Patience and Ineptitude

Private_Kelly · Jul 17, 2021

A few weeks ago i noticed my Contol Panel in my 6 month old T6.1 Coast bonged and informed me that my 2nd Leisure battery was low. This was strange since I was on EHU on a site and had been for 3 days. My batteries should have been fine. So after I returned home i switched everything off and plugged my van into the EHU. About 3 days later my battery was very low and needed charging immediately according to the new message on the CP.
So i booked it in to the dealer which luckily for me is a five minute walk away. 10 days later and a big chunk of patience from me it is still broke and gathering dust at the dealer.
I am amazed at the incompetence of VW. I pay a huge chunk of money and buy a nice camper which has the new and updated Control Panel which looks great with it’s touchscreen and graphics. The new and improved Control Panel is terrible. VW don’t even know how it works or indeed how to “program” the infernal thing. Technology is a wonderful thing when it works but I’m losing patience now and cannot believe how incompetent the boffins at VW Tech are.

AlisonF · Jul 17, 2021

I am also frustrated with my T6.1 touch screens. The lights do not seem to do what I ask (regularly at training and need to leave doors open, or open / close doors) and lights come on despite being turned off from ‘camping’ mode and ‘lights’ mode.
Also the Satnav seems to randomly select ‘favourites’ that are nowhere near anywhere I’ve been. And although it has my house set as ‘home’ it has 2 other neighbours nearby as ‘favourites’.
The satnav went on a Wally when I was on my first serious camping trip, trying to take me to somewhere offroad near Glasgow, despite my repeated attempts to click on the screen to ignore it. As I was towing I couldn’t simply pull in somewhere as many service stations up here don’t have adequate space. Lucky for me there was a queue, so I switched off the ignition and reset my satnav.
Simply put, I bought a Beach and was told it was much simpler and leas to go wrong than my previous Ocean. My experience is the opposite. Far too many ‘improvements’ that are really unnecessary.

Private_Kelly · Jul 17, 2021

AlisonF said:
I am also frustrated with my T6.1 touch screens. The lights do not seem to do what I ask (regularly at training and need to leave doors open, or open / close doors) and lights come on despite being turned off from ‘camping’ mode and ‘lights’ mode.
Also the Satnav seems to randomly select ‘favourites’ that are nowhere near anywhere I’ve been. And although it has my house set as ‘home’ it has 2 other neighbours nearby as ‘favourites’.
The satnav went on a Wally when I was on my first serious camping trip, trying to take me to somewhere offroad near Glasgow, despite my repeated attempts to click on the screen to ignore it. As I was towing I couldn’t simply pull in somewhere as many service stations up here don’t have adequate space. Lucky for me there was a queue, so I switched off the ignition and reset my satnav.
Simply put, I bought a Beach and was told it was much simpler and leas to go wrong than my previous Ocean. My experience is the opposite. Far too many ‘improvements’ that are really unnecessary.

Oh dear. Sorry to here that. I bought a Coast thinking the same.Nice and uncomplicated but I would quite happily put the old control panel in it and ditch the stupid thing that is in the T6.1.I didn’t opt for the “Media pack” and had the std one. So no sat nav to go wrong but google maps works well via Apple play. Heaven knows how reliable the digital dash is going to be. Keep it simple I thought it will be fine. How wrong was I.

yossarian · Jul 17, 2021

Coasterman said:
A few weeks ago i noticed my Contol Panel in my 6 month old T6.1 Coast bonged and informed me that my 2nd Leisure battery was low. This was strange since I was on EHU on a site and had been for 3 days. My batteries should have been fine. So after I returned home i switched everything off and plugged my van into the EHU. About 3 days later my battery was very low and needed charging immediately according to the new message on the CP.
So i booked it in to the dealer which luckily for me is a five minute walk away. 10 days later and a big chunk of patience from me it is still broke and gathering dust at the dealer.
I am amazed at the incompetence of VW. I pay a huge chunk of money and buy a nice camper which has the new and updated Control Panel which looks great with it’s touchscreen and graphics. The new and improved Control Panel is terrible. VW don’t even know how it works or indeed how to “program” the infernal thing. Technology is a wonderful thing when it works but I’m losing patience now and cannot believe how incompetent the boffins at VW Tech are.

