My reasons for not buying a Cali

[Smiffy4bikes]

San Fran to Vegas is an amazing experience, we did it over 15 years ago and it still holds fantastic memories, enjoy!! I've always had a secret longing to do a road trip in an enormous Winnebago

As with everything, its horse for courses as GrannyJen says All holidays/ breaks have their 'annoyances', even a trip of a lifetime such as the USA trip could have issues with airport parking, check-in queues, delayed flights, screaming kids, etc etc, its all about what makes you smile, and if that is a trip in the Cali, then great, and if not, then thats fine too.

I too love a 'proper holiday' with decent beds, big bathroom and a large sofa to chill out on if I fancy it, who doesn't? But I also love the freedom of just jumping in the van and having a fantastic day out. As a day van, the Cali is excellent if you have kids, especially younger ones. Fancy a bag of chips and an ice cream by the sea after school? Sod it, lets go.... I'll pack the kids pyjamas for the drive home

 

[CYCLOPATH]

We did Vegas, San Fran, LA, Vagas round trip .
We all loved it, so many places from the TV.
Staying in American motels , city hotels , was all part of the experience
We hired a Ford Explorer. It felt bigger than my Cali does, but the roads are so big and straight and slow there.
Infact I slept in it a few nights when we were big national parks, and the kids slept in a small pop up I had stuffed in my suitcase.
You will love it.
We also did a trip in a massive van around New Zealand......Amazing.

It can not be compared to European travel. I like to explore, and often end up on roads that anything bigger than a Cali would not make.
Horses for courses, as they say.

 

[Sp0_0k]

Looked at lots of motorhomes and none is a perfect solution.
Really liked and considered Adria on Ducato's base. Though trusted all the hype of Cali on this forum.
We'll see how it goes.

 

[Monkeytree]

I bought our California as an addition to the family holidays, not as the only means of holiday. We plan to use it to get to the holiday house, hotel etc and then days out at the beach etc. We haven't tried camping yet with two small children, maybe as they get bigger it will be easier but for the moment it is a practical family car we can sleep in if we want ( although we did buy a beach, not an ocean, so let's not start that debate again!)

 

[Tony Beretta]

Personally, I've done enough airplanes and hotels to last me three lifetimes. I am firmly hooked on our awesome country!

But for balance, it is good to see peoples reasons for not buying a Cali. I don't like naked skydiving.. I'm going to go and see if I can find a forum where everyone does that so I can tell them why...

I agree. Naked skydiving = too cold for me

 

[Trailertrash]

Take it from me: If at first you don't succeed skydiving is not for you!

 

[MattBW]

Shows the value of hiring one which is so often recommended here. It's good to read some reasons for not going ahead too.

I won't deny when I first got my Cali Beach I was a bit frustrated with it, despite my campervan experience. The fact I had spent what I had spent on it, made me persevere in working out how to use it and I am so glad I did now.

I do wonder if I had hired one if I might have decided not to buy it at all. I don't know the answer to that to be honest.

 

[Ethel's dad]

After a few months of researching, we finally had our weekend in a hire Cali, and really enjoyed ourselves, but (and I hope you don't mind) won't be buying one. On friday I was really excited and I had imagined nipping to my local dealer this afternoon and placing an order to beat the 1 Nov price rise, so whilst its a shame that it hasn't worked out, but I'm glad we tried it. It was great to drive, warm, comfortable, and I am sure with a bit of practice we could get the driving/eating/sleeping changeovers down to a couple of minutes. The reasons for not taking the plunge are:

1)We have a busy time with work and the kids and didn't find the weekend all that relaxing- especially as we had to get up when the kids woke up- this would get wearing for 2 weeks solid

2) the cali is warm and comfy, but you have to leave it to go to the loo, have a shower, or do the washing up- we have a busy life juggling work and kids and whilst doing this is fine for a weekend or a few days (we do that when we camp), its hard work and we want holiday times to be relaxing, if we bought a Cali all of our holidays would be in it and this would get us down.

So instead, we're going to blow a bit of the deposit cash on renting a massive RV in San Fran and driving it to Vegas!

I can totally understand why you all love them, they are great to drive (the 140 we hired was fine- but i won't start the 140/180 debate on here), and if the camper life is for you, it is the best one to get. I hope you all continue to love yours, and if you are thinking about buying one, definitely hire one first as you'll decide pretty quickly whether its for you or not.

Thanks to all of the forum contributors, over the last few months I've enjoyed reading debates about 140/180, DSG/manual, vango/kyam, seats made out of toilets and special waves. I think i am going to miss you all

Nice sentiment and fully understand your reasons but if all you really wanted to do was thank the forum, why not make that your heading. I know its not meant that way but it looks provocative (and that's all we need on here at the mo ). Road trips in that part of the USA are fantastic, hope yours is memorable, best wishes and good luck, who knows, you may find yourself here again when the kids stop wanting to holiday with you.

 

[bigmac77]

Nice sentiment and fully understand your reasons but if all you really wanted to do was thank the forum, why not make that your heading. I know its not meant that way but it looks provocative (and that's all we need on here at the mo ). Road trips in that part of the USA are fantastic, hope yours is memorable, best wishes and good luck, who knows, you may find yourself here again when the kids stop wanting to holiday with you.

His post was Oct 2014 so he might have done it now

 

[Ethel's dad]

His post was Oct 2014 so he might have done it now

Ahh yes, that will teach me

 

[John.s]

Thanks,

Rent a Cali from VW showroom it works out to be a very cheep deal plus you get it refunded if you buy one from them

 

[larrylamb]

Rent a Cali from VW showroom it works out to be a very cheep deal plus you get it refunded if you buy one from them

Good advice but that post was also from two years ago and I now have my own Cali

 

[John.s]

Good advice but that post was also from two years ago and I now have my own Cali

Lol I'm in a time vortex

 

[Californiaman]

I'm about to disappear into a wine vortex...

 

[WelshGas]