New T6.1 order delays

[Hawthorn37]

The price of conversions is mind blowing to be honest. Surely if you’re happy to wait then the Cali is a much better option? Not only will it be the same or possibly cheaper, but it is undeniable that it will hold its value much better than any conversion.

I might be a bit cynical here, but given the delivery issues with the California over the past 18 months, perhaps converters feel they can satisfy market demand for campers, and price at a premium?

 

[Corradobrit]

I might be a bit cynical here, but given the delivery issues with the California over the past 18 months, perhaps converters feel they can satisfy market demand for campers, and price at a premium?

Given the long waiting lists even for the conversions, you're probably right. I can't think why someone would choose a conversion over a factory Cali, unless they love carpet on the side panels and roof. I could possibly see some advantages in a Crafter conversion vs GC but not the Cali.

 

[PhilR]

 

[PhilR]

Finally we have our van! Loving it so far, just taking it to Wales for its first outing. Couple of issues which I’ll post elsewhere.

 

[Mr T]

View attachment 102521

Congrats @PhilR - finally!

 

[Hawthorn37]

Finally we have our van! Loving it so far, just taking it to Wales for its first outing. Couple of issues which I’ll post elsewhere.

Now you’ll have a home for all your waiting time purchases!! Congratulations

 

[Californication69]

Finally we have our van! Loving it so far, just taking it to Wales for its first outing. Couple of issues which I’ll post elsewhere.

Boom
Awesome !
Mine is Wednesday ! I hope !

 

[calibusje]

Finally we have our van! Loving it so far, just taking it to Wales for its first outing. Couple of issues which I’ll post elsewhere.

I am so happy for you! Enjoy and don’t forget: in the end everything will be fine.

 

[66tim99]

Finally we have our van! Loving it so far, just taking it to Wales for its first outing. Couple of issues which I’ll post elsewhere.

Great to hear the (second) wait is over Phil.
Would love to hear your story about how you decided to buy, decided not to buy, the decided to buy again, and whether the actual experience satisfies whatever desires you’ve had? You more than most must be sure the California lifestyle is for you.
Enjoy it!

 

[Corradobrit]

Great to hear the (second) wait is over Phil.
Would love to hear your story about how you decided to buy, decided not to buy, the decided to buy again, and whether the actual experience satisfies whatever desires you’ve had? You more than most must be sure the California lifestyle is for you.
Enjoy it!

Grab a cup of tea....

Ordering once again after cancelling in January

Hi all, For those that remember me on here this time last year, I told you I change my mind a lot! We ordered our Ocean back in September 2020, but got disillusioned with the whole build date fiasco and eventually pulled the plug on the whole thing. We bought an estate car to replace our...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[SusiBus]

596 posts without ownership! It's been a long and windling road you're trodden to Cali ownership. You're eventually there, enjoy.

 

[calibusje]

Great to hear the (second) wait is over Phil.
Would love to hear your story about how you decided to buy, decided not to buy, the decided to buy again, and whether the actual experience satisfies whatever desires you’ve had? You more than most must be sure the California lifestyle is for you.
Enjoy it!

I agree. I add the following (and will be a bit philosophical or even a little lyrical about it). There are plenty for whom a california is their vehicle of choice… some even keep claiming it when they sold it after a short time with almost no loss or even profit Or bought something bigger because needs changed… sometimes after a short time. So what I'm trying to say is, it's hard to tell who a California is just for. We bought one after some doubts whether we could afford it (or should save some more) and whether we thought it necessary to upgrade from our old faithful T4 westfalia california. So yes, because in the meantime there has been a T6.1 coast on the driveway for half a year and we did about 15,000 km with it. Not all to great satisfaction I must say but hopefully from now on it will be a joy driving with it. Is this our ultimate vehicle? Very likely yes. For others too, for many not. For @PhilR? Yeah, I do think so. I do know that for our family trips - and there are 4 of us - there is no better one for us and that it was so expensive that we traded in a passenger car For daily transport: driving kids around, both for school excursions and other family trips: kids love it and that makes me happy.
I even have our coast in lego.

