New Member

[Bearreds]

Hi !
I am new on here and looking to buy my first Cali ,
I have run a t5 van for work over many yrs ,
Also had a 67 split screen camper which I sold about 7 yrs ago ( which i wish I hadn't )
I would now like a new Cali but am undecided with all the different options ( some advice would be appreciated )
also some are + VAT others are not ( don't understand how the same vehicle can be this at different garages ) ?
Why can't I have a 4-motion as a 5 seater ( can I retro fit a 3rd rail for the extra seat ) ?
Pros and Cons of converting a 4-motion van into a camper ( Cali holds a better resell value ) ?
Any advise would be much appreciated .
Cheers
Mark

 

[Hotel California]

Hi and welcome , as i assume by reading your post you are planning to order a new T6 .
Be sure you order in a VW dealership with some Cali knowledge.
As the options are hell to choose from ...
There are existing treads on options and recomended dealerships , also read some posts by members who recent recived thier Cali to see what they experienced.
As i'm happy with my 2013 SE will not soon be ordering.

The 4motion is limited seats/passengers due weightlimit.

Converting will not get much info here as most are Beach or SE/Ocean owners.

 

[MattBW]

I believe the 4 motion is a heavier vehicle which in turn reduces its payload capacity.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/thinking-of-buying-weight-question.12007/

 

[2into1]

Has the "+ vat" issue question come from looking at the official VW van used vans for sale site? I suspect so.
If so, it's an secret warning to potential buyers that VW commercial dealers are completely hopeless when it comes to Cali's.
They list plain vans everyday which are all +vat, so they list used Cali's as +vat by default, when usually they are not.
They apply the same disregard for your precious Cali when it goes in for repair, and treat it like a plain old builders van.
Opps. Realise I'm ranting again.

 

[snowy55]

The center gubbins for the 4wd is underneath where the extra rail goes is another reason extra seats can't be fitted.

 

[sapto]

Hi and welcome!
Oh that sounds like fun: looking for a new van!
There are several threads with great knowledge about converting and I am pretty sure you find what you are looking for.
Cheers sapto

 

[Geezso]

No California is plus vat. Its a retail vehicle classed as a diesel car. So price always includes vat. However a panel van is classed as a commercial vehicle therefore plus vat. Not that conversions can also be plus vat, that may be your issue.
4wd and 5 seats is a no go, due to the payload and driveshaft combo.
You can get a retro fit aftermarket, but you risk being overweight and illegal.
If you really need 4 motion get a beach.

A conversion will always be a conversion. Unless you plan to keep it a £25k donor van with £20k conversion will still be worth...........£25k if your lucky. Plus the seating in conversions are poor, sure you can get 5 with a twin passenger seat, but the rib or rock n roll bed has minimal headroom. No rear storage and you need to shout to passengers in the back. Not to mention poor roofs and the gaping hole where the tent comes to meet you due to the lack of a tambour.

 

[Bearreds]

Thanks for all you views and helpful advise .
Just a question on the pop top roof in the Cali , as I don't have a dealer near me that will alow there show room demo out for a test drive , do you get wind noise from the roof over a certain speed , asking as we intend to do lots of motorway miles on toll roads in Europe and if I am looking at 202hp t6 it should motor along quite quickly , are the roofsprone to wind noise ?
Also is it right that certain VW dealers will give you a 10% discount on a new factory order ?
My local dearer will not entertain this .
Cheers

 

[sapto]

do you get wind noise from the roof over a certain speed , asking as we intend to do lots of motorway miles on toll roads in Europe and if I am looking at 202hp t6 it should motor along quite quickly , are the roofsprone to wind noise ?

I only know the motorways in Neatherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Germany and beside Germany there are speed limits around 130km/h and I did't hear wind noise at any time. Maybe it is different if you're going 160km/h?

 

[Bearreds]

Ok thanks
Just realised my mistake (204 hp)

 

[Kmann]

I have pushed my 104 hp to 160 km/h on the german autobahn where there was no limit. Even with the roof box I am not disturbed by any noise. Even our engine is quiet (more than on the T5). We were listening to sound books all the way ;-)

 

[Smiffy4bikes]

Welcome!

