Leaking pop tops on 2023 California Oceans

[Corradobrit]

Ours is the same, persistent light rain… leaks. Thunderstorm and heavy rain last night… no leaks… well not from the bellows anyway. The whole roof seal leaked again, we thought we’d ‘fixed’ it by gently moving the seal a bit but apparently not.

Regards our response from VW, this arrived on the 12th Sept (no privacy spiel on the email so I’m sharing in full)…

Mine too. Although far less than before I pulled the seal out a little.

 

[Kayleigh]

I uploaded a video demonstrating how quickly the water infiltration gains momentum. This was the scariest part. Once the outer fabric is saturated a wicking effect occurs and the water starts to pour in. For me it didn't start at the horizontal seam but along the curved zipper for the semi circular window. At the end of the video I dropped the poptop and but the water continues to leak as the fabric is soaked. I left a bunch of towels on the seats and the front fabric hanging down.
And this is how it all started. A total of about 5 min from this droplet to me dropping the poptop.

Ah yes the 3 second drip. Identical to my video…

 

[.Billy Ocean.]

Ah yes the 3 second drip. Identical to my video…

This is why I find the VW “Customer Care” response so frustrating. There is a clearly a fault with the new bellows, and I don’t understand why each individual owner should be inconvenienced by having to take each individual van in for inspection… or do they think there are multiple faults? It just feels like a delaying tactic by VW.

 

[Nick from Bath]

Anyone got a running tally of leaking pop tops by any chance? Just at the VW garage dropping ours off and they’re saying this “hasn’t been seen before”

 

[.Billy Ocean.]

Anyone got a running tally of leaking pop tops by any chance? Just at the VW garage dropping ours off and they’re saying this “hasn’t been seen before”

This was a list at the beginning of August from three topics on this forum… I’ve shared this with VW Exec Office

 

[Betsycalifornia]

This is a screenshot from today.
On one thread where there seems to be an ongoing poll. I know I added mine a week ago to the list of leakers

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Anyone got a running tally of leaking pop tops by any chance? Just at the VW garage dropping ours off and they’re saying this “hasn’t been seen before”

Which dealer please?

I've got a reasonable list of dealers where members have already logged issues so we could say absolutely of they've seen it before.

 

[Nick from Bath]

This was a list at the beginning of August from three topics on this forum… I’ve shared this with VW Exec Office

View attachment 114600

Excellent- really helpful.

Our Ocean is in for the spray test and then see where it goes. No response from VW Customer Service as yet so will follow that up again.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

This was a list at the beginning of August from three topics on this forum… I’ve shared this with VW Exec Office

View attachment 114600

Is this list being actively maintained because it doesn't look like mine is on the list!!

 

[NickE]

After emailing customer care about my leaking bellows I've received two phone calls, the second one from Shahid. He seems to be coordinating the cases in the UK to inform the factory. He said the bellows needs to be looked at by a dealer. I pointed out hosing the bellows at a dealers isn't necessarily going to show the fault. Nevertheless this is what must happen.
I think it's simply that VW is a large bureaucratic organisation: dealers must diagnose the fault not the customer.

 

[Kayleigh]

Anyone got a running tally of leaking pop tops by any chance? Just at the VW garage dropping ours off and they’re saying this “hasn’t been seen before”

Eurovans have told me several times that they have only has three leakers, but one of those turned out to be the window that was leaking, so that leaves two. I’m not sure if they included mine in that number.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Eurovans have told me several times that they have only has three leakers, but one of those turned out to be the window that was leaking, so that leaves two. I’m not sure if they included mine in that number.

We know that's a little conservative. When I reported ours they said 3 out of 35 delivered (this year, this quarter - not sure??). Mine made 4 and I know of several others on here that reported after I did, including your rejection...

I heard another dealer had quoted maybe 25% but again don't know if that's MY23 or just a specific timeframe.

 

[.Billy Ocean.]

Is this list being actively maintained because it doesn't look like mine is on the list!!

This was just something I did back in August to send to VW so they couldn’t fob us off and say it was an isolated incident. As they now seem to accept there is an ongoing issue for lots of owners, I haven’t updated the list since.

 

[RockinNRollin]

Both @Grigio Van Grigio and myself have reported leaking bellows to Eurovans too (although to be fair, neither of us have taken our vans there as the dealer isn't local). Perhaps Eurovans are only counting the ones they've diagnosed themselves?