It is a great vehicle.
Succes everybody and enjoy it.

 

[calibusje]

Grab a cup of tea....

Ordering once again after cancelling in January

Hi all, For those that remember me on here this time last year, I told you I change my mind a lot! We ordered our Ocean back in September 2020, but got disillusioned with the whole build date fiasco and eventually pulled the plug on the whole thing. We bought an estate car to replace our...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

It’s great reading material

 

[PhilR]

I agree. I add the following (and will be a bit philosophical or even a little lyrical about it). There are plenty for whom a california is their vehicle of choice… some even keep claiming it when they sold it after a short time with almost no loss or even profit Or bought something bigger because needs changed… sometimes after a short time. So what I'm trying to say is, it's hard to tell who a California is just for. We bought one after some doubts whether we could afford it (or should save some more) and whether we thought it necessary to upgrade from our old faithful T4 westfalia california. So yes, because in the meantime there has been a T6.1 coast on the driveway for half a year and we did about 15,000 km with it. Not all to great satisfaction I must say but hopefully from now on it will be a joy driving with it. Is this our ultimate vehicle? Very likely yes. For others too, for many not. For @PhilR? Yeah, I do think so. I do know that for our family trips - and there are 4 of us - there is no better one for us and that it was so expensive that we traded in a passenger car For daily transport: driving kids around, both for school excursions and other family trips: kids love it and that makes me happy.
I even have our coast in lego.
View attachment 102563
It is a great vehicle.
Succes everybody and enjoy it.

Thanks!
Ps. That Lego model is fab, is that a kit or “scratchbuilt”?

 

[PhilR]

596 posts without ownership! It's been a long and windling road you're trodden to Cali ownership. You're eventually there, enjoy.

Thanks. Yes I can finally post stuff as an “owner” now!

 

[PhilR]

Boom
Awesome !
Mine is Wednesday ! I hope !

Exciting times mate! Good luck for Wednesday. Ben at Eurovans was a nice chap to deal with. Eurovans PDI process isn’t going to get a positive review from us though - we went there armed with the great 3 page checklist from this forum……
Item 1 on the list - Chairs in tailgate - tick? Nope. No chairs
Item 2 - table in side door - tick? Nope. No table
Unbelievable really. Ben sourced us some brand new chairs from another brand new Cali that was there (Grey one, not black so not yours!!!)
Table sourced similarly, but not brand new and has one of the levelling screws missing. What were they doing when they PDI’d it???
We drove to Crawley park to fully check the van after this fiasco. Luckily everything else on the list seems to be there/ok. Apart from the shower connection - water sprays out of the valve when we open the kitchen tap. This led to a soaked floor which wasn’t ideal. We now can’t use the kitchen tap unless we fit the shower hose as that has a trigger which is stopping the water flow. But that has to be removed to shut the tailgate, so a right faff.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Exciting times mate! Good luck for Wednesday. Ben at Eurovans was a nice chap to deal with. Eurovans PDI process isn’t going to get a positive review from us though - we went there armed with the great 3 page checklist from this forum……
Item 1 on the list - Chairs in tailgate - tick? Nope. No chairs
Item 2 - table in side door - tick? Nope. No table
Unbelievable really. Ben sourced us some brand new chairs from another brand new Cali that was there (Grey one, not black so not yours!!!)
Table sourced similarly, but not brand new and has one of the levelling screws missing. What were they doing when they PDI’d it???
We drove to Crawley park to fully check the van after this fiasco. Luckily everything else on the list seems to be there/ok. Apart from the shower connection - water sprays out of the valve when we open the kitchen tap. This led to a soaked floor which wasn’t ideal. We now can’t use the kitchen tap unless we fit the shower hose as that has a trigger which is stopping the water flow. But that has to be removed to shut the tailgate, so a right faff.

