Never mind the house extension....... Any differences between 2016/ 2019 beach’s?

[zac]

Hello.

having looked and read up all sorts on this amazingly useful forum, I still have a couple of questions I’m wondering if anyone can help with.

im looking at 18/ 19 plate beaches, but have come across a couple of 16 plates that are very tempting with around 40k on the clock With lots of extras.

1. Are there any differences between the 16 plates and the 19 plates?

2. Do you think there would be any difference in the ride between a new beach and one with 40k?

and unrelated......

3. Does anyone have any experience/ preference over the comfort dash and why?

I believe this is my first post on here, I was a member a few years back but have mainly been lurking as I was previously looking to upgrade my t5, currently I am vanless but looking at buying a t6 beach, having got the funds ready now and deciding to prioritise that over the house work!

thanks all, excellent forum and very useful thank you!

 

[Stoneybroke]

1. All T6's, so little difference. All depends on the options.
2. Having had a 66 new, and just shy of 40k, nothing noticeable.
3. Have comfort dash, love it. More closed storage, bottle cooler, larger radio unit, three zone climate control all included.

 

[westfalia]

I would do the work on the house first, if you do it right
you won't need to join a forum about the niggles.

 

[Borris]

ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 2016/ 2019 BEACH’S?

Yes, their price tags.

Apart from that I'd say that very little has changed. I had a 2016 Beach until recently with the uncomfortable dash and I adored it. It was nicely made and über practical. Our new Beach which hasn't yet arrived, has the Comfort dash. So I can't comment on that yet. One thing I can tell you though is the Comfort dash doesn't have anywhere near the same storage capacity or the useful dash top holes to place your thermal mugs in when driving.

I can't see why there would be any noticeable difference in the ride between a new and used Beach with only 40k on the clock. These vans are based on commercial vehicle platforms that are designed for long and hard use. Unless the used van has been thrashed within an inch of it's life for the last 40k, it should drive like new.

 

[zac]

ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 2016/ 2019 BEACH’S?

Yes, their price tags.

Apart from that I'd say that very little has changed. I had a 2016 Beach until recently with the uncomfortable dash and I adored it. It was nicely made and über practical. Our new Beach which hasn't yet arrived, has the Comfort dash. So I can't comment on that yet. One thing I can tell you though is the Comfort dash doesn't have anywhere near the same storage capacity or the useful dash top holes to place your thermal mugs in when driving.

I can't see why there would be any noticeable difference in the ride between a new and used Beach with only 40k on the clock. These vans are based on commercial vehicle platforms that are designed for long and hard use. Unless the used van has been thrashed within an inch of it's life for the last 40k, it should drive like new.

What made you go for the comfort dash then, purely cosmetic I’m assuming?

 

[Borris]

What made you go for the comfort dash then, purely cosmetic I’m assuming?

With the options we wanted we didn't have any choice.

 

[Stoneybroke]

What made you go for the comfort dash then, purely cosmetic I’m assuming?

No, the comfort dash also gives the three zone climate control as part of the package, so the upgrade isn't purely looks.

 

[Amarillo]

With the options we wanted we didn't have any choice.

Which option requires the comfortable dash?

When we ordered you got three zone air conditioning *free* with the comfort dash, but you could get the three zone air conditioning with the uncomfortable version. One thing we couldn't get without the comfortable dash was a second data usb port - but that was not a deal-breaker for us.

 

[Amarillo]

I am vanless but looking at buying a t6 beach, having got the funds ready now and deciding to prioritise that over the house work!

We faced a similar choice:

• Reduce the mortgage
• Two bedrooms plus bathroom loft extension
• California Beach plus new driveway

We chose the Beach plus driveway, after all the Beach can have two double bedrooms, so the only thing we are missing is an additional bathroom, and for that we have one of these:

We have the uncomfortable dash and even if the comfort dash was a zero cost option would chose the uncomfortable version. It is really a matter of form over function. The uncomfortable dash has all sorts of pockets and holes to stash things, the comfortable version looks slicker.

But note that the price for the Beach's comfortable dash option includes three zone climate control, and if you have children in the back it is well worth having. It appears that the three zone climate control is no longer available with the uncomfortable dash.

 

[Borris]

Which option requires the comfortable dash?

When we ordered you got three zone air conditioning *free* with the comfort dash, but you could get the three zone air conditioning with the uncomfortable version. One thing we couldn't get without the comfortable dash was a second data usb port - but that was not a deal-breaker for us.

We ordered it at the beginning of August and to be honest I can't remember. It was a configurator diktat that I think was something to do with the Three Zone Climate Control. I'm afraid I can't check as the T6 configurator appears to have been removed.

Anyway that's irrelevant because I haven't been entirely forthcoming. We decided to open up the option decision making process to our grand children. Since a big part of our Beach's raisin d'etre is to transport and entertain them throughout the year in the manor to which they have become accustomed, we thought it only right and proper that they should share in this process in order to give them a sense of ownership.

