Looking to get my first used Cali

[baileypayne]

Hi Guys,

Hoping to get some advice, I am looking to jump into the world of VW California ownership, and am quite excited!
I will have a budget of around £25-30k so will be looking at used models. I will also be trading in my current car (May be hard as a lot of the motorhome sellers may not want to trade in with a Mini!), so the Cali will be my daily driver.

I have found in my budget which looks nice a 2012 VW California 2.0 SE Tdi 180 bhp - from my research, I have seen this model has some engine issues which can be quite bad. It is manual and has already just shy of 128k miles, so it has got around - from looking I have seen most issues happen way before this. So is it likely to be fixed? Is there any questions to potential ask before I view to help know whether the issue has been fixed potentially?

Overall, is there any good questions to ask before viewing, and when viewing, is there anything to look at for on these earlier Cali's?
Any advice is massively appreciated!

 

[tweedie]

Hi Guys,

Hoping to get some advice, I am looking to jump into the world of VW California ownership, and am quite excited!
I will have a budget of around £25-30k so will be looking at used models. I will also be trading in my current car (May be hard as a lot of the motorhome sellers may not want to trade in with a Mini!), so the Cali will be my daily driver.

I have found in my budget which looks nice a 2012 VW California 2.0 SE Tdi 180 bhp - from my research, I have seen this model has some engine issues which can be quite bad. It is manual and has already just shy of 128k miles, so it has got around - from looking I have seen most issues happen way before this. So is it likely to be fixed? Is there any questions to potential ask before I view to help know whether the issue has been fixed potentially?

Overall, is there any good questions to ask before viewing, and when viewing, is there anything to look at for on these earlier Cali's?
Any advice is massively appreciated!

Same boat as you, looking at the 180bhp. I am led to believe that if the EGR label has a suffix of D then its safer then those without any suffix or A-C letters. Afaik, I haven't seen any post of people still suffering the problem with "D" egr

 

[WelshGas]

Hi Guys,

Hoping to get some advice, I am looking to jump into the world of VW California ownership, and am quite excited!
I will have a budget of around £25-30k so will be looking at used models. I will also be trading in my current car (May be hard as a lot of the motorhome sellers may not want to trade in with a Mini!), so the Cali will be my daily driver.

I have found in my budget which looks nice a 2012 VW California 2.0 SE Tdi 180 bhp - from my research, I have seen this model has some engine issues which can be quite bad. It is manual and has already just shy of 128k miles, so it has got around - from looking I have seen most issues happen way before this. So is it likely to be fixed? Is there any questions to potential ask before I view to help know whether the issue has been fixed potentially?

Overall, is there any good questions to ask before viewing, and when viewing, is there anything to look at for on these earlier Cali's?
Any advice is massively appreciated!

Same boat as you, looking at the 180bhp. I am led to believe that if the EGR label has a suffix of D then its safer then those without any suffix or A-C letters. Afaik, I haven't seen any post of people still suffering the problem with "D" egr

Not All 180s were affected.
I had a 2014 180 that covered 140,000 miles over 10yrs. No repairs apart from 1 ABS sensor and replacement brake pads and front discs. Oil consumption was 0mls between annual oil changes. Original EGR assembly.
You are aware of the possible problems..
People with problems complain on the WWW, those without don't.

 

[baileypayne]

Not All 180s were affected.
I had a 2014 180 that covered 140,000 miles over 10yrs. No repairs apart from 1 ABS sensor and replacement brake pads and front discs. Oil consumption was 0mls between annual oil changes. Original EGR assembly.
You are aware of the possible problems..
People with problems complain on the WWW, those without don't.

Thanks for the reply, very true those with no issues you never hear from! Always the people with issues that talk louder, I have raised the issue with the trade seller.
To be safe, is there anything I can do or ask of him before purchase potentially?
I did find a Transporter T5 Highline conversion which looked good, but is oddly still registered as a Van and both doors are still sliding despite one having the kitchen in front of it, which is odd, so not sure on that either!

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks for the reply, very true those with no issues you never hear from! Always the people with issues that talk louder, I have raised the issue with the trade seller.
To be safe, is there anything I can do or ask of him before purchase potentially?
I did find a Transporter T5 Highline conversion which looked good, but is oddly still registered as a Van and both doors are still sliding despite one having the kitchen in front of it, which is odd, so not sure on that either!

