New T6.1 order delays

[Begize]

Reading the posts about folks with June 21 orders being shipped….called at the dealer (Liverpool) today and they said our June 21 Ocean 150ps order is stuck in build waiting for something - they aren’t sure what. It went into build wk20.

Only options, tow bar, two tone, 80ltr tank, Teresina wheels, 4 keys and comfort matress.

I guess it’ll be here sometime.

I emailed my dealer on Tuesday for an update on mine, no reply as yet. Might be on holiday I guess so will chase Monday.

Also asked what help they might be able to offer as per the letter from VW saying to contact your dealer if the delay will cause issues.

 

[Hawthorn37]

View attachment 95056
Collected our Cali Ocean from Eurovans on Wednesday

Here are some initial observations;

- When lowering the roof, there is a lot of roof fabric. Its really tough to shut the panel above the driver area. I’ve previously hired an Ocean and it was easy compared to our van. I’ve resorted to unzipping the big opening, closing the roof then tucking the fabric further back towards the bed. The panel then shuts more easily.
- We have lane keep assist on our 2022 VW Polo. I wish we ordered it on the Cali
- also wished we ordered more factory fit options. We are going to have the van for a long time and I should have maxed out the options and really blown our budget
- no rattles! Very impressed with how the van drives on the 250 mile drive from Crawley home to Devon
- we got the extra 5th seat. I didn’t realise how much faff it is to remove and reinstall. So we I need to decide whether we keep it in the van and sacrifice the living space or remove it and restrict the van to only 2 of our kids
- love the colour, love the van

Nice van!

A tip for your sliding roof hatch (ours was super hard to close too) - get some car cleaner (for pvc etc) and dab it on a cloth, then rub the cloth across the runners and inside the groove. You’ll be amazed how easy it now is!

Lane assist is good for longer journeys, but to ease your mind, it’s actually a bit annoying on the Cali, as the camera sensors are very sensitive and prone to reading tarmac joints as Road edges - then it bleeps at you to tell you to drive in the centre!! My Volvo XC40 is much better.

 

[Tricky74]

Be careful with the metal dust caps - they can corrode onto the valve stems and be impossible to remove.

Thanks, I will keep an eye on them, appreciate the heads-up

 

[M88GAV]

Collected my Ocean this morning.
Great service from Martin at SMG.
Now to plan some trips

 

[markusschork]

Collected my Ocean this morning.
Great service from Martin at SMG.
Now to plan some trips

View attachment 95107

Beautiful! What tires did it come with?

 

[M88GAV]

Beautiful! What tires did it come with?

They’re Bridgestone Turanza T005, 255x45x18

 

[PhilR]

…because the dealer needs a few days to check and polish it, it’s looking like first week of July for me to collect.. ordered end Nov 21, built week 22.

I just hope it hasn’t been crashed coming off the boat or any number of other hazards my idle mind can think of!

Personally I’d class the dealer polishing it as a hazard! I’ve had issues in the past and being a bit of a detailing geek I wouldn’t let them anywhere near my new van. If they do polish it, check it carefully - ideally in bright sunshine otherwise use a super bright torch. Sounds a bit ott I know, but nothing worse than a brand new motor covered in swirl marks.

 

[flymartin]

Personally I’d class the dealer polishing it as a hazard! I’ve had issues in the past and being a bit of a detailing geek I wouldn’t let them anywhere near my new van. If they do polish it, check it carefully - ideally in bright sunshine otherwise use a super bright torch. Sounds a bit ott I know, but nothing worse than a brand new motor covered in swirl marks.

Good point. I will watch out for that.. Actually he probably didn’t say they were going to polish it - I’ve never had a new car before so I think I wrote polish in my post because I have no idea what else they might do that means they need around three days after they receive the van before I can have it!

 

[ardm17]

Our dealer called to confirm our August 2021 order has been impacted by the side assist issue. If we choose to remove side assist, it’s likely the van would be delivered early in Q3 (July?), but if we keep side assist it’s likely to be much later in Q3, possibly early Q4. That said, he has other orders that opted to keep side assist, and they have then been given much earlier build dates (next month).

We’ll keep the side assist option and keep our fingers crossed our order number gets selected early in the VW build week lottery. Our original order form estimated a June delivery, but we’d always assumed it would more likely be September, so in reality we’re probably not going to be too far from that.

I’m guessing this means ours will be a MY23, so if anyone does see any information about changes that may bring, we’d be most grateful if you could share the details here please.

When we asked about price protection, our dealer said “we’ve got it until at least the end of the year”. On reflection, we’re not clear who “we” is, as in us specifically, them as a dealership, VW in general etc. We’ll ask for something in writing that will hopefully clarify this and give us some peace of mind while we wait.

Great to read people’s good news updates, can’t wait to see the photos of your shiny new vans soon.

Just been reviewing the Caliboard.de site - it seems they are reporting no real changes for MY23 over MY22 - except for the new roof canvas and that is not likely to be fitted until Wk 39 builds. There could be small details but nothing significant, apparently (notes are from 2 of the site members who apparently work at the factory).

 

[.Billy Ocean.]

Just been reviewing the Caliboard.de site - it seems they are reporting no real changes for MY23 over MY22 - except for the new roof canvas and that is not likely to be fitted until Wk 39 builds. There could be small details but nothing significant, apparently (notes are from 2 of the site members who apparently work at the factory).

Thanks for sharing that update. I was hoping there may have been some useful new additions - like solar panels maybe! (OK so it wasn’t a realistic hope).

