Looking for a Cali in my 70th year

[Juliet Lewis]

Hello everyone,
I'm looking for a Cali in order to have some adventures in the 7th decade of my life. I know very little about camper vans but want to learn. I do understand that the Cali seems to be much admired and above all comfortable and reliable. There's a T4 Westfalia for sale which is a lot cheaper than the T5s and T6s and I'm not sure I appreciate the differences. Can someone help me here?

 

[calikev]

Hi juliet welcome along Age is no barrier for campervanning. The main difference between the T4 westafalia and the current T5/T6 is the latter are
Built by vw in the factory the T4's were kitted out by westafalia both incredible vehicles. Your choice may be limited by your budget. T4's ranging from about £9k-£25k T5's /T6's ranging from. £22k - £55k. Whatever you choose you will have great fun.
Kev

 

[Billy]

 

[GrannyJen]

Juliet, firstly welcome and 70 is a great year to start enjoying a Cali

I will let others talk about the T4 but the reputation for sturdiness and reliability seems well-deserved. I have a T5 and it has everything I want: easy to drive, easy to park, very comfortable to camp in and light and easy to use, no real heavy bits.

Please ask all the questions that you can think of. We are a friendly bunch, with one or two grumpy exceptions ... ..... and you will find a lot of help here.

 

[2into1]

T4 Westfalias are ALL Left Hand drive. Not a problem, but needs noting.

The T4's are also a bit more van like to drive....longer gear stick, generally heavier feel, less sophisticated suspension. They are also a little more prone to rusting than the T5's (apart from their roofs but let's not go there*).

They are very well built and quite easily fixed by a broader range of garages, whereas T5's onwards are still mainly looked after by the VW Commercial dealers who are more expensive (and often hopeless when it comes to the camping equipment).

T5s onwards (well the SE's and Oceans with the side kitchen) have an electric / hydraulic roof which is very expensive to fix if it goes wrong. The roof and other kit is controlled by a central control panel that is always breaking (in 3 different ways, 2 of which require a new and expensive panel).

*Now I'm on a roll, we have to mention T5 roofs which corrode on both aluminium pieces. VW are still pretending they are trying to fix vans upto 6 years old (without much success). After the 6 years, it appears you are on your own trying to fix corrosion that the mighty VW can't solve.

T4s/5s/6s will probably never be cool like the earlier vans, but Westfalias do get begrudging admiration from enthusiasts with older vans.

Don't be put off by my high top van. Most Westy's are conventional pop tops and were the DNA of the T5 Cali's.

 

[sapto]

Welcome Juliet! Great plan and as mentioned campervanning is not a queation of age.
There are lot of members with a lot of knowledge about all different types of van (I am none of them )
IMO it is good to test drive any vehicle you fancy and you may find the differences between the models important to you or not.
I am very happy with my T5 and a friend of mine is very happy with his T4 Westie...