There are only a very small number of 3rd party converters that convert unregistered new base vehicles and can then register them as a Campervan/Motorcaravan . The rest will be N1 Commercial vehicles and cannot be re-registered.
Twin sliders are not uncommon. The slider behind the kitchen gives easy access to water tanks, gas and electrics from the outside.

 

[baileypayne]

There are only a very small number of 3rd party converters that convert unregistered new base vehicles and can then register them as a Campervan/Motorcaravan . The rest will be N1 Commercial vehicles and cannot be re-registered.
Twin sliders are not uncommon. The slider behind the kitchen gives easy access to water tanks, gas and electrics from the outside.

Really appreciate the replies!
Is the vehicle being an N1 commercial vehicle an issue would you say? Would there be any difficulties with this type of vehicle?
As it's a first purchase obviously a bit nervous!

 

[Kayleigh]

You need to be aware of the different speed limits. That’s an important one.

 

[WelshGas]

Really appreciate the replies!
Is the vehicle being an N1 commercial vehicle an issue would you say? Would there be any difficulties with this type of vehicle?
As it's a first purchase obviously a bit nervous!

This is a synopsis of thousands of posts on the T6 Forum.

Speed limits/ DVLA / Motor Caravan / Dual Purpose / N1 and all that malarkey.

Much discussion has taken place over the years regarding the status of vans & conversions with regard to speed limits/tax/insurance etc. There's a wealth of info on the forum - particularly this thread - but it's scattered and fragmented around the forum. So I thought I'd bring it all together...

www.t6forum.com

The above synopsis is based on this thread.

Van Speed Limit?

what are the speed limits for a factory built kombi as I'm not 100% sure , had this conversation in work today. It's a commercial vehicle derived car UPDATE: see post #541

www.t6forum.com

 

[pjm-84]

Service history.....if its long life walk away. Mine is serviced yearly and does long trips, and enjoys quality fuel but I still watched the aluminium content rise when oil testing from year 2 to year 5.

In the end and at 43k miles I emulated the EGR. Now at 83k on a 2015 plate and no issues

 

[baileypayne]

So the 2012 VW California 180bhp has the original EGR (No letter suffix) in it. 128k Miles and looks to consistently have done 10k miles every year according to it's MOT History.
Is this potentially a model with no issues and I could get lucky? The seller does have a 12 month warranty although it's a smaller used car dealer.
I have contacted VWC about it as I have a few work ties with them to enquire about the state of it to see if they can offer any advice.
Left me feeling a bit confused about what to do!

 

[baileypayne]

This is a synopsis of thousands of posts on the T6 Forum.

Speed limits/ DVLA / Motor Caravan / Dual Purpose / N1 and all that malarkey.

Much discussion has taken place over the years regarding the status of vans & conversions with regard to speed limits/tax/insurance etc. There's a wealth of info on the forum - particularly this thread - but it's scattered and fragmented around the forum. So I thought I'd bring it all together...

www.t6forum.com

The above synopsis is based on this thread.

Van Speed Limit?

what are the speed limits for a factory built kombi as I'm not 100% sure , had this conversation in work today. It's a commercial vehicle derived car UPDATE: see post #541

www.t6forum.com

That's really detailed, thank you!

 

[colintfcolintf]

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/classifieds/vehicles-for-sale have you also looked here?

 

[WelshGas]

So the 2012 VW California 180bhp has the original EGR (No letter suffix) in it. 128k Miles and looks to consistently have done 10k miles every year according to it's MOT History.
Is this potentially a model with no issues and I could get lucky? The seller does have a 12 month warranty although it's a smaller used car dealer.
I have contacted VWC about it as I have a few work ties with them to enquire about the state of it to see if they can offer any advice.
Left me feeling a bit confused about what to do!

Just like mine. Original no letter suffix EGR and used, 140,000 miles over 10 yrs. Personally I believe many of the affected vehicles were low milage for their age. A years warranty is good. Shows the warranty company are not expecting any expensive repairs.

 

[baileypayne]

Just like mine. Original no letter suffix EGR and used, 140,000 miles over 10 yrs. Personally I believe many of the affected vehicles were low milage for their age. A years warranty is good. Shows the warranty company are not expecting any expensive repairs.

Would you suggest changing it to a D version?
Before I potentially purchase, would you recommend any checks. From the posts it looks like it was mainly 2010/11 and less so on 2012, which is maybe why it's been okay? It will be a daily driver for me so quite cautious, especially being a large payment. But it's up for £25k.