 

[ardm17]

Thanks for sharing that update. I was hoping there may have been some useful new additions - like solar panels maybe! (OK so it wasn’t a realistic hope).

Would have been nice, but unfortunately not. Just the std. Solar-powered heating that is most effective with the Black paint option..

 

[Curryzz]

Collected my Ocean this morning.
Great service from Martin at SMG.
Now to plan some trips

View attachment 95107 Sports pack looks great doesn’t it, finishes it off.

 

[M88GAV]

Yeah, really pleased I decided to go for it. I added it after seeing @66tim99 ‘s Ascot/Sport pack in the flesh.

 

[couplands]

I emailed my dealer on Tuesday for an update on mine, no reply as yet. Might be on holiday I guess so will chase Monday.

Also asked what help they might be able to offer as per the letter from VW saying to contact your dealer if the delay will cause issues.

Did you get any response to the question about help if the delays caused any issues..? I haven’t seen the letter either..!

 

[66tim99]

except for the new roof canvas

What’s the change to the canvas?

 

[Begize]

Did you get any response to the question about help if the delays caused any issues..? I haven’t seen the letter either..!

This is the letter from March 2022, also got an email a few weeks later which said almost the same thing, adding a bit about having a limited supply of "stock" new vehicles (which I'm guessing would be normal vans rather than Ocean's).

Not had a reply from the dealer yet but as I was put in touch with them through a mate who runs a car leasing business and uses them to source vehicles, I've asked him to chase them on my behalf tomorrow.

 

[Corradobrit]

What’s the change to the canvas?

Appears to be thicker. Not clear if the new design (if true) has a pano front standard.

 

[Begize]

What’s the change to the canvas?

Think I read it was dual layer to give better insulation

 

[flymartin]

This is the letter from March 2022,

I received the same letter in March, but read the paragraph on help slightly more cynically:

“The world’s in a state, your van’s delayed, meanwhile your local dealer has a number of other ways to take your money while you’re waiting.”

 

[calibusje]

View attachment 95056
Collected our Cali Ocean from Eurovans on Wednesday

Here are some initial observations;

- When lowering the roof, there is a lot of roof fabric. Its really tough to shut the panel above the driver area. I’ve previously hired an Ocean and it was easy compared to our van. I’ve resorted to unzipping the big opening, closing the roof then tucking the fabric further back towards the bed. The panel then shuts more easily.
- We have lane keep assist on our 2022 VW Polo. I wish we ordered it on the Cali
- also wished we ordered more factory fit options. We are going to have the van for a long time and I should have maxed out the options and really blown our budget
- no rattles! Very impressed with how the van drives on the 250 mile drive from Crawley home to Devon
- we got the extra 5th seat. I didn’t realise how much faff it is to remove and reinstall. So we I need to decide whether we keep it in the van and sacrifice the living space or remove it and restrict the van to only 2 of our kids
- love the colour, love the van

Beautiful van! No rattling? Great but strange…
Closing the manual lifting roof will become more convenient for you.
We also have the fifth chair and it only comes in when I transport children from school or something like that and indeed: it is a job, especially the weight. Assembling and disassembling is getting better and better and I have mastered it now (really just practice with the aluminum inserts of the rails and the plastic end piece. It will be fine. What I do regret are the scratches you make on the floor and aluminum rail pieces. Well, it is what it is and it won't stay brand new, california coast, 2 months old.
Have fun!
Greetings
Calibusje

 

[calibusje]

Just been reviewing the Caliboard.de site - it seems they are reporting no real changes for MY23 over MY22 - except for the new roof canvas and that is not likely to be fitted until Wk 39 builds. There could be small details but nothing significant, apparently (notes are from 2 of the site members who apparently work at the factory).

So, a new canvas, two layers? Never heard of it but we’ll see. I’m curious how that new canvas will act when you close the roof.

 

[BugglePopples]

Beautiful van! No rattling? Great but strange…
Closing the manual lifting roof will become more convenient for you.
We also have the fifth chair and it only comes in when I transport children from school or something like that and indeed: it is a job, especially the weight. Assembling and disassembling is getting better and better and I have mastered it now (really just practice with the aluminum inserts of the rails and the plastic end piece. It will be fine. What I do regret are the scratches you make on the floor and aluminum rail pieces. Well, it is what it is and it won't stay brand new, california coast, 2 months old.
Have fun!
Greetings
Calibusje

Any idea what the removable chairs weigh?

 

[.Billy Ocean.]

Any idea what the removable chairs weigh?

This is an older post but I can’t imagine it would have changed much - 39-40kg

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/weight-of-5th-seat-in-cali.10398/#post-305285

 

[WelshGas]

We’re also interested to see what people would spec differently. As we’re back in the position of no provisional build week, I think we can make changes to order (just worried if this will impact any potential price protection).

We regret not speccing a tow bar, and would probably ditch the safe box if we can make changes, as I understand it takes up valuable room in the wardrobe, and as everyone knows where it is, it isn’t that safe.

I very much doubt if price protection would be maintained if you make changes.
As far as the safe is concerned you only lose about 6" depth and although California owners might know where it is I very much doubt if the opportunistic car thief does and trying to break into it is very time consuming. Wouldn't be without it.
OEM Towbar can be retrofitted at very little cost especially if adding to your order loses the price protection. The Dealer might be able to do it as a Dealer rather than factory fit option, otherwise PFJones can supply complete OEM kit including wiring loom etc. Just need coding into the electronics of the vehicle.

 

[ardm17]

What’s the change to the canvas?

Apparently it is 2 layer - inside is a lighter colour and has a much higher water column rating .. (7500mm vs 300mm).