Leaking pop tops on 2023 California Oceans

[Corradobrit]

Aquatex might be the route I have to go with my 03S. VW in Germany are playing hardball and won't accept videos or photos. The VW Commercial dealer is currently handling other warranty issues and isn't as proactive or knowledgeable like Breeze. The language barrier is certainly not helping. Next stop for me is the Kundencenter at the factory and see what they say. I need to know which dealer in the area can deal with habitation issues. Crazy after 2 years and 3 bellows versions this isn't a slam dunk situation.

 

[Maidment_Ocean]

Aquatex might be the route I have to go with my 03S. VW in Germany are playing hardball and won't accept videos or photos. The VW Commercial dealer is currently handling other warranty issues and isn't as proactive or knowledgeable like Breeze. The language barrier is certainly not helping. Next stop for me is the Kundencenter at the factory and see what they say. I need to know which dealer in the area can deal with habitation issues. Crazy after 2 years and 3 bellows versions this isn't a slam dunk situation.

I have 03s and have Aquatexed, no issues so far in normal rain and hose tests.

 

[DanKavanagh]

No experience, but the positive side of this is that the area that leaks is fully taped on the 06S bellows.
I booked my van into Breeze in Poole. It is 3 hours from me, but the service department filled me with confidence.

Dropped my 2023 Ocean off at Breeze Poole yesterday morning, picked it up this afternoon.

When I dropped it off they preempted anything I was going to ask by saying “You’ll be wanting the 06S as a replacement!”

They accepted a video of water coming in through the horizontal seam as proof.

When we picked it up they confirmed “We’ve fitted the 06S” without me asking.

They know what they’re doing!

All went very smoothly other than me leaving my new anorak in the ID3 I rented. Will have to go back to pick that up.

Now just have to test it; but work is super-busy for the next couple of weeks :-(


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[myvanrodney]

Dropped my 2023 Ocean off at Breeze Poole yesterday morning, picked it up this afternoon.

When I dropped it off they preempted anything I was going to ask by saying “You’ll be wanting the 06S as a replacement!”

They accepted a video of water coming in through the horizontal seam as proof.

When we picked it up they confirmed “We’ve fitted the 06S” without me asking.

They know what they’re doing!

All went very smoothly other than me leaving my new anorak in the ID3 I rented. Will have to go back to pick that up.

Now just have to test it; but work is super-busy for the next couple of weeks :-(


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Same taped vertical seams?

 

[DanKavanagh]

Same taped vertical seams?

Yes - as far as I could see from the quick look we took when we got home. Tried posting pics, but didn’t work on the phone. Will try again …

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[Nick G]

Dropped my 2023 Ocean off at Breeze Poole yesterday morning, picked it up this afternoon.

When I dropped it off they preempted anything I was going to ask by saying “You’ll be wanting the 06S as a replacement!”

They accepted a video of water coming in through the horizontal seam as proof.

When we picked it up they confirmed “We’ve fitted the 06S” without me asking.

They know what they’re doing!

All went very smoothly other than me leaving my new anorak in the ID3 I rented. Will have to go back to pick that up.

Now just have to test it; but work is super-busy for the next couple of weeks :-(


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Sounds like you got a good service from Breeze Poole. I picked up my 'new' 2023 Ocean a month ago with only 25 delivery miles (pre-reg). 03S bellows. I mentioned to the sales guy that it will almost certainly leak and he assured me they had sold dozens of Oceans with no leaks reported. I took the van for its first test night two days ago. Some moderate rain in the morning and yes you guessed it. Leaking on the horizontal front seam. I have photos but didn't video it. The van was bought from Colindale (North London) but from what you have experienced I think I'll contact Breeze Poole. They are about 2.5 hours from me. I thought they might give you a courtesy vehicle while they have yours. Was that offered?

 

[harryredchow]

I bought mine from Colindale too. I asked the same question to Bradley. Same answer, we have not heard of any leaking. Mine is booked in with Breeze in half term in October.

 

[DanKavanagh]

Sounds like you got a good service from Breeze Poole. I picked up my 'new' 2023 Ocean a month ago with only 25 delivery miles (pre-reg). 03S bellows. I mentioned to the sales guy that it will almost certainly leak and he assured me they had sold dozens of Oceans with no leaks reported. I took the van for its first test night two days ago. Some moderate rain in the morning and yes you guessed it. Leaking on the horizontal front seam. I have photos but didn't video it. The van was bought from Colindale (North London) but from what you have experienced I think I'll contact Breeze Poole. They are about 2.5 hours from me. I thought they might give you a courtesy vehicle while they have yours. Was that offered?

