Not so new cal owner

walbon148 · Jun 14, 2014

Hi everybody. I have been following this excellent forum for a very long time now as it is full of useful tips and hints. We all face the same problems and it is interesting to see how others have resolved them.

I have had a silver Cali for just under seven years. The Cal is an expensive beast and not as perfect as one would expect for its purchase price. On my first camping trip I had to call out the recovery service as I thought I had a puncture. The jack provided with the van kept collapsing and is not robust enough to support the weight of the van. Anyway when I took the tyre to VW for repairs they told me that I had a faulty valve and no puncture at all.
On the next camping trip, the roof went up all right but one side sagged and I had to support it with my trekking pole. VW said I had a gas leak which they fixed. The catch holding the collapsible table in the sliding door was also faulty and had to be replaced. Minor problems I agree but a lot of need less hasel. Thankfully so far I cannot see any corrosion problems with my roof.

That said we have had a super time in it. We have travelled all over Europe The cal has gone north to Copenhagen east to Berlin west to Wales and south to Sitges.

It has only done 41000 miles and the gas emission warning light has come on. VW tell me that my Diesel Particulate filter has crumbled. How long should these ceramic filters last for?. My drive shaft was also found to need replacing. A repair bill of £3000 is quite a lot for a car that has only done 41 000 miles even though it is less than seven years old.

Hope this does not put you off getting one! :sad

Andy · Jun 15, 2014

The jack is perfectly adequate on stable flat surfaces, probably not so on uneven ground.
DPF life expectancy will depend on the type of journeys done. ie will soot up quicker with predominately town work. It is possible for user to get it to regenerate, if that fails van centre can force regeneration via computer.

Custardtart · Jun 15, 2014

Those bills don't seem reasonable to me.

I've had a Toyota Avensis from new - currently 140k on the clock.

It's had some glow plugs, 2 timing belts (60k and 120k), one wheel bearing (around 120k) and at 135k I had to replace the aircon pump. Other than tyres, brake pads, usual service/mot that's it.

I assumed VW ownership was going to be the same - I thought veedubs were bombproof.

walbon148 · Jun 16, 2014

Hi Andy
Thanks for your reply. VW told me that the DPF had fragmented and had not sooted up. I only use the cal for long distance journeys. I drive a volvo C30 for short journeys and that is also a diesel and has done more mileage than the van and the DPF is so far OK

walbon148 · Jun 16, 2014

Hi Custardtart

Unfortunately they are. The exhaust warning light just came on when I was on the M25. I took it to VW and they traced the fault to a temp sensor 3 and found that the DPF had broken up inside. They replaced the sensor and the DPF. The DPF alone costs £1280. They also discovered that the drive shaft was worn on the splines and needed replacing. All in all the bill came to £3000. The cal has only done 41500 miles.

Custardtart · Jun 16, 2014

I meant that you shouldn't be experiencing such heavy bills so early in a 'quality' vehicle's life - I wasn't suggesting you'd overpaid for the work.

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