Leaking pop tops on 2023 California Oceans

[markbrown83]

We have the same on our 2024 Cali and had the same in our previous 2023 Cali - it’s from the tailgate rubber seal. Keeping the seal clean helped a little but it still drips.

Where exactly is the rear shelf?

 

[Corradobrit]

Where exactly is the rear shelf?

Parcel self that the mattress sits on

 

[Corradobrit]

shelf

 

[Capt_Stanley]

Having previously tested our 04S bellows (dated 13/11/23, A sticker on the tag) with good results, we are currently up in Scotland with persistent light rain (5hrs+) and light 9-10mph winds and woke at 2am to find water dripping from pretty much every seam on the front and side panels of the bellows, including water seeping through the rubber strip along the bottom of the roof seal where it joins the body.

The canvas is quite wet as the rain has been pretty constant since about 9pm last night but it’s light rain - just pitter-patter on the roof, and a very light breeze - nothing major at all. Certainly nothing that would prompt me to think of lowering the roof.

The 03S canvas on our previous June 2023 Cali leaked, but not anywhere near as bad as this one. We are so very disappointed. Just sat and emailed the dealer at 04:45am, whilst drying yet more tea towels in front of the heater.

Such a poor signal here, I can’t post photos. And there’s lots of them.

Edit 06:30hrs: Rain stopped about 05:15am (total 8hrs rain) but the bellows are wet and still dripping. 5 tea towels, 4 thick microfibre cloths wrung out and drying around the van with the heater on level 6 and 1.5 rolls of sopping paper towel in a bin bag. Now have my complete supply of clean socks lined up around the roof like a little train soaking up the water. Anyone know where to buy socks in Glencoe??

I’m really sorry to hear you have leaking bellows on what I thought was the updated version. I tested mine yesterday in what was light persistent rain and found some minor drips on the inside seams after about 3 hours. We were very disappointed having returned our previous California because of leaking bellows. Like you we have emailed our dealer and hoping we get a call from them today.

 

[Corradobrit]

Having previously tested our 04S bellows (dated 13/11/23, A sticker on the tag) with good results, we are currently up in Scotland with persistent light rain (5hrs+) and light 9-10mph winds and woke at 2am to find water dripping from pretty much every seam on the front and side panels of the bellows, including water seeping through the rubber strip along the bottom of the roof seal where it joins the body.

The canvas is quite wet as the rain has been pretty constant since about 9pm last night but it’s light rain - just pitter-patter on the roof, and a very light breeze - nothing major at all. Certainly nothing that would prompt me to think of lowering the roof.

The 03S canvas on our previous June 2023 Cali leaked, but not anywhere near as bad as this one. We are so very disappointed. Just sat and emailed the dealer at 04:45am, whilst drying yet more tea towels in front of the heater.

Such a poor signal here, I can’t post photos. And there’s lots of them.

Edit 06:30hrs: Rain stopped about 05:15am (total 8hrs rain) but the bellows are wet and still dripping. 5 tea towels, 4 thick microfibre cloths wrung out and drying around the van with the heater on level 6 and 1.5 rolls of sopping paper towel in a bin bag. Now have my complete supply of clean socks lined up around the roof like a little train soaking up the water. Anyone know where to buy socks in Glencoe??

Super disappointing. Sounds like the conditions my 03S decided to open the floodgates. And to add insult to injury drenched the front seats when I had the tenacity to close the poptop to prevent further water incursion.

 

[Justinitus]

Just sat on the rear bench earlier having coffee and noticed a small pool of water on the fridge. Looked up and water was dripping from the the ledge above the kitchen lights where the upstairs bed sits. Lifted the bed and the whole rail was swimming. Mattress is soaked through on both front corners and both Duvalays soaked through on front corners. Both bottom seams on both side windows are holding water like a sponge. Now trying to dry 2 wet Duvalays without turning the van into a Turkish sauna! Not happy at all.

 

[juju.smith1971]

Just sat on the rear bench earlier having coffee and noticed a small pool of water on the fridge. Looked up and water was dripping from the the ledge above the kitchen lights where the upstairs bed sits. Lifted the bed and the whole rail was swimming. Mattress is soaked through on both front corners and both Duvalays soaked through on front corners. Both bottom seams on both side windows are holding water like a sponge. Now trying to dry 2 wet Duvalays without turning the van into a Turkish sauna! Not happy at all.

So so sorry to read your updates. Totally gutted for you. We are due to pick up our 24 plate van on Friday having rejected our 23 plate due to leaking bellows. We really thought this nightmare was over. Will follow your posts with interest and best wishes for a successful resolution.

 

[flying banana]

Having previously tested our 04S bellows (dated 13/11/23, A sticker on the tag) with good results, we are currently up in Scotland with persistent light rain (5hrs+) and light 9-10mph winds and woke at 2am to find water dripping from pretty much every seam on the front and side panels of the bellows, including water seeping through the rubber strip along the bottom of the roof seal where it joins the body.

