LHD cali purchase

Francesca · Jun 25, 2024

Hi, we are Francesca and Tim. We live in the UK, but are planning to spend part of the year travelling in Europe, mainly Italy as it’s my home country. My last child is leaving for university in September and we are hoping to begin travelling in the new year. We spent some time with some friends who have a vw California and have fallen in love with the concept. We are here to learn what we can about purchasing one, we would prefer a left hand drive as most of our traveling will be across Europe and into Italy. We have two dogs (a large and medium one) so looking for ways to accommodate their crates or perhaps a built in option? Any suggestions regarding places to contact in Europe for purchase and assistance we would be grateful!

Corradobrit · Jun 25, 2024

Benvenuti Francesca,
I'm Brit living in Germany with the intention of retiring in France or Italy in a few years time. I specifically wanted a LHD for that reason. I ordered mine from www.campers.eu based just outside Amsterdam and had a great experience, apart from the first Coast being delivered with the wrong engine, but that was all on VW, who remedied the problem by fast tracking a replacement build.
Talk to Martijn who is one of the co-owners. He's the dude with the beard who presents vlogs on their YT channel.They carry other brands like Ford, Mercedes etc as well as VW. Not sure if you can still order a T6.1 though so I would ask around and see if the dealers have unsold slots.
I got a great price and the guys were always available to discuss options as well as field followup queries after the order was submitted.
Where do you plan to register the campervan? UK or EU. Life will be simpler if its on the Continent. Where ever you purchase just make sure it has the Certificate of Conformity documentation. With that I was able to reimport it back into Germany and register here for the first time. Taxes also paid in the country of first registration and not the country of purchase.
Good luck

ThomasHJ · Jun 25, 2024

Francesca said:
Hi, we are Francesca and Tim. We live in the UK, but are planning to spend part of the year travelling in Europe, mainly Italy as it’s my home country. My last child is leaving for university in September and we are hoping to begin travelling in the new year. We spent some time with some friends who have a vw California and have fallen in love with the concept. We are here to learn what we can about purchasing one, we would prefer a left hand drive as most of our traveling will be across Europe and into Italy. We have two dogs (a large and medium one) so looking for ways to accommodate their crates or perhaps a built in option? Any suggestions regarding places to contact in Europe for purchase and assistance we would be grateful!

Hi! It's not uncommon for Dutch people to import from Germany, as there are many second hand vehicles on the market there and prices are generally cheaper. If you are looking for a trustworthy place to buy you could try Volkswagen Camper Centrum in Amersfoort in the Netherlands (official VW dealer focused on VW camores only) , although they may not be the cheapest.

Francesca · Wednesday at 1:48 PM

Ciao Corrado and Thomas,

thank you so much for your very informative reply! We are planning a trip to Amsterdam at the end of September and will dedicate a day looking at dealers, so your recommendation was very welcome!. As for registration, it's a hard one, I am a British Italian dual national and we are planning to move back and forth every four months, since my kids will be back home in the UK during the summers and Xmas. My permanent residence will remain in the UK for the time being until kids will be done with university and settled into adult life. After that, who knows? I have always envisaged retiring in my home country, Italy. I will update again after our trip to Amsterdam and seek further advice on the forum! thank you again!

2into1 · Wednesday at 1:58 PM

They do crop up for sale here. I just sold mine, and there was one other in the for sale section when I last looked.

Corradobrit · Wednesday at 2:00 PM

Francesca said:
Ciao Corrado and Thomas,

thank you so much for your very informative reply! We are planning a trip to Amsterdam at the end of September and will dedicate a day looking at dealers, so your recommendation was very welcome!. As for registration, it's a hard one, I am a British Italian dual national and we are planning to move back and forth every four months, since my kids will be back home in the UK during the summers and Xmas. My permanent residence will remain in the UK for the time being until kids will be done with university and settled into adult life. After that, who knows? I have always envisaged retiring in my home country, Italy. I will update again after our trip to Amsterdam and seek further advice on the forum! thank you again!

You can also check out the threads here for dealers in Luxembourg. I think some good deals are to be had there too.