New here, and thinking about an Ocean

[trevethin]

Great to have found this website, pleased to meet you all lots of reading for us to do! Planning on upgrading from car and tent. Intend to hire an Ocean for a few days later this year and then, all being well, buy one.


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[dspuk]

Hire and try is always a good idea.

 

[Kayleigh]

There are also the Surf and Coast models to consider, the latter with a manual roof.

Also bear in mind that any built later than Q3 2022 will likely have the problematic leaking bellows due to the fabric change.

I agree it’s definitely worth hiring one first and have a good think about how you would use the van. I hired an Ocean and ended up buying a Beach!

 

[ThomasHJ]

Great to have found this website, pleased to meet you all lots of reading for us to do! Planning on upgrading from car and tent. Intend to hire an Ocean for a few days later this year and then, all being well, buy one.


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Cool! Of course we're biased, but I'd say go for it! ;-)

Whether or not a cali (Ocean) is for you, ultimately only you can decide, but if you tell us a bit about your wishes / way of travelling / camping, the number of people, etc we can surely help with a lot of questions.

 

[trevethin]

Just the two of us. It would be our main vehicle. We will both have retired by 2026 and would like to do some long trips round Europe. Because we live rurally we have always had 4WD car, so we are thinking Ocean because of 4Motion. We would aim to buy second hand a year or two old.

 

[larrylamb]

Just the two of us. It would be our main vehicle. We will both have retired by 2026 and would like to do some long trips round Europe. Because we live rurally we have always had 4WD car, so we are thinking Ocean because of 4Motion. We would aim to buy second hand a year or two old.

Some Californias have an extended 5 year warranty so you can buy a slightly older older one without high risk.

 

[Soton Campers]

Great to have found this website, pleased to meet you all lots of reading for us to do! Planning on upgrading from car and tent. Intend to hire an Ocean for a few days later this year and then, all being well, buy one.


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If you would like to hire one then please give us a try. Www.southamptonvwcamperhire.co.uk We also have some for sale too.

 

[Hawthorn37]

We hired a Cali twice before acquiring our own. The first was from a VW van centre in Leicester (discounted hire rate as a try before you buy offer), the second was from a small company in Ashby de la Zouch. Both experiences were good, although the van centre’s Cali was ‘as you’d buy it’ so in other words no camping equipment like kitchen stuff.

iIf you can, do try and hire for around 5 nights, and try a couple of camp sites. This will give you a rounded experience.

 

[Wannabecamperman]

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Just a heads-up of the latest 2024 Ocean deals, including:

• 5 + Promise - 5 Services
• 3 MOT's
• 5 Year Warranty
• 3 Year Roadside Assistance

- A great bundle for under £69k!

 

[trevethin]

We hired a Cali twice before acquiring our own. The first was from a VW van centre in Leicester (discounted hire rate as a try before you buy offer), the second was from a small company in Ashby de la Zouch. Both experiences were good, although the van centre’s Cali was ‘as you’d buy it’ so in other words no camping equipment like kitchen stuff.

iIf you can, do try and hire for around 5 nights, and try a couple of camp sites. This will give you a rounded experience.

Thanks. Yes, we plan to hire from a Mon to a Fri in September and stay the 4 nights at 4 different camp sites (as we travel around a far flung from here part of the country visiting family and friends). Looking forward to not! being in our tent.


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[ThomasHJ]

Just the two of us. It would be our main vehicle. We will both have retired by 2026 and would like to do some long trips round Europe. Because we live rurally we have always had 4WD car, so we are thinking Ocean because of 4Motion. We would aim to buy second hand a year or two old.

Congratulations on being retired soon. Good to have so much time to spend travelling! Has your mind been made up when it comes to the Ocean model? Or are you still considering other California models? You'll find quite some returning discussions in these forums about the pro's and cons of the different models and the need for 4Motion or not. Also the different motors. Different views of course, as everyone has different needs and wishes.

 

[m10chkcalifornia]

I am now partially retired (I work 40%) and we have just pulled the trigger on a 2022 Ocean bought from someone on here. Although we don't envisage very long trips and will stay on mostly serviced sites we still went for an Ocean because they throw in so much equipment as standard. They seem to be the most commonly available model.