to expect.

We brought a new van this year, so it's a T6.1 beach 24 plate. However, Friday gone saw our first proper wet weather experience and we had numerous leaks. I've uploaded some videos to our NAS drive here if anyone would be willing to have a look: https://forrestfruits.synology.me/photo/mo/sharing/N2gUHZZr1.

I'd love to know what we should expect and how the bellows should perform? I had hoped having a new van we'd get newer bellows and avoid all these frustrations. As you'll see from the videos there was a significant amount of water coming in.

Any comments/feedback/suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Corradobrit]

Also bear in mind you do have VW Warranty until at least Sept 2026

Not on the Continent. Factory warranty is only 2 years, which in my case means until 3/1/25

 

[Corradobrit]

Hi all,

There are a lot of comments here, so rather read over them all, can someone tell me what we are to expect.

We brought a new van this year, so it's a T6.1 beach 24 plate. However, Friday gone saw our first proper wet weather experience and we had numerous leaks. I've uploaded some videos to our NAS drive here if anyone would be willing to have a look: https://forrestfruits.synology.me/photo/mo/sharing/N2gUHZZr1.

I'd love to know what we should expect and how the bellows should perform? I had hoped having a new van we'd get newer bellows and avoid all these frustrations. As you'll see from the videos there was a significant amount of water coming in.

Any comments/feedback/suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks

Yep you pretty much have the expected 03S leak profile. Although it appears worse on the left side. Was the prevailing wind from that direction? You even have the same leaks from the rear upper tailgate seal I have. Your's should be 04S and they can be equally bad if not worse in some cases than 03S.
I feel bad for your kids. Clearly all sleeping downstairs with the poptop lowered is not acceptable. This could put a whole generation off Campervan life. Way to go VW.

 

[Betsycalifornia]

Hi all,

There are a lot of comments here, so rather read over them all, can someone tell me what we are to expect.

We brought a new van this year, so it's a T6.1 beach 24 plate. However, Friday gone saw our first proper wet weather experience and we had numerous leaks. I've uploaded some videos to our NAS drive here if anyone would be willing to have a look: https://forrestfruits.synology.me/photo/mo/sharing/N2gUHZZr1.

I'd love to know what we should expect and how the bellows should perform? I had hoped having a new van we'd get newer bellows and avoid all these frustrations. As you'll see from the videos there was a significant amount of water coming in.

Any comments/feedback/suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks

Real shame that is. Time to join the, what appears to be many, people in a similar situation. Report to your dealer and to the VW executive office. I’m on version 5 now, second replacement. As yet untested. My 03S seemed fine for a few months then failed in one rain shower that didn’t seem too bad.

 

[apforrest]

Thanks for confirming @Corradobrit and @Betsycalifornia. I'll shall get in touch with them. It is frustrating. We brought VW based on the reputation of their quality, yet so far we've had numerous issues.

Do you have contact details for the VW executive office? Thanks

 

[myvanrodney]

Thanks for confirming @Corradobrit and @Betsycalifornia. I'll shall get in touch with them. It is frustrating. We brought VW based on the reputation of their quality, yet so far we've had numerous issues.

Do you have contact details for the VW executive office? Thanks

Rhiannon Owens
‭+44 800 783 4909‬ / ‭0113 526 9649‬
executive.office@volkswagen.co.uk

 

[flying banana]

Hi all,

There are a lot of comments here, so rather read over them all, can someone tell me what we are to expect.

We brought a new van this year, so it's a T6.1 beach 24 plate. However, Friday gone saw our first proper wet weather experience and we had numerous leaks. I've uploaded some videos to our NAS drive here if anyone would be willing to have a look: https://forrestfruits.synology.me/photo/mo/sharing/N2gUHZZr1.

I'd love to know what we should expect and how the bellows should perform? I had hoped having a new van we'd get newer bellows and avoid all these frustrations. As you'll see from the videos there was a significant amount of water coming in.

Any comments/feedback/suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks

That's unusable in my opinion. Bellows should perform alot better than that. Terrible. Your risking damage to electrics and water staining

 

[Rems23]

Hi all,

There are a lot of comments here, so rather read over them all, can someone tell me what we are to expect.

We brought a new van this year, so it's a T6.1 beach 24 plate. However, Friday gone saw our first proper wet weather experience and we had numerous leaks. I've uploaded some videos to our NAS drive here if anyone would be willing to have a look: https://forrestfruits.synology.me/photo/mo/sharing/N2gUHZZr1.

I'd love to know what we should expect and how the bellows should perform? I had hoped having a new van we'd get newer bellows and avoid all these frustrations. As you'll see from the videos there was a significant amount of water coming in.