My understanding of the old state of affairs is that your second battery could go awol and you would be none the wiser until you required the extra energy. So if the new control panel is telling you that your second battery has a problem this is in fact a big improvement.

That your dealer is unable to fix the fault is understandably frustrating. But it is a separate issue to the newer ~~control panel~~ leisure electrical system design, which appears to address at least one major weakness of the old one.

Borris · Jul 18, 2021

AlisonF said:
I am also frustrated with my T6.1 touch screens. The lights do not seem to do what I ask (regularly at training and need to leave doors open, or open / close doors) and lights come on despite being turned off from ‘camping’ mode and ‘lights’ mode.
Also the Satnav seems to randomly select ‘favourites’ that are nowhere near anywhere I’ve been. And although it has my house set as ‘home’ it has 2 other neighbours nearby as ‘favourites’.
The satnav went on a Wally when I was on my first serious camping trip, trying to take me to somewhere offroad near Glasgow, despite my repeated attempts to click on the screen to ignore it. As I was towing I couldn’t simply pull in somewhere as many service stations up here don’t have adequate space. Lucky for me there was a queue, so I switched off the ignition and reset my satnav.
Simply put, I bought a Beach and was told it was much simpler and leas to go wrong than my previous Ocean. My experience is the opposite. Far too many ‘improvements’ that are really unnecessary.

Hello Alison,
I'm really sorry that you've had problems with your new Beach especially as I was probably one of those that said that the Beach is less complicated so should be less problematical long term. That is certainly how it is with the T6 Beach. Unfortunately, if recall correctly, you didn't have that option when you placed your order. Disappointingly, there certainly seems to be rather too many issues being reported on the T6-1. I just hope that VW get their act together and start resolving these issues soon.

Paul

Morsels · Jul 18, 2021

Coasterman said:
A few weeks ago i noticed my Contol Panel in my 6 month old T6.1 Coast bonged and informed me that my 2nd Leisure battery was low. This was strange since I was on EHU on a site and had been for 3 days. My batteries should have been fine. So after I returned home i switched everything off and plugged my van into the EHU. About 3 days later my battery was very low and needed charging immediately according to the new message on the CP.
So i booked it in to the dealer which luckily for me is a five minute walk away. 10 days later and a big chunk of patience from me it is still broke and gathering dust at the dealer.
I am amazed at the incompetence of VW. I pay a huge chunk of money and buy a nice camper which has the new and updated Control Panel which looks great with it’s touchscreen and graphics. The new and improved Control Panel is terrible. VW don’t even know how it works or indeed how to “program” the infernal thing. Technology is a wonderful thing when it works but I’m losing patience now and cannot believe how incompetent the boffins at VW Tech are.

We are having exactly the same problem, new 6.1 Ocean, and we are on holiday. 2 days in VW dealership and an apparent software update, but within 24 hours of having it back, we are the same - locked out of control panel by “charge now!”, even though we are on EHU! EHU is simply not charging, and we’re basically stuck.

soulstyledevon · Jul 18, 2021

It’s quite incredible, Volkswagen have been making this van for 20 years and they can’t get crucial software to work correctly.
How very disappointing.

So sorry guys, I hope Volkswagen are working on this as a priority.
Glad I haven’t upgraded now, as I nearly purchased a replacement van (T6.1) about 6 weeks ago…

Jenny H · Jul 19, 2021

Coasterman said:
Oh dear. Sorry to here that. I bought a Coast thinking the same.Nice and uncomplicated but I would quite happily put the old control panel in it and ditch the stupid thing that is in the T6.1.I didn’t opt for the “Media pack” and had the std one. So no sat nav to go wrong but google maps works well via Apple play. Heaven knows how reliable the digital dash is going to be. Keep it simple I thought it will be fine. How wrong was I.

Just picking up on your comment about Apple play - I too opted for the Coast without the media package to uncomplicate the Cali, however, am slightly regretting being without a satnav so interested to read this is possible via Apple Car Play on the central radio control screen - thank you will look into this option.

