Leaking pop tops on 2023 California Oceans

[From tent to van]

Phew that was a lucky spot before they fitted them - do you happen to know if they were tagged 03S rather than 04S? Just curious as it’s still never been 100% confirmed that post 9/11/23 equals 04S, albeit the assumption is that is the case.

in my weekly call with VWCS last week, Adrian did say that somehow some of these older variants had got out in to the wild, despite VW previously saying they had stopped that happening. Suspect it has something to do with them still having the same part no. as the 03S variant, and to the uninitiated they all look the same.

I didn’t confirm if 03S or 04S

I already have 04S fitted but manufacture date of 23/10/23. Adrian cannot confirm if these are the latest fix version or not because he has been told the 9/11/23 if the key manufacture date.

So until that version and date is available I’m not swapping.

 

[CaliforniaPhil]

Dropped the van into Peterborough today, think they have 2 in for bellows.

The parts guy was great, got the bellows out and the label was 04S but manufactured before the 11th. See photo. Adrian is still not sure if this 9/11/23 is a key date.

 

[.Billy Ocean.]

Dropped the van into Peterborough today, think they have 2 in for bellows.

The parts guy was great, got the bellows out and the label was 04S but manufactured before the 11th. See photo. Adrian is still not sure if this 9/11/23 is a key date.

View attachment 118439

Can anyone remember when the A sticker started to appear? Not sure if it’s relevant or not.

Whilst I appreciate Adrian at VW is trying his best, it still seems like he’s sending out mixed messages.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Dropped the van into Peterborough today, think they have 2 in for bellows.

The parts guy was great, got the bellows out and the label was 04S but manufactured before the 11th. See photo. Adrian is still not sure if this 9/11/23 is a key date.

View attachment 118439

He's never shown any doubt to me about the 9th November date.

I would have declined the swap out...

 

[Andy C Berks.]

He's never shown any doubt to me about the 9th November date.

I would have declined the swap out...

The same with me, he has always said the 9th November date is the important element, and the 04S is still subject to being confirmed as to whether that started from the 9th too. These last couple of posts are the first time I have seen any fellow owners having 04S that pre-date the 9th though which just confuses matters even more.

You would have thought that the 04S variant labels would have been produced by the manufacturer to coincide with when they started the new manufacturing process. Pure speculation on my part but wonder if the 04S is the critical thing and whether the 9th November was the first delivery/order date on VW’s system rather than the first date that the machinists had a new material to feed in their sewing machines. You would have thought somebody in VW would have just asked the supplier and circulated an update.

In the game of Bellows Bingo I would rather have an 04S than the 9th November or later as that feels more material (non pun intended) evidence of a change, but of course the full house of both is what we all want, and should have.

 

[Corradobrit]

As others say. At this point without further field data, I would only accept the post 9/11/23 bellows. There is always risk to vehicle when doing this sort of surgery so why risk it and maybe having to repeat.

 

[Pinocchio_888]

Can anyone remember when the A sticker started to appear? Not sure if it’s relevant or not.

Whilst I appreciate Adrian at VW is trying his best, it still seems like he’s sending out mixed messages.

Mine has the A sticker and production was week 42 (16/10/2023). It’s seen light rain with no obvious leaks but not fully tested.

Can anyone remember when the A sticker started to appear? Not sure if it’s relevant or not.

Whilst I appreciate Adrian at VW is trying his best, it still seems like he’s sending out mixed messages.

 

[CaliforniaPhil]

View attachment 118450
Mine has the A sticker and production was week 42 (16/10/2023). It’s seen light rain with no obvious leaks but not fully tested.


View attachment 118450

185 made between the 10th and the 12th. So close to my bellows. I didn't think I could have refused them as they were the 04S ones. I sent an email to Adrian pointing out my concerns, I wanted it in an email backing up my phone conversation with him earlier. He must be in a awkward position, when he comes to the conclusion that all the 04S bellows were after November, then these turn up.