Any comments/feedback/suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks

Hi, we have a 23 beach, and only got round to using it for camping this week! 3 rainy nights in Scotland and ours leaked, basically identical to your photos including the rear tailgate drips! Very frustrating for what is essentially still a new vehicle, and not how we envisioned our first experience of properly using the van

 

[Paul Mckay 1965]

Quick update:
Received gesture of goodwill of £2k.
Ombudsman has provisionally ruled that I can return the car to the dealer as it’s not of the VW California is at fault and isn’t of satisfactory quality.

 

[myvanrodney]

Quick update:
Received gesture of goodwill of £2k.
Ombudsman has provisionally ruled that I can return the car to the dealer as it’s not of the VW California is at fault and isn’t of satisfactory quality.

Received gesture of goodwill of £2k - wow

 

[WelshGas]

Hi, we have a 23 beach, and only got round to using it for camping this week! 3 rainy nights in Scotland and ours leaked, basically identical to your photos including the rear tailgate drips! Very frustrating for what is essentially still a new vehicle, and not how we envisioned our first experience of properly using the van

£70,000 van with warranty and 2 faults easily fixed.
£200,000 new build with 200 + faults.
I know which I would prefer.

 

[flying banana]

£70,000 van with warranty and 2 faults easily fixed.
£200,000 new build with 200 + faults.
I know which I would prefer.

Who's 200 grand van had 200 faults? 2k goodwill, they did a great job getting that.

 

[Paul Mckay 1965]

Who's 200 grand van had 200 faults? 2k goodwill, they did a great job getting that.

I refused to accept the first goodwill offer

 

[WelshGas]

Who's 200 grand van had 200 faults? 2k goodwill, they did a great job getting that.

House.

 

[flying banana]

House.

Ha. That's normal. Cheap house too

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Over on Calibord.de, 06S bellows have been installed....

These appear to have a transparent seam tape over the two vertical seams, which, if I've followed the latest posts here were the last one's to remain untreated.

I ripped a photo from their site...

 

[markbrown83]

Over on Calibord.de, 06S bellows have been installed....

These appear to have a transparent seam tape over the two vertical seams, which, if I've followed the latest posts here were the last one's to remain untreated.

I ripped a photo from their site...

View attachment 128578

Looks like the saga may finally be over.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Looks like the saga may finally be over.

And as someone over there said what a sad and sorry tale. Two years and finally after the last 6.1 rolled off the production line.

And never once communicating that they were working on the issue.

 

[OooOooTheMonkey]

Over on Calibord.de, 06S bellows have been installed....

These appear to have a transparent seam tape over the two vertical seams, which, if I've followed the latest posts here were the last one's to remain untreated.

I ripped a photo from their site...

View attachment 128578

Wow, they really have improved the bellows even further. I guess they had to resolve even the slightest of potential remaining issues before the new California goes into mass production as people will be looking for problems with it.

 

[Andy C Berks.]

And never once communicating that they were working on the issue

Exactly this - another example of terrible customer relations, no doubt some faceless corporate exec. thinking hiding from a well informed client base was a smart move

 

[GillianC]

Quick update:
Received gesture of goodwill of £2k.
Ombudsman has provisionally ruled that I can return the car to the dealer as it’s not of the VW California is at fault and isn’t of satisfactory quality.

Well done. Great result!

 

[OooOooTheMonkey]

Over on Calibord.de, 06S bellows have been installed....

These appear to have a transparent seam tape over the two vertical seams, which, if I've followed the latest posts here were the last one's to remain untreated.

I ripped a photo from their site...

View attachment 128578

It’s almost as if VW are responding directly to the issues raised in this thread…funny that.

Also, I wonder what that tape will look like in 4-5 years after the bellows have been up and down many times. I think it could look awful if it starts to come away, which leads me into thinking the previous 05S version with Aquatex might actually be a better solution to this whole thing. Most people have reported perfect or near perfect results with that.

 

[lohr500]

It’s almost as if VW are responding directly to the issues raised in this thread…funny that.

Also, I wonder what that tape will look like in 4-5 years after the bellows have been up and down many times. I think it could look awful if it starts to come away, which leads me into thinking the previous 05S version with Aquatex might actually be a better solution to this whole thing. Most people have reported perfect or near perfect results with that.

I think you could be right. If the tape starts coming away (like it always does eventually on any taped seam waterproof clothing I have ) then it could look very messy.

I guess that unlike clothing, the material probably won't flex as much or go through washing cycles.

As the saying goes, "time will tell".

I'm holding out with my Aquatex treated 04S bellows for now unless they start to leak again before the warranty runs out.

 

[RockinNRollin]

I don't know; I've found seams on tents are very resilient, albeit I think our roof has been up and down more times in the last year than any of my tents have (possibly even cumulatively!). Outdoor clothing has to deal with an awful lot more movement than a roof bellows would though.