Our table has only one levelling screw as well, and to be honest I thought this was standard. We never have needed to use it though. Gob smacking they didn’t check chairs and table - especially the table as it leaves a gaping hole in the sliding door!!

 

[Corradobrit]

Exciting times mate! Good luck for Wednesday. Ben at Eurovans was a nice chap to deal with. Eurovans PDI process isn’t going to get a positive review from us though - we went there armed with the great 3 page checklist from this forum……
Item 1 on the list - Chairs in tailgate - tick? Nope. No chairs
Item 2 - table in side door - tick? Nope. No table
Unbelievable really. Ben sourced us some brand new chairs from another brand new Cali that was there (Grey one, not black so not yours!!!)
Table sourced similarly, but not brand new and has one of the levelling screws missing. What were they doing when they PDI’d it???
We drove to Crawley park to fully check the van after this fiasco. Luckily everything else on the list seems to be there/ok. Apart from the shower connection - water sprays out of the valve when we open the kitchen tap. This led to a soaked floor which wasn’t ideal. We now can’t use the kitchen tap unless we fit the shower hose as that has a trigger which is stopping the water flow. But that has to be removed to shut the tailgate, so a right faff.

Sounds like 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'. This is not the first time it has been mentioned and probably more common than we realise, especially with the supply chain issues of recent years.

 

[Corradobrit]

596 posts without ownership! It's been a long and windling road you're trodden to Cali ownership. You're eventually there, enjoy.

Wonder if I will hit 1000 before mine turns up. Both VW and I are trying our best

 

[Dodge1311]

Finally we have our van! Loving it so far, just taking it to Wales for its first outing. Couple of issues which I’ll post elsewhere.

Congrats Phil,

I remember the long saga very well from last time round. We are now 18 months into our ownership and 18,000 miles under our belt. Lots of little niggles, and TBH taking it to the dealers for what always turned out to be a few days ( usually without a fix) where we get a transporter that we have to pay daily insurance for is quite a pain so now i put up with things till I have a long enough list to make it worthwhile.

Is it the best wehicle we have ever owned? I am not sure but its certainly the most useful, the dog loves it, so he would say its his favourite. It’s certainly the most thirsty and up there with 5 litre performance petrol engines for consumption at times ( 85 litre fuel tank was a good option that i am glad i took).

Not sure why but we have kind of stopped using the kitchen for anything other than washing mud off our hands after being out with the dog, and do most of the Cooking outside. The first year we used the kitchen almost exclusively but we seem to have moved on from that. The same with the shower point, it just takes too long to set up and the low pressure makes it not as useful as we had hoped, so ended up after trying the kampa geyser getting the portable Karcher.

We have had 5 awnings now and still looking for the perfect solution. I will soon need to buy a new garage with all the useful stuff i have bought that has turned out to be surplus to requirements. So it has created an entire new hobby of buying and selling that was unexpected.

I do often think about changing it, but i am not sure what to as i love the height convenience, though i still duck in every multi-storey i visit. If VW ever did a LWB California in 6.1 Ocean trim i would be first to order but couldn’t ever see us going for a conversion after having this, and having an Audi Q4 EV i know i would never go for an electric camper after many many painfully long waits for a charging point on the UK motorway network, it would need a usable range of 350+miles to tempt me.

Happy motoring and camping.

 

[Brendan eldridge]

View attachment 102521

Must be from Crawley Eurovans as I saw that there when I picked mine up Thursday

 

[calibusje]

Thanks. Yes I can finally post stuff as an “owner” now!