I will be giving them a good test, Devon then NC500 booked for early spring.

 

[markbrown83]

View attachment 118450
Mine has the A sticker and production was week 42 (16/10/2023). It’s seen light rain with no obvious leaks but not fully tested.


View attachment 118450

Where is the production week / date stated on the label? Only thing I see is 12/10/23. Am I completely missing it?

 

[Corradobrit]

Where is the production week / date stated on the label? Only thing I see is 12/10/23. Am I completely missing it?

The date of manufacture is the 6 digit number under 'Datum'. There is no written week number, its just extrapolated from the 121023.

 

[markbrown83]

The date of manufacture is the 6 digit number under 'Datum'. There is no written week number, it’s just extrapolated from the 121023.

Thanks. After I typed and posted my reply I worked it out.

I thought people were posting the photos of their labels but had diff dates than the ones shown on them.

Anyway, slight idiot moment. Confusion gone.

 

[duncanwhite2020]

Hi all, I am new to this thread but am now too having a nightmare with our 2023 Ocean which has the 03S bellows which have a datum stamp of 200922.

The van has been in to our local dealership, Western VW Newbridge in Edinburgh and who have sent us away saying there is nothing they can do and that the vehicle will be officially recalled by VW at "some point". They can't tell us any dates but just not to use the roof meantime which almost completely rules out the vehicle for any camping trips for the foreseeable given how much water was getting in latterly.

Our van was nearly £90k and I've been left feeling disgusted at the whole situation and particularly the lack of information or persistence from Western VW Newbridge in getting the matter addressed. I wouldn't mind a bit of a wait if there was any sort of timescale they could give, but an open ended situation fills me with dread.

Has anyone else in Scotland had the same issue. Perhaps there is a more helpful part of the network up here who have done the swap out to the 04S already?

 

[stationmaster]

Sorry to hear of the difficulties with your new van.
Has the dealership stated that the entire van will be recalled - as in replaced? Or that the relevant part to the van (the bellows/roof canvas) will be recalled/replaced?

 

[stationmaster]

Sorry to hear of the difficulties with your new van.
Has the dealership stated that the entire van will be recalled - as in replaced? Or that the relevant part to the van (the bellows/roof canvas) will be recalled/replaced?

Just read your post again.
From what others have posted i think it is likely that replacement 04S bellows may address the issues you have with your van, although this is not certain.
Perhaps you could feed this information back to your dealership for their comment?

 

[duncanwhite2020]

Just read your post again.
From what others have posted i think it is likely that replacement 04S bellows may address the issues you have with your van, although this is not certain.
Perhaps you could feed this information back to your dealership for their comment?

They haven't made the situation at all clear and they don't appear to be at all aware of the issue generally affecting this range of vehicles. I believe the recall will be just to fit new bellows as others have had. I am uncertain as to whether it is the dealership being inefficient or if VW Group UK aren't advising them correctly in regards to the reworked bellows and availability of them in order to be able to offer a fix.

What a nightmare situation for all of us. A barn built conversion might have been the right choice after all!!

 

[stationmaster]

Some dealerships appear to be better than others.
Perhaps you might politely feed the information contained in this post back to your dealership in the hope they can be more helpful

 

[RockinNRollin]

There won't be a "recall" in the official sense as it's not a safety issue, it'll get replaced on an as and when basis as customers flag up with their dealership they're having problems - it'll just happen more readily than some other warranty complaints as there'll be a case for replacement already there. I suggest you call VW Customer Services and log a complaint; eventually you'll end up on "Adrian's list" and he can speak to the van centre on your behalf.

 

[GreenMissile]

They haven't made the situation at all clear and they don't appear to be at all aware of the issue generally affecting this range of vehicles. I believe the recall will be just to fit new bellows as others have had. I am uncertain as to whether it is the dealership being inefficient or if VW Group UK aren't advising them correctly in regards to the reworked bellows and availability of them in order to be able to offer a fix.