The canvas is quite wet as the rain has been pretty constant since about 9pm last night but it’s light rain - just pitter-patter on the roof, and a very light breeze - nothing major at all. Certainly nothing that would prompt me to think of lowering the roof.

The 03S canvas on our previous June 2023 Cali leaked, but not anywhere near as bad as this one. We are so very disappointed. Just sat and emailed the dealer at 04:45am, whilst drying yet more tea towels in front of the heater.

Such a poor signal here, I can’t post photos. And there’s lots of them.

Edit 06:30hrs: Rain stopped about 05:15am (total 8hrs rain) but the bellows are wet and still dripping. 5 tea towels, 4 thick microfibre cloths wrung out and drying around the van with the heater on level 6 and 1.5 rolls of sopping paper towel in a bin bag. Now have my complete supply of clean socks lined up around the roof like a little train soaking up the water. Anyone know where to buy socks in Glencoe??

finally a proper test, and unfortunately a complete failure. shocking

 

[Justinitus]

finally a proper test, and unfortunately a complete failure. shocking

Cancelled our day trip today and spent £21 in the site laundrette washing and drying bed covers, cloths etc.

The good news is it’s sunny today so the upstairs mattress is currently bungeed to a picnic bench drying, duvalay mattresses draped over the front of the van and I’m sure I can hear the ice cream van.

Bad news is the ceiling of the pop top is stained as are the brand new duvalay mattresses.

Just deciding what to do now as we love our Cali but this is too much. Our first was rejected due to leaks and many other faults. This new one is 2 months old and has already been in for 10 days of warranty work inc rectifying a nasty paint defect and new roof seal.

Email and photos sent to dealer, awaiting a response and conversation. Luckily the dealer (Breeze) has been excellent to date.

 

[stationmaster]

Cancelled our day trip today and spent £21 in the site laundrette washing and drying bed covers, cloths etc.

The good news is it’s sunny today so the upstairs mattress is currently bungeed to a picnic bench drying, duvalay mattresses draped over the front of the van and I’m sure I can hear the ice cream van.

Bad news is the ceiling of the pop top is stained as are the brand new duvalay mattresses.

Just deciding what to do now as we love our Cali but this is too much. Our first was rejected due to leaks and many other faults. This new one is 2 months old and has already been in for 10 days of warranty work inc rectifying a nasty paint defect and new roof seal.

Email and photos sent to dealer, awaiting a response and conversation. Luckily the dealer (Breeze) has been excellent to date.

Good to hear you feel supported by Breeze. They certainly seem to be an excellent dealership. Very sorry to hear that your new van is leaking so badly. No fun at all.

 

[RockinNRollin]

Sorry to hear of this - it must be very frustrating. The million dollar question is are you, like a previous poster, finding the weakness of the 04S that we all will eventually, or have you been unlucky to have a defective part.

 

[The Little Red Cali]

Cancelled our day trip today and spent £21 in the site laundrette washing and drying bed covers, cloths etc.

The good news is it’s sunny today so the upstairs mattress is currently bungeed to a picnic bench drying, duvalay mattresses draped over the front of the van and I’m sure I can hear the ice cream van.

Bad news is the ceiling of the pop top is stained as are the brand new duvalay mattresses.

Just deciding what to do now as we love our Cali but this is too much. Our first was rejected due to leaks and many other faults. This new one is 2 months old and has already been in for 10 days of warranty work inc rectifying a nasty paint defect and new roof seal.

Email and photos sent to dealer, awaiting a response and conversation. Luckily the dealer (Breeze) has been excellent to date.

Just as well you are with Breeze. They seem to be one very few dealers who understand their customers.

 

[markbrown83]

Cancelled our day trip today and spent £21 in the site laundrette washing and drying bed covers, cloths etc.

The good news is it’s sunny today so the upstairs mattress is currently bungeed to a picnic bench drying, duvalay mattresses draped over the front of the van and I’m sure I can hear the ice cream van.

Bad news is the ceiling of the pop top is stained as are the brand new duvalay mattresses.

Just deciding what to do now as we love our Cali but this is too much. Our first was rejected due to leaks and many other faults. This new one is 2 months old and has already been in for 10 days of warranty work inc rectifying a nasty paint defect and new roof seal.

Email and photos sent to dealer, awaiting a response and conversation. Luckily the dealer (Breeze) has been excellent to date.

Sorry to hear you're having issues still.

I do wonder due to the van being 2 months old and when it was probably built could the bellow version been at a funny cross over point where they were trying to fix the issue?

I wonder if it's worth speaking to Breeze and seeing if they can get a new poptop that's been manufactured this year and get it replaced (along with all the other damage that the water may have caused - stains etc). If you then continue to have issues you reject the van for a refund.