We bought our 2023 Ocean from Breeze Portsmouth about 3 weeks ago; 1 owner, 2,000 miles. The salesman acknowledged at the time that some 2023 bellows had had issues, and that this would be sorted under warranty if we found it leaked.

We’ve only had one night away in it since picking it up, and after two or three hours of rain in lights winds we had water dripping. I took some photos and a 20-second video.

I emailed Breeze with the photos. The salesman called straight away to say it would be remedied, and the service department phoned next day to offer an appointment.

They offered a courtesy car, but only had them available a few weeks ahead. I took an earlier appointment and was offered a discounted rental car at £55 a day. That seemed fair to me (and I enjoyed trying the ID3 for a couple of days).

When I dropped the Cali off the lady at service desk asked if I had a video of the leak. She said if so, they could consider skipping their leak test. I emailed it to her.

She was the one who mentioned fitting an 06S before I could. The following day when I picked it up a different member of staff explained, without prompting, that that was what they’d fitted.

Of course when you spend £60k or so on a nearly-new van you want it to be perfect, but bearing in mind the trouble others have had trying to sort this problem (eg. those who’ve gone through multiple leaky bellows; the poster in Germany still trying to get dealers to acknowledge the issue) I think it’s been handled really well. Breeze have been excellent throughout.

And I’m really grateful to everyone on this forum who did the hard yards so I didn’t have to. I’d be clueless without having learned a huge amount here.

Saying all that, I’ve still got to test it!


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[babble]

Well, miracle of miracles, the van center in Brussels will be replacing my bellows. The van has been in for two weeks and i had heard nothing at all, so i phoned today and they are still waiting for the new bellows to arrive. They will let me know apparently. I guess they have ordered it from VW central office, so fingers crossed it is a version 6......

 

[RockinNRollin]

04S update; cats and dogs today so when I got home, I popped the roof up. Front and right got absolutely hammered for 4 hours. Nothing for the first two hours, then a few drops came through that corner vertical seam. Enough to make a sheet of kitchen towel slightly damp but certainly not wet. Once the rain eased a bit it stopped dripping. Some of the drips seemed to come through the joint, some through the stitching (I did a timelapse). Is it perfect? No. Is it a cause for concern? Probably not - if the weather forecast is for torrential rain I reckon a single microfibre in that corner will catch any drops and even that is probably more of a safety net than is necessary. It might even improve over time. I don’t think as it stands it’s worth me going through the whole hassle of dragging it back to the dealership and getting it swapped over though.

 

[harryredchow]

For me, if it is under warranty, you should aim to have it resolved prior to warranty expiration. I knew of the issue before buying, so was able to resolve it through warranty. If I was buying a 2023 MY after the warranty had expired, I wouldn't touch one without 06S bellows.

 

[Nick G]

For me, if it is under warranty, you should aim to have it resolved prior to warranty expiration. I knew of the issue before buying, so was able to resolve it through warranty. If I was buying a 2023 MY after the warranty had expired, I wouldn't touch one without 06S bellows.

l agree. Mine is booked into Breeze Poole mid November for 06S replacement under warranty. I also knew it would be an issue when l bought it a month ago.

 

[bridgycali]

I have just picked my van up from the dealership in exeter, they have replaced my bellows with 05S. They kept it overnight so some sealant could cure? Would anybody know if it's a sealant needed to install the bellows or if they have put something onto the bellows as a kind of waterproofing?

 

[CaliforniaPhil]

I have just picked my van up from the dealership in exeter, they have replaced my bellows with 05S. They kept it overnight so some sealant could cure? Would anybody know if it's a sealant needed to install the bellows or if they have put something onto the bellows as a kind of waterproofing? View attachment 129644

Are you in contact with Rhiannon? They should be fitting 06S now.

 

[finchy168]

Sealant is used to secure bellows, not for waterproofing

 

[Doric_loon]

So my Aug 2024 Cali with 05S bellows are leaking, first time we've had it out in the rain and I wanted to test in sideways rain which we currently have

My local dealer is John Clark Aberdeen, just wondering if anyone has had any dealings with them with regards to replacement bellows?