Mrs B and I would have been perfectly happy with a repeat prescription albeit with some minor tweaks. However the decision on the dash and the colour etc was handled by the committee and steered by the configurator. Personally, I would have preferred Acapulco Blue again with the uncomfortable dash but having said that I was happy to let them, but mainly our nine year old grandson help decide what we should have. The girls 5 and 7 helped with the colour choice by organising a voting system. That's how we ended up with a duo colour (Candy White over Starlight Blue). I did step in at one point though to veto that Garden Green colour as Mrs B and I couldn'd have lived with that. The girls also decided the name "Moonlight" in about 5 minutes flat! Our grandson and I discussed all the other options and agreed on all except the flappy paddle steering wheel. I had to pursued him that I wasn't Lewis Hamilton and it wasn't going to get used. Actually, on reflection, given the small difference in price we might as well have had that as well.

So there you have it. Cali buying by Committee. I'm not usually a fan of design decisions made by committees but I think our crew have done a very good job on this one.

 

[blondebier]

ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 2016/ 2019 BEACH’S?

There are differences between 2016 and 2018 models and I can only assume these filter in to the 2019 models.

We had an early T6 Beach (Built late 2015 registered March 2016) – non-comfort dash, manual.

We now have a 2018 T6 Beach (Built late 2017 - delayed registration due to emissions and then registered April 2018) - with comfort dash, DSG.

One immediate difference that we noticed was that the 2018 Beach has a lot more clear film applied. I had assumed that this is due to areas more prone to impact damage / corrosion. One such place is under the roof seal. The 2016 vehicle did not have this and there are pages of threads with people now experiencing roof corrosion. Our 2018 Beach came out of the factory with this applied. There are also places around the door shuts and where the roof meets the front cap where there has also been additional clear film applied that was not present on our early T6.

Our later model also has the DSG transmission. A lot of vehicle orders were changed when the 2017 emissions saga occurred that affected California orders. I can only assume that there are now less vehicles available with a manual transmissions. The main difference we’ve observed is the fuel economy. The 2018 DSG’s fuel economy is poor. I’d regularly see over 40MPG with the 2016 manual. The 2018 DSG struggles to do 35MPG on a run. The best I’ve had is 38MPG and that was cruising at 50MPH for a lonngggg time. Shorter hops and its high 20s.

I don’t want this post to refire the Manual vs DSG debate. I’ve lived with both in a T6 California and have DSG on our Golf GTE. I elected to have the paddles fitted to our 2018 steering wheel for manual selection. In my opinion this gives the best of both worlds. If it didn’t have these I’d prefer a manual on the California.

I can’t put the poor economy purely down to the DSG transmission. It may be the software that has been applied to “fix” the emissions. But I guess I’ll never know.

We also elected to have the comfort dash package on our 2018 Beach. I quite liked the look of it and it wasn’t that much extra as we wanted to have the 3 zone air conditioning too. Our early T6 did not have this and I wished we’d ordered it.



I do however feel that the comfort dash has been mis-sold. I tried sleeping on it and I had a crick in my neck just as bad as when I tried sleeping on the uncomfortable version. I wouldn’t recommend this

One piece of advice: Order the comfort mattress for the 3 seat bed. You’ll sleep much better.

 

[Borris]

Interesting about the film. The fuel consumption is a concern and the DSG is supposed to be more economical!

 

[Amarillo]

So there you have it. Cali buying by Committee. I'm not usually a fan of design decisions made by committees but I think our crew have done a very good job on this one.

Very dangerous. In 1973 my father decided to use the single transferable voting system to choose a car colour: Blue, red, white or green (black was too much extra). Due to tactical voting, and despite being no one's first choice, green won. Democracy in our household ended on that day, and we got a blue car reg GMC279N.

 

[BeagleMum]

Interesting about the film. The fuel consumption is a concern and the DSG is supposed to be more economical!

We are averaging 39.6 in our Beach, we are very happy with this it’s much better than we were getting in the Landcruiser

 

[blondebier]

1. Are there any differences between the 16 plates and the 19 plates?

I've thought of another one...

The Road Fund Licence (or whatever it is called these days) is more expensive on early 2017 and on models.

The 40k premium tax came in to force and it's a fair bit more for the first 5 years.

 

[MattBW]

The difference between T5 and T6 is pretty much a Eu6 engine and cosmetics, VW rarely change very much.

The 6.1 is the biggest change just a shame they wont be selling it here in the UK for some reason.

 

[Baloni]

We are averaging 39.6 in our Beach, we are very happy with this it’s much better than we were getting in the Landcruiser

Which engine BHP model do you get this with please?

 

[BeagleMum]

Which engine BHP model do you get this with please?

We’ve got a 150 Beach bought in June it was a very low mileage demo model

 

[Baloni]

Cheers BeagleMum