Looking to buy California Coast

[california2]

Hi everyone, I've been reading the forums here for a while and they're really very helpful. I'm living in Ireland and thinking about buying a California Coast. We have two models available here the Ocean and the Coast. The Coast is €9k cheaper than the Ocean and is my preferred choice.
I would love to hear from anyone who has a Coast as to how they find the manual roof operation and also what options you would consider a must to have. We also have the option here of year 4&5 extra warranty for €999 - is it worth it do you think ?
Any recommendations and help would be very much appreciated.

 

[Hotel California]

Hi and welcome , not that much Coast owners on here as in the UK only Beach and Ocean is availeble.
Few fellow Belgians on the forum got one .
It has got pro and contra imo.
Only pro i would do it for is the manual roof....

 

[WelshGas]

Welcome. As @hotel california has said, very few Coast owners on the Forum. I would read the T6 posts as regards " Vehicle Options " and see what " Camping Options " are applicable to the Coast.
The Extended Warranty for years 4/5 is worth it in the UK where it costs about £370 at purchase of the vehicle.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Hello!

The Coast would probably have been our ideal spec... However, as we live in Northern Ireland, it's not available here. I did make some sales enquires with VW centres in Ireland, but no-one got back to me

I had briefly considered buying from Ireland, then registering in Northern Ireland (UK.) Not sure if that's as easily done, as said tho!

Ended-up ordering a Cali Beach from my local Northern Ireland dealer instead (only on the 19th August there.)

Would be great to hear how you get on with the Coast, and would be interested in learning further about costs differences between jurisdictions etc..... As, I might want to "trade-up" in a few years.

Cheers, Jonathan

 

[california2]

Hi Jonathan,
I will certainly keep you posted as to how I get on if I do decide to buy. There is a big difference in price between the Coast and the Ocean here which really makes the California more affordable. As they are sold through VW Commercial dealers only, it can be difficult to find a salesperson who Is really knowledgable about the vehicle. With regard to pricing the 150hp DSG model is priced here at €54,445 and the same engine in an Ocean is €63,280 - a very big difference. As far as I can see most of the price difference is accounted for by the electric pop up roof and the diesel operated heater.

 

[Velma's Dad]

As far as I can see most of the price difference is accounted for by the electric pop up roof and the diesel operated heater.

I could easily live with a manual pop-up roof but if I even suggested to Mrs VD that we do without the aux heater I'd be walking home.

 

[california2]

Not that we couldn't do with an auxiliary heater here in our wonderful climate but I'm hoping to be able to do without it as most of the Cali's holiday use would be summer time and other than that it would be my daily drive.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

I added the aux/parking heater and double-glazing to my Beach, so I assume you could add either to the Coast also?

Thanks for the information on Irish pricing.... The Beach version here starts at, is £38,214 and the Ocean £48,547 (both base list prices.)

So, I guess the Coast would be somewhere in-between. At today's exchange rate, the above Coast (€54,445) would be circa £46,310, which isn't far behind the Ocean price here. I assume VRT isn't included in your above euro figure? If it is, then I assume I would not need to pay this, if not registering in Ireland first (not sure if this is allowed tho.)

Anyway..... Good info..... Cheers, Jonathan

 

[california2]

Hi Jonatan,
I have an Irish brochure with € prices if you would like me to pm it to you (not sure how to do that though!) The price I quoted for the Coast does include VRT of €6,425.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Hi Jonatan,
I have an Irish brochure with € prices if you would like me to pm it to you (not sure how to do that though!) The price I quoted for the Coast does include VRT of €6,425.

Interesting!! With VRT removed, the list price for the Coast looks VERY attractive! I guess the Irish are still in the German's good books

Whist, as my Beach order has already been placed, I will try and find out what the process is for purchasing a vehicle from Ireland, but not registering it in Ireland (but UK instead....) Specifically around the VRT or any other VAT/TAX/Import of whatever other costs may be involved.

I'm pretty sure there'll be a snag somewhere, or everyone would be doing it..... But worth asking the question anyway.

There are quite a few others on this forum, who live in say Sweden, but purchase from Germany. I guess this should be a similar scenario? Until Brexit anyway!!

Maybe you can email me the price-list? jonnyduke at +++++++ dot com

 

[california2]

Email sent Jonathan

 

[Anthony Murphy]

The price of the California in Ireland has gone up 1.5% and has to be added on to the old price list ,as the new price list is not on VW Irelands web page as yet.

 

[california2]

Anthony is that from Jan 2017 or does it apply to any California's coming in before then?

 

[Anthony Murphy]

The 1.5% increase came in early June, the price list was not changed you only found out when you went to a dealer. I have checked with a few dealers to make sure.

 

[california2]

Thanks very much for the info.

 

[snowy55]

Don't buy a Coast or a Beach without an auxiliary heater it extends your camping year at both ends making it a go away anytime of the year vehicle it is also very handy for defrosting in the winter.

 

[vmaxkiddy]

Not that we couldn't do with an auxiliary heater here in our wonderful climate but I'm hoping to be able to do without it as most of the Cali's holiday use would be summer time and other than that it would be my daily drive.

Gets chilly in the summer too, 8C here on Sunday morning, the heater is very useful for drying wet clothing too.

 

[california2]

Thank you all very much for the very helpful information much appreciated

 

[Peter V]

Hello C2..
I bought a coast here in Belgium..
I got all the extra options I wanted and still was about 5000 euro cheaper then an ocean with same specs.
The onley differance with the ocean I still have is the
-manual roof
-no elektric closure of doors and boot
-no fully automatic airco
-no double glazing
-no coulord doorhandels and rearview mirrors
-lighter shade off kitchenette
thats about it...
And I did get the leather alcantara seats and extra heater, bigger spec radio system, inside lights kit,
and a few other nice things...
cheers
Peter

 

[california2]

Great to hear of another Coast owner. Lots of choices of options to add and as you say a huge saving over the Ocean. Yours sounds fantastic.