Stu@rt · Jul 19, 2021

Jenny H said:
Just picking up on your comment about Apple play - I too opted for the Coast without the media package to uncomplicate the Cali, however, am slightly regretting being without a satnav so interested to read this is possible via Apple Car Play on the central radio control screen - thank you will look into this option.

Hi @Jenny H - Does this help at all?

Jenny H · Jul 19, 2021

Stu@rt said:
Hi @Jenny H - Does this help at all?

Oh thank you Stuart that does it explain it - because I didnt opt for the updated media option I have to plug it into the USB - to do this I need to buy a type C cable as the dash USB arent compatable with iphone without - still learning!!

Ch1pbutty · Jul 19, 2021

Should work with an adaptor, Apple branded are more expensive but will usually avoid having any issues:

USB C to Lightning Cable 1m - Apple (UK)

Apple Store Search Results

www.apple.com

Morsels · Jul 19, 2021

Coasterman said:
A few weeks ago i noticed my Contol Panel in my 6 month old T6.1 Coast bonged and informed me that my 2nd Leisure battery was low. This was strange since I was on EHU on a site and had been for 3 days. My batteries should have been fine. So after I returned home i switched everything off and plugged my van into the EHU. About 3 days later my battery was very low and needed charging immediately according to the new message on the CP.
So i booked it in to the dealer which luckily for me is a five minute walk away. 10 days later and a big chunk of patience from me it is still broke and gathering dust at the dealer.
I am amazed at the incompetence of VW. I pay a huge chunk of money and buy a nice camper which has the new and updated Control Panel which looks great with it’s touchscreen and graphics. The new and improved Control Panel is terrible. VW don’t even know how it works or indeed how to “program” the infernal thing. Technology is a wonderful thing when it works but I’m losing patience now and cannot believe how incompetent the boffins at VW Tech are.

@Coasterman this solved your issue for me, it is an easy thing to try. I had my vehicle with VW for 2 days and they didn’t try it! https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/help-can’t-charge-leisure-a-battery.41243/post-530809

Private_Kelly · Jul 23, 2021

My van has now been gathering dust at the dealership for over 2 weeks. I can’t believe it. What on earth are VW playing at. I’m well fed up. They are waiting for a software patch or so they have told me. Beyond belief.

G3WRT · Jul 24, 2021

Coasterman said:
A few weeks ago i noticed my Contol Panel in my 6 month old T6.1 Coast bonged and informed me that my 2nd Leisure battery was low. This was strange since I was on EHU on a site and had been for 3 days. My batteries should have been fine. So after I returned home i switched everything off and plugged my van into the EHU. About 3 days later my battery was very low and needed charging immediately according to the new message on the CP.
So i booked it in to the dealer which luckily for me is a five minute walk away. 10 days later and a big chunk of patience from me it is still broke and gathering dust at the dealer.
I am amazed at the incompetence of VW. I pay a huge chunk of money and buy a nice camper which has the new and updated Control Panel which looks great with it’s touchscreen and graphics. The new and improved Control Panel is terrible. VW don’t even know how it works or indeed how to “program” the infernal thing. Technology is a wonderful thing when it works but I’m losing patience now and cannot believe how incompetent the boffins at VW Tech are.

G3WRT · Jul 24, 2021

Oh dear.... I am likely to see the same in my new coast. Where can one get the accurate detailed circuit diagrams from. I am likely far more qualified and intelligent than the normal car mechanic but cant do owt without knowing the circuit and the details. Then I might be able to help all on this forum?

yossarian · Jul 24, 2021

G3WRT said:
Oh dear.... I am likely to see the same in my new coast. Where can one get the accurate detailed circuit diagrams from. I am likely far more qualified and intelligent than the normal car mechanic but cant do owt without knowing the circuit and the details. Then I might be able to help all on this forum?

@Loz very kindly provided that: https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/2nd-battery-not-charging-t6-1-coast.41152/

There's lots of info https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/forums/control-panel-issues.169/
And https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/forums/electrical.21/