As I posted yesterday, we slept in the poptop Monday night and it was drizzle more than anything for around 4 hours through the night - it was also windy. Probably not a good enough test to say it's ok.

We are out again in it this weekend and I think rain is forecast so we will have more to report back then... I'll probably go with having the poptop up during the day when it's raining rather than the evening.

 

[Corradobrit]

I do wonder due to the van being 2 months old and when it was probably built could the bellow version been at a funny cross over point where they were trying to fix the issue?

His bellows were dated 13/11/23 so just past the 'critical' 9/11 date. I assume these would have had the latest updates and mods. In reality it sounds like these 04S are performing as badly as any of the worst 03S leakers.

 

[P600BOO]

Just water tested my April 2023, hose pipe on spray and gave it a very good soaking for about 10 minutes. Please to say Not a drop of water has come through. No label inside to see when it was made but it is the dark grey outside and cream fabric inside.
I did notice that there are drain holes front right and left in the van roof under a black plastic strip. Mine on the right was blocked with a leaf.

 

[markbrown83]

His bellows were dated 13/11/23 so just past the 'critical' 9/11 date. I assume these would have had the latest updates and mods. In reality it sounds like these 04S are performing as badly as any of the worst 03S leakers.

IF the current new ones are fixed -and that's a BIG if.

I don't think we can put a specific date on what is a magic date. I think it'd more more sensible to deem all November and earlier bellows to be potentially faulty until we get more reports on the newer bellows - December onwards.

There are too many variables to say bellows dated within two days of each other are faulty and the other is fixed.

 

[markbrown83]

@stationmaster

How have you been getting on - we've not had any usage reports from yourself yet?

 

[stationmaster]

His bellows were dated 13/11/23 so just past the 'critical' 9/11 date. I assume these would have had the latest updates and mods. In reality it sounds like these 04S are performing as badly as any of the worst 03S leakers.

Understandably, many of us have been really hoping the 04S bellows have it sorted. I guess it is still possible the 04S bellows that are leaking so badly may be in the minority? That the majority are fine?

 

[Corradobrit]

IF the current new ones are fixed -and that's a BIG if.

I don't think we can put a specific date on what is a magic date. I think it'd more more sensible to deem all November and earlier bellows to be potentially faulty until we get more reports on the newer bellows - December onwards.

There are too many variables to say bellows dated within two days of each other are faulty and the other is fixed.

The 9/11 comes from VW customer service so I assume its reliable, else nothing we are told can be objective. Based on the perfomance of this set of bellows I'm inclined to discount anything VW says... sadly

 

[OooOooTheMonkey]

I wonder if the black strip prevents internal leakage, but this results in the front window filling up? Eventually it would be filled and the water would have to go somewhere else. This would mean better performance in light to moderate rain but then terrible performance beyond this for 04S. But I wonder if this would meet VW’s criteria for being good enough in the right conditions…?

 

[markbrown83]

I wonder if the black strip prevents internal leakage, but this results in the front window filling up? Eventually it would be filled and the water would have to go somewhere else. This would mean better performance in light to moderate rain but then terrible performance beyond this for 04S. But I wonder if this would meet VW’s criteria for being good enough in the right conditions…?

Pretty sure the official statement they sent to dealers said that the poptop wasn't actually waterproof. Which to a degree I can agree with.

That being said, Cali Chris on Youtube has stated in a video the poptops are waterproof haha.

 

[RockinNRollin]

OK, I've created a new poll as trying to wade through this thread to find a succinct picture is challenging. For those with 04S bellows (irrespective of if your van came with them, or they've been installed since) could you please cast your vote? Thanks

04S Bellows Poll

 

[markbrown83]

The 9/11 comes from VW customer service so I assume its reliable, else nothing we are told can be objective. Based on the perfomance of this set of bellows I'm inclined to discount anything VW says... sadly

There is no way VW know the exact date, some will slip through.

 

[stationmaster]

@stationmaster

How have you been getting on - we've not had any usage reports from yourself yet?

...as i posted earlier: I had no leaks, but "...it is not much of a test: no wind and just light rain. The bellows are mainly being protected by the roof solid part, so far as i can tell are hardly wet. Can't offer more reassurance than that i'm afraid!"

As there was loads of wind forecast i lowered the roof for the night time, then raised it again when there was no rain to give it an airing.

I'll do a proper test soon and post a report - have to say: i am concerned, whereas i had been feeling ok.

Just checked the forecast and it looks pretty dry for a few days now...

 

[west hythe]

Pretty sure the official statement they sent to dealers said that the poptop wasn't actually waterproof. Which to a degree I can agree with.

That being said, Cali Chris on Youtube has stated in a video the poptops are waterproof haha.

I asked him that question a couple of weeks ago on his YouTube channel and he just sits on the fence and says speak to your dealer.