 

[baileypayne]

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/classifieds/vehicles-for-sale have you also looked here?

I have done, my issue is really with the part ex, as I can't go without a car for work

 

[WelshGas]

Would you suggest changing it to a D version?
Before I potentially purchase, would you recommend any checks. From the posts it looks like it was mainly 2010/11 and less so on 2012, which is maybe why it's been okay? It will be a daily driver for me so quite cautious, especially being a large payment. But it's up for £25k.

You could change EGR which will cost about £1000 on the 180.
Oil test , on used oil, looking for raised Aluminium Oxide.
Compression check on all cylinders .
Map out the EGR which some have done but is illegal.
Personally I didn't bother with any of the above , just drove it. Minimum journey being 20 miles or so.

 

[baileypayne]

You could change EGR which will cost about £1000 on the 180.
Oil test , on used oil, looking for raised Aluminium Oxide.
Compression check on all cylinders .
Map out the EGR which some have done but is illegal.
Personally I didn't bother with any of the above , just drove it. Minimum journey being 20 miles or so.

Hmm okay, I need to weigh the risk then really, there is a 2015 as well, which is a stretch but I could possibly do. Would that be a better bet?
Although a lot of me is saying there probably isn't an issue as it's done well over a lot of miles.
Maybe it's worth requesting an oil test before I buy.

 

[FiFiLaDrew]

Hi Guys,

Hoping to get some advice, I am looking to jump into the world of VW California ownership, and am quite excited!
I will have a budget of around £25-30k so will be looking at used models. I will also be trading in my current car (May be hard as a lot of the motorhome sellers may not want to trade in with a Mini!), so the Cali will be my daily driver.

I have found in my budget which looks nice a 2012 VW California 2.0 SE Tdi 180 bhp - from my research, I have seen this model has some engine issues which can be quite bad. It is manual and has already just shy of 128k miles, so it has got around - from looking I have seen most issues happen way before this. So is it likely to be fixed? Is there any questions to potential ask before I view to help know whether the issue has been fixed potentially?

Overall, is there any good questions to ask before viewing, and when viewing, is there anything to look at for on these earlier Cali's?
Any advice is massively appreciated!

Hi
So I had a similar budget to you last autumn, and I waded through all the stuff on forums, tied myself up in knots reading about EGR and roof corrosion... It came down to how risk adverse I was really, and how much cash I'd left in the bank to fix anything that might go wrong!
I realised I was pretty skint having raised the budget up to low 30ks, and just wanted to feel as secure as I could in my purchase. So consequently, didn't have a particularly high appetite for risk!
I bought a 140 2014 and I love her! I'm glad I took what felt like a safer route for me, I trusted my gut and it felt the right move.
My advice fwiw, is if it doesn't feel right don't do it, and bide your time...as frustrating as that is...the right van will pop up, if it hasn't already. Also, to agree with others, forums can be a distillation of the best and worst features of our vans Useful info for sure, but context needed.

 

[baileypayne]

Hi
So I had a similar budget to you last autumn, and I waded through all the stuff on forums, tied myself up in knots reading about EGR and roof corrosion... It came down to how risk adverse I was really, and how much cash I'd left in the bank to fix anything that might go wrong!
I realised I was pretty skint having raised the budget up to low 30ks, and just wanted to feel as secure as I could in my purchase. So consequently, didn't have a particularly high appetite for risk!
I bought a 140 2014 and I love her! I'm glad I took what felt like a safer route for me, I trusted my gut and it felt the right move.
My advice fwiw, is if it doesn't feel right don't do it, and bide your time...as frustrating as that is...the right van will pop up, if it hasn't already. Also, to agree with others, forums can be a distillation of the best and worst features of our vans Useful info for sure, but context needed.

Appreciate the feedback! Everything about this Cali looks great, bar it being a 180 which is a bit scary! But it's had no issues it seems, VWC sold it to the used car dealer who has it now. But it does have the original EGR. Very confused!

 

[Kayleigh]

Would you suggest changing it to a D version?
Before I potentially purchase, would you recommend any checks. From the posts it looks like it was mainly 2010/11 and less so on 2012, which is maybe why it's been okay? It will be a daily driver for me so quite cautious, especially being a large payment. But it's up for £25k.

Are you overthinking it? £25k seems like a good price to me. If an EGR fix is needed at some point and costs £1k as quoted by @WelshGas just factor that in to your budget.