 

[OooOooTheMonkey]

Both @Grigio Van Grigio and myself have reported leaking bellows to Eurovans too (although to be fair, neither of us have taken our vans there as the dealer isn't local). Perhaps Eurovans are only counting the ones they've diagnosed themselves?

Yes sounds like, and what a false picture it paints!

 

[Kayleigh]

Both @Grigio Van Grigio and myself have reported leaking bellows to Eurovans too (although to be fair, neither of us have taken our vans there as the dealer isn't local). Perhaps Eurovans are only counting the ones they've diagnosed themselves?

Well mine was also reported and is now sitting on their forecourt for sale. I would be very surprised if they have run any diagnosis on it!

 

[OooOooTheMonkey]

I want to say how pleased we are with the service we’ve received throughout from Breeze dealing with this issue. They have listened to our concerns and (rightly) taken everything extremely seriously. We have not been fobbed off or given misleading information at any point. On the contrary, we’ve been offered a free topper on loan and they’ve been open that they have other owners with the same issue. However, after some deep and lengthy thinking we decided that the current situation is not what we signed up for and our van has since been returned. This was understood, accepted and supported throughout by Breeze, so we are very satisfied with how it’s been handled by the dealer despite this issue not yet being resolved. It’s been 2 weeks since the van went back and so far it’s not been put up for sale. Again, great integrity from the dealer. I expect it to go up for sale eventually and it would be reasonable for it to happen after 2 weeks I think, though I can understand the reticence they may have in doing so. I should add that we are going to get another California next year when this has all blown over as it’s still clearly the best camper for us.

 

[Kayleigh]

I want to say how pleased we are with the service we’ve received throughout from Breeze dealing with this issue. They have listened to our concerns and (rightly) taken everything extremely seriously. We have not been fobbed off or given misleading information at any point. On the contrary, we’ve been offered a free topper on loan and they’ve been open that they have other owners with the same issue. However, after some deep and lengthy thinking we decided that the current situation is not what we signed up for and our van has since been returned. This was understood, accepted and supported throughout by Breeze, so we are very satisfied with how it’s been handled by the dealer despite this issue not yet being resolved. It’s been 2 weeks since the van went back and so far it’s not been put up for sale. Again, great integrity from the dealer. I expect it to go up for sale eventually and it would be reasonable for it to happen after 2 weeks I think, though I can understand the reticence they may have in doing so. I should add that we are going to get another California next year when this has all blown over as it’s still clearly the best camper for us.

Sorry to hear you made that decision, but I can completely understand it having been in the same situation. It’s also good to hear you’ve had such a positive experience from Breeeze, which is what one would actually expect having spent so much money.

It does contrast to my experience with Eurovans. I won’t go into detail but the opposite was true for the key points you make. I am fortunate that we still have the Beach, partly due to the low px offer we received, so at least we are not left without a California.

I really hope VW resolve the issues with the bellows in a satisfactory and timely manner so that everyone affected can enjoy their Californias without that worry and people who have returned their vehicles can consider buying again.

 

[Andy C Berks.]

By way of an update, had a follow up call from Shahid at VW Customer Care today to advise that he is still working on collating details of the owners affected by leaking bellows.

Mine hasn’t been in to a dealer for formal diagnosis, which they need, so that’s now been booked via Marshall VVC in Reading. Shahid will now contact them to arrange for a Pop top cover to be provided when the vehicle goes in, as a temporary solution. Whilst in an ideal world they would take the owners word for it (and pics) I can see why they want some formal diagnosis by their own people as part of the process.

So whilst not really anything new to report, I take some encouragement from the fact that there seems to be continued movement in the background including the supply of a cover.

 

[CaliforniaSeb]

I want to say how pleased we are with the service we’ve received throughout from Breeze dealing with this issue. They have listened to our concerns and (rightly) taken everything extremely seriously. We have not been fobbed off or given misleading information at any point. On the contrary, we’ve been offered a free topper on loan and they’ve been open that they have other owners with the same issue. However, after some deep and lengthy thinking we decided that the current situation is not what we signed up for and our van has since been returned. This was understood, accepted and supported throughout by Breeze, so we are very satisfied with how it’s been handled by the dealer despite this issue not yet being resolved. It’s been 2 weeks since the van went back and so far it’s not been put up for sale. Again, great integrity from the dealer. I expect it to go up for sale eventually and it would be reasonable for it to happen after 2 weeks I think, though I can understand the reticence they may have in doing so. I should add that we are going to get another California next year when this has all blown over as it’s still clearly the best camper for us.

