Our new 2016 T6 Cali Beach

[Cali Beach Ben]

Very excited to have taken delivery of our 2016 T6 California Beach. 7 seats, diesel heater and been looked after very well.

We have upgraded from a 1994 T4 Caravelle - couple of questions.

Any recommendations for alloy wheel rim protectors?
Any recommendations for drive away awnings with 2 bedrooms?
It’s done 37k and had 2 services 1st @15k and 2nd @32k is this about right and when is the cam belt due a change?

Thanks in advance

 

[larrylamb]

Congrats Ben, looks great.
Re the cam belt, should have been done with the second service at 4 yrs.

 

[Borris]

Very excited to have taken delivery of our 2016 T6 California Beach. 7 seats, diesel heater and been looked after very well.

We have upgraded from a 1994 T4 Caravelle - couple of questions.

Any recommendations for alloy wheel rim protectors?
Any recommendations for drive away awnings with 2 bedrooms?
It’s done 37k and had 2 services 1st @15k and 2nd @32k is this about right and when is the cam belt due a change?

Thanks in advance View attachment 72351

Hello Ben,
You have chosen a great van in it's most versatile form so congratulations. Actually, finding a seven seater Beach with a parking heater was an amazing stroke of luck as they are like hen's teeth. They are amazing vehicles and you will discover that there's very little that you cannot do with one.

In answer to your questions:

1. What are rim protectors?
I've never heard of such things. If you damage the wheel just have it refurbished. You will find the diamond cut wheels more expensive to have refurbed and I believe it can only be done twice before the wheel is effectively scrap. That's because the face of the wheel has to be turned down on a lathe. This type of wheel can corrode more easily due to there being sharp edges on the profile. Sharp edges will not hold lacquer at the same depth as elsewhere so corrosion can start along these edges. The standard VW Devonport alloys are as bomb proof as you can get. They are also cheap to source with only delivery miles on Ebay.

2. I can't help here other than to say that in my view those with Air Beam construction seem to be a lot less faff. Any awning is going to turn a simple go anywhere at anytime campervan into a more complicated formula. So what ever you chose go for one that is easy to erect and put away otherwise you will end up cursing it.

3. Servcing sounds about right to me.
As for the cam belt, I believe that the interval may have changed recently for UK vehicles. (Use the search function to check). The interval between changes differs depending on where in the world a van is registered. This has promoted the question recently as to, why UK vehicles require a cam belt change much more frequently than continental vehicles?

I hope you enjoy your new Beach.

 

[slipper]

Welcome! Nice looking van. We’ve recently got our 2017 Beach with a similar spec in Idium grey. The cambelt question will create some debate. Ours has covered 26k miles and had 3 services, the last one 3 weeks ago at the main dealer. They didn’t do the cambelt either despite it coming up to 4 years old. When questioned they told me that 5 years is fine for a belt change. My local dealer has contradicted that by saying it’s due at 4 years! It’s all very confusing for us newcomers!

 

[Billywizz]

Cam belt used to be 4 years but it’s 5 years now above years 2009 I believe!

 

[blondebier]

Any recommendations for drive away awnings with 2 bedrooms?

Welcome Cali Beach Ben. Looks like a great van.

We've got a Vango Galli "Low". It's a cracking bit of kit and you can set up 2 rooms inside it.

 

[66tim99]

Very excited to have taken delivery of our 2016 T6 California Beach. 7 seats, diesel heater and been looked after very well.

We have upgraded from a 1994 T4 Caravelle - couple of questions.

Any recommendations for alloy wheel rim protectors?
Any recommendations for drive away awnings with 2 bedrooms?
It’s done 37k and had 2 services 1st @15k and 2nd @32k is this about right and when is the cam belt due a change?

Thanks in advance View attachment 72351

Great van, well done. Alloygators are a good investment, making it more difficult to kerb your alloys.
Alloygators

 

[Borris]

Welcome Cali Beach Ben. Looks like a great van.

We've got a Vango Galli "Low". It's a cracking bit of kit and you can set up 2 rooms inside it.

View attachment 72395

Snap.
I agree, they are great, well made awnings. We find the Vango Low to be very roomy with the built in ground sheet being a great feature. We have the Vango fitted carpet which makes it very cosy. The air beams are very sturdy when pumped up making the whole thing very rigid. These awnings are quick and easy to erect and take down but require quite a lot of work to roll up in order to get it back in the bag. The only major downside for me is that they are quite bulky and rather heavy when packed away.

We never attach ours to the van.

 

[Amarillo]

Very excited to have taken delivery of our 2016 T6 California Beach. 7 seats, diesel heater and been looked after very well.

We have upgraded from a 1994 T4 Caravelle - couple of questions.

Any recommendations for alloy wheel rim protectors?
Any recommendations for drive away awnings with 2 bedrooms?
It’s done 37k and had 2 services 1st @15k and 2nd @32k is this about right and when is the cam belt due a change?

Thanks in advance View attachment 72351

Cam belt is 4 years or 150,000 miles. Our 2017 Beach has done 65,000 miles and we are going to do the cam belt at 5 years/~80,000 miles.

 

[clarinetbcn]

Cam belt is 4 years or 150,000 miles. Our 2017 Beach has done 65,000 miles and we are going to do the cam belt at 5 years/~80,000 miles.

VW guidance is 210,000km change, with inspections every 30-40,000km. The 4 year thing is UK only, promoted by the private non-VW importer to the UK. No other country has this time limitation, @Loz contacted the belt manufacturer, who answered that design criteria was 10 years.

There is a recall for some T6s that were delivered with defective belts. VW will not contact owners, only advise those who book service at an official VW agency, even though the defective belt, when it fails, will destroy the engine. They will, however, tell you if you ask. So, T6 owners, ask.