Most people on here I would say have achieved an 8% discount at best. I did, but that was with taking out some VW finance. Also I think its extremely important to find a good dealer and build a good 'working' relationship with him/her, as after-sales service is just as important in my view. If you just go straight in and make your first question 'what's the best discount', then don't expect a 5-star response! I wouldn't appreciate a customer taking that view with me to be honest. I suspect there a lot of lost sales out there for that very reason....

And find a Cali specialist, I fully agree with others on here about the Commercial dealers who just sell the vans, my local one had a fully loaded bells and whistles Cali in the showroom window to draw the customers in, but had zero interest in it, or me when I went in and wanted to ask some questions about it, I knew more about the vehicle than he did!! (And that was from reading the info on this forum ) So my young son and I spent ten minutes climbing all over it (literally), got ignored completely and then walked out, bored! Appalling way to treat a potential customer in my view, but sadly this seems a common experience. My son even commented on the fact that he ignored us!! £50k might not matter much to him, no doubt as a dealer he gets a bit indifferent to numbers, but to me it represents life savings, a lot of blood sweat and tears, and as such is a scary and not insignificant purchase!! Clearly lost on this particular 'dealer' completely.

If you build up a good relationship with a Cali specialist then this will stand you in good stead in the future should you have any issues after purchase. Also, they will also be happy to answer your endless questions about all the options !!

And I share your pain about selling the splitty... been there!!

Good luck in your new purchase!

PS: I placed my order with Chris at SMG Cowfold, highly recommended!! And, he completely got what a massive deal it was for me to a) spend that amount of money, b) get it right, and c) what a life-changing difference such a vehicle will make to me and my kids for the future. Top bloke

 

[Amarillo]

And find a Cali specialist, I fully agree with others on here about the Commercial dealers who just sell the vans, my local one had a fully loaded bells and whistles Cali in the showroom window to draw the customers in, but had zero interest in it, or me when I went in and wanted to ask some questions about it, I knew more about the vehicle than he did!! (And that was from reading the info on this forum ) So my young son and I spent ten minutes climbing all over it (literally), got ignored completely and then walked out, bored! Appalling way to treat a potential customer in my view, but sadly this seems a common experience. My son even commented on the fact that he ignored us!! £50k might not matter much to him, no doubt as a dealer he gets a bit indifferent to numbers, but to me it represents life savings, a lot of blood sweat and tears, and as such is a scary and not insignificant purchase!! Clearly lost on this particular 'dealer' completely.

I can only support what you have said.

We booked an appointment 4 weeks in advance with Beadles, Dartford, and had a shocking experience - I will not go into details here, but we were worse than ignored, and left one hour later knowing no more about the Beach and its options than before. The only test drive were were offered was in a T6 panel van.

We booked a second appointment, again giving 4 weeks notice, at SMG Tonbridge. It didn't start well, with our appointment seemingly forgotten, but the matter was rescued by a very professional salesman who spent several hours with us. We had two test drives, a T6 Beach 150 6 speed manual, which is what we wanted, and on the advice of the salesman, a T6 Ocean 204 7 speed DSG, to feel what the automatic might be like to drive.

We both loved the DSG, despite both of us attempting to use the clutch with comic results.

We were also offered a refund on a weekend campervan hire with Campervantasic if we later placed an order.

On our second visit two weeks later we picked through each and every option carefully with the dealer, and negotiated a 14% discount, on the dealer's condition that they use our van as a road demonstrator for up to 3 months before delivery.

The van we chose to be built is a 7 seat grape yellow 150 DSG Beach with various options, the most expensive of which are the parking heater and integrated child seats. I have already phoned the dealer to add one further option (ACC 99 mph), and am considering adding the rear camera to compliment the parking sensors.

One further thing - I am appalled to admit that the 9 month wait for the delivery of my Beach is infinitely more excruciating than my two previous 9 month's wait for a different sort of delivery.