Really sorry to hear you decided to return your Cali. Fingers crossed you get to enjoy a new one soon. Breeze were great dealing with my warranty issues and I didn't buy Mr Cali from them.

This really is a cr@p response by VW .

 

[ParachuteMan]

I want to say how pleased we are with the service we’ve received throughout from Breeze dealing with this issue. They have listened to our concerns and (rightly) taken everything extremely seriously. We have not been fobbed off or given misleading information at any point. On the contrary, we’ve been offered a free topper on loan and they’ve been open that they have other owners with the same issue. However, after some deep and lengthy thinking we decided that the current situation is not what we signed up for and our van has since been returned. This was understood, accepted and supported throughout by Breeze, so we are very satisfied with how it’s been handled by the dealer despite this issue not yet being resolved. It’s been 2 weeks since the van went back and so far it’s not been put up for sale. Again, great integrity from the dealer. I expect it to go up for sale eventually and it would be reasonable for it to happen after 2 weeks I think, though I can understand the reticence they may have in doing so. I should add that we are going to get another California next year when this has all blown over as it’s still clearly the best camper for us.

I'm very sorry to hear your experience and decision. I've been following this saga since I first considered ordering a Cali Ocean and decided to proceed but also buy a Comfortz Cali Topper as back up. I know I shouldn't have to but I felt trips back and forth to the dealer would be frustrating and dispiriting. So the topper arrived last Monday and the Ocean is collected next Monday !

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

By way of an update, had a follow up call from Shahid at VW Customer Care today to advise that he is still working on collating details of the owners affected by leaking bellows.

Mine hasn’t been in to a dealer for formal diagnosis, which they need, so that’s now been booked via Marshall VVC in Reading. Shahid will now contact them to arrange for a Pop top cover to be provided when the vehicle goes in, as a temporary solution. Whilst in an ideal world they would take the owners word for it (and pics) I can see why they want some formal diagnosis by their own people as part of the process.

So whilst not really anything new to report, I take some encouragement from the fact that there seems to be continued movement in the background including the supply of a cover.

I'm still confused by the VW response. My reply was from a different Customer Relations Manager.

So far my van was returned (400 miles round trip) to Crawley and they filed a warranty claim for new bellows; This now requires a 1 week further investigation a 200 mile trip and a train journey home... And then the reverse.

I asked VWCV what Technical are hoping to further gain from a week in the workshop.
I asked VWCV if there was anyone co-ordinating their response and providing weekly updates.
I asked what the stock position was for the latest bellows (I heard they were out of stock some weeks ago).

I've had nothing back from VWCV since the initial response. Their first reply was after they told you Shahid was collating details of the owners.

I'm highly sceptical that there's any co-ordination going on here. I hope to be proved wrong.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

I'm very sorry to hear your experience and decision. I've been following this saga since I first considered ordering a Cali Ocean and decided to proceed but also buy a Comfortz Cali Topper as back up. I know I shouldn't have to but I felt trips back and forth to the dealer would be frustrating and dispiriting. So the topper arrived last Monday and the Ocean is collected next Monday !

I can understand why you've done this but I wouldn't wait for any kind of "recall" before trialling out your bellows and reporting if leaking.

I suspect there are a lot of owners (I'm in contact with a few in this category) that are putting off trying their bellows in the rain until there's a solution.

I rather suspect that until more folks come along, a topper may be the only solution...

 

[ParachuteMan]

I can understand why you've done this but I wouldn't wait for any kind of "recall" before trialling out your bellows and reporting if leaking.

I suspect there are a lot of owners (I'm in contact with a few in this category) that are putting off trying their bellows in the rain until there's a solution.

I rather suspect that until more folks come along, a topper may be the only solution...

Yes, I will be having a go with the bellows to see what happens, knowing I have the topper as back up. It shouldn't be like this, but I want to be out and about rather than back and forth...

 

[RockinNRollin]

Are we any closer to concluding if there is a "latest" bellows iteration that's any better? Or is it all still in the dark?

@Tomdbreeze I don't suppose you could shed any light on if the bellows are available for dealers to order please, or if there's still a total deficit of any stock?