Hawco Inverness is my next nearest

View attachment 129315

View attachment 129316

Just to follow up

I phone John Clark in Aberdeen on Friday and sent the photos above to the service agent. They booked it in for this Wednesday and it was fitted with new 06S bellows by Thursday

Very happy with the level of service, time will tell on the bellows. We have heavy rain forecast for Wednesday with wind at 30-40MPH so would be a good opportunity to test

 

[GreenMissile]

Just to follow up

I phone John Clark in Aberdeen on Friday and sent the photos above to the service agent. They booked it in for this Wednesday and it was fitted with new 06S bellows by Thursday

Very happy with the level of service, time will tell on the bellows. We have heavy rain forecast for Wednesday with wind at 30-40MPH so would be a good opportunity to test

Keep my fingers crossed for you and the test, hope it is bone dry
Ours is going into John Clark in Edinburgh on the 14th October, already checked with them and they have 06S to fit. Hope they are the definitive answer to this saga.

 

[bridgycali]

Sealant is used to secure bellows, not for waterproofing

Thank you, I thought that would be the case

Are you in contact with Rhiannon? They should be fitting 06S now.

I'm not, I haven't really kept up to date with this issue to be honest. It gives rain here today so will put my roof up and test it and go from there.

 

[CaliforniaPhil]

Thank you, I thought that would be the case

I'm not, I haven't really kept up to date with this issue to be honest. It gives rain here today so will put my roof up and test it and go from there.

VW are not very organised with their parts stock. There have been quite a few cases were people have had their vans in for replacement bellows and had the same, old model fitted. (03S, 04S, 05S version of the double layer bellows). They don't seem to have process to purge old stock from their system.

I have tried to delay bellows replacement but the VW Executive office put a lot of pressure on to try and get issues sorted. The problem is, they seem to know no more than this forum, which is sad and embarrassing for them.

I went from 03S to 04S, which leaked but not as bad as the 03S'. In August I had the 05S fitted, a few weeks later the 06S started being fitted. Unfortunately my 05S leaked. I am booked back in for testing in November. Some are on their 5th set of bellows!

Many will say just Aquatex them. I only have 3 years of warranty, so want to get bellows that don't leak. I will probably Aquatex them then and use my Caliwrap when I know rain is forecast.

Hope you are lucky with yours.

 

[myvanrodney]

Sorry to report 05S leaks in somewhat challenging weather (albeit quite typical in the UK).

Worse, it leaked from most of the front seams in the driving rain.

Anyone experienced leaks bubbling up from the rubber gaiter around the base?

 

[CaliforniaPhil]

Sorry to report 05S leaks in somewhat challenging weather (albeit quite typical in the UK).

Worse, it leaked from most of the front seams in the driving rain.

Anyone experienced leaks bubbling up from the rubber gaiter around the base?

Was there water pooling outside around the base of the bellows, it could be your front roof drains blocked.

 

[myvanrodney]

Was there water pooling outside around the base of the bellows, it could be your front roof drains blocked.

dunno, it was too wet outside to look! Will look tomorrow when I clean the van. Thanks.

 

[SusiBus]

Our O5S let the water pour in from UNDER the rubber seal at the base of the bellows. This happened during a heavy downpour. The drain holes were not blocked, i suspect they just can't cope with heavy downpours. We took a video and sent it to VW. They told us to get it tested by a VW dealer, which we did last week. They replaced with O6S bellows with nice new clear seals on the corners and it doesn't look as if it's pulling the rubber up as much as was happening with the O5's. Hopefully now water tight.
To my mind the drain holes being too small to cope is the problem, but l don't recall this under-seal leaking being reported previously. Does anyone else?

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

One of our drain holes is blocked and I can't unblock it. Taking it to a dealer as I think it's trapped / pinched behind the liner.

And yes, ours bubbles through when it rains a lot.

But not a huge amount given there's always a puddle of water in that corner.

 

[RockinNRollin]

I have wondered about the drainage capacity of the drain holes for that reason before, but I reckon that in all but the most biblical of downpours, it's likely they would if pooling begin to function as a siphon which would increase their throughput quite significantly. That said, very heavy downpours are likely to dislodge crud around the base of the bellows so that might be a factor as it might cause blockage in such conditions.