Bought a plan here: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-81943/legocampervans/vw-t61-california-ocean-camper-van/#details
I customized the colour, have no awning and with black mirror housings and black grille. Inside also chosen the colour of the furniture as with our coast. And blue pieces for the seats because we have such seat covers
I think I spent about 50 euros in total, if I remember it correctly because I also made our T4 westfalia california as a memory and The A-team van.
About the issues you are experiencing now; I think like this: they are campervans that are still largely assembled by hand on the basis of an almost completely machine built transporter. There certainly can be mistakes; like with ours: a little spring missing, very annoying squeaky driver's seat, right front door that you almost have to slam into the lock and of course the annoying creaking sound above and around the windshield.
In the end I felt so bad that I - who was so happy that ours had finally been delivered after 20 months - didn't like driving it anymore and actually wanted it gone. Looking for others, young or older second-hand or even waiting for the successor. Everything is solved (almost everything: the front door is already better after adjustments, but not yet as it should be). And I sure hope they got the crackling permanently solved.
All this to hearten you: in the end they will solve it, just don't accept it, not the problems nor some of the dealer's statements.

 

[WelshGas]

Exciting times mate! Good luck for Wednesday. Ben at Eurovans was a nice chap to deal with. Eurovans PDI process isn’t going to get a positive review from us though - we went there armed with the great 3 page checklist from this forum……
Item 1 on the list - Chairs in tailgate - tick? Nope. No chairs
Item 2 - table in side door - tick? Nope. No table
Unbelievable really. Ben sourced us some brand new chairs from another brand new Cali that was there (Grey one, not black so not yours!!!)
Table sourced similarly, but not brand new and has one of the levelling screws missing. What were they doing when they PDI’d it???
We drove to Crawley park to fully check the van after this fiasco. Luckily everything else on the list seems to be there/ok. Apart from the shower connection - water sprays out of the valve when we open the kitchen tap. This led to a soaked floor which wasn’t ideal. We now can’t use the kitchen tap unless we fit the shower hose as that has a trigger which is stopping the water flow. But that has to be removed to shut the tailgate, so a right faff.

1. The PDI does not include any of the Camping/Habitation fittings or equipment.
2. The 4 legged table only comes with 1 adjustable leg fitting. No more are needed to stop it rocking.

 

[OxonCalifornia]

Here She is !
Collected yesterday from Marshalls in Reading, couldn't have had a better handover, 3 hrs with John who went through every aspect of the Cali and nothing was too much trouble - he even came in on his day off to facilitate - probably the best handover I've had from any car I've bought during the 58 years I've been on this earth!
We are really pleased with the vehicle, managed to drive her home before it rained and now need to plan our first adventure. We would have preferred to have delayed until spring 2023 but VW have recently stipulated when it arrives it must be collected so it is what it is and we can enjoy straight away - I even checked with VW customer service and its correct so out of dealer's hands.
At least all those rumours around the possibility of having to make up the price increases whilst waiting over the last year have been dispelled, not even mentioned once by the dealer, so it looks like VW decided to honour their prices at point of order after all.
For those still waiting, believe me it's all worth it on collection day, even at the high price tag.
Ironically, we ordered on 26/11/21 and collected exactly a year later on 26/11/22. Now I think now we are moving towards much shorter lead times and have turned a corner which has to be good news for everyone

 

[Mr T]

Here She is !
Collected yesterday from Marshalls in Reading, couldn't have had a better handover, 3 hrs with John who went through every aspect of the Cali and nothing was too much trouble - he even came in on his day off to facilitate - probably the best handover I've had from any car I've bought during the 58 years I've been on this earth!
We are really pleased with the vehicle, managed to drive her home before it rained and now need to plan our first adventure. We would have preferred to have delayed until spring 2023 but VW have recently stipulated when it arrives it must be collected so it is what it is and we can enjoy straight away - I even checked with VW customer service and its correct so out of dealer's hands.
At least all those rumours around the possibility of having to make up the price increases whilst waiting over the last year have been dispelled, not even mentioned once by the dealer, so it looks like VW decided to honour their prices at point of order after all.
For those still waiting, believe me it's all worth it on collection day, even at the high price tag.
Ironically, we ordered on 26/11/21 and collected exactly a year later on 26/11/22. Now I think now we are moving towards much shorter lead times and have turned a corner which has to be good news for everyone

View attachment 102577

View attachment 102578

Very nice! I’ll keep my eye out for you around Oxford