What a nightmare situation for all of us. A barn built conversion might have been the right choice after all!!

Sorry to hear of your poor service from Western VW in Edinburgh. We test drove the Cali with them last year but was not impressed with their lack of knowledge of the product they were trying to sell. We live in Central Scotland but went with Breeze in Poole who were excellent and picked our van up at the beginning of this month and fortunately for us has the 04S bellows manufactured in late November so hopefully they are the solution every one has been hoping for. If not I know we would get the support from Breeze in progressing with a lot of others on here to get it resolved. I hope you get it resolved and get the support you deserve.

 

[stationmaster]

Sorry to hear of your poor service from Western VW in Edinburgh. We test drove the Cali with them last year but was not impressed with their lack of knowledge of the product they were trying to sell. We live in Central Scotland but went with Breeze in Poole who were excellent and picked our van up at the beginning of this month and fortunately for us has the 04S bellows manufactured in late November so hopefully they are the solution every one has been hoping for. If not I know we would get the support from Breeze in progressing with a lot of others on here to get it resolved. I hope you get it resolved and get the support you deserve.

Sound advice

 

[Ernest Driveaway]

Sorry to hear of your poor service from Western VW in Edinburgh. We test drove the Cali with them last year but was not impressed with their lack of knowledge of the product they were trying to sell. We live in Central Scotland but went with Breeze in Poole who were excellent and picked our van up at the beginning of this month and fortunately for us has the 04S bellows manufactured in late November so hopefully they are the solution every one has been hoping for. If not I know we would get the support from Breeze in progressing with a lot of others on here to get it resolved. I hope you get it resolved and get the support you deserve.

I didn't feel the love when I spoke to Edinburgh, nor Glasgow for that matter. My mate did a deal on one south of the border the same day I did mine. 3 out of 4 vans mentioned in this post bought in England. Something wrong with this picture from a dealer perspective...

 

[stationmaster]

I didn't feel the love when I spoke to Edinburgh, nor Glasgow for that matter. My mate did a deal on one south of the border the same day I did mine. 3 out of 4 vans mentioned in this post bought in England. Something wrong with this picture from a dealer perspective...

California's can be great, but dealership choice is key.

If you do not feel the love, walk away.

 

[Camperfamily]

@duncanwhite2020 I’ve not had to deal with this thankfully, but would recommend trying Clarks Commercials service department near Edinburgh IKEA. You don’t have to go to your original dealer for warranty work. CC service Edinburgh are knowledgeable with Calis and have had at least a few in their car park any time I’ve visited

 

[myvanrodney]

Dropped the van into Peterborough today, think they have 2 in for bellows.

The parts guy was great, got the bellows out and the label was 04S but manufactured before the 11th. See photo. Adrian is still not sure if this 9/11/23 is a key date.

View attachment 118439

ooh not 'A' sticker

 

[myvanrodney]

Dropped the van into Peterborough today, think they have 2 in for bellows.

The parts guy was great, got the bellows out and the label was 04S but manufactured before the 11th. See photo. Adrian is still not sure if this 9/11/23 is a key date.

View attachment 118439

no 'A' sticker.. but 04S

i think we really don't know anything for sure, but I admit it's fun playing the 'who dunnit'. I'm really sorry for those that have the faulty ones.

this is mine. 03S - 02/10/23 WITH the 'A' sticker.

 

[McGons]

They haven't made the situation at all clear and they don't appear to be at all aware of the issue generally affecting this range of vehicles. I believe the recall will be just to fit new bellows as others have had. I am uncertain as to whether it is the dealership being inefficient or if VW Group UK aren't advising them correctly in regards to the reworked bellows and availability of them in order to be able to offer a fix.

What a nightmare situation for all of us. A barn built conversion might have been the right choice after all!!

They should have information about it on the VW Tech platform. The parts manager at our dealer said there was an update added, I think at the end of Nov/beginning Dec.