 

[Smiffy4bikes]

Great post Tom

And guess what, Beadles of Dartford is exactly where we were treated badly too! Absolutely awful, enough said, your comments didn't surprise me at all. However, hurrah for SMG, they restored my faith thats for sure, excellent service, and very genuine too, a rare thing these days in car showrooms sadly.

I must admit to loving the yellow as well, sadly not an option on the Ocean. I would definitely have chosen that colour if it was available, the kids were very adamant that a camper van colour should be a fun colour! My initial suggestion of Blackberry was flatly refused.... So Acapulco blue it is.

The wait is very long, however I'm amusing myself by buying lots of 'bits' for the impending arrival, which is far more exciting than when I bought the said 'bits' for the other 9 month waiting game

 

[Richard Teale]

Hi !
I am new on here and looking to buy my first Cali ,
I have run a t5 van for work over many yrs ,
Also had a 67 split screen camper which I sold about 7 yrs ago ( which i wish I hadn't )
I would now like a new Cali but am undecided with all the different options ( some advice would be appreciated )
also some are + VAT others are not ( don't understand how the same vehicle can be this at different garages ) ?
Why can't I have a 4-motion as a 5 seater ( can I retro fit a 3rd rail for the extra seat ) ?
Pros and Cons of converting a 4-motion van into a camper ( Cali holds a better resell value ) ?
Any advise would be much appreciated .
Cheers
Mark

The +VAT thing is very annoying and makes comparing prices more difficult than it needs to be. At the end of the day whether a vehicle is a commercial vehicle or a private vehicle you will pay VAT at the point of sale. However most commercial dealerships (and it is VW commercial dealerships that sell Californias) will advertise vehicles excluding VAT (i.e. £x + VAT) as they assume that most business customers will be able to claim back the VAT and therefore the price excluding the VAT is what the vehicle will cost the business in real terms.

So if you see a bargain van at £35000+VAT it'll cost you £42000 - someone check my maths

 

[Amarillo]

So if you see a bargain van at £35000+VAT it'll cost you £42000 - someone check my maths

Correct - but while VAT is 20%, all you need is a 16.67% discount to get back to the pre-VAT price. Where does the other 3.33% go?

 

[Bearreds]

Thank you all for very interesting and helpful advise .
I had been speaking to my local dealer for 4 weeks now to sort out a new build Cali , was 3 days ago I asked if there was any sort of discount that they could do and after humming and haring he said he would get back to me and there's been no contact !!!
There loss as I will look else where .

For me the vat isn't the problem as I am vat registered but I don't see how one could / can claim the vat back anyway . ??
Unless you are starting a camper hire business .

Is it worth given up a 4-motion for the 5th seat ?? Can't make my mind up on that one ! To spend £60,000 on a vehicle that can only carry 4 people seems nuts !
Would be interesting to know what you all think are the must have option extras that a Cali should have ???
Cheers

 

[Amarillo]

Is it worth given up a 4-motion for the 5th seat ??

You can have both.

You need to sacrifice 4 motion and the kitchen sink to have 6 or 7 seats.

 

[Geezso]

You can have both.

You need to sacrifice 4 motion and the kitchen sink to have 6 or 7 seats.

That makes no sense

 

[Geezso]

Thank you all for very interesting and helpful advise .
I had been speaking to my local dealer for 4 weeks now to sort out a new build Cali , was 3 days ago I asked if there was any sort of discount that they could do and after humming and haring he said he would get back to me and there's been no contact !!!
There loss as I will look else where .

For me the vat isn't the problem as I am vat registered but I don't see how one could / can claim the vat back anyway . ??
Unless you are starting a camper hire business .

Is it worth given up a 4-motion for the 5th seat ?? Can't make my mind up on that one ! To spend £60,000 on a vehicle that can only carry 4 people seems nuts !
Would be interesting to know what you all think are the must have option extras that a Cali should have ???
Cheers

There is no vat as its just like buying a car, you can claim some on running costs etc but not 'save' on initial outlay unfortunately